05/27/2010
10/23/2009
10/09/2009
Thank you Oslo for Reaffirming we're a Superpower
Yes, President Obama does not deserve a Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, The Nobel Peace Prize Committee is about as dubious an arbiter of valor as the Olympic Committee and the IMF. But let's not forget a few things before we're consumed by this topic:
First - Who else was on that short list? Nobel winners are not graded on an absolute scale but on a curve. It's just like law school: you can get an "A+" scoring 30% if everyone else did a lot worse.
Second - There is no doubt this was a "Welcome Back, America" prize. And though this may not fit our ideal of rewarding accomplishment, it reaffirms the world still sees us as the only Superpower and underscores the extent to which even just our outlook and tone affects the rest of the globe. Of all people, Republicans should be jumping up and down for joy and sending flowers to Oslo for restoring America to the position from which they claim President Obama is bumping us.
Third - Oslo is going to have to give us the Peace Prize every year now (unless we re-elect Bush). If the bar for winning is "who has had more impact on world peace than the President of the United States", it's going to be hard most years to justify another winner. Frankly, Oslo just killed the prize with this year's selection.
Finally - Other than Al Gore, quickly, name me three Nobel Peace Prize winners. Now, quickly, name me the winners of the last three Presidents Cups. My point exactly. Who cares about the Nobel Peace Prize? Let's get back to watching golf.
10/07/2009
Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan as a bonus present!
Got to spend a few hours at Harding Park on a perfectly beautiful Tuesday afternoon at the first practice round of the President's Cup. I actually like going to work, but this was much better.
The first group we happened upon was the International foursome of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh,Tim Clark and Mike Weir. Here's a picture of where we found Els to which Steven giddily exclaimed "Hey, I've been there!":
Later, we joined the crowd around Tiger Woods and whoever else was with him... To our surprise, "whoever else" included Michael Jordan, who is apparently Assistant Captain for the US team, hired not for his golf skills but as a mental coach to help with the pressures of team competition. Jordan walked the course with Woods...who of all players really needs advice on handling pressure... with a huge lit stogie in one hand, a Gatorade in the other hand, yapping, yapping and yapping away at anyone in range. When players addressed the ball and the course officials raised their arms to silence the crowd, all you could hear was Jordan, yapping, yapping and yapping away, his back usually to play, immersed in conversation. "Who'se going to tell Michael Jordan to shut up?" Steven shrugged.
When Tiger finished his round, he went straight to the practice green and started on drills. Placing a ball between two tees to make sure his face hit squarely and putting with his right hand only. He sank every single one.
Then he ate a sandwich and I took a photo to see whether, after analysis, we could discover anything in his chewing habits that could help my short game.
On our way out, Steven turned to me, and his initial communion with Ernie Els fading fast said sadly: "You know, other than Els behind the tree, we didn't see a single really missed shot". Yeah, these guys are good.
