I can't tell you how much fun I had watching golf last weekend, even if it was just for one day. I headed down to the Twin Cities last weekend to visit my brother and his family, and along with that came a big screen TV and the Golf Channel (if it's possible to be in love with a big screen TV I definitely am!)! I watched a re-run of part of Friday's round and then got to see Saturday's round later that evening. Hawaii is a beautiful place!
The Golf Channel gets its share of criticism, from its general programming to its announcing staff, but I was so grateful to get to see golf on TV I barely paid attention to what has become so annoying to many who watch the GC on a regular basis...well, almost.
One thing that does sort of bother me is how little actual golf we get to watch in a broadcast. In a limited field event, such as the SBS last week, there were only 28 players...you'd think we'd get to see everyone at least once! It makes total sense to follow the leaders, but I've got to wonder how many total minutes are wasted as we watch players conversing with their caddies or looking over a shot. How about zipping over to a camera placed at one of the finishing holes so we can see a favorite player that might be slightly down the leader board? (yes, I'm talking about Steve Stricker!)
And then there was the "Hawaii Fald - O" tips (oy!) that came up on the screen on certain shots. Seriously, awful. They ranged from elementary to nonsense. Yeah, I get that if I have an uphill lie I need to measure my true yardage...but in the spots I saw he never explained what that meant. Either give us helpful tips or just show us more golf!
I was also annoyed that they only showed about 5 people on the leader board when it came up...okay, there were only 28 guys, and over half of them were in the hunt, so how about going through the entire leader board a few times an hour please.
Don't get me wrong, I loved getting to watch golf, but it sure would be nice to get to see more of it during the telecast.
And let me put a plug in for the http://www.pgatour.com/ Shot Tracker leader board. When I got home on Sunday I was sans Golf Channel, so I had to rely on the internet to "see" the finish and try to calculate how my fantasy teams were doing. If you are not doing any kind of fantasy golf, you should!! It definitely adds a different element to watching and cheering. Darn that Sabbatini for having a 63 on Sunday - he cost me a sleeve of golf balls! Well, Sabbatini and Lucas Glover. I saw the wheels coming off for Glover on Saturday, but couldn't risk benching him. Did Glover not realize that just an Even par round would have won it for me? He is definitely on probation on my fantasy squads right now.
And speaking of Sabbatini, I will admit that I'm not a fan. His brash personality is not appealing to me in the least. But I was faced with the challenge of deciding if I should put him on my fantasy rosters this week (he is getting a lot of buzz this year). Do I pick the guys I'm fans of to show my loyalty, or do I force myself to root for someone I don't care for in order to improve my fantasy team standings?
I debated for a few days. One thought that came to my mind was a message from none other than 2Putt...I had posted on my Facebook page that I was rooting for the Dallas Cowboys a few Sundays ago because a win by them meant a bye week for the Minnesota Vikings. 2Putt scolded me - he was utterly disappointed that I would root for someone like "the Cowboys" - it shouldn't matter what it meant for my Vikings (I'm remembering something about rooting for Dallas is like swallowing razor blades??).
Then there was the message from my friend Larry...after writing that I was rooting for Matt Kuchar, he responded that I was crazy to root for him because he went from having a decent golf swing to some awful inside out swing. It has never crossed my mind to root or not root for someone based on their golf swing. Wait, I take that back. I am in love with Fred Couple's golf swing!
Anyway, it took me awhile to ponder the criteria for picking my squad for this week's Sony Open. Do I want to win, or do I want to stand behind my favorite players each week?
If you look at my rosters this week you're going to see Sabbatini on almost all of them...and Stricker on almost none of them (I'm trying to save him for later in Yahoo, and he was really expensive in salary cap). I'm not sure how I'm going to make it through the weekend if I'm forced to root against my favorite player to get points (or to stop other people from getting points). I guess the upside is if Sabbatini tanks this week I will definitely have an excuse not to put him on my roster again! I hope I've made the right decision.
Dallas did end up winning that game and the Vikes got a bye - and with another win by Dallas last weekend, Minnesota will now be seeing them in the Metrodome this weekend. 2Putt will be happy - I am no longer rooting for the Cowboys.
I'm reminded now of the wise words I give to all of my golf scramble teams...it's not about winning or losing, it's about winning!!
Go Vikings!!
Go Sabbatini!
Well...almost. GO Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar!
Enjoy the Sony Open this weekend!
