The Ryder Cup

I am a terrible golfer.  I enjoy it immensely.  I am just not very good at it.  Thus, it is hardly surprising that I watch a lot of professional golf on television.  If I can't do it...I can at least watch those who can...

This weekend the biennial Ryder Cup event was held near Chicago.  The best golfers of these United States take on the best the Europeans can  muster.  The tournament is held over three days with team events, e.g., four-ball, the first two days and then twelve mano y mano matches on Sunday.

The U.S. has not done particularly well in the Ryder Cup the past couple of decades.  But on Sunday morning the red-white-and blue crew were poised to pry the Cup out of the hands of the Europeans leading ten to six after two days of play.  The U.S. needed only to win five matches of twelve to clinch; and historically the Sunday matches have been the Americans' best event.  It looked mighty grim for the Old World.

Then the wheels came off the bus.  The Americans not only didn't play as well as they did the first two days - they didn't even look like the same players.  One of the biggest upsets in golf history ensued.  I was shocked, dismayed and appalled.  What happened?

Four American players prepare to tee-off on Sunday at the Ryder Cup.  Tragic.

  Four of America's best prepare to tee-off at the Ryder Cup on Sunday.

From left to right:  Phil Mickelson, Brandt Snedeker, Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson

These guys didn't even look like the same players from the earlier rounds...

The regular PGA season takes a break until January.  Time to focus on the baseball playoffs...

In other news, my pal Enrique arrived yesterday and will be staying with me through mid-December.  He is starring in Perseverance Theater's production of "Oklahoma!".  It's great to have a roomie again.  Unfortunately he arrived without his faithful four-legged companion, Nikki, who is being boarded with his mom in Texas.  The theater booked Enrique on a circuitous series of multi-airline flights from Austin to Juneau and the airlines refused to allow him to book a doggie on the flights.  Damn!  Nikki is my pooch pal.

The weather the past couple of days has been and is predicted to continue to be half-way decent.  On Sunday I cut back all the flowers in the yard, mowed for the last time, and spread fall fertilizer.  Yesterday I mowed mom's yard and fertilized there as well.  And today it's up to auntie's for the same treatment.

I have been spending a lot of time at auntie's helping out with chores and generally functioning as morale officer.  She has been pretty chipper.  She has decided to get a new TV and computer.  She is upgrading her TV offerings and finally getting a cable connection for the computer.  She has been operating with a dial-up modem (yes, they do still exist) and the slow connection does not work well for her.  For example, it takes about a half-hour to load my blog.  She gets impatient and tends to start pounding the keyboard with predictable and unfortunate results...

Last week I called our local telecommunications provider from auntie's phone to make the necessary arrangements.  The provider guy had to speak to auntie to verify that I had her permission to order the changes.  This took a mite longer than one might expect insofar as she felt compelled to reminisce about the history of television in Juneau.  

This trip down memory lane invariably begins (but does not end) with the story of how my arrival in this world coincided with the arrival of television in Juneau town.  I spent the first weeks of my life at auntie's home as mom recovered from some medical complications.  It seems that auntie and her daughter, Jan, found me quite charming and doted on me morning, noon, and night.  My uncle and cousin Sandy, - not so much.  They preferred to watch the test pattern on the new TV.  Although I have no recollection of these events, I find the story entirely credible - if for no other reason than I have heard the story a thousand times.

Finally, I was permitted to conclude the business at hand and at the end of conversation the call was transferred to a third-party to verify that auntie did, in fact, desire to change telephone providers.  As he prepared to transfer the call, the provider guy gently suggested that auntie might want to confine her answers to "yes" or "no" with the person at the verification service.  Auntie laughed - but also complied.  I was proud of the ol' gal.

Later gang!