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Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Tests should be tough
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Augusta — It has been clear for some time now that, regardless of subject matter, every Hootie Johnson press conference pretty much comes down to this: “I’m Hootie, and you’re not.”
Allow women members at Augusta National? Sure. When the time is right, and we run out of things to cook and clean.
Exorcise pimento cheese sandwiches from the grounds? Over my clogged arteries.
Ensure players’ happiness at the Masters? May we recommend the back nine at Mountasia?
Understand, there’s a tradition with the Augusta chairman being obstinate. It dates back to co-founder Clifford Roberts once saying, “As long as I’m alive, golfers will be white and caddies will be black.” (It’s believed there are now more than zero and fewer than several African-American members. This can’t be confirmed because the media guide isn’t out yet.)
In matters of diversity, Hootie and Augusta National remain behind the curve. But therein lies the difference between that and this current backlash over the club’s decision to Botox its golf course.
In this matter, Hootie’s right.
Golfers whine too much.
The greens are too fast.
The greens are too slow.
It’s hot. It’s cold. It’s windy.
SSSSSSHH! I’m playing here! (Things you want to see: Vijay Singh trying to putt in Shea Stadium.) Who put that bunker there?
Who planted those trees?
I can’t hit it over that lake!
My tummy hurts.
Players, former and current, have grumbled over course changes at Augusta National. Gee, we’re really sorry, guys. Is this getting to be a little too much like … work?
“I didn’t know that a tough golf course was supposed to be a lot of fun,” Johnson said Wednesday.
Asked if critics are wrong and he’s right, Johnson responded: “That’s a loaded question.” And he laughed, in that am-I-supposed-to-care-what-anybody-else-thinks kind of laugh.
The first tee will be moved back 15 to 20 yards. Trees were added on the left of the fairway. The fourth tee will be moved back 30 to 35 yards. The seventh, 35 to 40.
There are more changes. But you get the picture. It’s Augusta National meets Nip/Tuck. In this case, it’s not about women embracing advances in plastics as much as old men responding to advances in club technology.
This creates a problem at the Masters because the tournament is all about tradition (thereby explaining the lifespan of the pimento cheese sandwich). Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, who have won 10 Masters between them, criticized the makeover in a Golf Digest article.
“I love the place, just love everything that happens there,” Palmer said. “But now I’m not so sure. It has changed dramatically from the course I knew 50 years ago.”
Said Nicklaus: “I think they’ve ruined it from a tournament standpoint.”
Nicklaus was a little more diplomatic Wednesday. He said Augusta National’s “intentions are correct” but reiterated ways the plan was flawed.
Ernie Els said the Masters used to be “the easiest” among the four majors. “Now it’s almost certain to be the hardest.”
Tiger Woods said, “Not necessarily,” when asked if he agreed with the changes, and said something about the fourth hole losing its “cool” quotient. But recognizing that public moaning wasn’t going to sway Johnson, Woods was somewhat guarded.
“I think Hootie would probably say we’re going to have a private conversation,” he said when asked what he would say if Johnson solicited his opinion. “I’m going to leave it at that. I want to be invited back.”
Advantage, Hootie.
Charles Howell III isn’t merely one of the few who has praised the changes, he’s one of the few who gets it.
“I always love it when going to the first tee somebody says ‘Hey, go have fun today,’ ” Howell said. “That’s like saying, ‘Go shoot 62.’ Well, I’m trying. The golf course is a grind. That’s what it should be. It’s a major. It’s the Masters. That’s the way Bobby Jones would have wanted it. I don’t think he would have wanted to see guys strolling around out here, laughing and smiling and having a big time.”
Thank you.
If course changes aren’t enough, Augusta National also is considering mandating using a specific ball at the Masters. It’s their club. It’s their tournament.
“They’re entitled to their opinion,” Johnson said of critics. In doing so, he confirmed Augusta National hasn’t prohibited free speech at the Masters. Yet.
Permalink | Comments (20) | Categories: Golf, Jeff Schultz
Bonds makes Dodger blue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Los Angeles — When Tommy Lasorda waddles toward you with his famous tongue flapping, you listen.
And then you listen, and then you listen some more.
This time, the baseball icon who bleeds only that special kind of blue rushed across a dining room at Dodger Stadium after spotting a columnist from Atlanta that he has known for three decades. With the columnist set to make that 400-mile trip to the north today for the San Francisco Giants’ home opener against the Braves, the baseball icon had more than a few things to say about that guy who is getting a little attention these days.
Some guy named Barry Bonds, among the slew of this generation’s artificially inflated sluggers. “Oh, gosh. When you stop and think what these guys have done and what this stuff has done for them, it’s amazing, and if you’re a pitcher, you have to be upset,” said Lasorda, trying to keep his 79-year-old head from exploding while sliding next to the columnist. Then, with arms flailing and voice rising, Lasorda added, “People say to me, ‘Well, they still have to hit the ball.’ No doubt about that, but those flyballs that were on the warning track are now flying into the seats, and that’s the difference. It’s just not right.”
Nobody is slamming integrity out of the ballpark more often than Bonds. Not only did he admit to using steroids unknowingly according to leaked grand jury testimony, but there is a recently published book that details his love affair with performance-enhancing drugs through government documents and other sources.
The only thing that Braves rookie pitching coach Roger McDowell knows is that, juiced or not, Bonds can knock a baseball pretty far. That means McDowell must devise a way during the Braves’ four games at AT&T Park to keep Bonds from dialing long distance with his jumbo biceps that appeared out of nowhere. “Yeah, the wheels are turning for me a little bit, and although Barry doesn’t have very many weaknesses, the model that I always use is to have a pitcher stay with his strength,” said McDowell, inheriting a staff that traditionally does well against Bonds.
Even so, no pitchers have contributed more to Bonds’ home-run total than current Brave John Smoltz and former Brave Greg Maddux. They’ve relinquished eight homers apiece to Bonds, which goes to show you that not even a pair of Hall of Famers can overcome these knuckleheads.
So this wasn’t surprising: Entering the Giants’ game Wednesday night in San Diego, Bonds was just seven home runs shy of surpassing Babe Ruth’s legendary 714 and 48 from shattering Hank Aaron’s record of 755. The thought of it all was enough to keep Lasorda’s arms flailing, voice rising and face turning from Dodger Blue to Cincinnati Red.
“I mean, here’s a guy, Hank Aaron, who exemplified what it meant to be a truly great athlete, and he set his record in an honest and a sincere way and a hard way, and the other guy did it with (power) enhancing drugs,” said Lasorda, his eyes bulging at this point. He remembered watching as a coach for the Dodgers at old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on April 8, 1974 when Aaron ripped a shot over the left-center-field fence to make 715 more significant in baseball history than 714.
“No, Hank can’t be too happy with this, and he’s a good friend of mine, and I think the world of him,” Lasorda continued, still livid. “We know records are made to be broken, and Hank doesn’t have a problem with somebody breaking his record, but, by golly, you have to do it legitimately. These guys are producing phony records with a bunch of phony numbers.”
Yes, they are. As a result, commissioner Bud Selig formed a group last week led by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to investigate baseball’s steroid mess. Lasorda shook his head, saying, “Believe me, this is going to bring out a LOT of names, and that’s good. No. 2, we’re going to find out a lot of things that we always had in our minds but didn’t know for sure, and that’s also good.” As commissioner Tommy Lasorda, what would you do to those guilty of using steroids? With eyebrows raised, he said, “What would I do? Whatever they achieved after (they took steroids) would not be counted.” He added emphatically and loudly, “They’re cheaters.”
Permalink | Comments (36) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Terence Moore
Pick a park, any park…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Los Angeles – This happens every time I make that winding, scenic drive into the depth of Chavez Ravine and find this jewel of a ballpark called Dodger Stadium.
It’s the best. Not only has it been meticulously kept after 44 years, with those palm trees in the distance and that sign that says, “Think blue� on the hill behind the left-field bleachers, but you can feel history. Sandy Koufax. Don Drysdale. Walter Alston. Maury Wills.
Nah. I’m sticking with Wrigley Field, which is ivy-covered heaven on earth. Can’t get much better when it comes to mystique than that entire area on Chicago’s north side. Speaking of mystique, I love few things more in sports than visiting Yankee Stadium, home of those pinstriped ghosts.
Actually, I have to go with the absolutely stunning place that I’ll see with the Braves on Thursday, which is AT&T Park along the scenic shores of San Francisco Bay.
The thing is that Camden Yards is so magical in Baltimore that you get the feeling that it has been sitting near that warehouse for 104 years instead of just 14 years.
You know what?
They’re all great.
Permalink | Comments (14) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
