It's Go Time in Wales

Gentlemen start your engines...for it all starts this Friday morning in Wales, namely, the 38th running of the biennial Ryder Cup. Pitting Europe's best against America's best professional golfers. And those two smiling chicklets above, although not hitting a shot, will be instrumental in who wins and who loses.

For the team captains, Corey Pavin of the USA (the skinny one above) and Colin Montgomerie of the Euros (the portly one above), the chess match between the two captains has already begun with the final selections of the team and for the first day pairings to be announced on Thursday. By Sunday afternoon, in my humble opinion, the "underdog" USA team will be retaining the venerable Ryder Cup. USA's collective team talent guided by the steady hand and head of their guileful and cerebral Captain Pavin will prevail. Assisting in USA's victory will be none other than Euro Captain Monty, the stroppy Scot, who will end up pipping his own petard.

Pavin is the archetype for all of us little guys in a big man's world. He succeeded at every level of golf with a swing that resembles Giovanni da Bologna's twisting and contorting sculpture Rape of the Sabines. Coupled with his successful unorthodox swing, is Pavin's clear quiet judgement in recognizing the importance of persistence and desistence. And, more iimportantly, when to apply the right amount of each.

Monty, on the other hand, should be playing instead of captaining. He is 29-7 in Ryder Cup matches, a record for the Euros. He is a great player in that team format...which is good. As a Captain, he is a abundant talker...which is bad. As Padraig Harrington, a Ryder Cupper, stated recently, "If Monty puts his bucket of balls beside me on the range, I'll move. Otherwise, I'll get nothing done. Monty's idea of warming up is like 45 minutes of talking and hitting 10 balls." Imagine what Ben Hogan would do with Monty on the range tee?

So, balls fly early Friday morning from Wales. The tea kettle pressure begins to build and finally boils over on Sunday. Which team wilts under this enormous worldwide hot lamp? Which team prospers?

Again, my gut tells me the Americans will prevail. Captain Corey, because he listens, observes, thinks and then acts purposefully, will guide his 12 to the champagne podium on Sunday. While Captain Monty because he talks, and talks and talks then talks some more will irritate his players so much that he will lose them and they the cup.

Sometimes in sports the better talent doesn't win. Will this be one of those times?

Enjoy the show.

Mathematically Eliminated

WARNING: THIS BLOG IS FOR CARDINAL NATION ONLY. ENTER AT YOUR OWN PERIL.

"Mathematically eliminated." "Magic Number 0." Depending upon your perspective, those two baseball slogans bring joy or sadness to the "fan"atic. For St. Louis Cardinal Baseball Nation, 2010 is indeed a sad one. For tonite, with six games yet to play, the Redbirds were officially eliminated from the race. They are losers in 2010.

Being a gracious loser, I tip my cap to the Central Division winners, the Cincinnati Redlegs. The oldest team in the National League. They played better baseball, marginally, than the Cardinals and the rest of the hapless teams in that sorry division.

For Cardinal fans, you know the story. After the successful early August showdown with the Reds in Cincy, they left Ohio with a one game lead. What happened in the next six weeks is X-Files material. Losing games to lesser opponents became commonplace. Talent they had. Heart they didn't. Leadership abandoned. And the fans still believed. What a fan base! The truth is out there. However, the beyond loyal Cardinals fans would not accept and admit to the ugly truth on the field.

From my perspective, the 2010 Cardinals quit. There I wrote it. After a recent trip to my hometown to watch Cardinal baseball, I saw a brand of baseball that was more American Legion than MLB. Suddenly, superior starting pitching could not beat sub
.500 teams such as the Cubs, Pirates, Nationals and Houston. Our hitting was feeble. Our defense was porous. Our manager and coaches were hamstrung. Yet the fans still came.

The 3 Million/year fans of Cardinal baseball deserve more. They fill the owners pockets every year with more money than imaginable in a small market. So, I write for them.

This is my 10 point Manifesto on how to "right the ship" of a storied and proud franchise:

1. Ownership. Be strong. Be smart. Raise ceiling to $120M. No more long term deals. Do Items 2-10 below as a start. Don't stop with my list!!!
2. General Manager. MO must go. He does not have the skills. Ludwick for Westbrook?
3. Pujols. Sign him to a deal STL can handle or trade him this winter for a flock of talent. Ownership will not make him baseball's highest paid player. Sadly, I see AP leaving. Without a hometown discount, AP walks. Thanks for the ride Albert. Courting AP will be LeBron II, if he becomes a free agent after 2011.
4. Manager. TLR cannot play the off-season Favre-like drama game anymore. Ownership must push him to make a 30 day decision after the season. He'll get mad and walk. No worries. He's done anyway. Sorry wife, he's coming home. He's all yours. Arf-arf.
5. Coaching staff. Move Oquendo to first, nobody follows his signs at third. Everybody else goes including Duncan. (He'll leave anyway without TLR around). Big Mac = Big Mistake.
6. Coaching Replacements. Bring in ex-Cardinals from the exile imposed by TLR's crew. Ozzie, Ted Simmons, Joe Magrane, Matheny, etc. all make STL home. Fill it out with Orel Hershiser, Will Clark and bring back Hal McCrae. And whenever Eckstein and Edmonds retire, hire them for any available post. Gamers all.
7. Old Players. Pink slips to: Franklin, Boggs, Hawksworth, Ryan, Schumaker, and possible Carp. Tattooed Carp is a white nut case in the mold of Joaquin Andujar.
8. New Players. Try to pry Gordon Beckham from the Chisox, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Jonathan Broxton from the Dodgers. Vultures are hovering over Chavez Ravine.
9. Farm System. Hire someone who knows talent, particularly, someone in the Midwest and South. How does a Mark Buerle and Ryan Howard, to name two studs, escape STL scouts in their own backyard? And, another hire on developing talent. No more Peter Kozmas.
10. Stan the Man. Out of respect, re-do that grotesque statue of "The Man" outside the stadium before he dies. Even Stan's wife hates it. Speaking of Stan's death to be, he should be interred in a yet to be completed Redbird Village beyond center field.

Well there you have it Cardinal fans from the left coast. I may be in Monterey but I bleed cardinal red 365.

Go Cards in 2011.

In Memoriam

"I am the Good Shepherd, and the Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. Greater love than this no man hath than to lay down his life for his friends."

His lifeless body carried away from the fray by the same people he served and loved. Moments before his untimely death on September 11, 2001, Fr. Mychal Judge was ministering to the dying and the injured and administering Last Rites to human beings that died that morning amidst the rubble of evil.

What started out as a beautiful September morning in New York City turned abruptly into unspeakable darkness. Fr. Mychal, Brooklyn's own Franciscan priest and Chaplain to NYC firefighters upon hearing the news that the World Trade Center was in flames, rushed to the scene to lend both hands. He never returned to the firehouse along with 343 other firefighters around NYC.

In that terrible holocaust of the World Trade Center, 2,606 innocent people died from the hands of crazed Islamic fanatics. For some strange inexplicable reason, Fr. Mychal's body was the first body released from Ground Zero. His death certificate had the number one on the top.

In a brilliantly written and delivered eulogy Father Mychal's friend and fellow priest, Father Michael Duffy, Fr. Duffy writes: "And so this morning we come to bury Mike Judge's body but not his spirit. We come to bury his mind but not his dreams. We come to bury his voice but not his message. We come to bury his hands but not his good works. We come to bury his heart but not his love."

You see Mychal's message was one of love and life. Those that took his meaningful life along with the other almost 3,000 victims of terror don't share those values.

Highjacked Flight United 93 crashed headlong into that Shanksville field at 550MPH incinerating all innocents aboard. What was heard before the crash on the voice recorder? "Allaha Akbar." Then silence. Translation: Allah is Great.

As one radical Islamist stated recently, "We love death. The USA loves life. That is the big difference between us." Tony Blair is right on when he writes: "Radical Islam is the world's greatest threat today." Their singular way of expression is unleashing sociopathic mayhem around the world...constantly.

So, today we pray in thanksgiving for the life of Fr. Mychal and those who serve others in and out of the shadows of this world. We also pray for those left behind when their loved ones did not come home on that fateful day. They will never be forgotten.

Fr. Mychal, the shepherd, is gone like so many others before and after him, while the jackals multiply. But as the Gospel proclaims, "evil will not triumph."

May God continue to help us all.

RICKIE RYDER CUPPER

Rickie the Rookie. In eight months on the PGA Tour, the 22 year old has made his mark. Today, with Corey Pavin's captain's selection of Rickie for the 2010 Ryder Cup team, his mark just got a whole lot bigger.

Pavin's pick of Rickie, a non-winner on the Tour but has had several Top Ten finishes in his first year, was puzzling to some critics and observers. Crys of "he's a rookie", "he hasn't won anything" and so forth were factual comments true but they don't know Rickie. Pavin thinks he does. In his press conference this morning from New York City, Pavin said, "I have a gut feeling about Rickie" that transcends victories and age. Is Rickie's selection a risk? Yes. But worth taking.

I saw this kid play at the Pebble Beach Callaway tournament last November and I was absolutely floored by not only his game but by his manner and attitude. Not a punk attitude. But a cool manner...confident yet friendly. A cross between James Dean and Elvis. He has a swagger of "I'm good, I'm going to beat you but let's chill together afterwards." It's not suprising that he is fast becoming one of the more likeable players on tour. Inside the ropes he's a gunslinger who takes no prisoners. Outside the ropes he's a kid who wants to hang out at the mall with his girlfriend sipping cherry cokes.

This past July, my son, Jack, and I ran into Rod, Rickie's Dad, at the British Open at St. Andrews. We talked a bit about the Ryder Cup then while gallery following Rickie. Apparently, Rickie was on Pavin's watch for some time. Rickie's consistent success on the tour this year and his 7-1 record in the amateur Walker Cup matches got Pavin's attention.

In the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, Rickie was in the hunt until the final hole. He hit a couple bad shots, took a few too many risks and settled for second place three shots behind winner, Justin Rose. Upon leaving the 18th green disappointed, he spotted host Jack Nicklaus, he of 18 majors, went right up to him to said, "Thank you Mr. Nicklaus for putting on a terrific tournament."

Kid not only shows game but alot of respect for the game and for those who preceded him. I suspect his game and his respect for the game will take another huge leap in October.

He will electrify you in orange or whatever colors he wears.

It's Almost Go Time! 23 Days and Counting...

This smug image of past Ryder Cup Captain, Paul Azinger aka "Zinger", gently buffing the handsome Ryder Cup in his Florida kitchen is sure to inflame the embittered Euros. You see the Euros lost two years ago and they want that Cup back on the other side of the pond come this October. Wishful thinking? Possibly.

The biennial Ryder Cup media madness officially started today with the USA Captain, Corey Pavin's, four remaining captain's picks that rounded out the team to 12. Captain Corey's counterpart, the choleric fussbudget Captain of the Europeans, Colin Montgomerie aka "Monty", chose his remaining picks a couple of weeks ago.

The obvious contrasts of these two teams are compelling. Starting with the Captains. Pavin is cerebral, calm and humble. While Monty is emotional, angry and quite frankly, a tortured soul amidst all his bluster...a golf "Hamlet" if you will.

The personality contrast of the two teams is equally compelling. The Euros are a loose fraternal bunch of partiers (ie.,McDowell after The US Open at Brophy's in Carmel). The Euros 13th man may be the hangover doctor from the Mash unit. CHEERS! While the Americans (less one grievous sinner) appear to be the brethern from the "God Squad". Their 13th man may surely be Joel Osteen. HEAL THEE!

But what both teams share equally is incredible golfing talent. Arguably, the finest players ever assembled in a Ryder Cup. There isn't a piker in the 24 player field.

So the teams have been finalized, the players are renewing their stomach acid prescriptions, the course at Celtic Manor in Wales is ready and the fans can't wait for the various meltdown dramas and stirring victories to unfold. All the while ex-capitan "Zinger" sits in his kitchen admiring his own reflection from the trophy past.

And in Scotland, Captain Monty was heard fuming, "...f*** everything."

More on the Ryder Cup in future blogs...this is only the beginning of astounding theatre. Stay tuned.