Category Uncategorized

Sep 26 1999

1999 Ryder Cup Thoughts

My throat is scratchy, and I’m all choked up. What an incredible display of guts, courage, sportsmanship and golf!

##What a display!
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I’ve been a fan of sports in general, and golf in particular for most of my life. I remember vividly the Miracle on Ice in 1980 when Team USA won the gold medal at the Olympics. I remember Jack Nicklaus winning his sixth Master’s title in 1986. I remember Hank Aaron hitting his 713th home run. Who will ever forget the home run derby last year! And this Ryder Cup ranks right up there.

##Justin time!

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Have you ever seen such a clutch performance in your life? I sure haven’t. Down 4 with 7 to play then birdying 5 to ensure a US victory. Not only that, but the last hole won, the 17th, with a 50 foot double breaking steep uphill put through the shade of the trees is just so incredibly ballsy that I have no other words to describe it. That moment ranks as one of the greatest moments in sport in the 20th century, perhaps of all time.

##Leave Monty Alone!

OK guys. You know who you are. Let’s just give Monty a break.

I love to hate him as much as the rest of you (to me he represents everything “British” about the British, if that makes any sense), but that’s no call for the sort of behavior displayed by the gallery during the event. Sure, I was at home willing him to miss key putts. Sure, I applauded and taunted him from my livingroom. But I would never dream in a million years of doing such a thing on the course, during the event.

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To put it bluntly, as proud as I am to be an American with the way our boys sucked it up and bulldozed the Euros, I’m just as ashamed to be an American with the lack of class of my fellow countrymen.

Colin… if you ever read this (I know, you probably never will), look me up some time (the email address is at the bottom of the page) and I’ll buy you a pint of Newcastle Brown and apologize for the low class jerks at The Country Club (maybe I’ll even throw a game of darts with you just for kicks :-). You showed an incredible amount of self control and class and let your game speak for you. And it spoke volumes. I think we need to get a “Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf” type match between you and Tiger. You have the game for the number one spot in the world, without a doubt.

##Captain Comeback

You called it Ben!!!! That “I believe in fate, and I have a good feeling about this” comment was akin to Magic Johnson guaranteeing a repeat NBA championship victory. Or Muhammed Ali guaranteeing a victory. Or Babe Ruth calling his shot. Unbelievable.

The reality is, that team USA had no chance. But no chance was good enough and they pulled through and did it. You believed when no one else did.

If someone out in Hollywood had pitched this story as an idea for a movie it would have been turned down as too improbable. But it happened, and in spectacular fashion.

I have to admit that I questioned you picks with friends of mine over beers at the local pub. Boy was I wrong! I had no problem with Lehman, but Pate was a mystery to me. Not anymore (and who do I think I am anyway, trying to outguess someone whose job it is to know these things :-).

##Sergi-oh-my-God!

If there’s an MVP for the Ryder Cup 1999, it’s gotta be Sergio Garcia. Sure, Hal Sutton is the MVP for the US team, but I truly believe that what kept the Euros close was the contagious joy and energy of Garcia. I believe that he pumped his team up so much that for the first two days he had the US team shell shocked.

If Seve wasn’t still alive, I’d call Sergio absolute evidence of reincarnation.

##Euros… Take a Chill Pill!

I seem to remember some pretty enthusiastic celebrations from you guys at Oak Hill and Valderama. And I don’t remember anyone from the US accusing you of lacking respect for our guys (nor would we). You deserved the celebrations, just as we did after Justin’s once-in-a-century putt for victory. Sure, I know that victory had not yet been achieved. Olazabel still had his putt. But the chances of him actually making it were slim and none.

Any putt from that distance is 5% skill and 95% luck, I don’t care who you are (I just finished reading Dave Pelz’s book on the short game, and he has the stats to prove it). Justin had just done the impossible, and lightening just doesn’t strike twice like that. OK, maybe there was a 1 in 100 chance that Jose could have pulled it off, but that’s about it. The celebration had no effect on the outcome. Period.

Also, as far as I’m concerned, it didn’t show any lack of respect for Olazabel. Just ask the players. Or the fans. I personally think he’s one of the class acts and most entertaining golfers to watch.

##Play for Pay??

This is really the only blemish on an otherwise perfect Ryder Cup.

Aug 13 1999

August 1999 Trip Report

We took off on a tour of the Maritime Provinces in Canada to see a whole bunch of my family that lives there.

This was one of our best family vacations yet. Although it involved quite a bit of driving (30 hours total by my calculations!), we were able to spread it out a bit and have days of rest in between driving days. We covered much of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Although we didn’t get to do everything we wanted, we did a lot and had a lot of fun.
###8/14/99

Today we started driving at the bloodshot-eye-hour of 5:30am! It was a long drive to the cottage in Cap Pelé. We arrived at 5:30pm (local time) which is 4:30pm Eastern time. That means 11 hours on the road. We did stop for brunch for a while, and made a couple of other pit stops, which means we probably drove for about 10 hours total. Not bad.

Vanessa got a little car sick so we had to stop a couple of times. By the time we got to the cottage she seemed to feel fine.

My uncle Maurice and aunt Pauline were waiting for us (although they didn’t expect us quite so early!

###8/15/99

####Rain, rain, go away

It started raining in the middle of the night, and hasn’t stopped since. Maurice and I had a tee time at a local course for 8:30am, but there’s no way we were going to play in this weather.

Around noon Danae, the kids and Pauline decided t take a trek down to the beach. The beach itself is private for the families that own lots on that street, so it’s never very croweded. Buddy spent his time down in the water chasing birds in the marshes by the beach. From the sounds of it he thought he could fly and catch the birds.

While eating lunch, I spotted a hawk right outside the window of the cottage. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a picture before it flew away. But what a spectacular sight!!

After lunch we went into to Muncton for a while we went to the Crystal Palace. It’s like an amusement park that’s indoors. There’s a rollercoaster, a merry-go-round, and other rides! Attached to it is a Best Western hotel and a Chapter’s bookstore.

Afterwards we went to dinner at a nice restaurant in Shediac

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###8/16/99

####Big Flowerpots!

We went to the Hopewell Cape Rocks in New Brunswick today on the way to my cousin Sean’s in Nova Scotia. What a sight!

I visited there when I was about 7 years old, so it was quite a while ago 🙂

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###8/17/99

####Golf in the morning

Well, it was the first of several matches this week with my cousin Sean and… he kicked by butt! I couldn’t hit the ball to save my life on the first 4 holes (of 9), but finally started to get a handle on things by the 5th hole. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow!

####Halifax in the afternoon

We took a boat tour of the Halifax harbor and saw all kinds of cool stuff! In fact, there was a whale off the bow of the boat for a while.

I must say, Halifax is a beautiful city. after the boat trip, we took a walk around town and found are way to the lovely public garden.

####Dinner theatre in the evening

We had a mini reunion at dinner. 4 of my cousins and their spouses are going to a dinner theatre production of a musical comedy.

###8/18/99

####Golf at Glenn Arbor

Great course!

Sean won the match

####Maritime Museum

###8/19/99

####Golf on Cape Breton

Today was the big golf day of the vacation. Sean had booked a tee time at the Highland Links at Cape Breton. This course is ranked at 47th of the worlds greatest courses (by Golf Digest)! I couldn’t wait to play it, and it didn’t disappoint.

The weather was threatening the whole day, but held off until the 17th hole where it started to rain a bit. But thankfully, it didn’t last.

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I had never played a links style course before, and certainly never played a course with such stunning beauty and an incredible world wide reputation. It turns out that the other two people we played with were from Toronto and Rochester! That makes 4 “foreigners” from different places playing the course for the first time together.

The round started rough, but I got my swing groove back on the 7th hole! That makes 4 rounds of golf with my swing having serious problems. Well, on the 7th hole (named Killiecrankie), the number one handicapped hole on the course, I crushed my tee shot right down the middle of the fairway. But, this being the course that it is, my ball ended up right at the base of a 10 foot tall mound right in the middle of the fairway. I really wanted to hit my 5 wood, but I was afraid that that would hit the mound. So I chose my seven wood instead and knocked it a couple of hundred yards up the fairway! For the next shot I was sitting in the middle of the fairway with a good lie, and 180 yards left to the green. Typically, I’d hit a 5 iron in this situation, but the wind was howling right in our faces, so I decided to hit my 5 wood instead (which I normally hit about 210 yards!). It turns out I made the right call, and the high wind held the ball up the thirty yards and I was on the green safely! Was I going to par this hole? Not on this green. After three stellar shots to get on the green in regulation, the severely undulating greens stymied me and I four putted to end up with a double bogey! However, the three perfect shots leading up to the putts helped me get confidence back with my swing and I was hitting it pure for the rest of the day.

Sean and I tied in the match. I was one up with one to play and he beat me on the 18th hole to tie it up. We decided that the tie breaker would be gross score, and I got him by three strokes. Thanks for the great day of golf Sean!!!!! Great call on the course!

####Shopping with Nancy

Lunch around town in Antigonish

Shopping– the kittie bowl, back to school cloths

###8/20/99

####Prince Edward Island

We took the ferry over to Prince Edward Island and started our drive to Cavendish to check out the Green Gables house written about in “Anne of Green Gables”.

After driving for about an hour we stopped for lunch at a place called “The Deck”. This quaint little restaurant was “dog-friendly” which was good for us. We sat outside on the deck and had our lunch overlooking a small bay.

After lunch we continued our trek to Cavendish. Along the way we stopped at a stable to do some riding. It turned out that the kids were a bit too young to go on a ride, but they had a horse that they allowed young kids to sit on and walk around the yard a bit. So we got these pictures on that horse. Maybe next time we can go out on a ride as a family!

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After leaving Cavendish, we headed for Cap Pelé and our evening with the cousins. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get there. We had to cross the new Confederation Bridge. The bridge is about 9 miles long from PEI to New Brunswick. Unfortunately, the view on the bridge was impeded by the railing, so we didn’t get to see much while crossing.

####Fun with the Cousins

By the time we got to the cottage, the cousins had already eaten, so we went and got a pizza. By the time we got back everyone had arrived and the party started. The music was going and the beer was flowing until the wee hours of the morning. Marcel had us all in stiches with his take on marriage, and Rob was a dancing fool with Vanessa! All in all, we had a great time for our last “real” night there. We needed to get a good night’s sleep the next night, so this was the last big hurrah before the drive home.

###8/21/99

####Breakfast with Sean and Kara

After getting to bed quite late and sleeping in far into the next morning (far meaning around 9:00am, which is quite late for my girls!), Sean, Kara, Danae and I went to breakfast at a local diner and the kids stayed with Karen, Marcel, Jane, and Rob. The food wasn’t that great, but we had a fun conversation with Sean and Kara.

####On the Beach with the Cousins

After we got back from breakfast and rested a little, we all (the cousins, and my family) headed for the beach. The only problem with this idea is that there was quite a bit of overcast that made the day seem cold. Oh well. I guess we weren’t destined to spend time on the beach during this vacation.

But all was not lost. Sean, who’s been coming here for years, in his golf-fanatic way, made up a game that we could play. It turns out that the tide goes out quite far at the cottage beach leaving sand bars above the water line. He went out onto the sand bars and started drawing circles perhaps 10 feet in diameter. These became the “holes” for our little game. We would tee off from the last “hole” and try to get the ball into the first “hole”, and play around the course linked like this. We did match play format. Using our sand wedges, we played our match. I ended up winning the match 6 and 5! It was quite fun and good practice for rough situations on the course!

####Stop off in St. John

We decided that it would be prudent to get a head start on our trip home. Two hours from the cottage is St. John. This is a different route than the one we took getting to Cap Pelé, and it’s supposed to be a lot faster.

###8/22/99

####Home Sweet Home!

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Although we had a great vacation, it was great to finally get home. It took us another 10 hours from St. John to get home. The traffic was horrible (probably everyone coming back from vacations). But we made it.

Thank you’s go out to everyone who made the trip so much fun: Uncle Maurice and Aunt Pauline, Sean and Kara, Uncle Frank and Aunt Nancy, Karen and Marcel. Thank you for opening your homes (and cottages) to us. We had a wonderful time thanks to all of you!

Aug 2 1999

News for 8/2/99

[[woodsduval]]

Yahoo!! It’s here.
[Duval vs. Woods](http://www.golfweb.com/u/ce/multi/0,1329,1223727_134873,00.html)
should prove to be an extremely fun event. I don’t know
if you’ve ever watched any of the old Shell’s Wonderful
World of Golf shows on [[The Golf Channel]], but seeing
the best players in the world tee off in a match where
the biggest thing on the line is their pride is a lot of
fun. OK, so there’s a lot of money this time also, but do
either of these guys really need it?

[Curtis Strange](http://www.golfonline.com/tours/pga/strange/august99.html)
thinks so too.

[Metcalfe’s Law in Reverse (Alertbox July 1999)](http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990725.html)