S7s- Apr 10: Sign of Armageddon

1) I can officially say it because she has told her students, but Dot Case is retiring. I'll blog more about Ms Case in the future, I'm sure I'll blog more about her later, but the fact that she is retiring has hit many of us hard. We knew it was inevitable, but after 47 years, Dot Case is calling it a career. I'm going to enjoy the last few weeks of having her as a colleague. I'll be forever grateful for all she has taught me over the years.

Here's a link to an interview I did of her a few years ago: Ms Case

And here she is, front and center, with her department that, despite many changes, she was the constant.

2) We hosted the WHKP Relays on Thursday. 16 girls teams and 17 boys teams. It was a great event, though we had some trouble with some results getting inputted because of the sheer numbers of field events. Some teams did not bring their full squads as Taco Bell was also this weekend, but we still had a great meet and I'm really proud of the effort of my squad. I was hoping to finish in the top half of the field and we finished 8th, so I met my goal. And who was there volunteering: Dot Case.

3) Bruce Springsteen cancelled a show in NC that was scheduled for today in Greensboro to protest HB2. I feel bad for the fans, because they're the ones that are hurt but I appreciate the stance that he has taken. The Boss has long been political. Keep in mind that his most famous anthem, "Born in the USA" is not meant to be a patriotic song.

Along with Paypal deciding to not follow through with their plans to build a center near Charlotte, HB2 has also made NC into the butt of national jokes. See this video by Funny or Die.

4) Last week was ridiculously busy, so there was no riding for me. I did get up yesterday and get 60 miles in. Started at the house and headed down to Tuxedo via Mine Mountain. Rode old 25 into SC and got on HWY 11. Met my buddies doing the Assault on the Carolinas at the bottom of Ceasar's Head and we rode back to Brevard together. Great day.

Today, I got on the mountain bike and explored in Pisgah. Rode up Cove Creek Trail. Hit the top of Daniel Ridge and went down counterclockwise for the first time. Then finished with Butter and Cat Gap-- a 19 mile day.

5) You should see the numbers we have at Yellowjackets on Mondays. It's fun and there are over 40 elementary kids. We're doing great things over there. And we got awesome shirts.

6) Opening week of baseball. I promise I won't blog much about baseball. But I am impressed with Kershaw's first outing. And I'm more impressed that the only person to hit two homeruns off Kershaw in the last year is Madison Bumgarner. This is also the last season of the Braves in Turner-- and I hate that.

7) Oh the Masters. What an event. I was at Sanctuary Brewing, watching and commenting that no way Spieth would lose. Then came Amen Corner. A quadruple bogey. He looked mortal. I think Jordan Spieth is great and has fantastic ability. He deserves to by the number one player in the world. I hope that this round does not mentally shake him up for the future. I think the kid will bounce back fine. Two best moments, one good one and one bad one:

Sunday 7s: 9/27

1) I've been teaching for 15 years. Thursday was the first real lockdown that we've had. There was a gun on the middle school campus (in the parking lot) and since the middle and high school are connected, both schools went into a lockdown. It was a tense moment when we all realized it wasn't a drill, but very proud of our students and staff. Most importantly, no one was hurt. Teachers did a great job of following procedure. Students were cooperative and resilient. Law enforcement did what they were supposed to do. Our administration displayed great leadership.

We learned a lot from the experience and some things that we can do better. Hopefully, we'll never be in a similar situation again. But if we are, I know North Henderson will be prepared.

2) I don't own guns but I'm not anti-gun. They are useful for defense and sport. They are a ton of fun to shoot! What I am against is our country's obsession with them. There is this idea that everything is better as long as there are guns and any effort to talk about gun issues results in a knee jerk reaction that somehow all the guns will get confiscated. I'm always disappointed that we can't have more civil dialogue and discourse about guns and gun issues.

3) Pope Francis in America. If my schedule were better or he was closer to me, I definitely would go battle the crowds to see him. I found it ironic that there were some on the right that criticized the pope for bringing his religion into our politics when that's what the right is kind of known for. There's a humanity and humbleness to Francis that I admire.

4) Richmond, VA hosted the World Cycling Championships this past week. Another event I wish I had the time to make as a spectator. It's a pretty big deal for the UCI to have chosen the United States for the host and it seems as Richmond played the part very well. Congratulations to two of my favorite riders for their success in Richmond:

• Taylor Phinney, who in the US Championships last year broke his leg in a crash, showed his return to form by leading his BMC Racing team to 1st place in the Team Time Trials and was the top American (12th place) in the individual time trial.

• Peter Sagan, one of the most colorful characters in pro cycling, won the World Championships in the Road Race. This is Sagan, riding a wheelie, uphill on Alpe d'Huez, during the Tour de France a few years ago:

5) I don't have many Jewish friends, but Happy Yom Kippur last week. And peace, comfort and safe travels to all Muslims who traveled to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj.

6) Jordan Spieth. Only 22 years old and having one of the greatest individual years of a pro golfer in since a certain Tiger was in his prime. And no one played better the last month and a half than Jason Day. If Rory McIlroy can get his game back to where it was two years ago, golf will be very exciting. Now if we can get ESPN, Golf Channel and other outlets to talk about these great players and not about golfers that don't make the cut of finished near the bottom, we'd be better off. The PGA Tour will be pretty exciting next year.

7) Georgia Tech has proven to be a fraud so far. They are missing the two receivers that went in the NFL Draft and their backfield more than we could imagine. But, I guess as bad as I feel as a Tech fan, I could be an Auburn or Oregon fan right now. Or a Tennessee fan. What a heartbreaker that game was in Gainesville.

• Underrated in this week's AP Poll: 
• Michigan (22)- the loss to Utah doesn't look so bad now. I think they should be in the top 20. 
• Texas Tech (NR)- played TCU close. Should be in top 25.
• Over rated: 
• Ohio St (1)- They still may win the national championship and they're still a top 3-4 team, but they don't look like the best team in their own conference. I've never been on the "until they lose, they're still number 1" philosophy. 
• Florida (25)- narrow wins over Kentucky and Tennessee are still wins, but I'm not buying Florida yet. 
• My Top Seven: 1) Michigan State 2) Ole Miss 3) Ohio St 4) LSU 5) TCU 6) UCLA 7) Notre Dame

The Case for Olympic Wrestling

Just this week, the International Olympic Committee announced that wrestling would be dropped from the 2020 Games. The final three for consideration to be dropped were wrestling, taekwondo and modern pentathlon. Modern pentathlon was created by Olympic founder Pierre de Coubertin as an ideal sport, so it has political and sentimental pull. Wrestling was in the ancient Olympics of Greece as well as contested in the first modern games in 1896 and its historical pull should keep it in the games.

The removal of wrestling takes away the dreams of many athletes. There are three styles of wrestling contested: freestyle, greco-roman and women's. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports makes a great point that Olympic wrestling is the pinnacle of the sport and the Olympics should continue to embrace what many deem as "Olympic" sports. He used the example of golf. Tiger, Rory or any other golfer winning an Olympic medal will be proud and happy, but that will never compare to the Masters or the British Open. An Olympic medal is tennis is wonderful, but is it greater than winning at Wimbledon or Roland Garros? 

The IOC should be more inclusive of these minor sports. These "Olympic" sports. Lebron will cherish his gold medal, for sure. But his ultimate goal is to win NBA titles. Baseball is a great sport, but they had to beg major league players to participate in the Olympics before baseball was cut. Sure, it was in season, but there was also too much money involved so the players did not want to leave the Majors. Sports such as wrestling, badminton, gymnastics, handball and canoe schedule their major world events around the Olympics and schedule for the Olympics. The Olympics are their ultimate event.

I love the Olympics as much as the next person. I have visited Olympic museums, sites or memorials in Atlanta, Calgary, Montreal, Oslo, Lillehammer and Lausanne. The ideals are beautiful, the competition fantastic, storylines gripping and nations represented fascinating. But in some circles, the Olympics, in particular the IOC, have a reputation of being a good ole boys club. Example is the former IOC president Juan Samanrach's son is vice president of the International Modern Pentathlon Union. Oh, and he's on the IOC board that got to vote on which sport would be dropped. I imagine he had a little bit of sway in the vote. Some describe the Olympics as elitist. There have been critics who say that the Olympics are turning into "games white people play".

Look at the sports that have being added to the Rio Games: Rugby and Golf. I like both sports, but what do you think when you think golf? Rich white guys. How about rugby? I think bloody, rough white guys missing teeth. These are not sports that bring diversity to the games. Since they started the Rugby World Cup in 1987, the final four teams have been either France, England, Scotland, Wales or a member of the British Commonwealth. Argentina snuck in for a bronze in 2007. 

In the last 20 years, 80 golf majors were played. Only 11 times it was won by someone not from America, the United Kingdom or another British Commonwealth. Three of those eleven came from Irishman Padraig Harrington. That doesn't include four won by Rory McIlroy (twice), Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke who hail from Northern Ireland, a member of the United Kingdom. The other eight were split among five players: Bernard Langer (Germany), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain, twice), Angel Caberra (Argentina, twice), Vijay Singh (Fiji, twice) and Yang Yong-eun (South Korea). I did not include in the 11 the two won by Nick Faldo, who hails from Zimbabwe, a former Commonwealth nation. In fairness, on the women's side, Americans or Commonwealth nations have only won 9 of the last 40 women's majors.

In 1996, beach volleyball was added to the Olympic program. 19 of the possible 30 medals in women's and men's beach volleyball have gone to Brazil or the United States. Of the others, 2 went to China and the rest to various European countries. On this note, the Olympics added beach volleyball to volleyball and trampoline to gymnastics but then take away entire sports such as baseball, softball and wrestling. Seems like if the Olympics are too large, it would make sense to trim from sports that have several components or disciplines (canoe/kayak, shooting, track and field, gymnastics, equestrian, weightlifting) rather than totally eliminate sports.

Wrestling on the other hand is global and diverse. It is a sport that has seen lots of success from what many of us might deem minor nations. Keep in mind, there are more weight classes, but the list is impressive in the number of countries represented and the diversity of countries. Middle Eastern and central Asian countries do really well. India, Mongolia, Egypt and Colombia have wrestling medals. Australia is the only continent not represented in wrestling in the last 20 years. And as John Irving noted in an opinion in the NY Times-- in London last summer, wrestling had more countries win medals (29) than modern pentathlon had countries competing (26).

Here are the countries that have medaled at least once in Greco Roman wrestling since 1992: 

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, United States, Uzbekistan.

These countries have won medals in Freestyle wrestling since 1992:

Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, North Korea, Puerto Rico, Russia, Slovakia, South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan

On the women's side, since being introduced at the 2004 Athens games, Olympic medals have been won by: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, United States (including McDowell County, NC's own, Sara McMann-- below, left).

In case you were wondering, since 1992, former Soviet republics and Eastern Bloc nations have dominated modern pentathlon, winning 17 of 18 medals on the men's side (the lone exception, 2012 silver by China). The women's side is a bit more equitable, former communist countries have only taken 5 of 12, with the other 7 divided between Great Britain's 5, one American and one Brazilian. 

Admittedly, I am biased in favor of wrestling because it has been a sport that has given me success, taught me lessons and enabled me to teach and coach young men. With almost 280,000 participants in 2012, it was the 6th most popular boy's sport in American high schools. It deserves a spot on the Olympic program because it is not only a sport that is participated around the world, but recent history has shown that it is a sport in which many countries around the world have enjoyed success. Wrestling is also steeped in our history. Jacob wrestled God, the Greeks admired wrestling, wrestling are national sports in Mongolia and Japan.

And wrestling is inspiring. There are very few sports where the blind, deaf and other physically disabled persons can compete and have a great chance at success. I've wrestled or coached against athletes who were blind, deaf, missing a hand or arm or without a leg. I saw a wrestler at a major tournament who had both legs amputated above the knee and competed and beat able bodied wrestlers. And there's Anthony. Meet Anthony Robles, born with only one leg and a 2011 NCAA Champion:

Since the IOC has not released their votes, we do not know how or why wrestling was chosen to be excluded in 2020, but all signs point to cronyism. It makes total sense to remove a sport that enjoys worldwide participation, requires little equipment, a sport where the Olympics are the peak of glory and in which dozens of countries have earned medals and replace it with sports that have a more narrow group of athletes, are often expensive to train for and purchase equipment, an Olympic medal is not the sport's crowning achievement and only a handful of countries will realistically have a shot at a medal.

I will enjoy future games. But if wrestling is not a part of them, as great as track and field, gymnastics and swimming might be, there will always be a hole without wrestling.

Week of Fun

So, I get a phone call from Assistant Principal Jason Joyce that says to have my clubs ready because I might be his fill in for the Henderson County Education Foundation Golf Tournament because his son is sick. Well, unfortunately for Joyce, Kade has strep. So he got me a sub and I proceeded to leave school early and play golf. Because of my good fortune, I hereby dub this, for me and anyone who wants to join, the "Week of Fun".

Here's why:
- Played golf today (with my principal's blessing).
- Playing for free at Kenmure tomorrow (after school though)
- Going to Elon for homecoming festivities this weekend and to see the #7 ranked Phoenix play.
- Playing in North Henderson Athletics Boosters tournament on Sunday.

Summer Sports

It's July. Midsummer and hot. I've been without football since February. I hurt. Fortunately, July offers lots of good sports drama and is my favorite non-football month. Consider:

- Tour de France: I still love this race. Nearly a month of cycling. These guys are crazy. If Lance wins, he wins. Astana is a loaded team, with Armstrong, Andreas Kloden, Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer all having been podium contendors in recent history. The question remains: who will be the leader of this team, who will sacrifice position to help their teammate win. That will be interesting to watch unravel.

I'm still pulling for Team Garmin and Christian Vande Velde even though he has a tough route considering the injuries sustained in a crash at the Giro d'Italia. The dude is riding after breaking 5 vertebrae. Makes my excuse of being tired seem lame. Here's a nice article in NY Times written by Vande Velde. I wouldn't mind seeing a good race from Team Columbia that features British sprinter Mark Cavendish and longtime American Mr Reliable George Hincapie.

- British Open, or The Open Championships, is also this month. My favorite golf major. This year, it will be played at Turnberry, where in 1986 Greg Norman finally won his first Open Championship.

These two events alone will get me to August and the beginning of football season. Bring on Scotland and the Champs Elysees.

Bethpage and Free Water

This coming week, the US Open Golf Championships will be held at Bethpage Black. The Black course is located in Bethpage State Park, in New York State. Bethpage, with it's relative bargain $120 greens fee for out of state residents, is the blue collar course to the exclusivity of Pebble Beach and Augusta and the exorbitant rates of Pinehurst, Bay Hill or TPC Sawgrass.
In the Sports Illustrated US Open Preview issue, the article Public vs Private compares New York's two Tour venues: Bethpage Black and the brand spanking new Liberty National Golf Club. Bethpage is where groups of strangers can arrive the night before and camp out, drink beer, play poker and swap stories as they wait for one of 6 first come-first serve tee times that are given out each day (the other tee times are via lottery). Liberty National, with its $500,000 initiation fee, is a place where you pay to not have groups in front or behind you on the course.

I was reading Charles Spurgeon's (1834-1892) Morning and Night, and for Morning, June 13 he wrote how Jesus says, "take freely". Come just as you are and "take freely" the water of life. He writes about how beautiful the drinking fountains in England were. No one in their right mind would come to the fountain if they were thirsty and say they couldn't drink because they didn't have five pounds. No matter how torn and tattered they may be dressed, weary and thirsty travelers will freely drink for no other reason than the fountain is there.

The fine gentlemen and ladies in their carriages that pass by, though they may be parched with thirst, will not demean themselves to drink for the fountain of the commoners. In the same way, there are those who are too rich in their own works to freely come to Christ and state, "I will not be saved in the same way as the harlot or the swearer."

Billionaire Jim Clark, founder and member of Liberty National, was asked in the article how he would feel about sleeping in his car to secure a tee time. His response, "I can't imagine having to wait half an hour for a tee time." This is not a diss on Jim Clark. He has earned the right to do with his money whatever he pleases. This is about the rest of us, who do not everyday get the opportunity to walk and play the same course as Tiger, Padraig and Sergio. For that, we will drive hours, sleep in our cars and shank our opening shot on the Number 1 Tee.

"Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come;
and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
Revelation 22:17

Sunday Observations - Mar 22

- Just got back from the first ever Dude's Awesome Golf weekend at Pawleys Island. Played some good golf, ate great food and had lots of laughs. Thank you Hart, Mains, Joyce, Fresh and Auten for good times.

- One of my favorite things to experience is hitting a golf ball in the sweet spot of a long iron. Fortunately, I got to experience that a few times over the weekend.

- Dave Mains makes a mean boil. It is one of life's great pleasures.

- As of right now, my ESPN bracket is ranked ahead of 99.4 percent of other brackets.

- Anthony Robles, last week's crush, ended up finishing 4th at the NCAA Championships. Congratulations on All-American status.

- Nature is awesome. I I don't mean just pretty flowers and majestic mountains. We watched a hawk killing a squirrel just 15 feet away from us. It swooped down and knocked the squirrel from the side of the tree and was slowly killing the animal on the ground. It was amazing. Everytime the squirrel moved or squealed, the hawk readjusted and squeezed harder. Sure, I felt bad for the squirrel, but in nature, there is no life without death.

Man-Crush of the Week:
John Hart is the man. He secured his family's beachhouse at Pawleys Island, made all the tee times and was coordinator extraordinaire. The golf weekend does not happen without John doing a bunch of the legwork.

John Hart and I were both hired by Charles Thomas in the summer of 2000. Since then, we've made road trips, played lots of golf, some poker and had many good laughs. John is the one friend that I know that is always up for a round of golf or a trip for wings-- even after having a baby. Speaking of babies... somehow, John thought that it would be a good idea if I were Sydney's (below) godfather.
Alright Hart, I'll meet you at the Dixie Diner. Bring your clubs...

My fantasty foursome

I read this funny piece by Rick Reilly today.

Made me think, if I were to create a celebrity foursome, who would it entail? I'm not a professional, so I want to play golf with people I like so that golf will be fun. Hitting three balls off the tee into the lake is not fun. In fact, it's terribly frustrating. But with the right foursome, a bad day on the course is still better than a day of work. These would be the other three members of my foursome:

1) Maria Sharapova because she's got a nice [tennis] swing, she's smart and I bet she's a pretty good golfer. Plus, she's not bad on the eyes.
2) Jennifer Love Hewitt seems fun, intelligent and interesting and doesn't have some of the baggage that comes with some other celebrities. Plus, she's not bad on the eyes.3) Charles Barkley is hilarious and not afraid to tell the honest truth. He would keep us laughing. Two things he has going is that I am going to be the more attractive man in the group and I will definitely beat Sir Charles. I may lose to Maria and Jennifer, but there's no way I can lose to Chuck.

Check out his swing (I love that he asks God to bless the ball in the first video):



Check out Tiger impersonating Charles Barkley's swing:

The US Open at Torrey Pines

Though I am admittedly a hacker, I love golf. I love the tradition and history of the game, the challenge of each shot on each hole, the scenic layouts of certain courses and the fellowship of golfing with my friends. Needless to say, I was enthralled by the action at this past week's US Open Championships. From the opening pairing of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott on the first day to the playoffs today, this was an Open for the ages.

A few notes:

1) I can understand Phil's frustration. The quadruple bogey on Number 13 Saturday ruined him. Just a bogey would have brought him to plus 3 after Sunday and tied for sixth. Instead, he finished tied for 18th with a +6. We once played golf at Connestee Falls and watched our putts roll off the green and several yards down the fairway. Went from putter to wedge. Not a good hole that day.


2) In case you haven't heard, Tiger Woods had surgery on his knee right after the Masters. He was obviously in pain, especially on Saturday. A lot of people said that the media was overplaying his injury, that it's just golf. I would beg to differ. Golf is so much about balance and control and your knees are just a little bit important for that. Golf is a game of precision.

I would argue that Tiger playing with a hurt knee was more impressive than Curt Schilling's bloody sock, Emmitt Smith's separated shoulder in the 1994 NFC Championship game, or even Kerri Strugg's miraculous vault on an injured ankle in the 1996 Olympics. While these injuries might have HURT MORE, I don't believe they affected the performance in their sports as much as a bum knee in golf might. Some injuries in some sports can be played through.

I watched Justin Harrell play against Florida with a torn bicep! I have no doubt that he hurt, but he could still perform at an acceptable level. There's no way you are performing with that injury if you are a golfer or tennis player. It's not about toughness, it's about physiology.

3) We are going to talk about Tiger's performance for a long time. Saturday was amazing. That birdie putt from near the fringe on 13 (the same hole that ate Mickelson) was phenomenal. Then he holed 17 from the bunker and a 30 foot birdie on 18 to clinch the lead. The putt on Number 18 Sunday to tie will be also remembered (if only for the insatiable fist pumping). Check out these highlights from Saturday:

4)Get rid of the 18 hole playoff for the US Open. Playing Monday is so anticlimatic. It was close today, but what if Tiger had birdied three in a row and Rocco bogeyed those and was 6 behind? That equals: Yawner. If there is a tie, they should draw a number from a hat or bucket and play three holes. If 12 is drawn, you play 12, 13 and 14. If there is still a tie, go on to 15. I don't like sudden death, it does not give enough room for the better golfer to emerge. 18 on Monday is too much though, especially if one golfer falters.