Glad to be back.
From the "Talks too much" studios, are we prepped for the grand game's best player to be named Bubba? Giddy-up
Bubba's world
Spectators applaud Bubba Watson, left, after winning the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 13, 2014, in Augusta, Ga. Second right is Jordan Spieth and their caddies.Bubba Watson is one of 17 golfers to land multiple Masters title. He has won two of the last three, including Sunday's march to par snooze-fest that was more Memorial than Masters. Watson has delivered twice on golf's grandest stage and likely punched his Hall of Fame ticket. Read that again.
Watson even said he was just "trying to hold on" down the stretch. Yep, hold on. At Augusta National. We're going to be ill.
How did this happen? How did we get to the point where golf's slugfest major, a tournament meant to be won in the final nine holes, is like every other event? Not sure.
Maybe it was the vacuum of top names who either missed the cut or WD-ed before the event. Maybe it was the thinning trees that made the wind diabolical all week. Maybe it was our lofty expectations of this tournament, which are so high that a blah Masters seems like a terrible Masters.
We do know this: Jordan Spieth is legit. Kid can golf his ball, but his ability to deliver on Sunday a major is a skill that needs to be collected early on or it will be a cross to carry.
Ask Phil Mickelson, who went 0-for-42 in majors before winning the 2004 Masters. Sure it turned out super cool for Mickelson, who has five major titles and will be a sentimental pick this June at the US Open, as he returns to Waterloo and tries to complete a career slam. More pertinent may be the case of Kuchar, as in Matt, who has been on the scene since the late 1990s and is still major-less.
Time is now Jordan, and the game needs you, too. Sooner rather than later son. Be the ball Danny. Be Heir Jordan.
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Masters Short Shots
Bubba Watson reacts after winning the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 13, 2014, in Augusta, Ga.• Winners of the 5-at-10 Masterfully Mastering the Masters challenge are:
Michael A - Spieth -5, Scott +1, Watson -8; Christopher B - Watson -8, Spieth -5, Scott +1
That's two -12 in the house, unless of course those guys had Tom Watson. Or the man you know better as Joe the Policeman in the 'What's Going Down' episode of "That's My Momma" Mr. Randy Watson.
These results are unofficial. If you have a beef, speak now or forever hold your pitching wedge.
• If you could have a Co-Cola with any of the Masters contenders, who are you picking? We're leaning hard toward Miguel Angel Jimenez. And if he wears the mirrored Ray Bans, we'll pick up the check.
• For the first time since early Tiger, the Masters was won by the guy that hit it the farthest. Bubba bombed away a the course and played a different course than most others. Take No. 13 on Sunday for example: Bubba is hitting his second into the 510-yard par 5 with a gap wedge for crying out loud. Gap wedge. That said, here's hoping they don't start tweaking the course again. It was a down year, nothing more. Let's see how next year plays before we start tinkering, OK.
• What's the one word you would use to describe this Masters?
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Spring football recaps
Well that was a busy weekend, no?
Tennessee's Justin Pickett dives across the goal line for a score as Lemond Johnson makes the tackle during the the spring Orange and White game Saturday at Neyland Stadium.We were in Augusta for a small golf get together.
We had spring scrimmages for the Mocs, the Vols and the Bulldogs.
Who has questions? We know folks who will get you answers.
Here's a quick takeaway from each:
At Finely: The usual suspects are going to be every bit as good as advertised. Book that. (JMC, Russ was quite pleased with his offensive line going into the scrimmage. Sorry we did not address your question from last week sooner. As for the linebackers, he said depth has improved, but he has always maintained that the incoming freshmen at that spot could play early.)
At Neyland: Great crowd. Josh Malone sounds like the real deal. The secondary sounds like a real problem.
At Sanford: If he stays healthy, we'll set the over/under on Todd Gurley's rushing yards at 1,250, and we're that low because of the great depth the Bulldogs have at running backs. (Side note: Hutson Mason already has the quarterback-speak down. Good times.)
Thoughts?
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This and that
- Scanning the Yahoo this morning, we saw Bobbi Brown cosmetics were trending. Who knew Candy Girl and Mr Telephone Man would launch a make-up line? Well, it is his prerogative What's that? A different Bobby Brown. Whatever.
- The Braves blitzed the Nationals, and Freddie Freedman is crushing to the point that we're not even going to make fun of a him sticking with Freddie. Deal? Deal. That said, Danny Struggla is at .195 and we are still set on the under of the Struggla line of .210. Thoughts?
- 49ers defensive end Aldon Smith was arrested at LAX for saying he had a bomb. A bomb at airport, huh. What, they didn't fall for the banana in the tail pipe trick? Smith is the definition of criminally stupid.
- The NBA regular season is almost over. The real NBA season is about to start. Good times.
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Today's question
As always Monday is about who won the weekend.
And yes, Bubba won the weekend. Side note: When the Masters ended Sunday evening and Bubba started crying and the memorable shot of his son strolling on the green happened, the Mrs. 5-at-10 started crying. The Lil' 5-at-10 looked at the TV and said, "Did he win a kid for winning the tournament?"
Good times.
What's your Rushmore of Watsons (We could do Bubbas, but there are not a lot of them)?