Ryder Crap
Not too much of a roar about the Ryder Cup over here. But then again, I haven't been in very golf savvy crowds. It was a big deal in the papers, especially the Darren Clarke story (his wife passed away this year).
Quick rant...
I've thus far been very frustrated by SkySports domination of sports programming here. SkySports1 isn't even among the 75 or so channels in Liz's basic cable package. (SkySports news is). When I was here in 2003, there was always a live football* match on during the weekend, and I watched the Masters on BBC. So far there hasn't been a live football match on any of the 5 basic channels. Luckily, BBC's "Match of the Day" gives highlights from the day's games every Saturday and Sunday. I'm hopeful that some of the Champions League or Euro Cup qualifiers will be on those stations.
End rant.
SkySports1 carried the Ryder cup, so I missed all the live action. I did catch some highlights on BBC in the evening. That's a trippy experience. Basically, they edit the whole day down into important putts, plus interesting shots here and there. It's got a weird flow and I'm not sure I like it as much as I like the Premiership version.
I do have a few observations. The first is that Tiger Woods is getting a little too much blame. He did, after all, lead the team in points. He SHOULD win a higher percentage of his matches in the event. But he alone is not to blame.
I also don't think we can just say, "well, the Americans don't care as much as the Europeans." If anything, the Americans were a little too tight. They looked like they'd all be executed if they lost. The Europeans, meanwhile, had constant grins on their faces. Of course, the reason for both sides' demeanors could have been the scoreboard. But I still think the general personality of the European team is more easy going than the Americans.
Nor am I going to put too much blame on Captain Tom Lehman (or give too much credit to Captain Ian Woosman). By all accounts, Lehman handled the intangibles quite well. And his captain's picks, Verplank and Cink, both played very well.
The Americans were not as good as the Europeans on paper. Everyone pretty much agreed with that assessment. But of the rookies, the only one who was a complete bust was Brett Wetterich, one of the surprises that made the roster solely because of the new points system that favors recent success instead of general accomplishments over the past 2 years. I doubt that Wetterich will crack the roster again. Meanwhile, JJ Henry and Zach Johnson are names we should be familiar with, not just for the Ryder Cup but for future majors.
The real busts were the vets of the squad. Guys who have played on previous losing teams. Chad Campbell, Chris DiMarco, David Toms, and Phil Mickelson. These guys are as good as the Europeans, but they did not play like it.
I don't really have any good ideas for 2008. I'll leave that to the players. They've got to figure out a way to get their games in tune for the event.
*I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to call soccer football while I live here. It's just ingrained in my head. I'll probably call the NFL football too, but you'll know when I'm talking about that. Otherwise, assume I'm talking soccer.
Quick rant...
I've thus far been very frustrated by SkySports domination of sports programming here. SkySports1 isn't even among the 75 or so channels in Liz's basic cable package. (SkySports news is). When I was here in 2003, there was always a live football* match on during the weekend, and I watched the Masters on BBC. So far there hasn't been a live football match on any of the 5 basic channels. Luckily, BBC's "Match of the Day" gives highlights from the day's games every Saturday and Sunday. I'm hopeful that some of the Champions League or Euro Cup qualifiers will be on those stations.
End rant.
SkySports1 carried the Ryder cup, so I missed all the live action. I did catch some highlights on BBC in the evening. That's a trippy experience. Basically, they edit the whole day down into important putts, plus interesting shots here and there. It's got a weird flow and I'm not sure I like it as much as I like the Premiership version.
I do have a few observations. The first is that Tiger Woods is getting a little too much blame. He did, after all, lead the team in points. He SHOULD win a higher percentage of his matches in the event. But he alone is not to blame.
I also don't think we can just say, "well, the Americans don't care as much as the Europeans." If anything, the Americans were a little too tight. They looked like they'd all be executed if they lost. The Europeans, meanwhile, had constant grins on their faces. Of course, the reason for both sides' demeanors could have been the scoreboard. But I still think the general personality of the European team is more easy going than the Americans.
Nor am I going to put too much blame on Captain Tom Lehman (or give too much credit to Captain Ian Woosman). By all accounts, Lehman handled the intangibles quite well. And his captain's picks, Verplank and Cink, both played very well.
The Americans were not as good as the Europeans on paper. Everyone pretty much agreed with that assessment. But of the rookies, the only one who was a complete bust was Brett Wetterich, one of the surprises that made the roster solely because of the new points system that favors recent success instead of general accomplishments over the past 2 years. I doubt that Wetterich will crack the roster again. Meanwhile, JJ Henry and Zach Johnson are names we should be familiar with, not just for the Ryder Cup but for future majors.
The real busts were the vets of the squad. Guys who have played on previous losing teams. Chad Campbell, Chris DiMarco, David Toms, and Phil Mickelson. These guys are as good as the Europeans, but they did not play like it.
I don't really have any good ideas for 2008. I'll leave that to the players. They've got to figure out a way to get their games in tune for the event.
*I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to call soccer football while I live here. It's just ingrained in my head. I'll probably call the NFL football too, but you'll know when I'm talking about that. Otherwise, assume I'm talking soccer.
posted by Prof. A at 2:46 PM
1 Comments:
i blame tiger woods for not drinking guinness. paul, did you catch that interview? right after he assured everyone that his wife was not in fact a pornstar (ed. bummer), someone asked him to comment on reports that the american team was spotted drinking guinness and singing irish booze songs. urkel immediately retorted, rather defensively, "I DONT DRINK GUINNESS". what a shot to team unity.
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