When 21 year old golf sensation Jordan Spieth was adorned with the coveted green jacket of the Masters, he waltzed into rare company a few times over…..in a field of the world’s Top 50, winning at Augusta period is an accomplishment not known to many….he is also amongst the youngest winners—Tiger Woods and Seve Ballesteros lead the way in that category….and finally Jordan became one of only five wire to wire Masters title holders!
All of those are incredible feats but there’s something about the wire to wire list that makes it extra special to me. For non golf-enthusiasts….and there are plenty….this distinction comes from being first on the leader board at the end of each and every day—Thursday to Sunday! Whatever your chosen hobby or sport, imagine having a four day tournament and being the leader at day’s end…balancing thoughts on how to work on strengths and weaknesses with thoughts of “wow!” fading in and out of the mix!
After overlooking the fact that he is a former University of Texas student, I took great joy in watching Jordan throughout the Masters. I am going to refrain from crowning him the next King of Golf though. For all of Tiger’s missteps he remains “that guy”. It appears as though the powers that be are so anxious to usher in somebody…anybody…to the throne, the coronation becomes the focal point. In some ways it reminds me of being overly concerned with the pomp and circumstance of a wedding…when the real work, the marriage itself, has yet to be done.
I believe in the kid….I’m simply holding out hope the pressure of being the next fill in the blank doesn’t become extra pressure in an already high pressure occupation. For now, he’ll be the prince of golf….keys to the kingdom will come as he accumulates more wins in the majors—at least 14 or so!!
In the last week we’ve welcome baseball into the fray. Around mid-February I honestly could not decide if I was excited about baseball because of what it symbolized….long days, cold beers, nachos that I wouldn’t even think of ordering anywhere but a ballpark, and most of all heat….or was it baseball itself. In the end, it was revealed that both played valuable roles!
The baseball gods had themselves a little chuckle on the hotly contested “speeding up baseball” debate. Indeed, I was one of those folks up until the wee hours to see who would emerge victorious in the tit for tat at play in Yankee Stadium….19 innings later, also known as two full games and then some….it was the Boston Red Sox! Hello baseball, we sure are glad to see you!!
All sixteen chips of the NBA playoff teams have fallen where they may. It is far too early to call this one. Every year sportscasters begin selecting Melba Moore’s old school jam “This Is It” as the Spurs theme song—then next thing you know those guys are giving opponents the super duper ball movement blues! Visions of a trophy are dancing in the heads of youngsters from Atlanta to Portland and points in between. And of course, all eyes will be on the NBA’s King, you know just to see how this chapter, of the new job that was once the old job, unfolds!! Good luck to them all!!
http://kfabskorner.com/featured/baseball/masters-sensation/
