The SoapBoxers

Photo: I'll Have Another (purple) down the stretch.

The first Saturday in May is always one of my favorite days. It is another large sporting event that brings the casual fan to watch a sport that they otherwise would not normally follow. There are events such as the Daytona 500, The Masters, The Super Bowl, and of course…..

The Kentucky Derby.

The Run for the Roses…I always thought this, and not the Rose Bowl, should be called the Granddaddy of them all.   After all…this has been around a LOT longer than the Rose Bowl game.

Breaking from the #19 post position a horse named I’ll Have Another was the winner, making a game move down the stretch to win the Derby. It went off at 16-1 which allowed for a nice pay-day for the Goodman household as BOTH Mr. and Mrs. Goodman had winning tickets.

I enjoy horse racing, but would not consider myself a “gambler” per se. I like playing poker with the guys on occasion, and will attend some of the live racing meets here in Lincoln. I am not a big wager type of guy. $10 on a race is a large bet for me. Normally it is the standard $2 to win-place–show on a horse.

Yum! Brands who sponsors the Triple Crown holds a contents where the winner that is selected gets $100,000 to drop on one bet – one horse – one chance to win for the Kentucky Derby. This year the guy who got to place the “mystery bet” put his $100K on #11 – a longshot by the name of Alpha.

At the time the bet was placed the horse – had it won the Kentucky Derby, would have paid back an amazing $2 million on that $100,000 wager.

The real comment of the day is when the individual was asked by an NBC reporter, would the lucky contestant like to make the wager or would they rather just take the hundred grand and walk away. Without hesitation the guy responded “I am a horse player “ and indicated he was going for the big pay day and not the “small potatoes of the hundred large.

I can tell you if that was offered to me, I would walk with the hundred thousand without blinking an eye. Guess my risk appetite is a LOT lower than most people at the horse track.

Another interesting tidbit from my gambling experience this weekend. As you can expect, at the simulcasting place in Lincoln, the patron traffic was teaming on Saturday. There was a HUGE crowd watching the races some even all dressed up in their faux Kentucky Derby at the Lincoln Race Course experience. The parking lot was packed and fortunately my father and I basically just went and placed our bets and then took off to do some further work for the day.

When I came back on Sunday afternoon to cash the winning tickets, the place was deserted, you wondered if it was even open…there were about 50 cars in the parking lot, and I am guessing some of those were for the people working there as well.

Needless to say I got in and out of the place much more quickly than I did the day before…and left with a lot more money than I came with.

I am sure the same cannot be said for most everyone else on Saturday.

Murder at the Track

Death is no stranger to the racing crowd, even around an event like The Kentucky Derby.  In 2008, Derby runner-up Eight Belles was put down on the track.

The past two years, however, have seen human death case a cloud over Churchill Downs.  Last year, jockey Michael Baze was found dead in his vehicle three days after the Derby.  The cause of death was accidental painkiller overdose.

This year, 48 year old Adan Fabian Perez was murdered in a barn on the premises of the track (more than 200 people live on the grounds full-time).  There hasn’t been much released about the murder of the horse groom, although there was some arguments in the vicinity on Saturday night.  Perhaps soon we’ll know who killed Perez, and why.

Photo: #1 overall pick Andrew Luck.

Last night was the first night of the NFL draft. It was one of the more exciting drafts in some time, and also seemed to move along fairly quickly for a change.

One thing was for certain last night, there was more moving going on than a NASCAR race.

I cannot remember a first rounds chock full of trade after trade after trade. I am sure the new rookie contract caps that are in place were the reason for creating so much action last night. Teams are not going to leverage hundreds of millions of dollars on some of those early picks, which has been the case in the past.

Overall I would not call this a very strong draft in terms of depth of talent. I could be wrong but as with most drafts, it really takes a few years for this to all pan out and realize which players turned out to be as advertised and which ones simply did not pan out at all.

Is Ryan Tannehill overrated?

Minnesota did a good job of gaining some extra picks by moving down in the draft. They had various people hit them up for the services of drafting Trent Richardson, but eventually the Browns offered the best deal and go his services. No way were the Vikings going to chase out a guy to replace Adrian Peterson at this time, even though he did have a season ending knee injury last year? Are Vikes fans wishing they WOULD have taken Richardson anyway?

The pick I like the least is Ryan Tannehill to the Dolphins. I am not sold at ALL on Tannehill. I saw him play against Nebraska, and frankly he didn’t look that good, unless you want him to complete 2 yard out routes. All I hear is how great his arm is blah blah blah…All I see is how many games A&M lost in the last two years that they were in control of…..so if he is THAT good, shouldn’t he be leading them to wins as their quarterback?

Morris Claiborne went 6th overall to Dallas.

I like Dallas’s pick (Morris Claiborne) as for the loyal Cowboy fans that means that they can finally quit complaining about Terrence Newman. Why the heck the Cowboys kept that guy around as long as they did is beyond me. All he did was get schooled on a regular basis and give up huge yards to opposing receivers.

The pick I don’t like is Brandon Weeden to the Browns. The Browns keep swinging and missing on getting their quarterback (where have you gone Brian Sipe) Weeden is old, and is reminds me more of Chris Weinke than Roger Stabauch coming into the league as an old QB.

Should be much more excitement in the next two rounds…..until next time….Stay Classy Radio City Music Hall!
 

 

CAPTION: Did Saints GM Loomis eavesdrop on opposing teams?

We knew that Saints liked to play dirty, we just did not know how dirty or deep this really went.

We can remember the cheap shots, the late hits and Bret Favre getting tossed around like a rag doll in a playoff game just two years ago. Amazingly, the NFL, known for being “ultra-protective” of their quarterbacks, had an officiating crew that apparently forgot they were carrying flags and whistles in that game.

Fast forward to 2012. Former Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams is found to have been running a bounty scheme in the locker room. Some players spoke up about this “anonymously” An investigation had actually been going on since 2010 when the league was asked to looked into some actions during playoff games going back into the 2009-2010 season.

Roger Goodell is known for his iron fist. He tries to run a league that is not only clean, but holds players to a higher standard. Goodell makes the players accountable for their actions and tries to keep the image of the League that of respectability. His initial punishments were swift.

Gregg Williams, now a defensive coordinator with the Rams, was suspended indefinitely and will not be allowed to apply for reinstatement until the end of the 2012 season at the earliest.

Sean Payton, the head coach, was suspended for the entire 2012 season, effective April 1. He is the first head coach in modern NFL history to be suspended for any reason. Mainly due to his inability to have control over what was happening on his staff with the “bounty scheme”.

General manager Mickey Loomis was also suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season.

And now Loomis is making headlines again, and once again for bad reasons.

An ESPN OUTSIDE THE LINES report has claimed that Loomis had an electronic device or devices in his suite at the Superdome that would allow him to listen to the conversations of visiting coachers during the 2002-2003 and 2004 seasons

This investigation is in its infant stages, but this further tarnishes the golden helmets and the reputation of a franchise that has long been the laughing stock of the NFL. Known by such monikers as the “aint’s” New Orleans rose from the flooding and devastation during Hurricane Katrina to bring the first major sports championship to the city that needed a boost in the arm after suffering through a horrendous set of circumstances in the wake of a natural disaster.

Now it appears the natural disaster is becoming more and more self-inflicted. Accusations of cheating, large sanctions and suspensions are already out there from “bounty gate” and it is still likely that some of the players involved in the bounty scheme will be facing fines and suspensions.

In the meantime the Saints are going to need to do some serious spin doctoring to try and change their image, which is starting to take on the appearance of some of the clientele on Bourbon Street on a raucous evening. Not thinking clearly, doing what they can to get there way, and ending up in the morning regretting some of the decisions that were made the night before.

Yes, this is turning into the Big Sleazy.

There is nothing quite like Augusta National Golf Club.

The Masters Tournament signals in the unofficial golf season around the United States. We all tune in to watch and marvel and the condition of the course. Many golfers and sports fans alike have it on their “bucket list”

I had the opportunity to go with a person who has attended the tournament for over 30 years back in 2009. I enjoyed watching Tiger and Phil play in the same group on Sunday and winced with most of the crowd when Kenny Perry faltered down the stretch. This eventually set up a three way playoff between Perry, Chad Campbell and eventual champ that year Angel Cabrera. You can read that original article here.

Getting there is not as tough as you think.

Unless you are connected and happened to have a family friend or a rich uncle that has annual patron badges, you have a couple of methods to still seeing the emerald cathedral in person.

Each year on the website for the Masters – normally starting slightly after the tournament’s conclusion you can apply for tickets to the following years tournament. The main badges are long since gone, and the waiting list is longer than checkout lines at Wal-Mart on the day after Thanksgiving.

Augusta National offers a lottery type drawing for you, and anyone else you can convince to put in a ticket request on your behalf. You can apply for practice rounds or actual tournament days. I would suggest that you apply for all of them.

This year I had a few co-workers that were successful in getting practice round badges using this method.

Option #2 is to use an on-line ticket brokerage on on-line auction service to purchase your tickets.

My wife and I did this option this year as I truly wanted to go back to the tournament when I could take photos…which is ONLY during a practice round.

Here are a couple of helpful tips for you if you are planning on going to Augusta in the future to watch the Masters:

1) Stay in Columbia! – Columbia South Carolina is a little over a hour drive from Augusta, and you won’t have to sell your spleen to be able to book a hotel room. We stayed in the Harbison area which had great shopping and a lot of nice restaurants in a Comfort Inn for $95 a night. If you stay in places such as Aiken or even Augusta – get out the checkbook.

2) Get there early!. Gates open at 8 am on practice round days, but you want to be there by no later than 7:15. Why? You have to park, then walk to the gates and then get into the tournament through nothing short of what I would describe as a “friendly” TSA type of scanning process.
 
 

3) Hit the merchandise tent – make it your FIRST STOP! You can pretty much only get Masters “gear” from the Tournament site itself. So, get in early, go purchase your souvenirs and then exit to the left of the merchandise building and either check your bag (they will gladly hold it for you until you leave at the end of the day) or better yet, use the local shipping service tent to send it back home and avoid the extra luggage on the airplane.

4) Take lots of photos and follow your favorite players. Word of warning. Augusta is a very hilly piece of real estate. Television – even HD television does not due the elevation changes justice. Grab a comfy and broken in pair of shoes. You will also want to hydrate often if it is warm (it was 95 ish Monday this year when I was there)

5) Eat up!. Need to experience some of the local fare such as chicken biscuits in the morning, and the pimento cheese sandwiches in the afternoon. Best thing about the Masters??? Concessions are CHEAP. Everything you see below cost the wife and I $7 for our first refueling stop of the morning.
 
 
  
I truly hope you all have the chance to make it there someday. Have a great weekend and enjoy the golf!

[Editor’s note: click on any of the images to view a larger version]

Is Tiger set to blast out of his life's bunker?

Seven and the Ragged Tiger

Love him or hate him, Tiger Woods is good for the game of golf. One thing for sure is he has been controversial. He has been in the news a lot over the last few years.

Is he the best ever? Can’t stand the guy? What happened to his game? Can you believe he cheated on his wife? Have you read Haney’s book? Is his knee/head/Achilles ok? Will he catch Jack’s record winning Major Championships?

Seven continually repeated questions, so many opinions, so many yet unanswered.

Seven Time Winner

Sunday might have been the first time Tiger has answered back with his golf game and not his comments in a press conference.

This past weekend, Eldrick won for the first time since the 2009 BMW Championship, giving him 72 victories all-time. This is the seventh..that is right…seventh time he has won the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational. He played very well (other for a couple of errant tee shots on the back nine) and was the only player on the first page of the leaderboard when the day started to post an under par round in the windy conditions.

Woods started out the tournament with a fairly routine 69, but propelled himself to the top of the leaderboard arena with a 7 under par 65 on Friday. The win propelled Tiger from 18th in the World Rankings to 6th. One place ahead of last year’s Masters Champion, Charl Schwartzel.

Scratching the Seven Year Itch

In two weeks, Tiger looks to be in very good form as he attempts to win his first Masters Title and 5th overall. The last time he won…7 years ago in 2005.

As I write this on Monday it will be just one short week until I find some good ol’ Southern hospitality. This year I will be in attendance at a practice round on Monday. This will be my second trip to the Masters as I was lucky enough to go in 2009. On that trip I was there to watch the weekend – being in attendance on both Saturday and Sunday.

That day Tiger and Phil were paired together. Both were starting Sunday 7 shots back. I followed the twosome for the first 7 holes on the front nine. I saw Mickelson hit some of the most amazing shots I had ever witnessed in person as he was in route to a 6 under par 30 on the front nine. I moved ahead of the throngs to get into position at the seats we had placed out directly to the right of the 12th tee.

Yes I was there when Mickelson splashed it in the water and pretty much dashed his hopes. But for about 2 ½ hours that day, the electricity in the air was something you could just sense. This was Tiger and Phil, this was them playing together and playing well. This was exciting.

Seventh Sign of the Golf Apocalypse?

A lot of people have written him off, and maybe this last win was just a flash in a washed up pan.

I don’t think so.

There has been a lot happening with Tiger in the past couple of years, but right around the President’s Cup last fall it all started looking different. The focus looked different. The swing looked different.

Now the confidence appears to be back, the focus appears to have returned. The broadcasters and fellow tour players are starting to say it is looking again like the “Old” Tiger Woods. Will the results be different?

If this is in fact true – and Tiger is able to bring his game back to the level that he was previously able to achieve-  it will be an awakening for the young tour players that have not really had to experience the Tiger effect over the last 2 ½ years.

One thing is for sure. No matter what, he once again has the golf fans talking. And THAT – is good for the game of golf.

Until next time, Stay Classy White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia!

Striking Down With Great Vengeance….

I saw a funny couple of posts on Facebook last night.

One went something along the lines of “Will the Wrath of God hit the Broncos now that his favorite Quarterback has lost the starting job?”

While this may be funny on the surface it really does hit an interesting point. There is Broncos Nation….and then there is Tebow Nation.

The Broncos fans were torn last year as Tebow became the quarterback. Many tried and true Tebow fans proclaimed him as their “football savior” Indicating his college record, his winning spirit, and that “IT” factor that no-one can quite put their finger on…but evidently Tim has “IT” .  “All he does is win” is what the Tebow camp proclaimed.

Naysayers would bring up the same couple of points over and over. He can’t throw the ball at all. He throws it terribly inaccurately and his throwing motion is horrid. With him as quarterback all teams do is load up to stop the run and make him throw the football.

Turns out both groups of fans were right. He really did not throw the ball worth a lick, but he did win games and had six fourth quarter come from behind victories and led the Broncos to the playoffs.

Enter Peyton Manning. He has had career neck problems. He has proven time and time again that he is arguably the best regular season quarterback of all time. He is the consummate field general, calling all the plays at the line of scrimmage and changing them on the fly based on what the defense if giving him. His accuracy over the years and arm strength are without question.

Let the Sound Clips Begin!

Already the arguments are starting with what will become of Tim Tebow? Why did the Broncos of all teams go get Manning after they stated last year Tebow was “their guy”

Current player Willis McGahee and stated on Sirius XM NFL Radio – “Basically, he can really take us to another level,” “We were young and I think those guys got the jitters out of them last year, even though we did go to the playoffs and represented the AFC West. It was a certain something that we were missing. We were missing that general to take charge in tough situations and I think he brings that to the table.”

Former Broncos player, Bill Romanowski told Yahoo Sports Radio – “I don’t see this as a huge positive for the Denver Broncos. I don’t think you can just throw in a Peyton Manning, who to me is still broken down, who is not healthy yet, and think that he is going to be the answer to getting you to a Super Bowl. To me, you had the answer. You just need more talent around a guy like Tim Tebow.”

These are the comments before any “official” announcement has been made. I am sure the comments will continue to roll out of Mile High City in the next few weeks.

Why Didn’t Peyton Go For the Gold?

I personally was thinking that Manning might have went to the west coast and landed with the 49ers. At the end of the day, I think the same thing that makes it appealing to Manning is ultimately the same thing that made it unattractive. Jim Harbaugh.

Harbaugh strikes me as a guy that is ultra-competitive. I get the feeling is very cerebral when it comes to being a tactician on the field. He is intense. He is a former Colts Quarterback. I have the sense likes to be in control.

To me this is a case where Manning and Harbaugh might be too much alike and would ultimately clash in the end game. There is no doubt the Niners would be a prohibitive favorite in the NFC to get to the Super Bowl with Peyton in charge of the huddle. In the end, maybe it was the perception that egos would get in the way.

Un-retiring the 18?

An interesting side note is that the Denver Broncos long ago retired the #18 jersey. It was worn by Frank Tripucka, who also was the first U.S. professional quarterback to throw for over 3000 yards in a season. Tripucka, who is now in his mid-Eighties, has indicated he would be happy to give permission to Manning to sport the long ago retired #18 for the Broncos. “A number is a number!” Frank said. “I’d be honored if he wants to use it. He’s a great quarterback.”

While the Tim Tebow Jersey was the 2nd bestselling NFL jersey last year, it will be interesting to see if the new number 18 in navy and orange will crack the top 10 in jersey sales in 2012. My guess is that he will be miles high up on the list.

Until next time– Stay Classy Toledo, Ohio
 

 

Many of you likely read my article from Tuesday proclaiming that Alabama was going to beat Creighton. In case you missed it – you can find it here.

Living in Nebraska, I have caught a lot of heat for this stance. I had various friendly wagers of soda on the line at work, even a lunch or two. I was even mentioned at a meeting today for my “hatred” of the Blue Jays. I clarified the issue immediately that I do not in fact hate Creighton at all…I just dislike them vehemently.

With all that said, I apologize to all fans in Blue Jay Nation about my slighted article. Yes I was completely wrong. You are not over-rated. The three impressive wins on your slate of games beating three NCAA teams speak to the outstanding strength of your basketball schedule. Never mind that those three teams all lost their initial games and are at home, like me, watching basketball for the rest of the tournament.

I proudly wore a Crimson polo shirt to the office today, stated “Roll Tide” whenever possible and even whistled the Alabama fight song a time or two today.

Like many folks I have filled out a number of brackets, but just for on-line contests that allow you to win something. I have done the local newspaper. The local news station. The big national outlets. A few at some local restaurants. We even have one at the office but I let my 6 year old fill it out as I figure his odds of winning are better than me.

Overall on most of the brackets I have filled out I am doing well. I am perfect on one, and was 15-1 in two brackets and 14-2 two and 13-3 on a couple of others. I had West Virginia winning on all accounts but one bracket and obviously lost that game. UNLV cost me on a couple as well.

I can add a loss to all brackets today —- as I had Bama winning in ALL of my entries. I said Creighton was over-rated and I made my picks with that in mind. I try to back up what I say. It would have been foolish to say they were over-rated and then go ahead and pick them to advance.

Go Big or Go Home. Bama is going home and it is an “L” on all of my sheets of integrity. I also had Texas on one or two (what the heck was I thinking with that…you all know I love the republic!) and unless Florida State wakes up late in the game, I am in big big trouble there as well.

Good thing my wife is a North Carolina Tar Heel fan. I can let Mrs. Goodman do all the cheering for me on Sunday.

Until next week, when I can tell everyone about the rest of my poor picks…..Go Wildcats!

The Conference Tournaments are all done….the seedings are all done…..we are all filling out our brackets….

And many fans are whining.

As always there are many teams on the outside looking in.

Washington Huskies fans are complaining as they missed out on the field of 64..errrr 68. The regular season Pac 12 champs were left off the list by the NCAA. Why?

First off the league as a whole was HORRIBLE this year. They were 0-12 against ranked opponents and 9-43 against teams in the RPI’s top 50. Yikes!

Colorado, which earned the automatic berth by winning the Conference tournament, is an 11 seed. California, the only other team in from the Pac 12 is in a play in game against fellow 12 seed South Florida but did have the advantage of having the highest RPI in the conference which is likely what got them in over the Huskies.

Washington finished first in the Pac-12 with a 14-4 in the conference and was 21-10 overall. However, they went 0-5 against RPI top 50 teams and per the NCAA wasn’t even close to getting an at-large bid. This year for the first time in history, the NCAA Selection committee released the seedings from 1 to 68 and ALSO listed the first six teams left out of making the field of 68 teams. The Huskies were not among the 6 so called “close by not quite” teams on the list.

Drexel finished with an outstanding record of 27-6. On paper this looks like a lock. The . The Dragons won the Colonial Athletic Association regular season championship and won 19 consecutive games before losing to VCU in the CAA final. The Dragons strength of schedule, ranked 248, likely kept them outside looking in.

The Cry of the Blue Jay

Since I am writing for a blog and can be biased as I want to be…I will take that liberty today. As you all know I am a loyal Nebraska Cornhuskers fan. What most of you won’t know is that I have been attending most home basketball games since 1975 as my father has been a season ticket holder since that time.

Nebraska is the only Division I football program in the state.

However, when the boys move from the gridiron to the hardwood – – things change.

Up the road a short piece there is a bigger town…maybe you have all heard of it…It is called Omaha. Some Lincolnites would argue that at times, Omaha seems like it is its own sovereign nation and not really a part of Nebraska.

That could not be a more true statement when it comes to Creighton Blue Jay Basketball.

Creighton Basketball fans snub their noses and turn their backs in general on the Nebraska Basketball team. It is a heated rivalry, and if I sound a little bitter and full of resentment regarding the Creighton program then you are reading exactly what I am trying to convey.

Head Coach Greg McDermott is complaining that the Missouri Valley Tournament Champions and holder of the automatic NCAA berth out of the MVC got overlooked being just an 8 seed. The Blue Jays were a top 20 team early in the year, and the coach’s son Doug is on many “watch lists” as he is a great talent.

McDermott argues that the NCAA selection committee had a “story line agenda” in wanting to match up former teammates at Ames High School, Doug McDermott and Harrison Barnes of North Carolina in a possible 1 vs. 8 seed 2nd round match.

The office banter has been at an all-time high. Cries out outrage. What was the NCAA seeking? Is the team as concerned as their fan base? Are they worried more about their seeding the in tournament than they are about playing their first round game?

Alabama – their opponent is missing one of their better players but has undoubtedly played a MUCH tougher schedule throughout the year and should be battle tested and ready. I think Bama handles them and then fans of the “other” basketball team in Nebraska will be whining even louder. I am predicting a one and done for Creighton.

Of course, I could be wrong…this is March Madness after all. Here is hoping I am not eating Blue Jay come this weekend.

Until Next Time…ROLL TIDE!

Mutiny on the Bounty

I really am surprised with all of the uproar that is being given to the current situation involving current St Louis Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and the alleged setting of “bounties” on opposing players.

In case you have not been hearing this in the news, essentially a bounty is considered a situation where a pool of money is set aside for players and then if they perform certain tasks in the game, they get a stipulated amount from this pool of money. For example: If you knock the opposing team’s quarterback out of the game, we will give you $2500.

According to the Associated Press, Williams has been under investigation for his time as the defensive coordinator with the New Orleans Saints, primarily from 2009-2011. The NFL has implied that as many as 28 different players were involved in this “bounty” program with the Saints that rewarded defensive players for knocking opponents out of games and also rewarded so-called “big hits”

Two familiar names that were considered bounty targets include Kurt Warner and Brett Favre during the Super Bowl Championship year of 2010.

The airwaves on television and radio have been filled with all of these former players turned analysts/broadcasters shedding light and their opinion on the matter. The overwhelming side of the story from these “experts” is that it is a different culture in the National Football League and the average fan just does not understand or have any concept of this culture that exists within the locker room and between the lines.

Others argue that this gets to the issue of integrity within sports and is sending the wrong message. If setting bounties at the NFL is ok to do, and players are rewarded for hurting other players and even potentially jeopardizing their careers, won’t this attitude permeate downward into the ranks of college football, and even high school football and possibly lower?

I am certain that commissioner Roger Goodell will drop some significant penalties when the “official” word is released by the NFL. Goodell has shown time and time again that he is trying to run a tight ship. He wants a league that is successful and entertaining, but does not jeopardize integrity and most importantly safety of the players.

The NFL under his watch has cracked down on defenseless hits, concussions, and has been much more strict in handing out fines and suspensions in the attempt to curb any unsatisfactory behavior. The examples are all well documented. Everything from the Suh stomping incident to New England taping other teams sidelines in the effort to steal play calls and gain an advantage.

My gut feeling is that the penalties, fines, and suspensions associated with all of the “bounty” talk will be very large and send a firm and definitive message.

Here is hoping my instincts on this one are right, and that the former players turned analysts quit put the shovel away and quit digging themselves a deeper hole trying to explain why bounties on players are being misunderstood by the fans around the country.

Until next time, stay classy – Oil City, Pennsylvania

Harry Vardon won The Open Championship six times between 1896 and 1914.

This is a question I ponder all of the time, being a golf historian. First one has to remember that coverage of golf tournaments in the infancy stages of golf was done strictly by word of mouth, or an occasional coverage of a big tournament by a local newspaper.

Golf was also a game of few players that were considered Professional golfers in its early days, and many of the top players in the game were truly amateur players. Because of this, the majors consisted of the Open Championship, the United States Open Championship, the United States Amateur and also the British Amateur Championship.

Or should I say…these were considered the major golf championships if you were an Amateur golfer.

Robert Tyre Jones Jr, won all four of these tournaments in 1930. It was deemed the impregnable quadrilateral. Aka….the Grand Slam.

This gave meteoric rise to the term “Major” when referring to golf tournaments. It was basically accepted that these were the four Majors for amateur golfers in that day and age.

This past week if you are a golf fan you likely tuned into some of the coverage of the WCG Accenture World Match Play Championship. This tournament is a match play format, where competitors play head to head against one other golfer over 18 holes. Low score does not win in match play format, but the person winning the most holes wins.

In our “modern era” of golf, there are four recognized Major Championships. They are:

• The Open Championship
• The United States Open
• The PGA Championship
• The Masters

 Let’s look at each of these and why they are currently considered a Major:

The Open Championship

Notice it is called The Open Championship, only Americans have added the word “British” to the title.

The Open Championship is considered the first true major. Why? Mainly as it has been around the longest and at the time first played (1860 at Prestwick in western Scotland) it undoubtedly brought in the strongest field in a golf tournament being organized anywhere in the world. This tournament more than any other tournament is one of the reasons if not THE reason that golf really expanded and took off and became more of an accepted sport, and not just something done by the upper middle class people in their spare time.

Early players and winners in this tournament were most often club makers, ball makers, caddies, greens keepers people schooled in a combination of all of these professions. Also due to lack of people’s ability to travel, it almost exclusively featured players of primarily from England and Scotland in its first 30 years in existence. The first winner from outside of Scotland or England was France’s Arnaud Massy in 1907. This one gets in to the realm of major championship as it was the first to the dance.

The United States Open

The United States Open was first played in 1895 in Rhode Island. Immigrants had brought the game of golf from Scotland to the Northeast portion of the United States and it was a game catching on quickly among the upper classes in society. In the early days of the tournament, most of the winners had come across to the United States and were funded to do so with the sole purpose of claiming this title, and then returning back to England or Scotland, or in some cases the professional set themselves up nicely for a full time job as a club professional after adding this trophy to their fireplace mantle.

The first American to win the title was John McDermott in 1911, (previously all were won by players native to England or Scotland) but it was really the combination of the tours of Harry Vardon, culminating with Francis Ouimet’s upset win of Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in 1913 at Brookline that really propelled this tournament – and golf for that matter – into the sports limelight in the United States. This paved the way for the popularity of Hagen and Jones in the 20’s in the golden era of sports.

The PGA Championship

The Professional Golf Association Championship – or commonly referred to as the PGA Championship – was first played in 1916, after the formal creation of the Professional Golfers Association of America (pretty hard to have a PGA championship without the PGA,isn’t it). From its inception in 1916 up until 1958, this tournament was played as a match play and not a stroke play tournament.

Due to the strength of golf in the United States, and the initial origins of it being a more grueling match play format instead of stroke play, this tournament has really been considered one of the more important tournaments throughout its entire existence.

The Masters

We are all familiar with the Masters, but it is the new kid on the block. Originally called the Augusta Invitational Tournament by founders Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones. Gene Sarazen hit the “shot heard ’round the world” in 1935, holing a shot from the fairway on the par 15th for a double eagle. This put Sarazen in a 36 hole Playoff against Craig Wood which he eventually won. Sarazen was one of the more popular players of this era and this shot, coupled with the fact that it was Jones’s tournament gave this event all the steam it needed.

While Jones always intended this to be a get together for his golfing buddies, the tournament really became considered a major during the early 1960’s for two main reasons – Sportswriters became more enamored with “counting” major championships and television started covering golf with the rivalry developing between the golf fans of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in particular.

The Forgotten Majors

 Back when the amateur tournaments were considered more along the lines of majors for the amateur golfers, there were other tournaments that were considered “Major’s” of the time for those who were golf professionals. I will mention three of them that were at least under consideration of being majors in their time.

The Western Open

In the United States, the Western Open was definitely considered a major. It began play in 1899 and just like the United States Open, the formative years of this tournament were usually won by players travelling to the US from England and Scotland. Many sources you will see will indicate that this tournament was not considered an “official” major at that time, but I would argue that back in the pre- World War II era of golf, nothing was really considered a Major outside of the four tournaments mentioned previously.

When you look at former Champions it is an impressive roll call, especially from its inception up until the 1950’s when this tournament started to go to the wayside and things at Augusta started to pick up.

The British PGA Match-Play Championship

This tournament was every bit as important to the European golf scene as the PGA Championship was to the American golf scene. The British Match Play started in 1903 and was played up until 1979. The event was sponsored by a newspaper – The News of the World, and in many cases when referencing the tournament it is called by this name and not the British Match Play.

This was the top prize money tournament in the British Golf genre, even more than the Open Championship. In the early days of the tournament, particularly pre-World War I, this tournament was assuredly considered a major by its participants and the players were without question the finest group of players on the planet year in and year out.

The World Championships of Golf

This was a tournament that did not have a long storied history as it was only played from 1946-1957. During that time however, it boasted one of the largest pay days on tour for the winner, and from 1952-1957 the winner of this tournament won the money title for the year…and by a lot.

The event provided one of the few showcases of its time for leading international players to compete against the best U.S. professionals, who rarely travelled outside of their country to play. The tournament got into a dispute with the PGA in 1958 and that essentially ended a short run for this high pay day affair for the professionals.

At the very least, the Western Open and the British Match play should be considered Major Tournaments for part of their existence. I won’t go into my personal feelings here in this article, but due to the strength of the fields in those tournaments and the perception and status those tournaments held – once upon a time at least – many of those wins should be counted for those players as major championships.

Today’s 5^th Major?

In recent years, two tournaments have gained some momentum as being considered a 5^th major on the professional tour.

The Players Championship

The one with the most following to make this happen is surely The Players Championship. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, this event started in 1974, moved to Colonial the following year, and then relocated to Ponte Vedra Beach Florida starting in 1977. It has been played at the TPC Sawgrass course since 1982 which is most known for its island green 17^th that forces players to hit a short iron shot to a green surrounded by nothing other than water.

The field for this event is a bit more limited and includes almost with certainty all of the top 50 players in the world, under difficult conditions. The prize pool is enormous by any standard and this event yields a total prize purse of 9.5 million dollars as of 2011. It is also the tournament that seems to have the most tour players promoting it as a 5^th major.

The Memorial Tournament

This tournament would likely fall just under the realm of the Players Championship, but is given a lot of credence on the PGA tour for a couple of reasons. First, it was founded and is still ran by Jack Nicklaus, who many consider the greatest golfer of all time. Second, the tournament is always played at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, which is considered an outstanding, beautiful and difficult golf club, and third it is one of only five tournaments on the PGA tour that are considered “invitation only” tournaments.

The course is usually set up unusually difficult, and the fact that Nicklaus has attempted to turn this into an Augusta like atmosphere adds to the psyche of the tournament. The main feature of this tournament which has been held since 1976, is that the tournament honors a past golfers who is forever enshrined in the annals of the tournament and a plaque featuring their inductions is permanently kept on the course grounds near the clubhouse.

What about the World Golf Championships?

The World Golf Events started in 1999 as three events, expanded to four events in 2000, and this year will be expanding to five events with the addition of the Tournament of Hope held in South Africa.

Let’s look at each of these individually:

The WGC Accenture Match Play Championship

In my mind this is a no brainer to be considered a major. It is the top 64 players in the world rankings playing head to head, and you have to win 6 matches to claim the title. This harkens back to the beginnings of golf when it was match play, this is arguably the toughest of any title to win in professional tournament golf.

The WGC Cadillac Championship

Has been previously under different title sponsors including WGC-American Express Championship and also WGC-CA Championship. This basically replaced the “old” tournament on the PGA tour that was held at Doral each year, so not sure that this one is elevated to the level of being considered a major in anyone’s book.

The WGC Bridgestone Invitational

Another one that used to be something else on the regular tour – basically the tournament stop at Firestone. Once upon a time this was called the World Series of Golf tournament, and while big, was never under the mention of being considered a major.

WGC-HSBC Champions

This tournament was added to the World Golf Championships in 2009, it has been played in China, so it often times get skipped by many of the US players due to travel distance.

Call it what it is!

I for one would argue that the World Golf Championships should have the World Match Play tournament recognized as a Major Championships. Why? The strength of the field is second to none, the prize money is larger than pretty much anything on tour, and the tournament is recognized around the globe, regardless of tour as a big event. You have the top 64 in the World Golf rankings so there are truly no fluke winners. This is the best of the best and a truly international field.

Time for us to put away outdated views of sportswriters from the 1960’s and earlier. Golf needs to do the right thing here and consider that the number of Major tournaments does not have to be limited to just 4, but instead awarding that distinction of those events that were or are considered to be the biggest and best tournament of the era in which they are played.

Until next time, Stay Classy Cruden Bay, Scotland!