Winners of Combined 18 Majors Unite to Lose US Open

Tiger Woods (14 Majors), Phil Mickelson (3 Majors) and David Duval (1 Major) all combined to shoot a bunch of last nine bogies and lose the US Open to Lucas Glover. 

Poor Mr. Glover, not only did he prevent the deified Mr. Woods from climbing within 3 of Jack, but he also deprived Phil Mickelson from getting a much desired 4th Major that the entire gallery wanted due to his 4 second place finishes and his wife’s battle with cancer.  And he deprived Mr. Duval from winning his second major an entire decade after winning his first.  Since that 1999 British Victory, DD as he is known, seems to have seen the game pass him by, which is not something that could be said for any Dunkin Donuts.  Mr. Duval obviously never let one of those pass by.

Heck, Mr. Glover was not even the most famous Glover on Monday.  La ‘Roi Glover decided to call it quits after 13 years in the NFL.  While La ‘Roi might not be that well known, he was certainly more well known than Lucas.

So Lucas win also prevented Duval (ranked 800+) and Ricky Barnes (ranked 519th) from being the biggest losers to ever win a major.  Not only that, but a victory by Mr. Barnes would at least have crowned someone who could give Tiger a run for his money at the Gun Show.  For some reason, this tournament was full of doughboys.  Mickelson and Duval remind me of the golfers in the 70s (or is that in their 70s?) and Glover, while thin, never lifted a weight in his life. 

Now the tournament ended up being fairly exciting, but what I most appreciate is how the network makes it all about Tiger and Phil (with a dash of DD thrown in). 

Sample coverage –

Tiger is 8 down, so he really needs to make a run.  At the turn I think he will go light on the mayonaisse and stick to more brain foods on his pastrami and rye.  He really cannot afford a food coma this late in the tourney. (Oh, Glover just eagled 8 with a 240 yard 8 iron).

Did you hear that Phil got a new Escalade?  With the three kids and family in town, he really could not afford the luxury of a hybrid; he needed something more functional.  (Barnes just gacked again, and is now shooting like a club assistant pro.  Shades of Greg Norman.)

Duval, despite his girth, has not changed sunglasses in 10 years.  Still uses those wraparounds, and they look good.  Oh wait, Tiger just called Elin to check on Sam, who has a bit of a cold.  You can see Sam on the Tiger cam we have set up on www.AllTigerAllTheTime.com, otherwise known as www.PGATour.com. Anyway, Duval must have an endorsement deal with the manufacturer, even though they date back in style to the era of Dolphin Shorts.  Good thing for us Duval does not have a deal for those (Ross Hunter just beat a spectator with his sand wedge).

Now back to the action, Ricky and Lucas…..oh wait, let’s go to commercial break so that Flomax, Cialis and Depends can pay for all these Tiger Cams.

But there was one rather amusing financial point to this story.  Despite the fact that Ricky Barnes gave up what will be his only opportunity to be Rich Beem or Shawn Mickeel, and not John Cook, Kenny Perry or Chris DiMarco, he did make $500K on the day, which was equal to 700% of what he had earned this year.  2nd in the US Open, and a $500K payout — still not a bad day’s work.

Real Madrid

Yes MSG went all the way to Madrid, as stated in my last post, to investigate the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo from ManU to Real Madrid, for $131M.  However, I had to do this on the back of a business trip.  Unfortunately, in the 80 hours I was gone, I spent 40 of them traveling and 40 “in” Madrid.  I write “in” because for some reason technology companies love to be outside major cities in non-descript business parks away from anything interesting, including the Bernabeu.  So I was unable to see how Madrid was justifying the transfer, although I did read in the local paper that the Club had taken out $300M in loans, such as charging 150 Euros for a Jersey.

However, not to let my readers down, I can at least provide some entertaining travel notes, and a couple good sports at the end.  So here goes:

• Baggage Claim: What is it with baggage claim at airports?  Worldwide, people love to crowd right up to the conveyor with their carts.  Um, how is this efficient?  This means that no one else can approach and get their bag without fighting the masses.  And for the morons waiting, undoubtedly they are so close with the carts because they overpacked, so that when the bag comes, they can barely lift it.  Subsequently, they cannot even leave the area because all of their like minded lemmings have blocked all exit routes.  Einsteins, wouldn’t it be more efficient if everyone waited about a meter or so away from the conveyor and then collected their bag when it appeared?  Yes, I think so.  Man this pi$$es me off.
• Belts and Shoes: Why in the USA do we have to remove shoes, but in Europe we have to remove our belts?  Seriously, shouldn’t it be both or neither?  Now I don’t know if I should ensure that my socks are clean and without holes or that my pants actually fit.  Having recently lost about 4kg, I was afraid I was going to look like a gangbanger when passing through security in Madrid.  Fortunately, I was not wearing my European thong underwear.
• Airline Rows: Am I missing something?  I was on a 737 — you know, one aisle, 3 seats a side — from Madrid to Amsterdam when 3, THREE, people asked the flight attendant where row 25 (or similar) was.  Really?  Um, there is a single aisle, and the numbers are ascending, not random.  I half expected the flight attendant to say “go to row 17, turn left, open the (emergency) exit.”  Or, “where the heck do you think it is?  We have a single aisle in this plane.  What was I thinking when I decided to pursue a career that resulted in cheap travel.  Shoot me now!”

Norman Mailer recently died, and Mark Kriegel wrote an excellent article.  Here is my favorite part of the article as it shows what a great writer he was and this was boxing, not even his ’specialty.’

Then there was this, also from The Presidential Papers, about the death of Benny “Kid” Paret at the hands of Emile Griffith in Madison Square Garden: “He hit him eighteen right hands in a row, an act that took perhaps three or four seconds, Griffith making a pent-up whimpering sound all the while he attacked, the right hand whipping like a piston rod which has broken out of the crankcase, or like a baseball bat demolishing a pumpkin. I was sitting in the second row of that corner — they were not ten feet away from me — and like everyone else, I was hypnotized…

And with father day upon us, DJ Gallo provides some excellent advice for all of us with sons and daughters. The article is here, but allow me to provide a sample.

Front-running = grounded. No one likes a front-runner. No one. But how does a person become a front-runner? It’s simple. Bad parenting. Their parents let them get away with it once thinking it was a passing, childish dalliance. But soon enough, their children were switching allegiances with every trophy ceremony. If you give an inch on this as a parent, you’ll soon have a child who roots for the Lakers, Penguins, Phillies, Steelers, North Carolina and Florida; you’ll soon have a child who will grow up to be a … I can’t say the word, but the second syllable rhymes with “bag.” In fact, the second syllable is “bag.” Be open with your child when it comes to front-running. Tell them you understand the allure. And use your own life as an example. “You think there weren’t better options out there than your mother at times? That I could have gotten with hotter women — you know, had they been drunk enough? But I stayed loyal. And it resulted in your birth. So by liking the Lakers, you are essentially killing yourself. Think about it.”

Happy Father’s Day, and if you are travelling, please give everyone some space at the Baggage Claim.

Spanning the Globe

The Lakers have just made a liar of Yes MSG by winning in 5, not 6.  Of course, if Jameer could play defense above the 3 pt line, or Dwight could hit free throws, I would have been correct.  Now, this game will be analyzed ad nauseumby everyone, so other than a few short points, I will move on to other topics especially since I go to Spain tomorrow to investigate the Real Madrid – Cristiano Ronaldo deal.

• OK, regardless of how 3 games really pivoted on single plays, 4-1 is 4-1.  Orlando might have stretched the series back to LA, but no way you say that if “Courtney hits the layup” or “Fish misses the 3″ and Orlando wins the title.  Nope.
• Kobe’s legacy is even more secure.  Sure, I still hold that this Lakers team would not have beaten any of the last title holders, but hey, they only get to play who they get to play; not Kobe’s fault.  And winning as the lead dog is more special.  So Kobe is now cemented as the second best shooting guard after Michael; which, is significant when you compare that with his legacy prior to this series when he was considered, oh wait, the second best shooting guard behind Michael.  Nevermind.
• Magic Johnson’s coat — am I the only one watching ESPN – what is Magic Johnson wearing.

Ok, let’s move on to other items in the hoop world:

• Staying with Hoop, supposedly the Cavs are interested in Shaq in a trade for Ben Wallace corpse, and Sasha Pavlovic, since every team needs a Slavic player who can hit at times a 3.  Or at least sport a greasy hairstyle that would make any Argentinean Soccer Player proud.
• However, how does this help the Cavs?  This is a one-year, win the title, keep Lebron Hail Mary pass.   I guess Shaq could somewhat defend Dwight Howard by himself, mainly because Dwight has no moves.  But can he defned KG and the rest of the Boston front line?  I doubt it.  This deal would end in disappointment
• Nevertheless, I would LOVE, absolutely love, a 2010 Finals between Kobe and Lebron/Shaq.  That would be EPIC.  And seeing that I have no financial interest in the Cavs, I say do the trade.
• Ricky Rubio.  For those of you unfamiliar with the most famous Spanish athlete after Rafael Nadal, Rubio is the 18 year old point guard for the Spanish National Team (that won the Silver in Beijing) and Joventut in the Spanish league.  Well, Joventut is hurting for cash, so has reportedly sold Rubio’s contract to the Spanish of the IRS so that the government gets the buy-out of Rubio’s contract, which he has to do in order to play in the NBA as the expected 2nd pick in the draft later this month.  The IRS!  And people complain about the US Government bailing out AIG and owning GM.  I would prefer they had bought the Sonics.

And non-hoop items:

• The Stanley Cup.  For those of you who missed it, Pittburgh went into Detroit and won a game 7, 2-1, when Niklas Lidstrom’s literally last second shot was blocked by the Pens Fleury to preserve the win.  Amazing game, and makes me wish I had watched more than 60 minutes of hockey this season.  Also of note, this was the first game 7 victory on the road for a team in ANY sport since the Pittsburgh (again) Pirates in 1979 against the Baltimore Orioles.  This was the first in Hockey since the Habs (Montreal) over the Chicago Blackhawks in 1971.  More impressive, Pittsburgh has played in 5 or 6 road game 7s in its history and won them all.  That is right, ALL of them.  Wow.
• Megan Fox and Carrie Prejean.  One is an ‘actress’ from the Transformer movies, who recently said that she hoped to become a good actress someday;  the other is the recently dethroned Ms. California, who claims she lost her crown because she is against Gay Marriage.  Now I am not here to make a political statement, I just want to be the first to start their race for Cinemax stardom, as I know we are all united in our hopes for that outcome.
  
• Boston Red Sox v NY Yankees — Boston has not lost in 8 games against NY this year, so not really worth mentioning.
• Beirut:  The March 14 coalition of western leading parties soundly defeated Hezbollah
• Tehran: Ahmadinejad defeats more reformist candidate Moussavi in Iranian elections, but could result in a recount, annulment, civil war.  Stay tuned.
• Real Madrid: As mentioned at the beginning of the post, I have to head to Madrid since the soccer club Real Madrid just bought the rights to Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo for $131 MILLION DOLLARS.  That is the fee just to talk to Cristiano.  Sort of like the $52M posting fee Boston paid to negotiate with Dice-K.  Oh, and this was on top of the $92M that Real Madrid paid for Kaka, ex of Inter-Milan.  So that is $223M dollars just to negotiate. Heck the Yankees paid $180M to Teixeira, $160M to Sabathia, and $80M to Burnett, but that was the contractual value; the fee to negotiate was ZERO.  Euro soccer is crazy!

Hasta Luego!

Yes MSG

G(Auntie E)M

The title, for those for whom it was too subtle, speaks to the optimistic outlook for our car industry; although Fritz Henderson may need more than a pair of Red Slippers and to click the heels three times to return GM to Kansas, I mean, profitability.

Now I know that we are looking at a Game 7 in the NHL Finals (really, we are.  Trust me, Detroit v Pittsburgh.  No kidding, Friday night.) And the NBA Finals will go at least 5 games; and the Yanks still have yet to beat the Red Sox, but this GM saga is really one of the most real world fascinating events going on today, and for the next few years.

Think back a few months.  GM, and the rest, like Chrysler (will get to them later) were hemorrhaging cash by the minute.  Were they too big to fail?  Should the government jump in?  Can they avoid bankruptcy? 

And consider the options that Obama had:

1. Let GM go bankrupt on its own; put, potentially, 100s of thousands out of work
2. Attempt to save GM with an influx of cash, but take no ownership sake to ensure the Government does not try to pick winners.  (This approach was criticized by everyone from Paul Krugman to Yes MSG — he had to have a say if he were going to spend our money on a million Chevy Malibus)
3. Attempt to save GM with an influx of cash, and take an ownership sake.  (This approach is being criticized by all who point out that the government has no experience in the industry, and will have a conflict of interest.)

Now look at the above.  #3 was the only option wasn’t it?  I, in general, would not favor bailing out a company that had made poor decisions over a 30 year period, watching its market share go from around 45 to 19.  But considering the fragile state of the economy, and wanting to keep MY job, you have to adjust your principles.  A private bankruptcy was too big a risk.  #2 was not really an option either.  If we, the taxpayer, are going to invest in these companies, then we should have a say.  Heck, the government cannot be any less qualified than the average (none could be considered good) GM exec.

However, the investment has already created conflicts that make this option, albeit the best, likely to fail too.  First of all, who do you get to run the company?  Obama picked Steven Rattner, ex-NYT columnist and Private Equity magnate.  Sure he is smart, but running a car company?  However, this is the least of the worries.

The President wants GM to make small, fuel efficient cars.  Probably a good idea for many reasons, but not based on market data.  Yet that is not the worst of it.

Now Congress is weighing in.  535 men and women with no discernible expertise in anything but bloviating, all trying to save their local interest in GM.  Now that is a recipe for disaster.  Plants have to close, people will lose jobs, and it CAN happen in your district.  Sorry.  And this does not even mention the members of Congress who will defend the UAW to the potential detriment of GM’s profitability.

I am sure the HBS class of 2015 will be reading about the outcome of this experiment in Government (Forced) Nationalization.

Now before I forget, the Supreme Court has stayed the acquistion of Chrysler by Fiat due to a law suit from some pension funds.  Seems these pension funds believe that they are gettign a raw deal and could have done better. 

Um, what?

The company was going to go bankrupt; not a controlled bankruptcy with the support of the government.  You don’t think Cerberus Capital, with its brain trust that includes Ex Treasury Secretary John Snow, and Ex-VP San Quayle, and Ex-CEO Bob Nardelli, did not look for a deal to recoup their $3B or whatever investment?

Plus, how many companies are looking to buy a company that has three interesting episodes in its history:

1. Invented the Minivan (the scourge of fathers worldwide)
2. Copied the Bentley to create the under $30K version, known as the 300
3. Gave us the K-car

Gee, where do I sign!

Please, I know it is rather embarrassing when an Italian Car Company is your savior, but you have to accept reality.

Grazie!

There is no E-S-P-N in Federer (ok, there is an “E”)

Yes MSG decided to take advantage of the nice weather and spend time with the son, as well as entertain friends.  So my entire Sports Sunday consisted of SportsCenter. 

Now I knew that Roger Federer just tied Pete Sampras record of 14 Grand Slams, as well as becoming just the 6th man in HISTORY to win all four Grand Slams in a CAREER. 

I also saw that the Lakers effectively sealed the 2009 NBA Title by outlasing Orlando in OT for a 2-0 series lead. 

Lastly, in his final tune up before the 2009 US Open golf tournament at Bethpage Black, Tiger storms back from 4 down heading into Sunday, and wins the Memorial by a stroke.

Now obviously Federer’s accomplishment is the most impressive.  Effectively sealing his (arguable) title as finest tennis player of all time.  Career Grand Slam record, all four Slam titles under his belt.  Yet, as expected, ESPN led with about 20 minutes of observation on Game 2 of the NBA Finals.  (Note, interesting that the missed layup by Courtney Lee, that would have resulted in a win, cost Orlando the title.  Whatever hope they had, went down the drain with that miss and loss.  Now way they sweep at home, so we are back in LA, maybe, for a game 6 closeout as predicted by Yes MSG.)  Tennis is not a big deal in the States, and Federer is not American (he is Swiss).  OK, but I figure it will come second.  It does not.

You know what does?

No, not Tiger.

Brett f’ing Favre.  I guess he had surgery a couple of weeks ago on his shoulder, in preparation for possibly playing for Minnesota.  BFD.  And this story went on.  Including a report by Ed Werder.  Really?  This story is more important the the final of a tennis Grand Slam?  Or even the overexposed Tiger Woods?  Goodell must be psyched.

Tiger did follow this story with a long recap of everything he did: great chip from the rough for Eagle, ham sandwich at the turn, #1 bathroom break after 14.  Not enough Elin though.  Heck, even if she weren’t there, can’t we get footage of her at home, doing laundy?

Finally, they give a cursory highlights and mention to Federer, then move on to the Braves’ game.  Wow,  we are really that parochial as a sports audience.

Again, at least throw in more Elin Nordegren

Lakers in Six

The title says it all.  I really want the Magic.  Heck, I wanted Magic – Nuggets.  After all, I was the one who called the Cleveland LeBrons pretenders on May 5th — really, look it up.  And part of my take is the fact that I cannot stand the Lakers, so figure they will win it just to spite me.  However, there is some logic there too.

If you recall my Epsilon Dog post below (one that was mimicked by Michael Wilbon on one of the NBA programs I have heard), I believe this is where the Lakers have the advantage.  You are drafting in the playground, in what order do you choose the players:

1. Adonal Foyle — Magic (OK kidding)
2. Kobe – LA
3. Dwight – Orl
4. Pau – LA
5. Hedo – Orl
6. Rashard – Orl
7. Lamar – LA
8. Ariza – LA
9. Pietrus – Orl
10. Bynum – LA
11. Fisher – LA

LA takes six of the Top Ten.  But it is more than this, it is matchups.  Cleveland only had the corpses of Big Men to guard Hedo and Rashard outside.  LA has Kobe, Ariza and Odom, not to mention Pau in a pinch.  They also have Bynum down low.  That means more contested 3s from Rashard and Hedo.  Since Orlando lives and dies with the three, a risky strategy in the best of times, this will cost them.

Now I expect Dwight to abuse Bynum down low, to the extent that he cries the entire off season, takes his $68M contract, and is never a force again.  However, Pau will abuse either Rashard or Hedo, meaning that Dwight will have to play him a lot.  Can you say “foul trouble”?

Then there is Kobe.  Who on Orlando guards him?  I like Courtney Lee, but don’t see that working.  Dwight cannot play Kobe outside, and the only “D” that Rashard and Hedo know is when they sign their names on checks. 

LA is vulnerable at the point, but Rafer Alston is not consistent enough to take advantage.  Now if Chris Paul were on Orlando, but he is not. 

Finally, the pressure is on LA, but I think they respond; Orlando is playing with house money and are just happy to be there.  Probably subconsciously figure the east is theirs for years — not true as Hedo bolts this summer, but that is another column.

Anyway, LA has a couple of stinkers in it, with no show Bynum, and disappearing Odom.  And Orlando will have a game where they miss nothing from 20 feet, but that only happens twice.  And with the 2-3-2, Lakers just need to win their two at home as one win in Orlando is almost guaranteed.  Coming back home for 2 chances to win one, they close it out, to my grand disappointment, and win in Six.

Of course, the subsequent question is what this means to Kobe’s legacy.  With a title sans Shaq, does he vault a level?  Sure, but a few points are overlooked in this argument:

• Shaq won his 4th title less with Dwyane Wade (sic) and more because of the MOST ATROCIOUS OFFICIATING I have seen.  Wade got every call, even 30ft from the basket.  It was so egregious that I stopped watching it.  (This, of course, parallels the game 6 win over Sacto by Shaq/Kobe Lakers in 2001 when LA took 27 free throws in the FOURTH quarter.  So Shaq ahs two and Kobe one title thanks to NBA officiating incompetence.)
• Kobe will have won the title over some seriously weak competition.  Seriously, not his fault, but Houston without McGrady and Yao, the Nuggets, and a 3 point shooting Magic hardly constitute the Knicks, Pacers, Jazz, etc teams that MJ contended with.  This Laker squad benefits from the fact that San Antonio is old as the Spurs of a few years ago would have swept them.  Who guards Duncan?  And Bowen always gets under Kobe’s skin.  Anyway, Kobe gets his title, but in a weak league year.

Let me know how I did in a few days.  My satellite provider is in a fight with the local ABC affiliate so I will not watch any games (or any NHL Stanley Cup Finals too as I don’t have Versus), and I am not certain if there are other ways of keeping up with sports.  Will Kobe twitter during the games?

But this will allow me to read up more on GM, my next big blog treatise.

Go Magic!!!!!!!!!!!!!