My Ryder Cup Throwback

For the non-golfers out there, this probably means little.  To my pals, friends, family and others who might casually pay attention to golf...this is the week!

But, I wander for a second.   When growing up in Taos I started playing golf at the Taos Country Club - a privately owned club that operated on a shoe string - and the proceeds from special parties and the bar.  Mind you, I wasn't old enough to drink - but I had access to the place.

A friend of the family, Ed Lineberry, the husband of Duane Van Vechten, a prominent and very wealthy person of Taos, used to chide me and others who played golf - saying it was nothing more than "cow pasture pool".

In Scotland, maybe.  At Taos Country Club - there was no pasture and not any cows that wandered around the course.

Anyway...this is Ryder Cup weekend.   It is truly one of the great sporting events in the world.

I've been lucky enough to attend 3 of the competitions.  The first at Oakland Hills near Detroit in 2004, The Americans were soundly defeated.  The Euro's took the trophy back across the pond.

Then 4 years later at Valhalla near Louisville where I took these pictures - the USA won:

Sergio Garcia during a practice round.

Two years ago I went to Medinah near Chicago...this is a collage of that visit.

      Olay Olay Olay                                                                                            U S A   U S A   U S A

American's lost that one, too.

Looking forward to the matches this weekend - even though they'll be going on in the wee hours of our morning.   NBC and NBC Golf Channel providing live coverage.

And really looking forward to the Ryder Cup's return to the US of A in 2 years - to a course in Chaska, Minnesota.

Albuquerque "U"

Here's a throwback.

This photograph of the state fairgrounds racetrack was taken about 1940.  The track is still in the same place.  The line through the center of the picture is Louisiana Boulevard as it runs between Central (Rte 66) and Lomas.   On the side of the hill, the "U" that was placed and painted there by students from the University of New Mexico.    About the only thing today that is the same, the racetrack and the infield which is still used for parking.  The rest is infilled with housing and development - all the way to the "U" which is, present day, really hard to find - if at all.  

The canyon to the right of the photo is Tijeras Canyon - still used today by I-40 - one of the primary cross country highways in the US of A.

A throwback to the good ol' days. 

New Mexico State Fair History

New Mexico State Fair Throwback Thursday

It's New Mexico State Fairtime ... the trees are turning ... this morning there was a feeling of fall on the way ... and folks from around the state are headed for the fairgrounds in Albuquerque.

For a number of years my journalistic "beat" was covering the state fair.  It seems that things were bigger then, but things were also simpler.

For instance, I came across a photograph of my interviewing a rooster.  This rooster was a participant in a crowing contest.  Losers headed for the cooking pot. Winners headed for a life of fame and fortune.  I think it was about 1975 or so.

The hat was compliments of a local merchant.  I had to have a cowboy hat if I was covering the fair.

The photographer, Tom McCullough, would become a physician.

That camera, incidentally, was feeding a video tape recorder that weighed about 25 pounds.

Throwback Thursday

Ahh...a fun slide (that never aired) from back in the good ol' days.

Airplane Seats

There's a lot of comment these days on the relativity of reclining airplane seats.

As a guy who is nearly six-and-a-half feet tall...let me tell you:

AIRPLANE SEATS SHOULD NOT RECLINE, EVER!

Airlines should just ban seats that recline those precious few inches (except for first class where there's room).

Or, the airlines could up-charge for those seats - and corral them into a specific area of the plane.

I've learned to be accustomed to the cheap, smaller seats and just scrunch up next to a window and hope the misery of the airplane trip is over quickly.