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Ryder Cup Throwback

This is a Throwback Thursday that throws back one whole week.

The occasion was the 41^st Ryder Cup matches in Chaska, Minnesota.  This is an event that happens every 2 years where a golf team from the United States is assembled to compete against a golf team from Europe.  Sites for the contest alternate between Europe and the US.

For me, this was the fourth visit to this, the greatest spectacle in golf.  Prior tournaments were held near Detroit, Louisville and Chicago.

This was the best...

The golf course was spectacular, and nearly all of the 55,000 people who visited each day agreed.

The two pictures above were taken during a practice round.

Bubba Watson-wasn't playing, a vice-captain-looked like the weight of the team was on him.

When in fact, it was on the back of Davis Love III-here deep in conversation prior to the final round.

Justin Rose

Roger Maltbie of NBC Sports, following the leaders.

Phil and Jim Furyk, another vice captain.

Rickie Fowler trying to explain what happened.

Rory McIlroy headed for the hinterlands in search of a wayward golf ball.

Henrik Stenson being interviewed, probably by a European media station.

When the day was done, it was back to the bus!

My golf traveling companion, Ed Mahr, and I attempt to explain to this fellow what The Ryder Cup was all about.  He didn't care! 

Arnie

Had the opportunity to stay at Arnold Palmer's in Orlando a few years back.

What a great place.

The golf world will miss him.

Polls and Poles

It's political season and time for polls   poles...

Mike Roberts, THE Voice of the Lobos

Mike Roberts, one of the few “Voice of the Lobos” that has ever existed, has left the broadcast booth on earth, headed for a higher plain.  Here a couple stories

For years Mike and I worked in the broadcast/television business in Albuquerque.  We were never real competitors, other than we worked at competing stations.  We might have even worked at the same place at the same time.

When Mike was ousted as the Lobos play-by-play may, I was in attendance at the last Lobo Basketball game he called.   It was at Cal in California.

I walked over to say hi, and he told me, “This may be my last Lobo broadcast, they’ve sold the rights to the games to somebody.”  It was a melancholy moment for him – and he was correct on both points.

My wife, Connie, worked for a while at KOB (when Stanley Hubbard still owned the radio station – before it became K-KOB).

She recalls having to work a shift “on the board” – punching buttons – during a Mike broadcast.  

Those can be nerve wracking times – things have to go right, the timing has to be right.  Mike knew Connie was nervous about punching the buttons for the commercials, so when it came time for a commercial break, Mike would say, on the air,  “We’ll get back to the game after  this 30 second commercial message from Rich Ford”…at which point Connie would push a button and the commercial would play.  He was instructing her from the remote site.   He did that for the entire broadcast, “I’ll be back after this ___ second message from ____.” 

By stating the obvious he made a complicated broadcast come off as a symphony.

Keep callin’ ‘em as you see’m Mike!

Wasn't there a time

Wasn't there a time when candidates for public office talked about what they could or would do to make our lives better?

What happened to those times?

 And, all this talk about "transparency" of our public officials, and those who want to be a public official.

None of them want transparency!

 About transparency, I say... "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!"