BALANCE IS A MUST
Sure this is a bit contrived and Greg Norman may have a problem with the ripped Joe Miller (Mr. Miller in person), but a 375 tee shot pin-high on a par 3 is worth a look.
The scariest and most impressive part is the tiny tee box on the roof. It looks like he could fall right off the roof if he lost his balaance.
CHUBBS' REVENGE
Not that there is anything wrong with the Heritage or New Orleans (or even the PLAYERS for that matter), but the reality is we are now waiting for the U.S. Open. Billy Horschel had a nice win but the highlight of the weekend on YouTube was the three-legged alligator on the course.
This gator was not too big of a threat because it only had three legs. While it probably lost it to another gator at some point, I could not have been the only one who thought he could have lost it to Chubbs.
Of course any gator always reminds me of the croc that unintentionally saved the water buffalo from the lions. Another reason that golfers may have an affinity for nature videos is that the narrators and commentators share the same hushed tones. It has to be mentioned that for Canadians around in 80s and before, the hushed tones of wildlife videos reminds us of the flute in the background and the government produced Hinterland Who's Who television spots ... and of course this classic parody.
MAYBE SOME SWING GADGETS ARE WORTH IT
Via Tim Herron's twitter this week (@PGALumpy which we recommend), here is a lost video which obviously did not get the hits it deserved when released a couple years back.
The look, enthusiasm and cadence of teacher (and realtor) Chance Manning is perfect (and when he call David Feherty "Don") . He appears to have been somewhat dormant over the past year so maybe if we show some support, Chance Manning will come back.
The SwingPack looks pretty good too.
OOSTHUIZEN, MESSI AND MAY
One of the top shots of the week was Louis Oosthuizen's 500-yard drive in Icheon Korea at the European Tour's Ballentines Championship. The key this sweet drive was that the cart path had curbs. 500 yards is about 10% across the Korean DMZ.
Of course the obvious reference is to the scene in Tin Cup with the 7-iron bet. It was tough business trying to commentate a golf ball winding its way slowly down the path. While the mantra of less is more in the world of sports commentary, there are certain times where more could be more.
Pat Summerall, who sadly passed away on April 16, 2013, was a proponent of less is more when it came to play-by-play. While Jim Nantz is famous for his line, "The Bear has come out of Hibernation", it was Summerall in the tower at 18. There's an interesting radio interview here with former CBS Sports President Neal Pilson [at 22:20 minute mark and specifically about Pat Summerall's golf play by play and at the 31:00 minute mark on Pilson's opinions on golf commentary and what he doesn't like about today commentary]. While Pilson loves less is more, especially in golf, he could not have been happy with Ken Venturi yapping it up and stating the obvious in 1986 with Jack on the 18th tee.
It is pretty funny that they just ignored the playing partner's tee shot that you can hear in the background. The fans that were walking up the path and let the ball roll by deserve kudos for letting the ball roll by. It seemed unlikely to be a player's shot but they showed proper discipline. I would have picked it up to see if it was a ProV1to pocket ... and then drop it if it was a cheaper ball [as an aside, one of the great golfing regrets, nay overall regrets, I have in life is not a particlar shot or putt or lost love, but a time when a guy named Jerry was put in my group and we were looking for his ball in the rough and and when I found it (a Pinnacle Gold) and he asked what kind it was .... and I choked. A completely true story. On occassion after putting the family to bed, petting the dog and brushing my teeth at night, I still find myself saying this to the mirror].
All that being said, it was certainly a challenge for the commentators to describe Oosthuizen's shot. There are times when golf announcing could use a burst of energy. Oosthuizen's drive could have used some help in the excitement department and perhaps the announcers could have borrowed some of the adjectives in this ridiculous yet somehow fitting soccer/football call of the week on some Lionel Messi magic:
The miraculous and amazing often doesn't need the over-the-top commentating but often the more mundane could use some help [as a little experiment, if you mute the Oosthuizen drive and play the Messi goal above at the same time with its volume up ... you get a much more exciting shot].
In honor of larynx-busting calls, this week was the 20th anniversary of one of the great calls in hockey by Buffalo play-by-play man Rick Jeaneret. In honor of the start of the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs today and the end of April, we present:
WALK OFF WINS
In case you missed it last week, the PGA Tour had a good video with their top 10 hole-outs for wins. While these shots are amazing, this video proves Pilson's point about too much golf play by play during the address and shot (even CBS's broadcasts ... although it appears to be Venturi talking too much againat #7). There is far too much talking when the player is addressing the ball and the shot is tracking. The time to talk and go nuts is after the ball has gone in or stopped rolling.
Douglas Han
