Multi-Sport Extravaganza and Transportation Edition
It's hot and we're in the dog days of summer in baseball terms. But in golf, this may be the most important four week stretch of the year.
Believe it or not, this week's WGC Bridgestone event is the least important event from a historical standpoint. We're in the middle of a pretty impressive four week stretch:
- The Open Championship - founded 1860
- The Canadian Open - founded 1904
- WGC Bridgestone - founded 1976
- The PGA Championship - founded 1916
Congratultations to Brandt Snedeker for his win last weekend at Glen Abbey. Don't sleep on the Canadian Open from a historical stanpoint. If you win the Canadian Open, you join a list that includes Tiger Woods, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson and Lee Trevino. Jack Nicklaus is absent not for lack of effort. The only reason Nicklaus is not on the list is that he finished 2nd an amazing seven times. A couple Canada-related videos started the ball rolling for this week's installment of GVOTW. They inspired videos of multiple sports and the connections to golf.
HOCKEY ...
Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers', the overall number one draft pick from 2010, showed some jaw-dropping skill in this video working on his stick handling using a golf ball.
Pretty impressive (Pavel Datsyuk-esque) and unlike golf, in hockey, notice that a player of Hall's skill practices this much so he doesn't have to keep his eye on the ball.
We've documented the connection the golf and hockey here before and we've certainly seen golfers bring hockey to the golf course (remember James Lepp's hockey saucer pass ruled illegal by golf's governing bodies).
... TABLE TENNIS ...
Phil Mickelson certainly puts his time and money where his mouth is. Mickelson took his science and education show on the road right after his Open Championship win. He went from awkward NPR science shows to this bit on the Today Show explaining spin to Matt Lauer.
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Mickelson may not yet be an all time great, but he is amazing with the media.
[ ... AN ASIDE REGARDING BADMINTON ...]
Of course let's not get caught up on whether ping pong/table tennis is a sport simply because it is mostly played in your basement, family gatherings or somewhere in the Far East. After all, you may have thought the same about badminton ... until this amazing video showed up from last week:
There are almost too many insane things happening in this video:
- Commentator understating earlier that "maybe things didn't end on the best of terms for these two"
- Badminton is apparently pretty gangsta because interviewed player Luke Couture is clearly a Crip
- The one dude was able to chuck a chair at the other guy without breaking stride in a manner that would impress even Bobby Knight
- The one guy kicks the other in the face when he is down ... that's a red card ... wait ...
- Badminton has black cards!?
- Badminton rackets make poor weapons. In hindsight, Capone's henchmen and associates should have encouraged Al to play badminton
- Of course this all happened in Richmond, B.C., a suburb of hockey-crazed Vancouver and site of an oddly similar (but more horrifying) incident in which Todd Bertuzzi attacked Steve Moore, ending his career.
... BILLIARDS ...
The RBC Canadian Open last week reminded us of the amazing billiard kiss- shot hole-in-one made by Leif Olson at that tournament back in 2009.
Perhaps more amazing what the complete lack of any reaction by his playing partner Kris Blanks ... whose expression was ... well ... blank. Here's a better view of Blanks just walking along purposefully without even acknowledging Olson's ace.
Now, you may wonder why the appropriately names Blanks' name was in the news recently. Blanks was arrested for having a gun on this carry on luggage earlier this month.
We can all be thankful Blanks doesn't play badminton ... wait a minute ... has anyone heard from Leif Olson since 2009?
... BASEBALL (EVEN THOUGH IT'S LIKELY FAKE) ...
A decent effort here in which someone uses a baseball bat to hit a golf ball off a tee for a hole-in-one. Alas, this has to be fake.
While I'm not one of these people that are skeptical of every video online, this one seems like it had a little CGI help. Consider: (a) the weird speed of the ball bouncing; (b) the lack of shadow for the ball on first bounce; (c) the sound of the crack of the bat seems too soon on video considering the modest speed of sound; and (d) the weird color of ball when the one guy holds it up at the end. All in all, I'd prefer to be wrong.
Nice try but I suspect it won't quite catch on like the amusing human birdwings hoax from a couple years back.
GOLF AND TRANSPORTATION
Jack Nicklaus means golf; so when his grandson is in a motorcycle accident, it's news. Thankfully, Nick O'Leary (who happens to be the starting tight end for the Florida State Seminoles) walked away! Crazy.
The weirdest golf-related motorcycle item of the week is a guy with his motocross bike annoying a golfer on the course.
While this had some potential, couldn't they have picked some guy who at least looked like a golfer. The non-golfer bumps me from the bit (like when you see "555" as a telephone number in a movie, of fake professional sports team names or, say, Keanu Reeves 'acting').
No, it's not Rickie Fowler on the bike but some guy name Johan Hellberg. This was Fowler's clever bit from a couple years back.
The troublemaker motocross guy along with Fowler's straight long hair reminds me of someone .... of course!
There are a couple more videos on golf transportation. First, the Bubba Watson Hovercraft is actually coming to fruition with this ridiculous golf course buying a couple and renting them at $175 per round. While probably about as loud as a motocross bike, the worst part seems to be that you don't even get to drive it - it comes with a 'pilot'.
Perhaps the possibility of a Mercedes-Benz golf cart is more realistic in terms of widespread use. Nothing beats walking but this may have some potential.
Although unlrelated to golf, any colletcon of transportation videos this week would be incomplete without this soon-to-be classic.
Cheers.
Douglas Han