We Don't Walk Slow

Bracket Update

After my hot start of picking the first 8 games right, I fizzled out and ended with 13 first round games. My betting also took a downturn after winning the first 2 bets with Dayton and Syracuse and pushing Delaware. North Dakota state covered for me but then I hit a skid losing St Joes, Milwaukee, and Louisville. I’m down about 100 bucks but it could be worse. Everyone knows that the first round isn’t where the money is won so as long as your teams that you have going far are still in, everything’s good.

Jeff, Pat, Julia, and myself watched the games at a new bar in Old City called Bootleggers and it was pretty nice. It moves away from the Old City theme of being old but it had a shot of moon shine and a beer for 10 bucks which was reasonable. The food was decent too. I’d recommend it for a spot to watch games.

By Tom Stortz|2014-03-21T13:56:41-04:00March 21st, 2014|Sports|0 Comments

Fantasy Baseball By Brookes

Fantasy Baseball Value

It’s suddenly the best time of the year. Spring Training is coming to a close and Fantasy Baseball live drafts are occurring every 5 minutes around the country. This is one of my favorite meaningless pastimes, and one which helps enliven the season from a myriad of perspectives. I don’t usually play in Prize leagues or do Auction Drafts, so perhaps some of these selections may not suit you. The best advice (if you’re not trying to make a buck) is to draft the team you believe in and enjoy rooting over the summer.

I can’t promise the “best” picks, but they are selected with my heart – and this is my take. Drafting McCutchen pre-PIT radar, minors Mike Trout, Matt Carpenter and Starling Marte served me well over the past years. All in all, I have won my invitational league twice in 3 years, lost the final twice in an another, and was cursing Gerardo Parra in a 3rd Place match-up last year. My approach has always been to appreciate the game first – and you will see the value on draft day. Know the game and have fun.

FANTASY DRAFT OBSERVATIONS…[2014]

1. Tons of overvalued players based on expectations of repeat/expected performances – or just a general love affair. Chris Davis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clayton Kershaw, Andrew McCutchen, etc.

2. Pitching is deeper than meets the eye. My gut tells me there won’t be dominant 1st Round pitching played this year. Sure, some will be better – and more consistent – but not providing the draft selection required.

3. A lot of teams are going to be better, more productive versions of their former selves – and most people don’t seem to be looking there. NY Mets, CHI White Sox, MIA Marlins, CHI Cubs

4. A lot of teams had poor/improved years last year, with great players, and are poised for strong rebounds. And most people don’t seem to be looking there. SF Giants, KC Royals, LA Angels

MY 8 GENERAL FANTASY DRAFT “RULES”

1. You can always get a quality outfielder. They get hurt everyday (due to position) – so there are plenty moving into starting roles all the time. They are usually the earliest call-ups for promising youngsters too. Don’t draft an outfielder in the first 4 rounds.

2. Saves are easy to find. Look for teams in tight divisions. (Also – see above re: role promotions).

3. Steals are overrated. If a player records a high steal number – they probably only got to 1st base to start. So no HR, no RBI, no XBH. Some leagues penalize for CS – but never for not reaching 2nd on a clear triple.

4. .Beyond their own point structure – .AVG and BB’s produces opportunity. Runs, RBI, (yes – Steals), XBH, HR. They are also indicators of consistent point performance. Consistency is key.

5. Starting pitching is over-valued and over-drafted. Look for consistency with flashes of dominance. Take a risk. (Again – see #1 re: role promotions/relegations). [i.e. the Bartolo Colon complex.]

6. If they can’t hit at least .271 in the Majors – don’t draft them.

7. Draft a “team” – which can put consistent points on the board – across categories. One guy hitting 40 HR and batting .265 to do it doesn’t amount to 2 guys hitting 23 HR and clearing .280 each – and providing production in 2 spots.

8 Draft Ike Davis – just in case.

DRAFT SELECTION “SLEEPERS”

[The picks below are geared towards a Head-to-Head Category Points League – with a Snake Draft system.]

C: SALVADOR PEREZ (KC)

This is a giant man playing catcher

Catcher is historically an incredibly weak position to draft for. Perez can be had in the late rounds – due to his propensity to injury. If you chose not to spend a 3rd-6th round pick on Posey or Molina, the line below will look pretty great for a position you may have forgotten about…Perez is consistent as a defensive catcher if your league tallies FLD%. He could easily hit 20 HR if he sacrifices his .AVG a bit. Catcher points are like surprise points anyway.

ESPN 2014 Projection: .303 / 58 R / 15 HR / 77 RBI / 1 SB

B 2014 Projection: .289 / 65 R / 12 HR / 82 RBI / 4 SB

1B: JOEY VOTTO (CIN)

Votto as a 3B prospect in 2001. “Votto made a name for himself at Tropicana. He is a good looking athlete with a strong baseball body and a nice arm. Most importantly he has a beautiful left-hand swing that projects to hit with plus power. The ball jumps off his bat and sounds a bit different than most wood bats.

Tough to call Joey Votto a “sleeper” – but no one seems to want to draft him. 1B has long been viewed as a “key” position to draft power and RBI. He is a “sleeper” because where he is being drafted – past midnight 1st, mid/late 2nd round. [See #4 in Draft Rules]. Joey Votto once thought he was creating too many out of play outs a few years back. He looked at his approach and corrected it. “According to FanGraphs, Votto has exactly 12 infield pop-ups since 2007 and just three (!) since the end of the 2009 season. In fact, Votto went the entire 2010 campaign without hitting an infield fly.” Pretty sure he knows how to adjust his swing…

“Not only has Votto only pulled one foul ball into the stands during his 2,821 big-league plate appearances, but he can still remember the moment he put that baseball into the seats.” (YahooSports – 2012)

When we all look back he will be the Jimmie Foxx to Babe Ruth (Votto to Cabrera). He walks, hits, hits XBH, has power, bats in an RBI spot – and has done this for years with Jay Bruce and other characters protecting him. Look for a bit more power this year – and a multi-category draft steal for the once “Top 5” pick. Btw…if you take Prince Fielder with this pick over Votto…just auto-draft the rest.

*SIDE NOTE: While Buster Posey will cost you a much higher pick at C then you may want to use – as of 2012, Posey had only made 2 (yes…2!!!!) infield pop-up outs in his career. (Can we lock these two in a batting cage with Jimmy Rollins?

ESPN 2014 Projection: .327 / 99 R / 24 HR / 77 RBI / 7 SB

B 2014 Projection: .308 / 92 R / 31 HR / 91 RBI / 5 SB

2B: MARTIN PRADO (ARZ)

Vintage Prado…doing everything.

Martin Prado is fantasy gold – the “poor-mans” version of Ben Zobrist. He plays about every position and is a consistent multi-category offensive producer. Star 2B went down? PRADO! His eligibility at nearly every thin draft position (2B/3B/SS/OF) makes him a mainstay in my lineups. Maybe it’s because he shows up all over the place on position rankings…but people ALWAYS forget to draft him based on position need. Consider where you need to draft Dustin Pedroia or Zobrist for their production – then look at where you can draft Prado. His lineup got better too.

ESPN 2014 Projection: .290 / 80 R / 12 HR / 82 RBI / 7 SB

B 2014 Projection: .285 / 84 R / 15 HR / 81 RBI / 9 SB

3B: PABLO SANDOVAL (SF) / RYAN ZIMMERMAN (WSH)

This one is a split…based on production vs. draft position.

Sandoval is one of the most underrated fantasy assets. Streaky, but he will contribute in all categories (but SB) – and at a weak draft position of 3B. I took him in the 11th round here. His projections look a lot like David Wright (who was drafted in the 4th). The Panda is another player people often forget about – on a team coming off a forgettable season. Beltre may have 7-12 more HR and 20 more RBI than Sandoval- but worth a 2nd round pick? A slimmer Sandoval should help his XBH and Runs Scored too. His extra chains may be tough to overcome though. People often forget about the games on the West Coast when drafting.

DAVID WRIGHT – ESPN 2014 Projection: .303 / 88 R / 22 HR / 85 RBI / 18 SB PABLO SANDOVAL – ESPN 2014 Projection: .290 / 71 R / 21 HR / 90 RBI / 1 SB

B SANDOVAL 2014 Projection: (I agree. See above.)

DAVID WRIGHT – ESPN 2014 Projection: .303 / 88 R / 22 HR / 85 RBI / 18 SB

PABLO SANDOVAL – ESPN 2014 Projection: .290 / 71 R / 21 HR / 90 RBI / 1 SB

B 2014 Projection: (I agree. See above.)

Zimmerman (and wife). (See: Joey Votto entry). Josh Donaldson was drafted a round before – at 3B [I loved him when he had C eligibility – but don’t think a repeat is in store]. Zimmerman brings consistent .AVG, good power – and batting with RUN’s and RBI’s around. Prone to bouts of injury, but his production upside is huge – across most all categories. If your league tallies FLD% – he is a top 3-4 performer for you. I drafted Zimmerman in the 6^th (!) round. Not entirely sure how that happened actually…

ESPN 2014 Projection: .282 / 86 R / 27 HR / 88 RBI / 6 SB

B 2014 Projection: (I agree. See above.)

SS: ALEXI RAMIREZ (CHI – SOX)

Before it was in vogue to have Cuban players on your team, Alexi Ramirez was the Cuban player. He has played great team baseball for years – although never meeting the MLB expectations of being a slugging SS. He is often the forgotten producer at a weak position. Unless you drafted high to fill shortstop (basically, the injury Pandora’s Box that is Tulo) – you are probably stuck. Be realistic about your expectations from the position. He rarely gets hurt and puts up solid numbers across the board. I imagine you aren’t drafting for power at the SS position…The SOX are going to be much better this year – and Ramirez will be privy to a better offense around him. When your team struggles with .AVG – then (yes) SB help make runs. SOX may give DET a run for their money this year.

ESPN 2014 Projection: .275 / 69 R / 9 HR / 62 RBI / 24 SB

B 2014 Projection: .278 / 79 R / 13 HR / 71 RBI / 29 SB

OF: ALEX GORDON (KC)

He was once the “original” Wil Myers in KC. Tough to hit 30 HR out of the 2-hole with a franchise on your back though…He is finally moving down in the order – into a major RBI role – and is engulfed by Billy Butler. Look for the major year everyone has been expecting from Gordon. Mid-round pick. Gordon is the model of productivity and consistency…and can sneakily win a week for you in any category. He won’t get Pence girls – but provides solid production across the board.

ESPN 2014 Projection: .274 / 89 R / 20 HR / 76 RBI / 12 SB

B 2014 Projection: .278 / 85 R / 26 HR / 87 RBI / 15 SB

OF: HUNTER PENCE (SF)

Pence – and his myriad of ex-girlfriends. Chicks dig crazy and awkward lunging I suppose.

Imagine if Jose Reyes were an outfielder…what you see is what you get. Pence will cost you a high-mid round pick, but offers impact in all categories. He is often over-looked and over-valued at the same time. If you like his play – draft him. He is never a “lock” for anything – but always excites and surprises. Remember, we are building a team – not just drafting based on “best” stats each pick…SF will have a better year in 2014, so look for Pence to actually repeat his individual effort from last season. Pence generally logs points across all categories. His propensity for insane streaks of production can salvage a week – and provide a win out of nowhere. He has…the most confounding swing of any man alive…

ESPN 2014 Projection: .274 / 86 R / 22 HR / 91 RBI / 10 SB

B 2014 Projection: .271 / 85 R / 26 HR / 98 RBI / 17 SB

OF: JAYSON WERTH (WSH)

Werth –the walking ecosystem and spiritual leader of the “Natitude” movement.

Werth is another under-rated producer who will probably cost only a late mid-round pick. People seem to be worried about his age and health. He comes from a family of Olympic athletes. My bet is that he has a good sense of how to take care of his body…

Most likely he will put up much better numbers than Puig (3rd/4th Round)- vs. Werth (8th/9th Round). People LOVE SB’s I guess…

PUIG ESPN 2014 Projection: .288 / 88 R / 26 HR / 76 RBI / 17 SB

WERTH ESPN 2014 Projection: .277 / 84 R / 24 HR / 77 RBI / 8 SB

B 2014 Projection: .271 / 85 R / 26 HR / 98 RBI / 15 SB

OF: NICK MARKAKIS (BAL)

Markakis and some dogs he found running away from Chris Davis.

Markakis. He never gets hurt (playing in 1,210 games out of 1,296 possible games over his 8 year career in Baltimore). He will always be undervalued after never really repeating the promise of his sophomore season (at 23) where he put up a .300 AVG / 97 R / 43 2B / 23 HR / 112 RBI / 18 SB. However, he is a career .298 hitter and simply put – a true professional baseball player.

After 8 years of organizational growing spurts, he is now playing for one of the most offensively capable teams in baseball. Guess what…he STARTS for that team – and you can snag him in your final 3-4 picks. Often viewed as a “depth” pick, he can function as a strong everyday OF. He is only 29 – so don’t rule out him regaining some of the magic that launched his career almost a decade ago. Prior to last season, he had never hit under .284 – while averaging about 161 games played per year. He has averaged a career .993 FLD % as well. I was able to snag him in the 20^th round – but maybe consider him a bit higher…

ESPN 2014 Projection: .283 / 82 R / 12 HR / 64 RBI / 3 SB

B 2014 Projection: .301 / 87 R / 16 HR / 72 RBI / 9 SB

UTIL: BILLY BUTLER

Billy Butler is a great myth. He is a big guy who makes contact (kind of like Fielder… maybe you drafted the Soy Train in the 3rd Round…). The only difference is that Butler won’t hit 40 HR – but he does everything else – and (again), people forget about him because he plays in KC and doesn’t hit 40. Outside of HR…Butler is a WAY cheaper version of Fielder…and who knows, maybe he breaks out the power this year…Gordon dropping down should help. He hits doubles like Cabrera hits home runs. Aoki leading off and a better team around him means a lot of RBI chances in KC this year. Everyone hates Billy Butler on draft day because: 1) He doesn’t hit 30+ / year and 2) He has no positional eligibility. Picture for a moment…who might occupy your UTIL spot over the season…Tell me they will be better than this:

PRINCE FIELDER ESPN 2014 Projection: .300 / 89 R / 35 HR / 113 RBI / 1 SB

ESPN 2014 Projection: .295 / 75 R / 21 HR / 90 RBI / 2 SB

B 2014 Projection: .289 / 81 R / 27 HR / 101 RBI / 1 SB

“TRUE” SLEEPER: KOLTEN WONT (2B – STL)

Wong could easily be the best final pick in the draft. There is an off chance he will platoon at 2B – but continues to be the favorite to be the starting 2B for the St. Louis Cardinals. Yes – the defending NL Champion Cardinals. The Cardinals have one of the most productive graduation rates from their farm system – and rarely miss with promotions. They believe Wong can be their starter – and so should you. (Remember Matt Carpenter as a “risky” call-up?). Growing pains are to be expected – but consider where you need to draft a player like Utley or Jed Lowrie to fill 2B – then look at Wong. If he establishes himself as the true everyday 2B for the Cardinals, he will be a top 8+ 2B option – at the weakest fantasy position every year. If you are in a Keeper league – draft him early. Middle infielders are by far the most difficult positions to get quality production from.

CHASE UTLEY ESPN 2014 Projection: .281 / 76 R / 16 HR / 71 RBI / 12 SB

WONG ESPN 2014 Projection: .266 / 56 R / 7 HR / 37 RBI / 19 SB

B 2014 Projection: .271 / 68 R / 9 HR / 51 RBI / 21 SB

PITCHERS TO DRAFT “CHEAP’: Here are some people available super late in the draft who will over-produce in their respective categories.

ANDREW CASHNER (SD), TIM LINCECUM (SF), JONATHAN PAPELBON (PHL), C.C. SABATHIA (NYY), MICHAEL PINEDA (NYY)

HOW MY BEST DRAFT (of 4) WORKED OUT

Tulo, Zimmerman and Carpenter falling was nice. I love Posey – even knowing a 3^rd round pick is not worth it for C.

2	Miguel Cabrera, Det 3B
19	Troy Tulowitzki, Col SS
22	Joey Votto, Cin 1B
39	Buster Posey, SF C
42	David Ortiz, Bos DH
59	Ryan Zimmerman, Wsh 3B
62	Matt Carpenter, StL 2B
79	Jayson Werth, Wsh OF
82	Jason Heyward, Atl OF
99	Martin Prado, Ari 3B
102	Pablo Sandoval, SF 3B
119	Zack Wheeler, NYM SP
122	CC Sabathia, NYY SP
139	Michael Wacha, StL SP
142	Sonny Gray, Oak SP
159	Christian Yelich, Mia OF
162	Clay Buchholz, Bos SP
179	Tim Lincecum, SF SP
182	Grant Balfour, TB RP
199	John Axford, Cle RP
202	Nick Markakis, Bal OF
219	Tommy Hunter, Bal RP
222	Colby Rasmus, Tor OF
239	Gregory Polanco, Pit OF
242	Chris Carter, Hou 1B

By Tom Stortz|2014-03-18T18:59:39-04:00March 18th, 2014|Sports|0 Comments

You Should Know Alexey Voyevoda

I’ve watched the first few episodes of Games of Arms on AMC and find arm wrestling fascinating. The matches are usually pretty short and won by the more strategic, stronger, better man. It’s fun trying to predict who is going to win based off of past results and class levels. For instance, Dave Chaffee (the guy doesn’t even have a Wiki page) recently became the world champion by beating the undefeated Russian champion Denis Cyplenkov. This is a huge deal for Russians but doesn’t even register on the American radar. So now when Dave Chaffee is pitted against one of the arm wrestlers from the show, he’s in a class by himself and some of these other guys are chumps. Last match he beat his opponent using his off hand to give you an idea. This interest lead me to look into arm wrestling a bit further and there are a few top guys whose names stand out.

Alexey Voevoda vs John Brzenk

Alexey Voyevoda pops up after a few searches. To start the Alexey Voyevoda Wikipedia page – “Voyevoda holds a good deal of recognition as a professional arm wrestler, he has secured several Russian arm wrestling championships. His triumph over legendary arm-wrestler John Brzenk, was immortalized in the feature length documentary, “Pulling John”, directed by Sevan Matossian.” When you read about John Brzenk, he’s considered the top of the top. To beat him is extraordinary. Alexey Voyevoda’s talents don’t end there though. He has won many medals for Russia’s Olympic bobsled team. Is anyone else blown away by this?

Gold	2014 Sochi	Four-man
Gold	2014 Sochi	Two-man
Silver	2006 Turin	Four-man
Bronze	2010 Vancouver	Two-man

John Breznk vs Sylvester Stallone in Over the Top. Look at that size difference!

So not only is this guy one of the best arm wrestlers on our planet, but he is also able to jump into a speeding sled with other people and be elite. I don’t know how much of bob sledding requires physical attributes but whatever this guy’s’ make up is, it’s working. These are the type of people who blow my mind. I’m not able to be even close to the best at ONE thing and this guy is the best in the world at 2 things! In my mind, a guy like Alexey Voyevoda should make a list of dual sport athletes and they should be considered better than one trick pony’s. Bo Jackson comes to mind as a rival.

By Tom Stortz|2014-03-14T08:54:09-04:00March 14th, 2014|Sports|0 Comments

Dominique, Pipe Down!

I read an article on Yahoo where Dominique Wilkins was downplaying Lebron’s 61 point performance and calling out that there was no defense and it was against a sub .500 Bobcats team. You’ll have to find him on Twitter to get each and every Tweet on the subject but here are the key ones.

No denying he put on a shooting display. He was hot. Let’s not forget, he was playing the Bobcats. A sub 500 team w a match up nightmare.

— Dominique Wilkins (@DWilkins21) March 4, 2014

Watch the film. No close outs on D, doubles were late, rotations were slow. It was too easy to score. At 54 y/o I could drop 40 on that D — Dominique Wilkins (@DWilkins21) March 4, 2014

Bron is a freakish athlete, yes, no doubt. I could say I was too in my prime, but averaging 30 then against the greats like Bird, MJ, King — Dominique Wilkins (@DWilkins21) March 4, 2014

My take is not knocking Bron at all. It’s really more so about the game & how it has changed.

— Dominique Wilkins (@DWilkins21) March 4, 2014

Warranted Comments?

The real Shack was an NBA Starter

What I took from this isn’t Dominique critiquing Lebron’s game which is what the average layman would think. Nor the odd egotistical nature of Dominique Wilkins thinking he could drop 40 points against any team currently. It’s his final Tweet which I believe is accurate. I was a huge basketball fan when guys like Jordan, Barkley, Ewing, and Nique were in their prime. I was a little kid who didn’t understand basketball like I do now, but I did grow up surrounded by these legends. With these comments, Nique is pointing out how wide the range of talent on the floor is today which I can’t decide if it was the same as in the 80’s and 90’s when basketball was considered great. This is the key question when thinking over these comments. Were the 5 starters on all teams closer in talent than in today’s game?

I would consider myself a Sixers fan if there is such a thing today. Watching a team lose 15 straight and winning a 100 dollars betting against them the last two nights, I know that the talent on the floor is sad. Lebron would be a knife cutting through the Sixers defensive butter and could probably score 100 against them if he wanted to. Does this belittle the fact that he can do it in an NBA game? I don’t think it does.

If it were so easy to score 61 points in a game, wouldn’t anyone be able to do it? “After all, it has only happened 31 times for 18 players in the last 51 years — those are numbers that indicate just how difficult and rare the accomplishment is.” The answer is that even with no defense and below average NBA talent, 99% of the players in the league are not dropping 61 points.

So this brings about, Dominique, why on Earth are you making this a discussion. Is it to make you feel better about yourself? When I read articles like this, the only reason I write about them is to point out how stupid it is for 1) to make the comments and 2) to turn them into a story. When aging stars make ridiculous comments comparing themselves to the present, no one should listen. Sit back in your recliner and sip a beer while enjoying this unevenly talented NBA. However, I think it’s fair to say The Human Highlight Film may know a thing or two about basketball.

By Tom Stortz|2016-10-29T13:14:37-04:00March 5th, 2014|Sports|1 Comment

ProAm Golfers Mishits

A fun event to watch is the Pro-Am at Pebble Beach which pairs professional golfers and celebrities for a golf tournament. The great thing about it is that the celebs who are golfing aren’t always that good and you get to see other people struggling on the golf course. Here are two videos of Jeb Bush, Peyton Manning, Chris Berman, and Herm Edwards teeing off. Peyton is an 8 handicap for what it’s worth.

By Tom Stortz|2014-02-08T14:07:18-05:00February 8th, 2014|Sports|0 Comments

Molly Schuyler Is Not Some Lady

Molly Schuyler 16in Pizza Under 2 Minutes

This lady just beast moded the shit out of this pizza http://t.co/0J8jFVtm7p

— David Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 4, 2014

This isn’t just a lady. It’s Molly Schuyler who I watched last Friday beat the Philly Wing Bowl record by 27 wings. She beat Kobayashi’s record by 27 wings! Something is a bit odd though because the guy who got 2nd place in the wing bowl also beat Kobayashi’s record so maybe it was something with the wings. The Pres’ tweet doesn’t even name her which is straight up disrespectful. World be aware, this woman is taking competitive eating by storm.

She’s been competitive eating since Aug 2012 but I think it’s safe to say she’s only recently hit the public spotlight. The note in her Wiki page says “her hometown is Bellevue, Nebraska, and she works as a bartender and server at Applebee’s. She is married and has four children.” Unbelievable that you come out of nowhere to be not only the best, but possibly THE BEST!

The Challenges

By Tom Stortz|2014-02-04T13:07:35-05:00February 4th, 2014|Celeb, Sports|1 Comment

Golf’s Frustration in a Hole

The Golf Bug

Received this text yesterday:

[blockquote source=”Addasheee”] High of 44 on sat… golfing it is?[/blockquote]

Golf’s Declining Nature

There is an article in the WSJ that is titled, “Whoever Said Golf Was Supposed to Be Fun?” that looks into why the sport has lost 5 million players over the past decade, including a 30% drop in golfers age 18-34. Ambassadors to the sport have created hackgolf.org to try to spur the popularity of golf again by “making it fun” which is what this article points out isn’t why people like golf.

Since conventional ideas of encouraging faster play and youth programs have done little to halt the decline, they are looking for more radical ideas such as GPS nanotechnology golf balls or structure changes to boost golf’s popularity. The problem the game of golf is facing is that it’s perfect the way it is and people just can’t hack it (or afford it). It’s a game that requires dedication and a commitment to improving skills which require lots of time, patience, and money, which the majority of people don’t have.

“A slow round of golf is asking a lot of today’s young people, whose idea of fun is probably not six hours of painstaking frustration.” Golf isn’t fun if you suck at it which is where the focus of these organizations should be. I’ve been playing since I was 13, I’m now 30, and I can still barely hit the ball where I want it to go (I play at a 15-20). If you can’t move the ball throughout the holes with any regularity, golf sucks. How are people supposed to pick up a club and find enjoyment on the course when the learning curve is years? Understanding that “sucking at golf makes golf suck” is what the representatives have to understand when forming their ideas to inject life back into golf which even with this hurdle, can still be achieved.

The article used a quote about, “superior beings deriving pleasure from things that are difficult and challenging” to describe golfers. An idea would be to sponsor a “have you got what it takes” campaign aimed at Type A personalities. I don’t think this is bad but there aren’t enough people who care about being challenged to start picking up golf. The campaign should be about forgetting life on the golf course or enjoying being outdoors with your friends. That’s what golf is all about. We aren’t going to be professional golfers and us hackers know this. We like basking in the heat with a few brews and hitting that one shot that you’ll remember for the next 5 years. That feeling and getting away from life is where the enjoyment takes place. Practicing and improving is the additional level and what makes the sport wonderful the way it is.

How to Improve Golf

I perused some of the suggestions on the hackgolf.org and added a few of my own to make the game better:

The Good Ideas

Promote twosomes – I thought a course that only accepted twosomes was a different idea. Foursomes move slower and I think a smaller more agile group would keep play moving at a faster pace. You lose the camaraderie because a good foursome is going to be more fun than a twosome, but if courses catered to twosomes, they might find that they have less time of play issues. Some of the best rounds of golf I’ve played have been with just 2 people flying around the course in under 3 hours.

Golf facilities should reward under 4 hour rounds – I like the idea of the course giving a discount on your next round if you play properly. I’ve played with guys who have no incentive to play quickly and they don’t, thus dragging the whole group down. Slow players kill golf. When fast golfers get stuck behind slow golfers, no one will have fun.

Affordable – Golf is too expensive. $75-$100 rounds are more than I want to spend. Obviously if a course if filled at these numbers, there is no reason to alter it but it certainly doesn’t invite any new players. Cater days of cheap play to new players and it will help promote the game. Courses force players to play twilight.

Some Bad Ideas:

Make the rules easier or different for Rec players – I’m a stickler for rules and nothing burns me up more than a player saying he shoots 100 and plays by his own rules. Some people play chess and others play checkers. I personally don’t care what a player says he shoots by his own rules but creating a new recreational set of rules is out of the question.

Make Balls easier to find – Hate this. One of the best parts about golf is finding a ball that was supposedly lost. Hunting for balls is great because it’s a skill that is overlooked. GPS balls take this attribute away. Although they would make sure you are always playing your own ball which would be a perk.

Bigger Cups – Putting doesn’t deter golfers. Ball striking is what adds up numbers.

Less Holes – There is always the option to play 9. 18 is a great number because you can turn in a horrible front 9 and a majestic back 9. It cuts up the game nicely.

The Answer – Education By Fun

Games that promote skill sets for hitting the ball. There is nothing fun about going to a driving range and hitting balls into a field. People want to be entertained and this can be done by getting creative to make people practice. Lose the traditional golf holes and set up crazy practice shots that people can attempt. This brings fun into it and they practice at the same time. Once people can get better at ball striking, then they need to be lured to the course with reasonable prices and an experience that doesn’t deter them from the game. Not everyone is meant to be a golfer but teaching skills that make golf enjoyable is where the heart of the problem lies.

By Tom Stortz|2014-01-29T13:00:06-05:00January 29th, 2014|Sports|1 Comment

The Guy Wins Tennis Bets Too?!?!

This Friday night the Shee and I were looking for some action and the Shee made mention of a tennis bet he won sometime in the past. The Australian Open was being broadcast live at 9pm that night and seemed like a different form of entertainment. The Shee constructed an 8 player parlay picking all the heavy favorites found below:

8 Team Parlay #330125386
Federer, R -5000 Jan 17/14@08:40p
Murray, A -1000 Jan 17/14@10:30p
Nishikori, K -750 Jan 18/14@03:00a
Nadal, R -1100 Jan 18/14@04:00a
Berdych, T -900 Jan 18/14@05:00p
Djokovic, N -5000 Jan 18/14@05:00p
Azarenka, V -2000 Jan 18/14@03:00a
Radwanska, A -500 Jan 17/14@08:50p

Needless to say, the 50 dollar bet won 50 dollars. I should note that Radswanka was the only player to lose a SET! I’m aware this isn’t big money but I stayed up late last night to watch Tomas Berdych put a beatdown on Kenny Anderson. The strategy seems incredibly obvious but let’s get something straight, Serena was bounced from the tournament and I’m sure she was a bigger favorite than half of those lines. Anything can happen.

This little story takes us into NFL Sunday with the 2 Conference championship games on the line. The Broncos are giving 4 points to the Patriots and the Seahawks are giving a generous 3 to the 49ers. Earlier in the week I put 100 dollars on both the Pats and the Niners so that I would guarantee I had some action on the games. I did this because on Monday night I made a stupid bet of betting Butler against Creighton and lost 60 of the 400 I won the week before. The goal of this bet was to juice the account but I actually was anti-juicing. Fortunately the Shee won that cash back and I’m back where I finished last week at.

The Shee likes the Bronco’s in the 3pm game but I was already on the Pats. Everyone remembers the Pats coming back from a 28-0 halftime deficit in week 12 and my gut tells me that this is going to be a close game. One little point to remember is that the Pats had Gronk for that game and he was a huge contributor. Gronk is obviously out but so is the Broncos starting cornerback Chris Harris. In the second half of the Week 12 game, Brady didn’t throw a single pass towards Chris Harris do give an indication of how strong a player he is. The Shee thinks that Manning is destined for the Superbowl but that doesn’t mean that they are going to cover the game. LeGarrette Blount is coming off a 4 TD man’s game and Belichick is a stronger coach than John Fox. I think it’ll be a very exciting game.

I have some cash on the 49ers too and I’m not even going to try and say I have a strong intuition either way on this game. The Hawks looked great last week on defense against the Saints and their home field advantage is always in play. Their offense though can be abysmal. The 49ers have a strong coach in Jim Harbaugh but Pete Carroll is no slouch either. Kapernick relies on his legs to move the chains at times and I don’t see Seattle giving that up too easily. This means Kap will have to go through the air which means there is a greater chance for mistakes. The way I see it, the offense of both teams will struggle and the Niners will cover the (large) 3 point spread in this game. If that Pats do indeed win, I should have somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 on the Niners. All house money.

By Tom Stortz|2014-01-19T10:12:28-05:00January 19th, 2014|Sports|0 Comments

The Power of the Tweet

Here’s Lebron dunking on Paul Millsap last night:

Here is Millsaps’ Tweet:

Tough loss but I love the fight of our team. Word of advice "don't be in the wrong place at the wrong time" lol. #igotgot #GoHawks

— Paul Millsap (@Paulmillsap4) December 24, 2013

This example is why Twitter is so powerful. A player gets posterized and can respond to what happened in something other than an interview. The majority of the world would have no idea what is going through the mind of Paul Millsap after getting Lebron’s nut sack on his forehead. An interview is only watched by people who tune into sports stations. So unless you are watching Sportscenter, you probably aren’t realizing that Millsap got got. Twitter allows him to make this post and then have knuckleheads like me find his tweet, and snowball the tweet so everyone knows he got owned last night. This isn’t something that you can overlook.

Twitter holds legitimacy over Facebook and is quickly becoming the #1 social media for news and info. Facebook joined friends together and people are over having friends. Twitter brings relevant content and newsworthy pieces from people you care about together. Is Paul Millsap’s reaction to getting dunked on something I care about? Not exactly but on a slow news day, why not? Paul Millsap being able to speak out to the world about what happened in a form of media that isn’t sports television is my point. This idea is what is vaulting Twitter. Getting reactions from people on events all in one place. It’s a combined form of media that is unlike anything else. If you don’t have Twitter and you read this blog and don’t follow me, join year 2014 and the Twitter experience. I was anti-twitter at first but have come on board because it’s not very time consuming and much more interesting than Facebook. The better social media will rise to the top.

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-24T13:41:04-05:00December 24th, 2013|My Brain, Sports|1 Comment

The Romo Ruse

He’s just a little guy,

I’m not sure how obvious this is but the first thing that I thought when the Cowboys announced that Romo was hurt on Monday was, “why on Earth are the Cowboys telling us this?” This isn’t the kind of information you share with the media to allow the team you are playing against to prepare for. You’d let the Eagles prepare for Romo and then at the last possible second, tell them Orton is playing. This would be the most likely situation if Romo were 100% not going to play. That’s not what happened though and as the situation developed, it has gotten even more confusing.

On 12/22, the reports were that Romo was done for the season. 2 days layer on 12/24, Jerry Jones isn’t ruling out the possibility he will play. So what happened? The Cowboys realized how incredibly stupid it was to disclose Romo’s status on Monday and are now trying to deceive the birds by saying he might play so they prepare for both QB’s even though THEY KNOW HE’S NOT PLAYING. Are the Cowboys that mindful about the psychological edge surrounding this game? Or, Romo may actually be able to play. Either way it’s pretty brilliant mind games by the Cowboys heading into the final week of the season. Surround all this attention on your QB situation that you take away from the down and dirty details of the game. Whether that works or not, I wouldn’t think so but it’s definitely worth a try if your starting QB can’t play the biggest game of the season. I never trust the media in situation like this because they are too easy to mess with. Best to just ignore it and prepare for THE COWBOYS, and now who is the QB.

Who doesn’t want this guy to play?

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-24T12:39:26-05:00December 24th, 2013|Sports|0 Comments