Spare a Thought for the Mariners

In my experience as a fan, nothing is more emotionally difficult that having your team eliminated deep in the MLB playoffs.  If you get this far into the baseball season -- especially if you reach Game Seven of the LCS -- you have really been through a lot with your team.  The Mariners played 174 official games this season.  They played 12 playoff games, one of which went 15 innings.  In the last game of the season, they had a 3-1 lead at the seventh-inning stretch, and were only nine outs away from their first pennant in history.  Even at the end, they still had a chance -- their season ended with Cal Raleigh, their star, the guy who hit 60 regular season home runs, who homered in this game -- on deck.  But all three of their batters in the ninth inning struck out, and Raleigh never got another chance.

Now as a fan, there is no getting over this type of loss.  It will never stop hurting.  Because you were right there.  It's not like you had no chance.  Every Mariner fan knows, in his or her heart, that their team is just as good as Toronto.  But that's not what the record books will show.

I've watched a lot of playoff series in my time, and I have rarely seen one more evenly matched, or where the players seemed to play with more serious effort.  There was enormous pressure on both teams, and both of them played well.

Mariner fans will spend the rest of their lives replaying that seventh inning.  Should they have left Woo in the game?  Should they have brought in someone other than Bazardo?  Should they have walked Springer to set up the force at every base?  I can still remember watching Tommy Lasorda -- my favorite manager of all time -- leaving in Tom Niedenfuer to pitch to Jack Clark in Game Six of the 1985 N.L.C.S.  I knew that Clark would hit the game-winning (and pennant-winning) home run, and he did.  I still think Lasorda made a mistake.  And it's possible that Seattle manager Dan Wilson -- a man who played 12 seasons for the Mariners, and who wants them to win the pennant more than anyone else -- made a mistake tonight.  We will never know.

But it is the genius of baseball that it forces difficult choices on everyone.  Tonight Wilson got caught in a basic principle of baseball -- one that Earl Weaver described years ago, in one of my favorite baseball quotes of all time:

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock.  You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance.  That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."

So you shouldn't blame the Mariners, or Dan Wilson, or Eduard Bazardo.  Give credit to the Blue Jays, who pulled off a miracle comeback and who really deserve the 2025 American League Pennant.  Give credit to George Springer, who had his chance -- and who took it.

As for the Mariners' fans, they can always take comfort in another great baseball quote:  Wait 'til next year.

Thirty-Two Franchises: Seattle Seahawks

Have participated in the NFL since the 1976 season.

All-Time Record:  402-373-1 (.519)

Super Bowl Record:  1-2 (XLVIII) (2013)

I probably think about Seattle less than I think about any other team in the NFL, with the possible exception of the Jaguars.  I'm not sure that I've watched a full regular season game involving the Seahawks since they played in the afternoon games on Channel Six back in the 1980's.

Top Passer:  Russell Wilson (37,059 yds)

Top Rusher:  Shaun Alexander (9,429 yds)

Top Receiver:  Steve Largent (13,089 yds)

Top Coach:  Pete Carroll (137 wins)

Top All-Time Player Based on Approximate Value:  Russell Wilson (AV of 158)

Wilson's record as a starter in Seattle was 104-53-1.  That is really good, and I don't understand why so many folks in the media are dismissive of his career.

The Unofficial College Football Championship

The Washington Huskies have held the Unofficial College Football Championship since November 12, 2022, when they defeated Oregon 37 to 34.  Since then, they have defended the U.C.F.C. on 17 different occasions, including back-to-back bowl wins over Texas (last year in the Alamo Bowl and this year in the Sugar Bowl).  They've also beaten Oregon twice this year (36-33 in the regular season and 34-31 in the Pac 12 Title Game).  They survived a 15-7 game with Arizona State, a 22-20 battle at Oregon State, and a 24-21 game with Washington State.  It's the longest run in the U.C.F.C. since Ohio State defended the crown 18 times before losing to Clemson in the 2019 Fiesta Bowl.

Of course, tonight is the last college football game of the season, which means that whoever wins the U.C.F.C. tonight gets to keep it until at least the last day of August.  If Washington wins, the Huskies will next defend the title on August 31, 2024 at home against Weber State.  If Michigan wins, they will next defend the title on August 31, 2024 at home against Fresno State.

This is the first season since 2014 where a team from the Classic SEC didn't play for the national title, and that's a disappointment to a lot of us.  But on the whole, it's been an entertaining season, and whoever wins tonight is certainly a worthy champion.

Not Working This Morning

I think this or this probably was the "small Hilton" in Seattle where Bob Newhart, coming off The Bob Newhart Show, thought of Newhart, per this fun and interesting conversation with a skilled, unnamed interviewer with The Paley Center for Media ...

Here are a couple of facts I wrote down from a book I read that might well have been Great Quarterbacks of Pro Football by Steve and Rita Golden Gelman:

-- Len Dawson was a fifth-string quarterback as a sophomore for his high-school football team in Alliance, Ohio. He was the starter in his junior year.

-- At the half of Super Bowl I, the Packers lead the Chiefs 14-10, and Dawson has completed 11 of 15 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. On his first pass of the second half, Dawson throws toward tight end Fred Arbanas under the duress of converging Green Bay linebackers Lee Roy Caffey and Dave Robinson. Packer safety Willie Wood intercepts and returns to the Kansas City 5. Dawson finishes the game 16-of-27 for 211 yards.

Super Wikipedia on prolific-children's-and-travel-writer Golden Gorman, originally of Bridgeport, Connecticut: "In 1987, on the verge of divorce, Gelman decided that it was time to live her dream of traveling the world and living among people in other cultures. It's been 24 years and she still has no permanent home; her new passion is to bring the concept of a 'Gap Year' to teens in the U.S. Her organization, Let's Get Global, is dedicated to encouraging and assisting recent high school graduates to have international experiences before they begin the next phase of their lives. The ultimate goal of LGG is to create a cultural norm in the United States that will make it a common practice to extend education beyond U.S. borders. Let's Get Global suggests that graduating high school seniors defer college or the job world for a year while they immerse themselves in other cultures and discover the common humanity of mankind."

April 17, 2006

Back at the Madisonville Community College, which I love. On the UK-blue couches in the student center, I’m listening to the pleasant, purposeful chatter of the snack-bar couple at work.

“What are you cooking?”

“We’re going to need more eggs.” 

And, “do you want me to toast your Pop Tarts?”

There’s also the low murmur of a Law & Order or some sort of crime-investigation drama rerun on TNT. On my left, a buzzcut in work boots reads over geometry text and nurses a 20-ounce Diet Mountain Dew. On my right, a 19-year-old piddles with a video game on a public-access PC.

Al Stewart is playing here Friday. And Saturday. 

COFFEEHOUSE PERFOMRANCE TWO NIGHTS! 
FOLK AND POP LEGEND KNOWN FOR HIS HITS

‘TIME PASSAGES’ AND ‘THE YEAR OF THE CAT 

There are two portraits of Stewart on the poster. Under a heading “Then …” is a black-and-white photo of Stewart in poofy, shoulder-length hair. He’s looking pensively away from the camera, wearing a paisley shirt and silver-studded leather jacket – hands lodged loosely in front dungaree pockets. Next to the heading “and now,” it’s Stewart in a white, collarless shirt and gray sport coat. His hair is short, thinning, wiry and brown. His hands are clutched around an acoustic guitar neck. 

“Now, we’re going to pull out their barbecue separate, right? … Great. … OK, I’m going for a smoke.”

Also among the Madisonville Community College student-center placards are handbills for First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Earlington:

We offer an old-fashioned style of worship in a relaxed manner. Dress as you desire. Some dress up in their ‘Sunday best.’ Others wear jeans and a tee shirt. God looks at the heart. So do we. … We are a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This means we partake of the Lord’s Supper each Sunday. Everyone is invited to participate. The only ‘requirement’ is a confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. You are encouraged to think for yourself. Nobody will tell you what to think. You are asked to give that same freedom to others.

Before I flush the last remnants of Christmas73 from my YouTube "Watch Later" feed, here are a couple of last gems ...

Phil Elderkin in the April 5, 1969, Sporting News offered in his Page 71 "NBA Basketball" column these well-earned observations about some of the league's coaches:

-- The Knicks' Red Holzman is "firm but soft sell" Strong on defense, teaching and matchups.

-- The 76ers' Jack Ramsey is a "very intense person who takes defeats home with him but never really seems discouraged." His gambling defense "requires a collegian dedication."

-- The Celtics' Bill Russell is "guilty of running soft practices," and sometimes the "crisis of the moment takes precedence over the whole picture."

-- The Bullets' Gene Shue is "expert at spotting a cold shooter quickly and hopefully replacing him with a hot one."

-- The Lakers' Bill van Breda Kolf is "outspoken, outgoing and often out of breath."

Rest in peace, Mr. Elderkin, newspaper journalist of 65 years, attendee at every Celtics playoff game 1957-69 and Baseball Writers' Association of America Member 5.

Forty First Podcast

The forty first podcast is up. Thanks to freemidi.org for the audio files. Eric and Matthew finish simulating the Fake CBK.

RSS Feed

Twenty Years

This December will mark 20 years since the horrible shooting at our dear, old Heath High School, and here's an Associated Press item this morning from Rockford, Washington:

Harper, a 15-year-old sophomore, said the suspect had brought notes in the beginning of the school year, saying he was going to do "something stupid" and might get killed or jailed. Some students alerted counselors, the teen told AP, but it wasn't clear what school officials did in response ...

Harper said the shooter had many friends and was not bullied, calling him "nice and funny and weird" and a huge fan of the TV show "Breaking Bad." He also said the suspect was obsessed with other school shootings. 

Students say the shooter was armed with a pistol and rifle and had carried a duffel bag to school.

If you are not for reducing access to guns, would you instead be willing to support new taxes to pay for the same level of security equipment, personnel and processes at our schools that we have implemented at our airports?

Prayers for everyone in and around Rockford.

The Freakin' Weekend (1970)

OK, so here's the deal. People (the people, yes!) have been going all Colin Kaepernick/civil disobedient and posting old NFL Films 1970-season-review stuff on YouTube because life is uncertain and because light shouldn't be hidden under bushels. But, of course, it's not like the light clobbers the darkness. The darkness could not overcome it; the score is always like 23-21, and we're forever committing penalties on third down or dropping passes that hit us between the numbers(!)--the very-soon deal is likely that all of this great stuff will be yanked back down from YouTube any moment. So--spoiler alerts--here it is now for us to enjoy while we can. 

NFL70 kicks off today 1970 (Friday, Sept. 18), and you might remember that the Kansas City Chiefs are the defending champions:

"Quarterback Gary Cuozzo was at the Super Bowl, and he remembers," says Pat Summerall. "His entire team remembers." The Vikings will be taking another shot at a championship with Cuozzo at the helm, not Joe Kapp:

Ebony isn't buying Minnesota's plan.

YouTube doesn't have the film on the 1970 Rams' and Lions' seasons, but it does have awesome playlists of the songs purportedly used in the Los Angeles and Detroit NFL Films productions (Dave Volsky, yes!).

It's easy to see why Ebony likes "able, young John Madden" and the Raiders.

The Bengals will be playing this season without their great, young quarterback, Greg Cook, who is still recovering from an arm injury, so it seems we'll have to wait another year for Cincinnati's "golden age of football prominence" to commence.

Frank Gifford wonders "if people will long remember the 1970 New York Giants?" Well, we'll see in this episode (with commercials!) of NFL Action (hooray!) ...

The AP had a story a few weeks ago that the coach of the Eagles, Jerry Williams, says they are hoping for a winning season, so that probably means Philadelphia isn't going to be any good.

Sports Illustrated chose Dick Butkus and the Bears for the cover of its season-preview issue, but they probably aren't going to be any good either.

Street and Smith's went with Joe Namath and the Jets. They were, of course, super just two seasons ago, but, ever since then, the story with the Jets has been whether Namath is going to play--because of possible suspension, because of injury, because of possible retirement, etc.

Tex Maule a few weeks ago in SI had an analysis of the choking Cowboys. Nonetheless, Boys' Life put Calvin Hill on its cover this month 1970.

You might think from this ad in the Boys' Life that Johnny Unitas is a man without a team, but that is not correct. He's back leading the Colts after missing most of the Super Bowl two seasons ago against New York, and we'll have to see how that turns out.

The Dolphins have come a long way since 1966, and now they're looking great!

As previously reported, the plan appears to be coming together pretty happily in Pittsburgh.

As for the rest, here's how they fared in the preseason (which is a bigger deal in NFL70 than it is now) ...

Despite the 5-1 preseason performance, the Redskins are reeling. 

Vince Lombardi's impact on in Washington was really huge. I didn't get this for a long time--until I actually lived in D.C. for a little while, it felt like this mostly inconsequential anecdote of NFL history. This was incorrect. Washington spent years and years being a joke of the league, and then it spent 20 years being one of the absolute best teams in the league, and Lombardi appears to me now to have been the primary catalyst in that change. 

In summer 1969, there was an AP story in the Kentucky New Era that Sam Huff "took a pay cut in snipping his rich business ties with a clothing firm," in order to come back from retirement and have a chance to play again for Lombardi. (I lost that link--sorry, AP.) The story said that Huff's mind was made to return when he saw Lombardi, who was a Giants assistant in Huff's rookie season, 1956, speak about winning determination in a sales movie, Second Effort:

I was in the Martin Luther King branch of the Washington public library this summer and discovered this fantastic, beautiful book (5 Stars, Highly Recommended) from 1974 ...

Here's its chapter about Lombardi's time ...

Actually, my favorite part of the book is a big section in the back with color pictures of the Redskins' facilities.

So, in conclusion, hooray for public libraries, football, TV, all media and affordable, universal access!

Moscow vs Pullman 2015

U.S. Open -- Day Four Wrap-Up

Yes, I realize that the U.S. Open concluded several weeks ago.  But it makes sense to wrap up our coverage now, because what happened at the U.S. Open will have a major impact on how people view the ongoing British Open.

The big story of the 2015 U.S. Open -- far beyond the ridiculous Chambers Bay course or the latest disaster to befall Dustin Johnson in a major -- is that Jordan Spieth, the 21-year-old wunderkind from Texas, has now won the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year.  This is a very big deal.  In 1953, Ben Hogan won the Masters, the U.S. Open, and the British Open.  To this day, he remains the only person to turn that trick.  Only three other golfers have won the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year:  Arnold Palmer in 1960, Jack Nicklaus in 1972, and Tiger Woods in 2002.  These are probably the three greatest golfers since Hogan, and each of them were at the absolute peak of their powers when they pulled off this double.  No one else -- not Tom Watson, or Gary Player, or Nick Faldo, or any of the other great golfers of the last 60 years -- has accomplished this feat.  Until Spieth.

In other words, whatever Spieth does for the rest of this year -- or the rest of his life, for that matter -- he has already made golf history.  Palmer, Nicklaus, and Woods were never able to repeat their trick of winning the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year, and the odds are certainly against Spieth as well.  But then again, the odds were against him this year.

For much of the last few years, we've complained about the lack of dominant golfers in the post-Tiger era.  But the last four majors have now been won by two young superstars:  Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.  This is very exciting news for golf fans, and augurs well for the future of this great old game.

One final point about Mark Davis and his impact on the U.S. Open.  Here is the list of National Open titlists since 2010, when Davis's views really began to affect play:

2010:  Graeme McDowell (NIR)
2011:  Rory McIlroy (NIR)
2012:  Webb Simpson
2013:  Justin Rose (ENG)
2014:  Martin Kaymer (GER)
2015:  Jordan Spieth

That is a very good list of champions -- only Webb Simpson looks like the sort of odd winner that the U.S. Open used to throw up all the time.  For all the criticism of Davis -- some of which I share -- he should be given some credit for this power-packed list of winners.

Here's the final top ten at the 2015 U.S. Open:

1.  J. Spieth:  -5 (68+67+71+69=275)

T2.  D. Johnson:  -4 (65+71+70+70=276)
T2.  L. Oosthuizen (RSA):  -4 (77+66+66+67=276)

T4.  B. Grace (RSA):  -3 (69+67+70+71=277)
T4.  A. Scott (AUS):  -3 (70+71+72+64=277)
T4.  C. Smith (AUS):  -3 (70+70+69+68=277)

7.  C. Schwartzel (RSA):  -2 (73+70+69+66=278)

8.  B. Snedeker:  -1 (69+72+70+68=279)

T9.  J. Day (AUS):  Even (68+70+68+74=280)
T9.  S. Lowry (IRL):  Even (69+70+70+71=280)
T9.  R. McIlroy (NIR):  Even (72+72+70+66=280)

Here is the list of major golf champions since June 2010 -- when the HP was launched:

Rory McIlroy (NIR):  4
Jordan Spieth:  2
Martin Kaymer (GER):  2
Bubba Watson:  2
Jason Dufner
Phil Mickelson
Justin Rose (ENG)
Adam Scott (AUS)
Ernie Els (RSA)
Webb Simpson
Keegan Bradley
Darren Clarke (NIR)
Charl Schwartzel (RSA)
Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)

Spieth's two victories have moved the United States to the top of the table:

United States:  8
United Kingdom:  6
South Africa:  3
Germany:  2
Australia:  1

U.S. Open: Third Day Wrap Up

I'm pretty much done with this tournament, although I still hope that Jordan Spieth or J.B. Holmes can pull out the victory.  My views on Chambers Bay and the USGA were accurately captured by Gary Player, who knows a lot more about golf than I do -- or than the USGA does, for that matter.

Leaderboard:

T1.  J. Day (AUS):  -4 (68+70+68=206)
T1.  B. Grace (RSA):  -4 (69+67+70=206)
T1.  D. Johnson:  -4 (65+71+70=206)
T1.  J. Spieth:  -4 (68+67+71=206)

T5.  J.B. Holmes:  -1 (72+66+71=209)
T5.  S. Lowry (IRL):  -1 (69+70+70=209)
T5.  L. Oosthuizen (RSA):  -1 (77+66+66=209)
T5.  C. Smith (AUS):  -1 (70+70+69=209)

T9.  T. Finau:  +1 (69+68+74=211)
T9.  J. Luiten (NED):  +1 (68+69+74=211)
T9.  P. Reed:  +1 (66+69+76=211)
T9.  A. Romero (ARG):  +1 (71+69+71=211)
T9.  B. Snedeker:  +1 (69+72+70=211)
T9.  H. Stenson (SWE):  +1 (65+74+72=211)

U.S. Open Wrap-Up: Day Two

Mike Davis became the Executive Director of the USGA in March 2011.  Since taking over the USGA, he has radically changed the U.S. Open.  For decades, the National Open was played at a series of (mostly) old and traditional courses, with lots of rough and narrow fairways.  I didn't like this version of the National Open, which to me felt like the French Open of golf -- it didn't have much to do with the golf played the other 51 weeks of the year, and we seemed to get a high percentage of flukey winners.  (Andy North?  Twice?  No Nick Faldo?  Or Seve Ballesteros?  Or any of the other great Europeans from the 1980's and 1990's?)

But Mike Davis has changed all of this.  Now the U.S. Open is a showcase for whatever experiments he's decided to run.  At Congressional in 2011, he decided to play a U.S. Open on a traditional course, but with almost no rough.  That had a mixed result -- he got a great winner (Rory McIlroy) but an embarrassing score (16 under par) and a boring tournament.

At 2012, the Open went to Olympic in San Francisco, and for the only time under Davis's rule we had an Open that looked like the sort of Opens we saw from 1974 to 2009 -- a really boring tournament won by an obscure American (Webb Simpson), thanks in part to a poor last round from Jim Furyk.  Davis hasn't allowed a repeat of that.

In 2013 he took the Open to Merion in Philadelphia, a great old course that was considered to small to host an Open.  That was a great success -- Merion played well and Justin Rose was a more-than-worthy winner.

Last year he played both the Men's and Women's Opens at Pinehurst -- but a Pinehurst where scads of trees had been eliminated to make the course look like it did in the 1920's.  This worked well for the Women's Open, where Michelle Wie won a thriller.  But the men's Open was a snoozer, with Martin Kaymer shooting 9 under par and winning by eight shots.

So now we're at Chambers Bay, near Seattle, which is evidently meant to be seen as some sort of experiment in "sustainable" golf, or "municipal" golf, or some sort of thing.  It's the oddest golf course I have ever seen.  The land sits in the middle of the big forests that dominate the landscape around Seattle, but there is only one tree on the whole property.  It used to be a quarry or some sort of industrial landscape, and odd hills and huge gray bunkers are all over the place.  To save water (I suppose) there are no trees and no normal rough -- only punitive sections of fescue.  To keep the pros from shooting the lights out, the greens are absurdly hilly and bumpy, and the pins are placed in odd, inaccessible locations.  The result requires the pros to play each hole like they're playing some sort of odd mini-golf set up -- you have to figure out where to land the ball so that it will roll through the odd contours and somehow get within 20 feet of the hold.  Then you have to navigate the odd, bumpy greens.  The whole thing is also unspeakably ugly, unless you're a big fan of the landscape in West Texas.  Or of gray sand.  It looks like golf after the Apocalypse.

On its face, the setup appears to reward long hitters and talented putters.  That's normally the combination you want on a golf course -- it's worked for Augusta National for years.  But the oddity of the layout introduces a randomness that works against the great golfers.  So far, the leaderboard has a mixed feel to it:

T1.  P. Reed:  -5 (66+69=135)
T1.  J. Spieth:  -5 (68+67=135)

T3.  B. Grace (RSA):  -4 (69+67=136)
T3.  D. Johnson:  -4 (65+71=136)

T5.  T. Finau:  -3 (69+68=137)
T5.  J. Luiten (NED):  -3 (68+69=137)
T5.  B. Martin:  -3 (67+70=137)
T5.  D. Summerhays:  -3 (70+67=137)

T9.  J. Day (AUS):  -2 (68+70=138)
T9.  J.B. Holmes:  -2 (72+66=138)
T9.  J. Lovemark:  -2 (70+68=138)

As I see it, this tournament can be redeemed if it's won by Jordan Spieth, who would then be halfway to the Grand Slam.  That would be amazing.  I would also be happy if J.B. Holmes pulled a Webb Simpson and became the first Kentuckian to win a major since Gay Brewer won the 1967 Masters.  Other than that, I'm going to be pretty disappointed with the Chambers Bay Experience.

One final point:  the USGA is spending a lot of time using the Chambers Bay broadcast (on FOX!) to encourage more people to play golf.  But using Chambers Bay to promote golf is like using trigonometry to promote high school.

U.S. Open: Day One Wrap-Up

I have never had a more negative visceral reaction to a golf course than the reaction I had to Chambers Bay.  The course is ugly, it seems fake and unnatural, the holes all seem to run together, and there are big portions of the course with few to any spectators.

I am also very unhappy with Fox's coverage.  It's bad enough that Fox has hired a bunch of guys with little major broadcast experience.  Greg Norman?  Tom Weiskopf?  But Fox also seems to be committed to covering certain stories and golfers regardless of what is actually happening on the course. For example, last night in prime time, we had to watch almost every shot taken by Rickie Fowler.  We even had a five-minute feature on Fowler.  Fowler shot an 81.  He was playing with Tiger, who shot an 80.  It was painful to watch both of them -- I kept thinking Tiger would withdraw at any moment.  Fox stuck with them the whole time -- and did not show other golfers who were actually in competition.

So for me, last night was probably the worst experience I've had watching golf since Ray Floyd ran off and left everyone at the 1976 Masters.  The only redeeming factor for the day was that we do seem to have a decent leaderboard.  And maybe the course will grow on me.  And surely Fox will show the leaders on the last day, right?  They won't just run features on Rickie Fowler, right?

Right?

Here's the leaderboard:

T1.  D. Johnson:  -5 (65)
T1.  H. Stenson (SWE):  -5 (65)

3.  P. Reed:  -4 (66)

T4.  Mr. B. Campbell (a):  -3 (67)
T4.  M. Kuchar:  -3 (67)
T4.  B. Martin:  -3 (67)

T7.  J. Day (AUS):  -2 (68)
T7.  J. Dufner:  -2 (68)
T7.  C. Gribble:  -2 (68)
T7.  J. Luiten (NED):  -2 (68)
T7.  F. Molinari (ITA):  -2 (68)
T7.  J. Spieth:  -2 (68)
T7.  M. Warren (SCO):  -2 (68)

U.S. Open, Day One

Two big changes this year for the U.S. Open.  First, it's going to be covered by Fox.  Second, they are apparently playing the tournament in Britain, as the Chambers Bay course -- which is hosting its first National Open this weekend -- looks exactly like those links courses where the Brits play their open.

We wish good luck to all the golfers, especially the ones from Kentucky.

Mister Rogers Goes To Washington

XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 15)

Medals table at the start of today's competition in Sochi:

1. Norway 10 gold, 4 silver, 8 bronze
2. Russia 9, 10, 7
3. Canada 9, 10, 5
4. United States 9, 7, 11
5. Germany 8, 4, 4
6. Netherlands 6, 7, 9
7. Switzerland 6, 3, 2
8. Belarus 5, 0, 1
9. France 4, 4, 7
10. Poland 4, 0, 0
11. China 3, 4, 2
12. Korea 3, 2, 2
13. Austria 2, 7, 3
14. Sweden 2, 6, 6
15. Czech Republic 2, 4, 2
16. Slovenia 2, 1, 4
17. Japan 1, 4, 3
18. Finland 1, 3, 0
19. Great Britain 1, 1, 2
20. Ukraine 1, 0, 1
21. Slovakia 1, 0, 0
22. Italy 0, 2, 6
23. Australia 0, 2, 1
24. Latvia 0, 1, 2
25. Croatia 0, 1, 0
26. Kazakhstan 0, 0, 1

Spoilers (maybe) are coming in the comments.

Previous reports:

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 14);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 13);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 12);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 11);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 10);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 9);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 8);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 7);
-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 6);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 5);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 4);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 3);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 2);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 1);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 0);

-- XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day a);

-- XII Olympic Winter Games, Innsbruck 1976;

-- II Olympic Winter Games, Saint Moritz 1928, and

-- I Olympic Winter Games, Chamonix 1924.

Olympics Update

At the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship (#2013WMCC and/or #wmcc2013, depending on who's doing the Tweeting) at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, the United States had last-rock advantage but gave up a 10th-end score to the Czech Republic and lost, 9-8, late last night. This dropped the United States to 4-5 and into a tie for eighth in the 14-team tournament that continues through Sunday. With its win, the Czech Republic advanced to 5-4 and created a four-way tie for fourth with China, Norway and Sweden. Canada (7-2), Scotland (7-2) and Denmark (6-3) are atop the standings.

Team USA gets back on the sheet at 11 Central this morning to face Russia, which is 2-7 so far this week. Then, the United States plays Norway at 4 today. And, then, there's a final draw of four matches tonight in which the United States does not participate, and, presumably, that's when we'll know which four rinks advance to the Saturday/Sunday Percy "Pip" Page-inspired playoffs.

The United States advanced to the #2013WMCC/#wmcc2013 from the Americas zone, "given that no challenges in the Americas zone were issued," says (awesome) Wikipedia. The U.S. skip is Brady Clark, a 35-year-old born in Grand Forks, N.D. To represent Team USA at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre this week, Clark's rink beat the rinks skipped by that dude with the hat from the 2010 Olympics and the Bemidji, Minn., pizza mogul who led the United States to bronze in the 2006 Olympics, en route to winning the 2013 U.S. Men's Curling Championship in Green Bay a couple of months ago. Clark's rink is from Seattle's storied Granite Curling Club.