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Bootsmann
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| Posted: 11 August 2018 at 09:14 | IP Logged
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PINEHURST, N.C. -- The United States Golf Association has
approved the use of distance-measuring devices in all of
its amateur championships and their qualifying events,
starting this year. The USGAs championship committee
announced the decision on Thursday at its annual meeting.
The USGA said the ruling reflects a joint decision with
the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. The
committee voted to adopt an optional local rule that has
been available under the Rules of Golf since 2006.
Distance-measuring devices will remain banned at the U.S.
Open, U.S. Womens Open and U.S. Senior Open and their
qualifying events. "We have seen progressive developments
in technologies available to golfers who seek to improve
their playing performance and enjoyment that also
maintain the essential elements of the game," said Thomas
J. OToole Jr., USGA vice-president and chairman of the
committee. "It is in this spirit that we are allowing the
use of distance-measuring devices in our amateur
competitions."
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Anaheim Ducks on Friday.TSN Baseball Analyst Steve
Phillips answers several questions surrounding the game
each week. This weeks topics include Joe Maddon joining
the Chicago Cubs, the most prized free agents on the
market this offseason and the success of the San
Francisco Giants. 1) Major League Baseball has a policy
that organizations cannot make major announcements during
the World Series. They dont want anything to take away
from the action on the field. So with Game 7 behind us
and a champion crowned, clubs can move forward with their
offseason planning. Unless something dramatic happens the
Chicago Cubs will announce that former Tampa Bay Rays
manager Joe Maddon has been hired to be their manager.
Maddon had a .517 winning percentage in nine seasons as
Rays manager, including 90-plus wins in five of the last
seven seasons. He leaves Tampa Bay with the organization
in a state of flux thanks to a weakened farm system and
general manager Andrew Friedmans move to the Dodgers. It
was time for Maddon to leave Tampa Bay. It is time for
him to lead the Cubs. Teams have different needs and
considerations that depend upon the time and place they
find themselves. Rebuilding franchises have certain needs
and those needs are different than those of a consistent
winner. Large market franchises can consider things that
small market teams dont even think about. Leadership has
the fit those that need to be led. Joe Maddon is a
different manager. He is a renaissance man. He wears cool
glasses. He rides his bike to the ballpark. He is a
charitable man. He is a bit quirky and very creative in
his management style. He had 30 different themed-dress
road trips for his players since the 2008 season. He has
brought in a meringue band and a magician to the
clubhouse. He has brought in DJs to play the players
favourite songs. He has even brought different animals
into the clubhouse to make things interesting. Nobody
else does this stuff. Bill Belichick he is not. He has
had the magic touch. His players have fun. They play
relaxed. He keeps it fresh and interesting. The monotony
of a baseball season can tale a toll on the energy of a
team. The Rays players would show up to the park
wondering what their wacky manager would do next. Maddons
style worked wonders in Tampa with his young eager
roster. He was different but for many of the young
players he was all they knew. He was the only big league
manager that many of the players had ever experienced.
There is a certain na?veté to young players who are
unspoiled by the rigours of the big league life. They
thought his approach was fun and cool. His approach was
well-suited for the roster in Tampa Bay. The Cubs are in
a rebuilding process. They have a ton of young phenoms on
their way to take over Chicago. Their roster resembles
that of the Rays despite the significant difference in
the market, stadium and expectations. Maddon is the
perfect manager at the perfect time. There is not a
better man to teach young kids how to win at the major
league level. The Cubs are on the verge of something
special. I expect them to spend big money for starting
pitching and to make the transition from interesting
young team to a club with expectations. Make no mistake;
Chicago isnt Tampa Bay. The market is different. The
expectations are different. The media is different. The
budgets will be different. Heck, Maddon already realizes
his cheques have more zeroes on the backend than they did
with the Rays. The pressure to be the savior in Chicago
will be there after a short honeymoon period. At some
point he will have to work his magic instead of just
bringing a magician in to entertain his players. It wont
all turn around for the Cubs in one season. There will be
growing pains. But I believe Maddon is a curse buster and
he will bring a World Series Championship to the Cubbies
within his speculated five-year, $25M deal. He could
manage my team any day of the week. 2) The free agent
class this off-season will be quite compelling. There are
some major impact pitchers and hitters available. There
will be millions and millions of dollars thrown around
for the holidays. I cant wait. It has always felt like
monopoly money to me. I remember offering a player a
three-year deal of $4.5M, $5.0M and $5.5M. I was cavalier
about it. The .5 difference was a $500,000 increase each
year. That is right, I spoke about a five-hundred
thousand dollars as a fraction. The bottom line is that
there are going to be hundreds of .5s thrown at players
this offseason. There are three No. 1 starters that will
be available to teams at some point after the World
Series. Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields are
all looking at huge paydays. They are all three
difference-makers. To put in perspective where these
deals may go; Scherzer turned down a six-year, $144M
offer from the Tigers. I wouldnt have the guts as an
agent to have my client say no to a deal like that. Would
you? When it comes to position players there are several
interesting bats available. The Dodgers Hanley Ramirez
will be considered by a number of clubs as a shortstop
and/or third baseman. At his best he is a unique power
and speed combination that can vie for a batting title.
Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants will be a hot
commodity in the light third basemen market. He brings
personality and a solid bat. The Tigers Victor Martinez
had a huge year hitting .335/.409/.565 with 32 homers and
102 RBI. Finally, Nelson Cruz brings the elusive right-
handed power bat. He hit .271 with 40 homers and 108 RBI.
He can deliver his own production and help those in the
lineup around him. Here is where I would spend my money:
If I need a starting pitcher I will take Lester over
Scherzer and Shields. Scherzer may command the biggest
contract and Shields the least. I love Lesters make-up
and character. I love his competitiveness and toughness.
He is good in big games and a bulldog and workhorse. If I
need a hitter I would spend it on Victor Martinez. He is
by far the oldest of the good hitters, 36 years old, but
he is the most professional, consistent personality and
performer. Plus his contract length will be shorter than
those of the others. There are a couple of potential
sleeper value picks in the market. There is a Cuban
defector, an outfielder, named Yasmani Tomas. He is not
yet available to accept offers until he clears the proper
immigration status but he is looking at getting a big-
time deal. He has been evaluated to be somewhere between
the White Sox Jose Abreu and the Red Sox OF Rusney
Castillo. Tomas is a corner outfielder with legitimate
power. There have been some comparisons to Yoenis
Cespedes. Some believe he will be better than the Red Sox
slugger because of better make-up. His deal could come
close to $100 million. The sleeper in the pitching market
is 26-year-old right-hander Kenta Maeda of the Hiroshima
Carp in the Japanese Professional League. He has a career
82-58 record with a 2.43 ERA. He will have to go through
the posting system but even so he may be a value free
agent for a club. This offseason portends to be quite
exciting. For the right amount of money some clubs will
pass go and collect $200 on their way to the playoffs in
2015. 3) The Giants are an amazing story. It is so tough
to win a single World Series let alone three in five
years. Manager Bruce Bochy is a Hall of Famer. He is the
tenth manager to win three championships. The other nine
are already in Cooperstown. General Manager Brian Sabean
is heeaded to upstate New York as well for his place in
the Hall.dddddddddddd He has done an amazing job putting
together rosters that never seem to have the biggest
stars. He just finds old school baseball players who make
plays when they need to be made. He finds gamers. The
Giants never spend for the biggest free agents, in fact
they are more often shopping among the second tier
players. To be a dynasty a club has to win often and
consistently. They need to show up every year and
deliver. They need to have a core of established players
and leaders. And they need to win with having
expectations of greatness on their back. They play and
win with a bullseye on their back. The Giants have shown
an uncanny ability to win the end of season tournament in
baseball. Yes, that is what the playoffs are. They are a
tournament consisting of the five teams in the AL and
five teams in the NL that meet the necessary criteria to
advance. At the end of that tournament we crown a winner
of the tournament and they get what we call the World
Series trophy. It is fun. It is special. It is exciting.
But the winner of the tournament is not necessarily the
best team in baseball. They are just the team that played
the best. A clubs record over 162 games is by far a
better indicator of how they stack up against their
peers. The team with the worst record in baseball if
added to the playoff format has a chance to win if they
get hot over a 12-to-20 game time frame. Think about it,
all they would need to do is go 12-8 and they can win it
all. Sure it would be against the best teams but it could
certainly happen. To be a dynasty in baseball,
expectations matter. The Giants did not make the playoffs
in 2009. They finished in third place in the NL West. So
there were not expectations that they would be among the
teams to beat in 2010. They surprised us that year by
winning 92 games and the NL West title. Heading into the
playoffs the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL as
they had won 97 regular season games. The Yanks (95 wins)
and Rays (96 wins) were by far considered more legitimate
candidates to win it all. Credit the Giants for defying
the odds though and winning the Series. In 2011, the
Giants finished eight games behind the Arizona
Diamondbacks in second place in the NL West. Eleven teams
had a better record than the Giants that season. Heading
in to 2012 once again there were not huge expectations
that the Giants were a force to be reckoned with. Yet
again they surprised us and won the NL West with 94 wins.
They had two less wins than the Reds and four less than
the Nationals. Despite the fact that most people thought
the Yanks and Nationals would square off in the World
Series, it was the Giants beating the Rangers. Bochy
worked his magic again. The rollercoaster ride continued
in 2013 however as the Giants ended with a losing record
of 76-86 and were tied with the Padres for third/fourth
place in division. Coming off of such a down year without
any significant signings in the offseason the Giants were
an afterthought when picking contenders. The (Vegas) odds
were 20-1 that they would win the World Series. In fact
they had the same odds as the Cincinnati Reds, Oakland
As, LA Angels and Texas Rangers. So they were considered
to have anywhere from the ninth to twelfth best chance of
winning it all. Of course, we know they defied those odds
and won it all again. By the way, Vegas had the Royals
with a 50-1 chance of winning the Series. The 2014 World
Series was the first Series ever that included two teams
that each had less than 90 wins in the regular season.
What does that tell us? It tells me that the Giants and
Royals qualified for the tournament by the skin of their
teeth and then got hot at the right time and beat teams
that were better than they were to go to the World
Series. It sounds like I am diminishing the Giants (and
Royals) accomplishments. I dont mean to do so. I know how
hard it is to get to the playoffs. I just want to be sure
that when we start to look at teams as all-time greats
that we are being appropriate. This is not a dynasty. It
is very good franchise which has played its best baseball
at the right time to win three tournaments in the last
five years. And they have done it while never being the
best team in the game. Trust me I would take it. You
wouldnt have to call me a dynasty either. 4) I have
learned that what I think and what I feel stems from my
own experiences. And very often the things I take away
from events are different than some others. For instance,
I head home from the World Series thinking more about the
Royals than the Giants. I guess I can connect with the
team that lost the World Series more than the one that
won. My New York Mets teams made the playoffs in 1999 and
2000 and we advanced and lost in the World Series to the
Yankees in 2000. Yes, I can relate to the loser more than
the winner. What I have also learned is just because I
lost, it doesnt make me a loser. There is a thought out
there among franchises and fan bases that if their team
doesnt win a championship that it is a failed season. I
understand that certain cities use this as a barometer
more than others. How many times have we heard Yankee
fans and the front office say it is a World Series
championship or bust. They believe that if they dont win
a World Series that the season was a waste and a failure.
That thinking is so unrealistic and arrogant. Stop and
think for a moment of all of the successes the Royals had
on the way to Game 7 of the World Series. Twice durng the
season they went on hot streaks and stormed past the
Detroit Tigers to take over first place in the AL
Central. They did fall back each time but they won enough
to finish second in their division to edge out the
Mariners for the second Wild Card spot. If you had told
Royals fans that they would be a Wild Card team before
the season would they have signed up for it? Youre darn
right they would. They hadnt been to the playoffs in
decades. They didnt stop there though. They beat the As
in dramatic fashion to advance to the ALDS. They then
beat the team with the best record in the AL, the LA
Angels, to advance to the ALCS and then they beat the
Baltimore Orioles to advance to the Series. As a team
this group of young men grew up. Their baseball ages
advanced exponentially from the experience of playing
great October baseball. They gained confidence as
individuals and as a team that they didnt always have
during the season. They went from being streaky to being
consistent. They turned losses into just losses and not
into losing streaks. The Royals re-energized a community.
The fans came out of the woodwork. People were still
fans, they just didnt trust caring for their team again.
They had been disappointed for 29 years. They cherished
the memories of 1985. This run in October brought back
all of the emotions from decades ago. I dont know about
you but sure doesnt sound like a failure. It is an
unbelievable success. The players improved and matured.
The fans came back to life and the spark of hope has been
ignited. I was at Game 7 in Kansas City. The fans cried
afterwards. They were tears of disappointment but they
were tears of passion too. They were tears that washed
away the pain of 29 years of waiting and suffering.
Sometimes we need a good cry. There are good times ahead
for the Royals. So every other city can believe that the
Royals failed but just dont tell Kansas City fans. They
know better.
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U47.org Forum :: The Wintergarten
Topic: ntral. They did fall back each time but
