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“Master of the Masters”

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He tees off early. They, the rest of the big names, tee off late.

It’s opening day of the Masters Golf tourney in Augusta, and it will turn into “Tiger TV” at least for the first two days.

Tiger Woods, trying to catch lightning in a bottle, is reinventing his career, relaunching his popularity, and trying to go throwback on the course.

4-back surgeries later, multiple arrests for driving under the influence, and couple of stays in rehab centers, he is back on the course, playing well, and rallying his following.

He has strung together a 2nd place finish, tourneys of 3-good round in a weekend, and a bunch of sub-70 scocres.

He is not the same golfer. The distance off the tee is a lot less. But he is more consistent off the tee, and his streaky putting seems under control right now.

His history of dominance of the sports seems a thing of the past. He has 79-career wins, and 14-Grand Slam events. He has yet to see his name atop the leader board in a couple of years, but at least he is competitive.

Of course his personal history is still out there for everyone to see too. The divorce, the SUV accident, the affairs, the mistresses, the sexual addiction, the injuries, the painkiller addictions, his rehab stays.

The business life of Tiger is gone too. He lost 12-major sponsors and endorsements. His brand strength, that netted him 90M a year is gone forever. His annual number 1-ranking has plunged to 673, as he begins the road back.

And just as everyone seems interested in his rebirth on the golf course, comes new allegations of a $213,000 hush money payoff to a woman he was having an affair with while he was in another relationship.

And this week, the release of an unauthorized 490-page biography, steamy, sleazy, splashy and sensational, has hit the news stands.

His agent said the book was full of egregious errors, just like Tiger Woods off-the-course life, full of egregious errors.

The trophy wife, was replaced by trophy girls he would hang with. No one forgets the New York Post putting out a Tiger calendar with pictures of 12 of the women, who admitted they had affairs with him, while he was married.

He will try to ignore it. His agent will try to spin it. Most of the golf fans will not care.

The long suffering PGA-TV ratings will likely bump up, and for this weekend many will mention Tiger as being in the hunt.

Phil Mickelson is there. Rory McIlroy is trying to win again. Jason Day is trying to get healthy. Dustin Johnson is on the brink of super stardom. Jordan Spieth is looking to bounce back. Jon Rahm seems the next hot one to watch. Bubba Watson is playing well again.

But as long as he is on the course, and in the ‘red’, all eyes will be on Tiger Woods, beginning Thursday.

Tiger TV starts at (7:42am) Pacific out here, and back there it will ge bedlam among the azhelias and mulberries at Augusta.

The Master hopes to take home another green jacket in the Masters.

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“1st Week of Baseball-Full go Issues”

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We’re a week into the baseball season, and some strange things we’ve seen.

PADRES-HOLES IN BATS….A tough start for the Padres young kids. Manny Margot and Hunter Renfroe and vet Chase Headley. All have stumbled out of the blocks. Margot, a strong leadoff last year, is staggering right now, with a (.108) average, swinging at anything and everything. You can read the frustration on Headley’s face, with an (0-9) start and now sitting on the bench. Renfroe, not a starter right now, is hitting (125), a week into the season.

PADRES GOT GLOVES….What a tremendous improvement on defense. Eric Hosmer has been flashing his gold glove everywhere. Freddy Galves gets to lots of balls. Hunter Renfroe’s arm and glove have improved. Over 162-games, this will mean a lot to the pitching staff.

PADRES INTRODUCTION…That was some coming out party for 3B-Christian Villanueva, three tape measure shot home runs to different parts of Petco Park, and 5-RBIs, plus a standing ovation and a dugout curtain call.

PADRES HURTING….A week in and Will Myers has a tricep injury after a back issue. Austin Hedges has a back ailment. The club is not talking about Dinelson Lamet’s MRI on his injured elbow. Not good news, especially for the mound corps.

PADRES ARMS…A superb first outing for Tyson Ross, coming off all that rehab from the blood clot-compressed nerve issue in his right shoulder, he gave them 6-gritty innings. Robbie Erlin gave the Padres three strong innings in his first relief outing coming off 16-months of rehab from Tommy John Surgery.

PADRES AS ADVERTISED….Nice start for Eric Hosmer becoming the face and heart of this team. Spraying hits around Petco, making all types of smart plays in the field, and being media friendly. A far cry from a couple of years ago with the attitude and deportment of people like Matt Kemp and Justin Upton.

PADRES-WHO IS THAT…How about Christian Villanueva, hitting two monster home runs on Tuesday night, a 3rd deck blast into the Western Metals building, followed by a second shot to left-center. He has come fast thru the system, and we’ll see how teams pitch him going forward. Still to be determined, can his glove hold up.

PADRES OUT OF TOWN…Here comes the opening of the minor league season at the end of the week, and this will be fun watching all the prospects in the farm system. Enter MacKenzie Gore, dazzling in the Arizona Summer League, who starts the season at Ft. Wayne. Cuban prospects Adrian Morejon and Jorge Ona begin at Lake Elsinore. Fernando Tatis, on the fast track, will debut in San Antonio, along with pitcher Calvin Quantrill. And pitcher Eric Lauer will launch his season at El Paso.

PADRES ON RADIO…Still unresolved, the unhappiness with ownership at the content of the talkshows on Flagship Staton 97.3. Hard to believe the Padres would leave the station, and find a new flagship, a month into the season. Hard to believe too, that owner Enterom would tone down the rhetoric of its hosts, as they try to create a niche in the market for “Guy Talk”

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“NFL Lawsuits-Who Do You Believe”

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Lawyers-Agents. Some good. Some bad. Some with reputations. Many disliked.

That totally sums up today’s situation in sports, with guys who represent players.

But it’s not fair to hit them all with pain with a broad stroke brush.

Lawyers in Washington and Boston are preparing for another fight, this with the once powerful NFL, over the fallout from the CTE-Concussion lawsuit.

The Boston Globe is reporting that 15-lawyers, representing the bulk of the most badly brain damaged or deceased NFL players, are asking the Minnesota judge in the concussion lawsuit, to intercede and sanction the NFL for doing business the way the NFL has done business in matters like this.

You know the old saying as the players filed massive lawsuits against the league…”Delay-Deny-Hope You Die”.

The lawyers are charging the same thing is happening again, this despite the NFL’s pronounced settlement gift of 865M to settle the last concussion lawsuit.

It’s been two years since the deal was signed between the league and the players lawyers, granting payments to players sufferering from cognitive brain damage, Alzheimers, Parkinsons disease, Depression, MS and more brought on by undiagnosed or diagnose-treated concussions.

As part of the settlement there are payments to the families of deceased players, dead from suicidie, who were suffering too.

The glaring numbers via autopsies of deceased NFL-CFL and college players, whom autopsies were performed, flash in neon lights.

110–of-111 players autopsied at Boston University had CTE, the Tau protein buildup in the brain, that led to depression, decision making issues, and ultimate death, many via suicide.

And now the lawyers have gone back to the judge, saying the NFL continues to stonewall ailing players, is late in making payments, or overwhelms families and players with documents upon documents before examination.

This scoreboard tells a story. There have been (1,736) claims filed by severely ailing players or families in the two years since the settlement was made. Only (156) claims have been paid.

The governing board has refused to pay 200-claims. Some 214-claims have been rejected outright..

Of those suffering the worst, from demential, only 6-of-1,169 claims have been paid.

The lawyers say the NFL doctors have slowed the process to a crawl, with delays, appeals, requests for more documentation, and denials.

The judge has been asked to remove the entire panel of decision makers and insert independent, non NFL-affiliated people, to the process.

I write this thinking of the horrors of the death of Junior Sean, just a group of years ago. I write this as legendary quarterback Jim Kelly lies in critical condition after 12-more hours of mouth cancer surgery. I write this think of wheelchair imprisoned Saints linebacker Steve Gleason, with ALS.

I write this thinking of wives and sons and families dealing with a husband or father who has no ability to control his life, his emotions, his fate, because of the games he played every Sunday wearing the colors you rooted for.

The NFL says they need to do due diligence on each claim. They don’t want every kicker, who ever had a headache, thinking he should get a 4M payday.

The lawyers are screaming, the ailing players are hurting. And the flashing neon light says just 156 players out of 1,736 claims have been paid out.

You tell me, who you believe?

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“March Madnerss in April”

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It comes to an end on Monday night, the wildest college basketball season we have seen, maybe ever.

Villanova-vs-Michigan.

The matchup of of a Catholic school from Philadelphia and the team from the football school in Ann Arbor.

Villanova, with lots of home grown talent from the Northeast. Michigan, with no five start recruits, and as center from Germany.

Jay Wright, one of the best coaches in the country, with very little national recognition, and the reason Villanova is always in the national picture..

John Beilein,, a demanding teacher snd leader, has quietly made the Wolverines a force in the conference, and nationally.

We went thru 10-different teams that were ranked number one in the polls during the course of the regular season. The competitive balance in the game is the end result of the one-and-done rule, with so many players filing for the NBA draft after one season in college basketball.

The turnover rate of rosters causes enormous challenges for coaches, and there’s no guarantee you can last a season, or even a tourney, because team play is so unsteady.

This tourney goes down in history for the Cinderella run of Loyola-of-Chicago, who did more (get to the Final 4) with less, (no McDonald’s All Americans). The storyline will be about Sister Jean, the 98-year old nun, and their emotional leader.

This tourney will be about tiny Maryland-Baltimore County, the UMBC Pointers, who ambushed the top seed Virginia Cavaliers in the opening game of the tourney. We had never seen a 16th seed beat a one seed, ever.

This tourney will be about the elimination of Duke, and it’s 6’11 center Marvin Bagley, the likely first pick in the upcoming draft, showing that ‘team’ is more important than individual talent.

Saturday’s semifinal games were blowouts.

Villanova jumped to a (22-4) lead, and never let up, destroying the Kansas Jayhawks. All you needed to know was the glazed look on the eyes of shellshocked Jayhawks coach Bill Self.

The Loyola-Michigan game looked like a recreation of the movie ‘Hoosiers’, five passes then take a shot, take it to the basket. The Ramblers had that lead, but then Michigan went old-school, using defense to change the entire game. A (12-0) run by the Maize & Blue, turned into a (32-12) scoring spurt. Loyola went 9-possessions without a basket, and it was over.

There were tears in the eyes of the Loyola players on the bench in the final minutes, realizing it was midnight for their team and the wheels had come off the coach.

The championship game should be wild. Nova firepower, they do shoot lots of threes, vs the UM grit-grime style of play.

You might not see something equivalent to the Larry Birdy-Magic Johnson matchup. You might not see a Christian Laetener turn-around jumper with a half-second to go in the game. You might not see anything equal to the upset of Georgetown years ago, or something equivalent to North Carolina State’s Jim Valvano running on the floor after a stunning Wolfpack last second win in the title game.

But you could still see something stunning. because this is the NCAA finals, and this is March Madness in April.

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“Weekend Notebook”

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PADRES….A real opening day struggle….15-strikeouts in the loss to the Milwaukee Brewers…the 44,000-plus were ready to explode, but the big hit never came.

TOUGH OPENING DAY….The big money guys did not come thru. Eric Hosmer-Wil Myers-Hunter Renfroe went a combined (0-10) with 5-striekouts.

OLD DOG DOES GOOD….Clayton Richard induced 10-ground ball outs…allowed just 3-fly ball outs….and retired 13-of-14 at the end this start.

BULLPEN BIG BOYS….The Padres pitching throttled most of the big bats in the Brew-Crew lineup. Lorenzo Cain did have 3-hits…but there was a stretch that Milwaukee’s lineup had just 2-hits over 8-innings.

PACE OF PLAY…Good job, at least for 1-day by the umpires. The game was only 28-minutes old and we were in the 3rd inning…..we were at the (2:28) mark heading to the 9th inning till we wound up in extra frames

MOUND VISITS…The message got to the players, no delay of the game. The first visit to the mound by anybody came in the 7th inning. Veteran umpire Gerry Davis policed it well. Of course it was helped that Clayton Richard works at such a quick tempo.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW….Shohei Ohtani struggled all spring in his DH role (3-28), but promptly strokes a single in his first official major league at bat. He finished his first day at (1-4). Come Sunday, his pitching debut in Oakland against the A’s, this after a (27.00)-ERA in the Cactus League.

MARCH MADNESS…..The Final Four is upon us, and you can view tonight’s semi-final matchup Villanova-vs-Kansas as a title-type game. The other semi has upstart Loyola of Chicago against Michigan and its defense that makes people miserable.

WAITING GAME….So the kid, LiAngelo Ball has filed for the NBA draft after spending the winter player for a (5-20) team in Lithuania. Waiting for his dad, LaVar, to start the sales pitch that the Lakers cannot live without the kid joining his brother Lonzo via the draft.

QB-in-LA…..Searching for a younger quarterback to develop behind Philip Rivers, the Chargers brought in Geoo Smith of the Jets for a workout. Please. He’s been found wanting at three different spots. They do have Cardale Jones, the ex-Ohio Stater, and did workout Louisville’s record setting QB-Lamar Jackson, but I doubt Jackson would be there at the 17th pick, and I don’t know if the Chargers should even use the 17th pick on him.

GULLS IN FLIGHT….The war to finish 2nd and get home ice advantage for the playoffs continues….the mid-week loss to Bakersfield was a stunner. The Gulls just have a tough time matching up with the Condors.

KINGS-DUCKS….What a sprint to the finish line for the NHL wildcard spots, and tonights Kings-Ducks game is huge. Jeff Carter has 13-goals in 3-weeks since spending 4-months on the injured list with a sliced calf injury. He has carried the team in this playoff drive. For the record, the Kings are 6th in Western Conference (93P)…..the Ducks are at (91) tied with the Blues….and Colorado is at (90)….so you have 4-teams…3-slots.

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