Back on July 15, I boarded a plane and, for the first time, went to the Sunshine State. Now Florida is a lot more attractive to a Northerner in the middle of winter, but July would have to do. It was the only chance everyone in my immediate family could be together for any length of time, and if that meant buckets of sweat, so be it...
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Aug 02 Glad to be backPosted by pblackwell | 08/02/06
In the long time that I’ve been situated at this desk, and in front of this computer, I had not done what I just managed to live through – that is, spend seven whole days away from the action. And it felt weird.
Back on July 15, I boarded a plane and, for the first time, went to the Sunshine State. Now Florida is a lot more attractive to a Northerner in the middle of winter, but July would have to do. It was the only chance everyone in my immediate family could be together for any length of time, and if that meant buckets of sweat, so be it... Aug 03 Work of a geniusPosted by pblackwell | 08/03/06
Haunted by personal tragedy, burned by professional embarrassment, the prodigy-turned-icon came to England last week and reminded the entire golf world that they all lag far behind his particular genius.
Cold numbers will tell you that, over four days at the Royal Liverpool course hard by the Irish Sea, Tiger Woods strung together a 270 and claimed the Open Championship for the third time. Yet this was a far different affair than the two Opens at St. Andrews that Tiger breezed through in 2000 and ’05, for many different reasons. By far, the biggest factor was the choice of weapons. At the Old Course, Tiger blasted the driver just about anywhere, knowing that, with the light winds and open spaces, he could rely on his brilliant short game to pile up the birdies... Aug 15 Oh, what a reliefPosted by pblackwell | 08/15/06
True, you need every element in place to make baseball special. But you need one thing, more than anything else, to win.
Look no further than the Cleveland Indians, who were in the playoff fight until the last day of the 2005 season – and not even close to the fight this time around. The difference? A bullpen, or, to put it more bluntly, a bunch of guys masquerading as a bullpen whose combined performance evokes another word that begins with bull. Consider July 31 in Boston as Exhibit A of this awful spectacle. At Fenway Park, the Tribe carried an 8-6 lead to the ninth inning, and had Fausto Carmona on the mound because original closer Bob Wickman was long gone to Atlanta. A single, a walk and a pop-up later – David Ortiz, and you know the rest... Aug 23 Meet me at MedinahPosted by pblackwell | 08/23/06
Wander outside the Loop in Chicago, and it won't take long to bump into world-class golf courses. From Chicago Golf Club (America's first 18-hole layout) to Olympia Fields, from Butler National to Cog Hill, the domain of Daley is teeming with great layouts.
But one place stands above them all. You have to drive about half an hour to find it, then wind through a long entranceway to gaze upon an enormous (106,000 square feet) Byzantine clubhouse, standing sentinel over a trio of courses that wind through oceans of oak trees and around a bit of H20 called Lake Kadijah. This, my friends, is Medinah. And its most famous treasure, the no. 3 course, is back in the limelight again as host of the 88th renewal of the PGA Championship... 
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