Archive for April 9th, 2012

WATERCOOLER CHAT: MASTERS, COLLEGE DRAFT LOADED, LIN SIDELINED

GOLF

This weekend marked the event that every golfer (both pro and amateur) hopes to win:  The Masters.  Could Tiger Woods make a comeback and put on his 5th Green Jacket?  Would Phil Mickelson continue his greatness streak and put on his 4th? Or… would we have a new champ?

For starters, Tiger Woods has had a bad streak since his affair and turmoil 2 years ago.  He couldn’t do anything, and began throwing fits on the course in Augusta, Georgia.  He kept swearing on TV, and shouting at himself.  One time he even kicked his own club about 10 feet.  Not exactly professional.  Golf is a game of a peaceful mind, and Tiger has anything but that going on.  Mickelson played very well, especially in the final two days, even finding himself in a position to actually win the whole thing.  But in the end, Mickelson fell just a little short of the green jacket, but did finish tied for 3rd place (a $384,000 prize — not bad).

It all came down to a playoff between Louis Oosthuizen and a guy named Bubba — Bubba Watson that is from Georgia.  They played one playoff hole… and tied.  It’s pretty amazing that the difference between winning this one-hole playoff is about $600,000.  The winner getting $1,440,000 and the loser getting $864,000.  Sure, a big win for both, but only one gets to put on the green jacket and say that, even for a day, he is the best golfer in the world.  So, in the second playoff, Bubba Watson played marvelously, and found himself in a position with TWO chances to hit a very close putt.  He missed the first, putting the ball just about a foot from the hole.  But you better believe he took his time on that close putt, and… sank it.  Bubba Watson is your Masters winner!  He cried tears of joy, and get this… he has never taken a golf lesson in his life.  Amazing!  Congratulations to Bubba.

BASKETBALL

And in college basketball, after a super successful tournament run with the Kansas Jayhawks, it looks like Thomas Robinson is going to enter the NBA Draft.  Robinson averaged 17.9 points and 11.8 rebounds per game for the Jayhawks last season.  But he was one of those guys destined to jump into college then jump out.  This year’s draft is absolutely loaded, and it’s likely that the Top 5 picks could all be All-Stars very soon.  This means that if your favorite NBA team didn’t do so great this season (we’re talking to you Wizards, Bobcats, and Hornets fans), you could be getting better very soon.

In the NBA, Jeremy Lin has been sidelined, likely for the rest of the season, with a knee injury.  And Sunday, Lin had microsurgery to try and repair a meniscus tear in his left knee.  Ouch!  However, as optimistic as Knicks fans can get, they’re hoping that Lin would be ready for the first round of the playoffs if the Knicks qualify.  Lin said that he would love to be there if the Knicks can nab that #8 or #7 spot, but it’s likely he won’t be on the floor.  If the Knicks can outlast a top team like the Heat or Bulls in the first round, maybe THEN Lin can join them on the court.  It seems impossible, but the last time we had a short season, 1999, the Knicks entered the playoffs as a #8 seed and made it all the way to the NBA Finals.  You can always dream!

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