The commercial can show one highlight and say two words – The Masters.
Golf’s biggest event of the season. At least, it was. Well, it still is, just not as many people watch it. This year, though, may be different.
That is because Tiger is back. And Phil has already won this year. Those two golfers – Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson – will make or break the Masters interest this weekend.
Last year the tournament had its lowest rating in 13 years. This year could be huge Sunday if Tiger and/or Phil are in the mix. If there are in the final pairing come Sunday – Super Bowl numbers. Okay, may I embellish just a bit.
Now, I’ve always been a Phil guy. My buddy Steve Webster is a big Tiger guy. Obviously, he’s had more success with his man than I have. There was a time is disliked Tiger. But now that he is old, I find myself cheering for him.
Let’s hope for that perfect Sunday of golf. The most beautiful golf course in the World with Tiger and Phil battling it out in the final group. Oh, and Phil winning with a birdie on 18.
Prep Thoughts
That dad gum wind. It forced the cancellation of Great Bend baseball, softball and soccer Tuesday afternoon. I’m not sure I’ve heard of cancelling games due to the wind. Can’t say as though I blame them, just not sure I’ve seen it done. I’m sure I have but I don’t recall it.
The wind, however, didn’t stop the Hoisington baseball and softball teams – although about 30 minutes into the sixth inning at Kingman, I’m sure those associated with Cardinal baseball wished it had. Probably the fans anyway.
You see, Hoisington scored 14 runs in the top of the sixth inning. Pretty good stuff, right? But Kingman answered back with 16 runs of its own in the bottom of the inning. That’s right, 30 combined runs in one windy, cold inning of baseball. Kingman won, by the way, 26-19 win. Yep, that’s 45 total runs.
I do believe that is more points than was scored in the Hoisington-Kingman football game this year, right? Sure enough, that game was 7-3.
Former Barton Athlete/Coach update
Former Barton softball pitcher Madison Didion is having a good junior campaign for the Coppin State Eagles. She is 9-3 on the season with a 3.79 ERA, posting 97 strike outs in 89 innings.
Oh, and the rest of the pitching staff? Try 0-9 with an ERA north of 15. That’s right. She is the only pitcher to have a win on the team. She has started 13 of the 21 games. The Eagles are 6-3 in the MEAC, good for third place. That, thanks in large part to Didion.
And Finally
To me, it will be known as the Tyson-Spinks Game. That is pretty much how the Kansas Jayhawks exited the NCAA Tournament.
If you recall, back when heavyweight boxing was still big, Mike Tyson and Michael Spinks squared off in one of the most-hyped fights of the era. Tyson was 34-0. Spinks was 31-0. Tyson held all three belts. Spinks had the IBF belt but was stripped of it for not fighting the No. 1 ranked contender the previous year. Some fella named Tony Tucker.
That summer night in 1988 in Atlantic City had everyone buzzing. Then the bell for the first round sounded. It took less than one minute for Spinks to go down initially. It was the first time Spinks had been knocked down in his boxing career. Two punches later Spinks was on his back. Fight over. Just 91 seconds. In all, 10 punches were landed – eight by Tyson and just two by Spinks.
That was Kansas and Villanova. By the time the score was 22-4 it was over. A first round knockout. Now, as a Kansas diehard, there were moments you felt like a run might be coming. You just never wanted to give up. But the Jayhawk never got the game to single digits again.
The enthusiasm on the Webster sunporch waned. At 11-2, it was still okay. At 22-4, I do believe I was slouched in the couch pretty good. Yeah, Steve and I stayed positive. As positive as one could.
But it was over at 22-4. If it were a heavyweight fight, the referee would have stopped it right there, much like Frank Cappuccino did that Monday night at Convention Hall in New Jersey when Spinks went down that second time.
Hopefully there will be a difference going forward between Kansas and Spinks. Spinks never fought again. He retired a month later -- 31-1. Not many people can tell you one of the 31 wins. Several can tell you that one loss.
Let’s all hope Kansas isn’t done with Final Fours. Let’s hope the Jayhawks are back next year in Minneapolis. Let’s hope they don’t run into Mike Tyson again.
Mike Marzolf is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune and his views don’t necessarily reflect those of the paper. He can be reached at MarzolfM@bartonccc.edu.
