Bits and Pieces

-Back in the friendly confines of southern Indiana.  Diane came up and got me from the airport in Indy and we were home by a little after midnight.  Trip back, a 12 hour affair from leaving my daughter's house in Kirkland to walking in the front door here in Loogootee, was uneventful - no side trips to San Diego or Mexico City (dang!).

-Tiger moves up in the world's rankings.  #17 now just behind Phil M at #16; Luke Donald still #1.  Are Phil's glory days over?  Does Tiger have a swing that will hold up under pressure?  Liked what Annika said the other day on the Golf Channel on being asked who has the best swing in golf - she defined it as one that 'holds up under pressure' - and gave the nod to Yani Tseng, who won 12 times around the world in 2011.  Of course, the pundits, and some of us other guys, want to know if Tiger is back.  My answer:  He's a contender when he plays.  Not dominant as he has been in the past, but definitely in the mix.  He might even be #1 before the year is out simply because he'll find a way to be in the running on Sunday afternoon.  One big surprise for me: his driving accuracy the first three days - super stuff and very unlike the Tiger of old.

-Golf weather today with sunshine and temps expected in the 60's.  Nice way to end what has been a pretty nice January.  Lets finish the month is style with a scramble at 4 this afternoon.

Photo: Somewhere below on on the way from Seattle to Minneapolis.  Very dramatic stuff down there.

Bits and Pieces

-Tiger slips a bit (shoots an even par round) and finishes third in Abu Dhabi.  Rock first, McIlroy second.  That's a top three but he was tied for the lead after three rounds and was unable to seal the deal.  Not good.  Did get up early this morning to watch on the Golf Channel - the last eight holes.  Didn't help TW.

-See that the Lions (boys) lost in overtime Friday to White River Valley but bounced back with a huge two point win against Springs Valley.  BR and ND both won their games on Friday.  Three pretty good teams here in Sectional 63.

-And the Lion girls beat South Knox girls in double overtime on Thursday, 53-46.  Super!

-Irish women ran their record to 21 and 1 with a win at St. John's on Saturday, 71-56.  Diggins stellar again along with Peters.  Playing hard, fast and ruthless.

-Another gray day here in the northwest.  Yesterday we went over to the International District and took in some of the festivities at Seattle's Lunar New Year celebration.  Tomorrow I head back to sunny, warm Indiana though won't get in till late at night.  Tuesday golf?  See that you're expecting temps in the 50's the first three days of the week,sun both Monday and Tuesday.  That will be very nice.  (Showers expected out here each of the next five days.)

Bits and Pieces

-Tiger looking good through two days down in Abu Dhabi.  Five under and tied for 4th two back of the leader.  Saw the last few holes when I got up just a bit ago.  Btw, I'm living on Loogootee time; not so hard to do since Danielle and family are living on that time as well - early up and early to bed for them.

-Phil Mickelson not looking so good at the Farmers.  His +5 on the day gets him a whole fifteen strokes behind the leaders.  Wow.

-Watched a bit of the IU-Wis ballgame last night.  Hoosiers lost something like their 15th in a row up there; what's with that?

-Manning and the Colts - issue heating up.  Break-up just around the corner?

-Spent a second day over in Seattle, walking along the waterfront and then back down through the business district to the International District.  Sun peeked out a couple of times in the afternoon, something much appreciated after a pretty constant dose of gray and gloom and even rain.

-Heading up to breakfast with the kids...

Bits and Pieces

-TW looked like one of those boring golfers last night (I watched him through the first nine holes): down the fairway and onto the green.  Only thing is he didn't have too much success with his putter after making his first birdie of the year on the second hole.  Even missed a short one on 7 or 8 (the par 5).  Imagine he spent some time on the putting green after the finish of his round.  Three back after one.  Not bad but as one of the guys said on The Golf Channel, the 70 was the absolute worst he could have shot.  He hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation and was nothing like the Tiger of old - all over the place and making amazing recovery shots.  Guess he was letting the Rory kid do that last night, have the old style Tiger round.

-Colts have a new coach.  Man, what a sea change up in Indy the last few months.

-From Golf Babes: Maiya Tanaka.

-And that reminds me:  LPGA starts its season in a little over a week.  The Australian Open in Victoria opens on the 9th of February.

-Time to wander upstairs here in my daughter's house.  The kids are stirring - 8 year old Naomi, 6 year old Leah and the almost 2 Jane.  Little wonders.  Yes, it is a bit different here rather than on the hill there in Loogootee.

Bits and Pieces

From Seattle/Kirkland, Washington:

-At my youngest daughter's house (Danielle) and watching the run up to The Golf Channel's coverage of the golf tournament over in Abu Dhabi.  Tiger, Luke and Rory tee off in about 30 minutes.  Holding off on a prediction but, yes, I do want TW to make it two tournaments in a row.  (10:40pm: Tiger just teed off on the 10th hole - a good one!)

-Two wins in a row is what the Notre Dame women's basketball team have now over Tennessee after demolishing the Vols, 72 to 44, on Monday night.  After 20 straight defeats, the Irish notched their first victory over the Pat Summitt team in the NCAA tournament last March.  Monday's game wasn't a thing of beauty in the 1st half (I watched the replay on espn) but the Irish made up for that in the second half with Skyler Diggins having herself another exceptional game (27 points, 5 of 7 3 pointers).

-Diane told me weather hasn't been any too good back there and didn't think there was any golf.  That's not good.  You guys waiting till I get back to bring back the good weather?  Appreciate it.

Photo:  In Seattle looking south from the Pike Place Market.  The Seahawks stadium is the prominent structure in the center.

Bits and Pieces

From snow-on-the-ground and gray-gloomy Kirkland, Washington; my daughter and her family bring a bunch of brightness so it really doesn't matter what it's like on the outside:

-Scores:

HS Boys:

BR 33 ND 20 on Saturday.  Took down Wood Memorial 67-26 on Friday.
Lions beat Bloomfield, 50-44 on Friday and stop NE Dubois on Saturday, 68-45.

HS Girls:

BR 61 Pike Central 39  (Stay undefeated and now with a record of 17 and 0.)

Lions 40 NE Dubois 52 on the 19th.  Beat Linton on Saturday, 56-21.  Record: 11-6.

College:

Notre Dame men beat #1 Syracuse in South Bend Saturday evening, 67-58!
Notre Dame women beat Villanova, 76-43, earlier in the day, also up in South Bend.

Pros:

Patriots survive as Ravens now live with a dropped pass and a missed (tying) field goal in their storied history.  Rinal score: 23-20.

Giants beat the 49'ers in OT, 20-17.

(Record on weekend predictions: 4 winners, 1 big loser (Ravens)

Anybody play golf yesterday?

Photo:  Just like at Lakview, a little cold weather does not stop these New Yorkers from their games.  Wind chill must have been around 20 degrees - I kept having to stop my photo trekking with warm up places - Staten Island Ferry Terminal, bus rides, a Chinese restaurant.

Bits and Pieces

-From Jamaica and the Doubletree Hotel next to JFK Airport in New York - good Friday morning!  As promised, the weekend predictions:

  -Ravens at Patriots (3pm on CBS):  No question that Brady is the better QB but it's all about defense at this stage, right?  Going with the Ravens.

  -Giants at 49'ers (6:30pm on FOX):  Giants continue their amazing ways as Eli gets to go to his 2nd Super Bowl, this time in his big brother's back yard (Indy, for those of you who might have forgotten).

  -Lion Boys BB get back on the winning path tonight in a close one at Bloomfield.

  -Lion Boys BB win another at JBA on Saturday, this time against NE Dubois.

  -Lion Girls BB win on Saturday afternoon at presently winless Linton.

  - The Notre Dame Irish Ladies beat Villanova up in South Bend tomorrow afternoon and move to 19 and 1.



-See that the Viking girls remained undefeated after a win on the 17th over State Champion Vincennes Rivet, 44-43, in a hum-dinger which saw them down big during the game.  Lindsey Graber scored ten of her 24 points in the 4th quarter to lead the Vikings.  Tya Harmon, who was out with mono, did play (that's good).  First time in a long time the Vikes have been able to come out on top in several years of going toe-to-toe against the Patriots.

-Why I'm in New York:  Diane took me up to Indy yesterday morning where I was supposed to fly to Detroit and then onto Seattle.  I had printed out my boarding pass the night before so didn't do anything (mistake) before trying to board the plane at 12:30.  Hmm, said the young lady scanning the boarding pass - looks like somebody's already in your seat - step over here for a minute while I board the rest of the passengers.  Turns out the Detroit to Seattle flight had been cancelled around 10:30 in the morning and I had been booked onto a flight to JFK at 1:30 and then out of there to Seattle at 5:30 (the original time I should have been landing in Seattle).  Ok, what the heck.  Went on down the way a piece and got on the Delta connect and arrived in NYC at 3:15.  Waited two and a half hours (watching people from all over the world), had something to eat, walked around with my two bags, read some, then got up to board at around 5:45 for the delayed to 6:30 flight.  Five minutes later that flight was cancelled due to bad weather in Seattle - been snowing all day.  Stood in a couple of lines for about two hours and then spent another 45 minutes with an angel (Faith) who got me all squared away with a Saturday flight to Seattle and a place to stay till then.  Going to take advantage of this very unexpected delay (snow in Seattle?!  come on; that's a once every 25 year event, just about as often as I've made plans to fly out there...) by heading into Manhattan for a walk around a some photo taking. Looking forward to it...

-See that Sunday is going to be in the 50's there in Loogootee.  Hope you all get to play a little golf.  Think I'll be in the Northwest then but no promises.  Just might find myself in Miami or Dallas as Delta takes me on a tour of these Unites States of ours.  Whatever...

Bits and Pieces

-Hoosiers lose third straight, fall to Nebraska in Lincoln, 70-69.  Thirteen points ahead at one point.  Not good.  Come on , guys.

-Stephanie Wei reporting that Sandra Gal is prettier than Rickie Fowler.  Gotta agree with that (she's commenting on Golf Digest's Hottest Golfer article).  Another photo of bikini clad Sandra Gal at the Hooked on Golf blog.

-Travel day for me: early afternoon flight out of Indy, into Seattle (with all sorts of winter weather lasting through today) around 5:30.  See that they revised downward the next ten days here in southern Indiana.  Still not bad though with temps in the mid to upper 40's.

-Tomorrow, from Seattle, my predictions on the weekend games.

Bits and Pieces

-Caldwell no longer Indy coach.  Not surprised one way or the other.  Expect Manning to be a casualty of the house cleaning as well.  Too bad.  Bob Kravitz has conjecture.

-Irish women swamp Pitt, 120-44.  Sounds like a take-no-prisoners campaign for Notre Dame this year.  Think they are still feeling the agony of the Finals loss in Indy last April?  Know that South Bend native Skylar Diggins feels it; she now has two finals loses there having also lost the high school state championship game with South Bend Washington three years ago.

-More good golf weather coming to our area.  This weekend plus most of next week.  Too bad I'm not going to be around.  Mid 40's and showers in the Seattle area.

-Diane just gonged, signaling breakfast time.  Best go. 

Bits and Pieces

-My suggestion for this morning (once the storms in the area pass): get out to the golf course!  Temps in the 50's.  Yea, I know, some serious wind but what the heck.  Sometime later this afternoon, things take a big change and it's back to winter-time again.

-The state of golf - not so good.  From Geoff Shackleford.com and golf digest.com:

•Fewer people play golf, and Baby Boomers don't have the time, money or interest in the game their parents did. The number of golfers in the U.S. has fallen by 13% in the past five years, according to National Golf Foundation statistics. The number of golf rounds played nationwide last year through November was down 3.5% from the previous year, according to the foundation.

That doesn't sound any too good and, yes, our Lakeview Golf Course has seen a downturn in the last few years.   Those of us who still get out there and play are still crazy about it.  Just need more of 'us'.

-Romo paired with Woods at Pebble Beach in a couple of weeks.  Was there bidding?  First time TW has played the former Hope classic since 2002 and he replaces John Daly as Romo's partner.  Hmm...

-Loogootee boys and girls both play basketball later this week but away from home.  No JBA for me this week.  Dang.  Oops, almost forgot.  Not going to be here as I fly out of Indy on Thursday to Seattle area for a week with my youngest daughter, Danielle, and her family. 

-Three LPGA tournaments coming up in February (know you've been wondering - none in January): the Handa Women's Australia Open in Victoria starting the 9th;  the Honda LPGA in Chonburi, Thailand starting on the 16th, and the HSBC Women's Champions tournament in Singapore starting on the 23rd.  Seems like it's been forever since the ladies last teed it up.  Way too long in any case.  Expecting big things from Michelle Wie this year with her studies finishing up at Stanford.  Wonder if she'll be making some side trips to Indy to watch her fellow classmate, the Luck fellow, once he suits it up for the Colts.  (Question: is that really going to happen?  Is Payton going to be traded?  Leave on his own?  Dreary thoughts for a Tuesday morning for Manning fans.)

-Getting on with the rest of the day.

Barr-Reeve Fans Whooping It Up

Viking bench and fans at the Lion-Viking game last Saturday night.  I see a lot of familiar faces in there.

Bits and Pieces

-NFL results had the Giants upsetting the Pakers (that's fine with me even though it's a minus in my prediction chart) and the Ravens beating the Texans.  That makes my weekend record a not so good 2 and 3.  Over the two week period, still ahead of the game.  Next weekend's predictions coming up on Friday.  The winners do make for some interesting possibilities for the Super Bowl, like for instance a family affair between the Harbaugh boys, Jim and John.  Or we could have a rematch between the Giants and the Patriots.  If you want something new, go with the former; something old, the latter.

-Hoosiers didn't fare so well over in Columbus yesterday, losing to OSU, 80-63.  Like one of the Indy Star headlines: IU notebook: Crean's in-laws have a good weekend at least.  That would be the Harbaughs.

-Sony Open winner: Johnson Wagner. He won with a -13 over the four rounds, two better than Charles Howell III, Carl Pettersson, Sean O'Hair and Harrison Frazer.  The winner sports a big mustache which he says has given him a lot of confidence (?!).  He says it's staying. 

-It's 49 degrees and windy here on the hill just south of the golf course.  Looks like the rain has passed south of us.  Golfing conditions?  Hmmm.  For the moment, think I'll just throw another log on the fire and maybe read a bit more (almost done with Kevin Phillips' 2004 New York Times bestseller American Dynasty).  The golf course, at least for a walk, a bit later.

Photo:  A moment in time at last Saturday's Lion-Viking game.  See yourself in the home crowd? 

Bits and Pieces

I know two teams that would love a redo of the last ten seconds of their games yesterday:  The Loogootee Lions and the New Orleans Saints.  Each managed to lose their games, the Lions to the Vikings after an errant in-bounds pass and then a missed lay-up, 50-47, and the Saints to the resurgent 49'ers who got a touchdown, 36-32, in the final ten seconds.  That made me zero and two in my weekend predictions.  Fortunately, the third of the Saturday picks was a winner: New England with a near perfect Tom Brady, completely dominated Denver and a befuddled Tim Tebow, 45-10.  That was not surprising - Denver managed just an 8 and 8 record during the regular season.  Note 1:  Bryant Ackerman's floor length desperation shot as time expired in the Lion-Viking game nearly went in, bouncing off the rim.  Nice try, Bryant, and, btw, nice game - 22 points and stellar all around performance.

Today, more football with my picks being the Packers over the Giants (would rather have the Giants win) and the Ravens over the Texans.  In basketball, IU is in Columbus taking on the Buckeyes who are looking for revenge.  IU needs to win after losing to Minnesota a couple of days ago.

Tomorrow we might just see the return of weather appropriate for golf, at least for some of us.  Maybe not.

Last night Karry Stoll was telling me about electronic golf down in Ferdinand.  Some enterprising individual had purchased (for $75000) an electronic golf game where you can play one of dozens of courses virtually.  Says they even have leagues formed and up and running.  Guess it's one way of getting out of the house. 

Going to turn on the pregame and then watch some football.

Lakeview's #2 Green

Yesterday afternoon.

Bits and Pieces

-Saturday Swing Tip:  Strong left side at impact.  Vid with Stina Sternberg.  (Thinking of you, Joe.  Too bad we aren't having a scramble to try it out.  Maybe in the living room?)

-The Big Boys are playing this week - the Sony Open over in Honolulu.  Matt Every (who?) is the 36 hole leader with a score of -10.

-Hoosiers going for two in a row over OSU in Columbus this afternoon.  Any hangover from the Minnesota loss?  Wouldn't be good for them to lose a second straight ball game, would it?  Best they win then.

-Notre Dame women at Cincy this afternoon at 3.  Go Diggins and company.

-Already predicted a win for the Lions tonight against #1 Barr-Reeve.  How come the Lions had such an easy time against the Hatchets and the Vikes lost to them?  First game jitters for Barr-Reeve?

-The Cougars lost to Shakamak and Steve Brett last night, 60-40, at home.  Not good.

-Temps back up in the mid 40's on Monday.  Golf weather?  Maybe...

-Time to throw another log on the fire and have some breakfast.  Oatmeal and berries today - something warm.

Loogootee-Vincennes Rivet Girls Basketball Photo Collage

At JBA on January 12th.  Rivet prevailed, 36-31.

Bits and Pieces

-From espn golf: LPGA season has 27 events worth $47 million.  That's good news after the downturn last year.  It was also announced that the Golf Channel will be televising the weekend play in the US live.  That's great.  (Need them to offer streaming for us guys out here without cable or dish.)

-The Vincennes girls basketball team beat the Loogootee girls last night by a score of 36-31.  The Lions, relying on the long ball and a zone defense, actually had the lead at the end of the first half, 20-15, and the third quarter, 26-25.  The Patriots, a shadow of the 1A champion of a year ago but still good enough to be 14 and 2 at the moment, used full court pressure plus a hurry up offense to grab the lead and win the game in the fourth quarter.  The Lions continue to impress and deserve much more support than they are getting - the Rivet crowd was larger and louder even though it was a home game for the Lions.

-The #8 Hoosiers celebrated their highest ranking in quite a while by losing at home to Minnesota, 77-74.  Dang.

-Weekend predictions:  
     -Saturday night at JBA: Lions take down a second straight #1 team.  Wonder when the last time that was done? in any sport?  IU came close in recent weeks with victories over #1 KY and #2 OSU.
     -Saturday 4:30pm in San Francisco:  Saints beat the 49'ers.  New Orleans playing great ball.
     -Saturday 8:00pm in New England: New England and Brady take down Denver and Tebow.  One of the worst passers in the league versus one of the worst pass defenses.  The Patriots have the bigger gun, by far.
     -Sunday 1:00pm in Baltimore: Ravens top the Texans.  Houston's run ends.
     -Sunday 4:30pm in Green Bay: Packers send the Giants packing.  Too bad - would have been nice to have at least one Manning with a shot to go to Indy for the Super Bowl.

-No scramble at Lakeview tomorrow.  Dang.

-Time for breakfast with Diane.  Stay warm.

Colin Nelson Last Friday Night Against North Daviess

Lakeview golfer Jim Bateman's grandson.

Our Girl Hannah

Hannah LaMar under the basket playing against Wood Memorial last Thursday at JBA.

Brown Gull at Boggs Lake

Spotted on Monday, the 9th, on the lake near the clubhouse.

Bits and Pieces

-Yucky weather has arrived - cold and rainy with more cold on the way.  Guess we get to take a break from all the winter golf we've been getting in.  Thank the golf gods and goddesses.

-Lovely out there yesterday.  Played 18 holes with the Boys (Ken Hudson couldn't make it so I got an invite).  They play skins and flags as well as a team game with two points available on each hole, one for low total and one for low score; partners switch every six holes.  The team games had scores of 6-2, 12-0, and 7-2 with good neighbor Jack Lents and I pitching the shutout over Dick Lemmon and Jack Butcher.  Dick and I each had two flags with the two Jacks splitting the other two; Jack B. and I had birds, Jack's being a honey of a putt from just off the green at the 15th hole, some 20 feet uphill and winding to the right. 

-Also out taking advantage of the mild weather:  The two Toms, McAtee and Walker, Denny Wagoner, Chuck Baker, and a guy who was getting ready for an Orlando trip and golf with a couple of Lakeview regulars.  Curt Johnson was out late to wrap things up.

-The Lion girls beat Pike Central last night, 43-33, and take on 1A State Champs Vincennes Rivet tomorrow night.  I plan to be there to see if the Rivet girls are as dominant as they have been the last several years - their record is 13 and 2, the losses coming to 2A teams South Knox and Evansville Mater Dei.  Think Barr-Reeve at 13 and 0 is very much looking forward to their game with the Patriots on the 17th.  Too bad it's over in Vincennes.

-Did ask Jack Butcher and Dick Lemmon (35 years as teacher and coach over in Montgomery) if they had any kind of governor's bet on the Saturday game between the Lion boys and the Viking boys.  Not yet.

-#2 Lady Irish beat #17 Georgetown last night, 80-60.  No letdown after the UCON victory last Saturday for the Irish.

-Hoosier basketball team - climbing in the polls - still for real.  Amazing and nice.

-Time to throw another log on the fire and go have breakfast with Diane.

Bits and Pieces

-Well, Denver and the bomb turned back the Steelers yesterday afternoon in an upset that spoiled my prediction record for the weekend.  Overall record: 4 and 1 (includes the Lion win on Friday night).  Expect most bettors would take that and run every week, even every day.  More predictions coming on Friday on next week's NFL games plus the Lion-Viking game on Saturday night.  Expect that will be a #2 vs #1 match.

-Do you think the Steeler coaches had anything to say to their secondary?  I watched the first half off and on and saw the first  three (?) long completions.  Watched a movie with Diane after dinner and didn't see the exciting conclusion (?!) 

-Steve Stricker still on top out in Hawaii.  He finished his round with four birds after going even up to that point.  Seemed like everybody else was going red and closing the gap.  He leads Martin Laidr, Webb Simpson and Jonathan Byrd by five strokes.  Late notice:  The eagle-eagle finish by Kevin Na on Saturday, apparently the first time in tournament history.  Pretty special.

-From Golf Girl's Diary, the story of a first professional win by Joanna Klatten.  The 26 year old non drinking French golfer from Georgia State was in the clubhouse celebrating with a beer after finishing with a two stroke lead over her closest competitor, South Korea's Haeji Kang, who was in the 18th fairway finishing up her last hole.  Kang then dropped in an eagle from the fairway to tie.  Klatten immediately started drinking lots of water to get back to a playing state.  She won with a par on the second extra hole when Kang missed a one meter putt for par.  More detailed report from theage.com/au's Klatten Goes From Beers to Cheers.

-More January golf weather today.  Hurray!  Time for breakfast with Diane...

Bits and Pieces

-Irish women take down the UCON women in OT, 74-67.  Got home from the golf course in time to see the last three minutes of regulation and all of the OT.  The defense pretty much shut down the Huskies for the last ten minutes of the ball game (no field goals for the last 3:49 of regulation and all of the overtime).  Skylar Diggins and Natalie Novosel led the scoring with 22 and 20 points.  That makes it two in a row for the Irish over their Big East foe.  The earlier win came in the Final Four last April with an almost-the-same score of 72-63.  What a great win for the Irish!  More from the South Bend Tribune.  Side note:  Later on Saturday and down in Louisville, the Notre Dame men took down #11 Louisville in double overtime, 67-65.

-In the NFL:  As expected and predicted, the Texans beat the Bengals and the Saints throttled the Lions yesterday.  That makes it 3 and 0 in my weekend predictions (includes the Lion victory over the Cougars Friday night).  Later today: Steelers over the Broncos, and the Giants take down the Falcons.

-At Lakeview yesterday:  Doug Denson, Travis Brett and Joe Allen won the scramble with a 30.  Short Jeffers, Stan Graber and Curt Johnson shot a 32 while Dave Wininger, Mike Bird and Kevin Byron finished with a 33.  In a 15 hole game after the scramble, Dave and I took the scramble portion and tied Doug and Short in a 'reverse' scramble - the other team deciding what ball you would play.  That was pretty ugly especially coming at the end of the day when most of the good shots have already been played and the possibility of an errant shot is pretty high.  It was different...

-In Big Boy golf:  Steve Stricker has taken a five stroke lead out in Hawaii after firing a ten under 63 in his Saturday round.  Btw, the tournament has a Monday finish.  Is that the Golf Channel's answer to the NFL playoffs on Sunday?  I don't know why the Monday finish.  Anybody?

-In case you haven't noticed:  More beautiful golfing weather for the next several days.  That's okay with me though I sure came home tired last night.  Made for sleeping like the dead.

Bits and Pieces: Lions Win,

-Lions beat the Cougars last night, 45-37.  Liked what the Lions did in coming back from an early 14-7 deficit.  Liked what Colin Nelson did coming off the bench: took the temperature of the game and then stroked three consecutive three pointers.  Added a drive-down-the-middle lay-in and a foul shot for 12 points.  Very impressive play by the youngster.  Very impressive play by the Lion team in coming back and shutting down their opponents.

-The Big Boys are playing golf over in Hawaii at the Tournament of Champions.  Jonathan Byrd leads Steve Stricker, Webb Simpson, Martin Laird and Michael Bradley by one at six under par. 

-Talking about the Big Boys:  How about Elin turning a very expensive mansion into a pile of kindling?!  It's the place she bought for a cool $12 million plus change after the divorce. 

-Don't forget - Notre Dame women go up against the UCON women at four this afternoon in South Bend.  Probably be the best game in any sport today.

-Don't forget 2:  Scramble at noon today. 

Around The Arena: Loogootee-North Daviess Boys Basketball Game Last Night

Getting after the ball with 8 seconds left on the clock and the score tied...

Bits and Pieces: Predictions -NFL playoff games plus Lion Boys vs Cougar Boys

As promised, my NFL playoff predictions:

-Saturday games: Houston, with a third or fourth string qb, beats Cincy with its rookie qb.  New Orleans steamrolls Detroit.  Home field advantage for each of the winners.

-Sunday games: Pittsburgh runs all over Denver in Denver, with or without their #1 qb.  And the Giants with Eli at home top the Falcons.

And in tonight's battle at JBA, the Lions top the Cougars.  Btw, for those of you who missed last night's girls' win against Wood Memorial - it was a dandy.  Wood Memorial had to rely on its bench late and that just did not work.  The Lions worked well as a team and were surprisingly aggressive, bumping and shoving and letting the opposition know that they were in their neck of the woods at every opportunity.  Btw 2:  Was shocked at how little support either team had in the stands.  Made for plenty of good seats, but really...

Btw 3:  Another good, make that great, day for golf.  Best take off a bit early and get yourself out there.

-Scramble tomorrow at high noon. 

Lion Girls Win In OT, Beat Wood Memorial in a Thriller, 55-51

Bits and Pieces

-Lion BB Girls play Wood Memorial at JBA tonight at 7.  Boys tomorrow night vs the North Daviess Cougars.

-The Notre Dame women's bb team beat Seaton Hall last night, 74-36, quite a comedown from the 128-42 pasting they gave Mercer down in Macon on the 30th.  The #3 Irish are the top scoring team in the nation and take on #2 UCON at South Bend this Saturday.  That would probably be worth the five hour ride to my old stomping grounds.  You remember the last time they met - the NCAA Final Four up in Indy.  ND beat the Huskies to get to the championship game.  Go Skylar Diggins and company!

-An espn article by Scoop Jackson talks about Skylar, her beauty, her confidence and her skills.  What an amazing young lady.

-Golf weather today: sunny and near 50 degrees.  Even better tomorrow.  Probably good enough Saturday for a scramble as well.

-Time for breakfast with Diane.

Bits and Pieces

-My prediction status for 2012: zero and one.  Colts did not win the game yesterday (want you to know it really held my attention - closed my eyes at the start of the fourth quarter and woke when the two coaches were meeting in the middle of the field to wish each other a happy off season).  That makes me zero and two for the last week with the Irish bumbling their way to a loss in the Champs Bowl.  My predictions on next weekends NFL games coming up at the end of the week. 

-Guess we're going to have a bit of winter the next few days but looks like we get another chance to play golf this next weekend.  Gotta love this weather.

-Golf resolutions for 2012:
     -Stay healthy so I can continue to play.
     -Longer off the tee: put a little more turn and speed in my swing.  (That means staying flexible.  Could also get a longer stick...)
     -Play more and play better.  Played a lot in 2011 with partners in each of the three Lakeview  leagues.   Also had a rough beginning - way too many rounds five plus strokes above my handicap in the early months.  (That goes back to staying healthy as I suffered through a long bout with bronchial troubles last spring and even into the summer months.)

That's enough to think about for the moment.  Know that at least one golfer is working on his balance and using a Wii game to help.  One other thing:  The short game.  More practice, I guess, and maybe a helpful hint from the internet, or one of you guys, like the vid that showed Tiger holding his head still well after he putted that I posted a while back.  That helped me a bunch, continues to help.

-Going to throw another log on the fire and watch a movie with Diane.  Watched Big with Tom Hanks again last night.  Great fun.

Bits and Pieces: Denson and Souerdike End Year With a Win, etc.

-Saturday Scramble on the last day of 2011:  Doug Denson and Wayne Souerdike birdied the first five holes and added another on the ninth hole to fire a very nifty six under par to beat playing partners Short Jeffers, Curt Johnson and Kevin Byron by a stroke.  Dave Wininger and Mike Arvin were third at three under while Travis Brett and Mike Bird finished at two under and Nick Wininger and Tracy Rayhill at one under. 

-Doug continued his winning ways when he paired up with Travis Brett in a second nine holes.  They played Short and Mike in a 3-3-3 game.  They lost the scramble but came back to win both the alternate shot and the best ball.

-Another win over a top two team last night for the Hoosiers.  They took down #2 Ohio State, 74-70.  Indiana hasn't been very nice to their neighbors so far in this basketball season.

-Okay, Colts play their last game of the season today against Jacksonville.  And yes it is meaningful.  Lose and they get the #1 pick in the draft who just might be the next Payton Manning.  Win and maybe we get to see Manning have a great two, three or even four more years.  I, for one, am not ready to let go of the Manning era.  Prediction:  Colts, building on the momentum of the last two weeks, win a third straight, miss out on the #1 pick and get saddled with one of the best qb's ever for the next several years.

-On winning, from Pat Angerer of the Colts (from Paul Richards in the Indy Star yesterday):

"Yeah," Angerer said. "After a win, you're better-looking, you have more money and your wife loves you more."

We can all relate to that, can't we?

-Happy New Year everybody.