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...