Morning gents…happy Saturday hope you have something planned to do or are relaxing and watching the PGA championship up and over in Rochester, New York. I’m off to the course myself with a 7am tee time. I wont be playing for the trophy above, ours is a hacked up log from all the chopping of wood we do. So, I’ll ride like the wind!
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Gotta love the Michael Block story. He gutted out a tremendous final round, playing beside Rory. That final hole basically epitomized his whole tournament.
Hard not to choke up a bit watching him get emotional after that surreal moment. Anyone who plays a lot of golf and strives to improve understand exactly what he is feeling.
Block has inspired me I’m going for my tour card next week. You can get them online right?
Yep
I’ve looked into playing a US Open qualifier.
From what I can gather, you have to be like a 5 handicap and registered at a qualifying pro shop.
Sounds right. Have a legitimate verified handicap then have to play and beat 0 index guys in the qualifier to get in to the US Open. For guys like me even getting to a 5 handicap and playing in the qualifier is as good as it could get and even then have to get to a 5 handicap first.
Yeah. I’m never seeing a 5 handicap.
80 (8 over) is my best 18 ever. I’ve done that twice.
Hovland….as expected
Rahm’s prediction isn’t looking so good at the moment. None of the three guys at the top look like they’re fading.
I think Hovland wins.
Hi Skolly
Think the kid Hovland will fold.
Hi Skolly.
Folks This is a great golf tournament. Those two made puts on 13 by the leaders was sensational
Koepka curled that one. Lucky.
Great hole in one by Block!!! Solid guy too.
What a shot! Crowd went ballistic….
And you’ve probably noticed you guy with the nose is “sniffin” the lead.
Of course he is….2 back. I think it’s headed to a 3 way playoff with him and Hovland. Koepka is mentally strong but even he will feel this pressure.
Amazing. Same odds as me seeing the Purple win a SB.
Well not that bad..
On the fly.
LOL, nice bunker shot.
Golfoholics
OTA’s tom Mick.
Golfasylum
Koepka looks tough to beat early.
Yup but as Rahm said he’ll make some mistakes eventually, this course is to hard not to but he’ll be conservative which should allow him to win. Hovland can make shots he’s talented but I don’t see him nutting up and pressuring Koepka in to mistakes.
Guess back 9 a challenge today. Thomas said it and Rahm agreed. Not a big Koepka guy i always like 3-4 guys with a shot going down the stretch.
Just like clockwork he slices a drive OB and has to take a drop. Hits his 3rd from the sticky rough 213 to 30’ on the green. Great shot he can afford a bogey.
Usually way it goes when i talk someone up.
He’s about ready to bogey again after a bad break on an approach iron shot that got hung up on the bunker lip way above his feet.
They’re coming back to pack, who knows.
Agreed. Hovland is like Kirk. Can’t finish when it’s all on the line.
Koepka likely wins, but keep an eye on Scheffler.
God I hope sausage nose Scheffler doesn’t get anywhere close to the lead.
Finished the round in 4 hrs and 10 minutes, and waited on the group ahead of us the whole round. Guess we were just playing fast. The three guys I played with were a fun bunch and they all hit the ball a mile. I shot 44 on the front with two lost balls and a double. Then I finished the round par, par, birdie, par to shoot 40 on the back. Nice to finish strong.
Thanks. Getting ready to rain here so playing and getting done early paid off. Those last four holes might have been the best four hole stretch I’ve ever played. The guys were like oh… you want to play another nine holes now I suppose. I said “no, gonna go home and take a nap”.
Nooiiice
Thanks, it was really nice way to finish. Hit every shot on the button.
Congratulations. You’re in a good groove!
The course had a few long holes but mostly the holes were fairly short but very narrow. Like driving your ball down a bowling lane. Trees on the right and left, and lots of water in play. I hit my three wood a lot, and even my five wood off the tee a couple times. Left me way back, but in the fairway. I pitched and chipped the ball nicely too, so I just kept things in play and tried not to make any big mistakes.
You’ve got a good strategy. Will work on any course. Again, good round!
Is it just me or does it seems their draft scenario prep is lacking a bit. They seem a little indecisive on trade offers they’re getting. Should be an easy nope / yup when trade offers come in and when you see the prospects remaining as well as prospects gone and later rds windows of talent you know you like.
Whts missing?
Context likely as this could just be robust discussion beyond what they know they’re already going to do but from this clip it seems they’re actually contemplating a bad offer to trade back when it seems obvious its a bad offer.
Kwesi said….. around the minute mark he was waiting for people to call.
1:50ish Kwesi says… “I feel like we’re going to miss out, I don’t want to do that trade.”
same with Blackmon. I laughed when Ko said “I’m trying to gauge how much like Blackmon? I like Blackmon
I like Blackmon also. I think we could have picked Forbes at 23 and been very happy as he is really flashing in commanders ota’s but an Addison / Blackmon combo is pretty solid.
LOL i was just talking about their exchange in the video.
I’ll like Blackmon too if he can competently play CB in the NFL.
Addison was their guy at 23 and they weren’t moving away from him unless it was a haul was my take on the video.
Out of curiosity, if you looked around at our competion in the NFC, and then looked at our talent to stack up, how would you arrive at a WR for the first pick?
You need to help out your best player. JJ led the league last year in yards yet in 6 games he had less that 50 yards receiving.
L to Philly – 48. AT led with 52
Almost lost to DET – 14. KJ led with 73
L to Dal – 33 Hock led with 34
W to NYJ – 45 JJ Led
L to GB – 15 Nailor led with 89
W to Chi – 38 (JJ only had 51% of the snaps) KJ led with 117
SO 3/4 L’s were when JJ was SHUT DOWN!
How do you fix that? Make it so if JJ is shut down. You can see that nothing really got going in the passing game .. soooo.. beef it up and create more opportunities for you best player.. if they don’t show up you have more options to go with than the prior year.
See comments below. No doubt JJ needs help and hope Addison can do that. But it won’t matter if Kirk doesn’t have time to get either one the ball.
Look at that Dallas game. Kirk caught the snap, looked up and a defensive lineman had his arms around him. You could have four JJ’s out there and it wouldn’t matter.
And you could draft a rookie OG who is going to take some lumps against those same defenses as our current guys do.
I have concerns about the IOL as well but I also don’t run an NFL team. IF those coaches are feeling good about the guys they got…
well..
I’ll just wait for them to fail like everyone else and be happy if they dont.
Good points. My broader point is I believe our talent at the skill positions matches up well with the other NFC contenders. But not in the trenches.
Even without Addison, KJ being WR2, I believe with the addition of a stout guard we stand a better chance of beating the 49ers than with Addison and our existing guards.
And I believe there are other ways of getting an OG besides drafting a rookie.
And whether you are looking short or long term, building the trenches is never a bad idea.
Not at all.
theres been so much inconsistency over the last decade+ regarding the Vikings OL that maybe… just maybe… having the same 5 guys and coaches yield better results. It’s something that hasn’t been done with the Vikings in a long time and could pay dividends.
it could also be the same shit as last year. It’s tough to say.
Hope you’re right. What worries me is a chart Lifer posted yesterday – Our guards are two of the three worst pass blocking guards in the league. I hadn’t realized it was that bad. Lifer also suggest you can scheme and give help – I’m not sure that will work with two bad blockers.
Guess you’re right though – coaches have decided to go with it.
JJ runs great routes and Kirk throws a great ball – a lot like Stafford and Kupp. It just takes time to develop.
Absolutely you can scheme. Moving on from Cook… which hasn’t but is likely to happen signals that shift as well.
McBride is more of a wear you down runner where Mattison and Chandler are more like Cook… lite.
Its going to be an interesting battle in the RB room this off-season.
If you say so, but scheming around two bad pass blockers seems difficult – I guess it can be done though.
The running game is strange. Out line blocks a lot better running the ball but our running offense is not very good. You think that was Cook?
Same. Got the same impression. In the games we lost last year JJ was virtually shutdown and with AT having lost a step teams were able to focus on JJ more. Thankfully, he’s an all-world talent and more often than not he was able to make teams pay, but it was still an issue if/when teams were able to contain him. Even with the addition of Hock and the strong play from KJ at WR3 the effects of the diminished skills of AT were noticeable. Addison, while not particularly big or fast does seem really fluid on tape and IF the ability to get separation translates to the pro level (a sizable if) his impact on the offense should be immediate. Everything I’ve read says he’s a good locker room guy, a dog on the field and as far as I’m concerned he’s proven that to this point by winning the Biletnikoff @ Pitt and then transferring to USC and immediately becoming the man there. Initially I’d have preferred a pick addressing the edge or DB concerns but the more I look into Addison I think this might be a sneaky-good pick. Choosing optimism.
Certainly agree with your take that AT’s loss of a step had an effect on our offense. But looking at our losses, especially where we got manhandled. I’d say our line play had more to do with it (both sides of the ball) than AT’s lack of ability to get open..
Yep. Certainly still an issue – in particular IOL. I really like our tackles.
If he’s as good as billed the offense is going to be scary. AT for the last couple years had been the RZ guy taking it from Rudolph but with the addition of Hock it really diminished his role.
I think AT can be that safety valve for the Panthers and has some value but not the 20m that he was under contract for…
on top of that.. you keep AT you really can’t go with Addison in the draft, WR becomes waaaaay too crowded.
The issue of concern with Addison is drops. Write that down it will be what we’ll be discussing this fall. Don’t think it will be a huge issue but he’ll and we’ll have to deal with it. His skill is route running and gaining separation he’s good at it that is not an issue.
Will it really matter that much when we play teams like the Eagles, Cowboys, 49ers, if Kirk doesn’t have time to get the ball to either him or JJ.
They can scheme a little to assist with the new TE Oliver they got to help with pass protection. He’s basically an extra lineman.
He’s maturing as a player. Improvement every year. We’ll see what the NFL brings for his game.
Yeah we will see. Grown ass men dropping the hammer on you will cause a loss in focus. I think he figures it out ultimately an of the four top WR’s I liked Addison 2nd best after Nigiggbagagaba.
Wasn’t a big JSN guy.
lole skolly.. I wasn’t a big fan of going WR, but I understand why.
Some concern about this too. But he has improved at this. Handful of examples in his game tape from last year. I think he’ll continue to get better. He reminds me on tape of Marvin Harrison (big comp I know) He’s 12 lbs lighter and an inch shorter but that’s who he reminds me of. And oddly enough his kid, Marvin Harrison Jr, reminds me of Martavis Bryant.
@ can’t be. We were told everything went according to plan and they got their guy@
Did you watch the video?
No he just criticizes that which he doesn’t agree with with impunity.
LOL.
My post was a response to your “positive” post.
Now you got me being negative lol…it’s all your fault!
Personnel are a means to an end. What’s the plan. Getting “value” is a method.
I tried telling everyone last week they didn’t have a plan and panicked. KAM sucks
Even if they have a plan, I’m not sure it’s a very good one.
The personal wellness path GA Skol is on he just doesn’t know it yet.
Decent boxing match last night for a change. Loma / Haney, the Ukrainian solider decorated boxer vs the young 24 yr old undefeated champ. Close fight and for a change the correct boxer was given the decision.
Giddy up….
Absolutely gorgeous here in Eastern Nebraska…. Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.
5 hours of Lincoln Creek (7 point pitch) with my old man, his girlfriend and my wife…
About to tear into some creamed asparagus and an 8 lb prime fresh of the grill….
Days worth living…
Skol!
Beautiful tree shot there. Enjoy some time with the old man…I miss my dad…can’t begin to explain the relevances of things he use to say and how in my life they’ve come full circle to be true.
Planted that tree myself in 1988. First year on the property.
Here’s the man that protected the families of West hams team from hooligans who wanted to rush the stands to get at them. He served up some 6 pieces for those punks.
Old fella took some shots but in a fight that’s to be expected.
What´s the context here?
Brawls with opposition fans, fireworks, and stadium break-ins: AZ Alkmaar fans have built up something of a reputation for themselves in recent years.
Last night’s chaos saw horrifying scenes where violent Alkmaar fans, wearing hoods and clad all in black, tried to force their way into West Ham‘s hospitality area following the Europa Conference League semi-final clash in the Dutch city.
Two heroic West Ham fans were able to stand their ground as the thugs tied to force their way beyond the stairwells leading up to the stands. Fending off a group of Alkmaar supporters, matching them blow-for-blow, they were able to deter the mob from reaching the Hammer’s players’ loved ones.
Old fella delivered some shots and held back the horde
MT decides to entertain the nurses and interns in the hospital parking lot….
Congrats MN. Blaze up!
Fuck Walz and the horse he road in on.
Why you got to take it out on the poor horse?
LOL, sorry SoCal, that was out of line.
Well if the horse identifies as someone/thing that likes that I guess we are all good.
Come to Minny SoCal, retire here. The place to be.
Minny is getting to be too much like Calif, only with worse weather.
I am moving away from the Granola State (fruits/nuts/flakes) for a reason.
Get that gal healed up and get the hell out of Dodge!
Working on it,
Trying to do it Smartly rather than just Quickly.
Finally!
Why can’t the Vikings have just decent, average guards?? Is there a rule I’m missing?
Someone must not think it’s important thus a smallish WR with first pick.
IOL likely are achilles heel again. This stat says nothing about Turd bull rushed into KC either. I still think a .500 record is prob as high as it gets. I will start the season in my usual grandiose style, however.
Thinking about this some more, what are the odds we’d have two of the top three. Throw our center in the mix and we’ve got quite the trifecta.
I mean, that is pretty bad… the GM should have done something to improve that. Unless he’s secretly hoping Cousins has a bad year so he can low ball him. Diabolical!
Playing golf tomorrow at another course I’ve never seen. Just gonna bang it around and keep it in play. No need to hit hero shots and try and make birdies. If that happens it happens. The course looks nice, but we’ll see. I have yet to play one that wasn’t a cow patch. Hope this one is in good condition.
Have fun and a good round. Kinda surprised, I find on average the Florida courses better than what I was used to up North.
The sandy soil makes it hard to really keep the turf in good shape. Premium courses will invest heavily in agronomy to keep their grass pristine.
When you’re constantly playing off bare, sandy lies, you’re just trying to hit the ball solidly and not duff it in the soft soil.
For me,with a bad hand, sandy lies are easier on body than some of the hardpan up North. But I have never gotten used to bermuda rough and greens.
what’s wrong with your hand?
Trigger finger and arthritis on my ring finger of left hand. Some arthritis in left wrist. Both make it hard to hit down and thru on real firm lies. Age has its challenges sometimes.
Yes it does. I take two advil after dinner before bed to get the anti inflammatory effect the following morning before golfing. Not that I have any aches I really don’t but it helps all my joints be pain free and loose. It really helps.
That is exactly the fairway lies where I play adding yet another element of difficulty. Very hard pan dry tight lies. You basically have to pick it clean hence why I struggled with full wedge shots. It’s just native grass, clover and dirt. We have been getting a decent amount of rain so it’s not as bad as it can be.
Shot a 45 / 45…2 strokes worse than last week which was my best round but it felt like a shit round and I’m fucking pissed. Started on #1 which is the hardest ranked hole with a fucking quad. Driver straight pull in to the woods, drop shot faded right behind a tree had to drop again, 5th shot over the green chip up and two putt for an 8. Good times. Also had a triple a few holes later finished that side 9 over so could have been an even better round if I wasn’t a cock sucking bitch. Back side was ok…no triples but missed two birdie putts finished 9 over for a 90. Fucking pissed can’t drive worth a fuck suddenly after absolutely striping it last week and can’t hit full wedges shots from the fairway. Chipping up I was dialed in, 80+ yards out where I have to square up and hit a full 52 I either fat it, thin it or pull it. Just sucks. Putting was meh also. Switching putters next week.
Still some good stuff. You were 7 over on two holes on the front so the other seven must have been pretty solid. Couple of birdie puts on back, so not so bad either.
yeah that’s the frustrating part. I had one hole par 4 had a 205 yard second shot from the edge of the fairway, smoked my 7 wood to 8 feet from the pin. Missed the putt. That kind of day.
72 today in Eden Prairie, Minny, and all i see is BLUE sky!
It’s supposed to be about the same around here today. This afternoon I’m going to throw on some headphones and enjoy the sun for a couple hours while I zoom around the yard on my riding mower.
Had to change out the A/C filters in the house (4 of them). Went to Walmart and bought two sets of filters, got the ladder out, did the quick change, back to watching golf till the wife gets back from Yoga class.
Since Edge is not here.
Golf……
I totally second this.
Keep it in the short grass, find the carpet in regulation, you golf junkies. Trying to watch some PGA but seems all they do is talk.
Pieters misses the ball.
Ouch.
I don’t feel so bad now.
Not an avid tweeter user, but I find this one worth sharing. In case they come up with another one.
Truth.
Republicans have been treated this way for years. Covid just allowed the Dems/media to force their evil on the peasants.
We were talking yesterday about golf rules and pros. Did you seen that huge slice Rahm just hit. Then get’s a free drop for shot to green.
I did. But that was a structure that is normally not on or part of the course. Tree roots are typically part of the course. But not so close to fairway.
True, but that shot looked well over that temp fence and probably in the woods beyond. You and I would probably be hitting 3 off the tee with a lost ball. Merely pointing out some of the advantages pros have or get.
No doubt there are big advantages on the course for PGA players compared to us hackers.
People like to make excuses. “I know history, but this time it is different. Our reasons are valid.”
Yup, this exactly.
Skol
SKOL!
Speith starts bogey, birdie, bogey. Thomas starts par, par, but just missed a 10 footer for birdie on the second hole. Rainy, and wet conditions.
If you don’t hit the fairways you’re in for a long day.
Gm
FTP
Good morning Mick
Could Addison be a diva?
He hung up on the Vikings brass several times.
LOL….
https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/jordan_addison_accidentally_kept_hanging_up_on_the_vikings_on_draft_night/s1_16715_38832241
He said before he hung up…
It’s Saturday, why aren’t you on the links?
I was….guy I was playing with dropped his phone three holes back so I’m waiting on 4 while he and his cart partner go back and found it.
That’s kinda real-world funny… he’s excited he’s been selected, he’s ready to celebrate, and folks keep saying things like “be easy” which to him intoned the call was over, so he hangs up. Funny stuff there.
Diva?
nah. Excited Kid who just hit the jackpot.
Yeah. It was a joke