Weekend Fun: Set head dials to “explode”

September 15th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

It’s enough to make taligating seem like an afterthought.

Seven games, 14 ranked teams, eight Heisman trophy candidates, a bajillion fans - that’s this weekend in college football, a slate of intensity that I don’t know I’ve ever experienced before. I’m sacrficing for this weekend. Not only might I not tailgate, but I decided not to travel to Notre Dame for the Michigan-Notre Dame game too. This might be the greatest college football weekend of my lifetime, and I plan not to waste it, sir.

Of course, you’re not properly prepared for the weekend unless you’ve read Pat Forde’s rundown of the games and, as I’m still getting my head around it all, I’ll just let him handle the introductions. But I will say this: Texas Tech, Oregon, Miami, Florida, USC, Michigan, LSU. Got that?

Even though I won’t be paying attention to it, you might: Starting tonight at 9, R’s White Sox look to get back their two game deficit from the Twins and make this a real, live baseball race. C’mon - you know it, I know it - the Tigers are collapsing like PostmanE at 7 p.m. on a tailgate day. Let’s end this cruel charade, eh?

Let’s be fair here, no one’s really paying attention to this: Ah, another PGA Tour event, another likely missed cut for Michelle Wie. Keeping the moralizing to a minimum…fighting off urges to make psuedo-sexist comments…must…be…strong…

Highlight of the Weekend: Excuse me, the Magnificent Seven? Don’t they mean eight? Clearly ESPN - and everyone outside of Bloomington’s 3-square mile radius - has forgotten about the major tilt going down in central Indiana tomorrow. Hoosiers, Salukis, 4 p.m. Two of the country’s most storied…most plucky…ok, most laughable programs square off in a battle to see who’s the tallest midget. We’ve got Indiana (our Indiana) taking this one, and winning one for the Hepper. Get well, Coach.

Oh, and yeah, we’ll probably be tailgating, but we’ll be watching the Magnificent Eight, too, hopefully in some sort of hyperbolic chamber that will prevent our brains from oozing out our ears. If we can hold off early-onset dementia, we’ll see you Monday. Peace.

Weekend Fun: Fighting off the hordes

July 14th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

Oh, to sum up the week. Easily done: Zidane. All-Star boredom. Nostalgia for a barely mediocre hometown golf tournament. Oh, and the Jesus. Yep, I think that about covers it. If you don’t believe me, just go ahead and scroll down the page. I dare you.

Anyway, there is much to celebrate this weekend. There is the return of baseball, after all, including plenty of games today and throughout the weekend. So maybe that’s the obvious one.

Well, then, how about a little football? That’s right - as you shake violently, waiting for your new copies of NCAA Football 2007 and Madden 2007 - NFL training camps are getting back in business and college campuses are starting to fire up some offseason non-workouts. Auburn students, on the other hand, are hanging out, playing some video games, getting good grades all the while.

Ok, so maybe that was obvious too. Football is coming back, you say? Whatever. C’mon E! Give us something off the beaten path. Something that we might not normally care about, if it weren’t for your hometown ties to it.

Well, I already did that yesterday. But it’s true, the John Deere Classic continues throughout the weekend, and though Michelle Wie is looking pretty screwed at this point - she’s tied for 142nd, forcing me to use Ctrl-F to find her in the leaderboard - Joe Ogilvie seems to be playing pretty well. He’s winning, and isn’t that exciting.

Alright, that’s all I’ve got. If you can’t get with the Quad Cities, well, may god have mercy on your soul.

Also, um, please come back Monday. We got some love from Sports Bloggers Live this week - blog of the week, actually - so we need plenty of our loyal fan base to come back and fight off the hordes of new readers, all in the name of mutual Postmen-drivel consumption.

Ha. Yeah, right. But really, come back anyway. See you Monday.

Sweet salvation in the good ol’ Quad Cities

July 13th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

I’ve been a little tortured over here, struggling to find something to post about today. Well guess what? I found it.

Michelle Wie. She’s golfing this week in a PGA event - and not just any PGA event, this Postman’s hometown PGA event, the John Deere Classic. (Yes, I’m from Iowa, and yes, it is really named the John Deere Classic. No, I am not from a farming community. Thanks.)

It’s a great course and an OK event, but its profile will be considerably raised again this year thanks to Wie, who seeks to make the cut at the JDC. It’s a big deal, actually; ESPN.com even has a poll about it! 71% of people say no, she won’t make the cut. Haters.

I would assume my compatriots in the Quad-Cities Area don’t agree. Last year, they turned out in droves - with the media on the case as well - for every Wie drive, approach and putt. Such is the situation this year, too.

Besides Wie, though, there’s actually a pretty decent field for this tournament again, and of course, the obligatory one or two big names to get all the locals excited. This year? Chris DiMarco and David Duval. Also, Jason Gore, if you’re feeling generous. Notah Begay? Not bad.

Another plus about the John Deere? Why, the brilliant, insightful writing of the Quad-City Times sports desk, of course. We won’t pick apart those boys here - I mean, they gave me a job last summer - but they’re not always the um, (how do I put this?), most sophisticated bunch. Lots of tacky short one-sentence paragraphs with that crew. And lots of columns by my main man, editor/I’ll do whatever the hell else I want around here including columns aficionado Don Doxsie, which kind of remind me of the things my high school journalism advisor always said not to do - you know, spending 600 words or so without really making a point. You know, like almost everything I put up on this site.

But yeah, some Quad-Cities love. Couldn’t be happier. Makes me nostalgic for home, actually.

By the way, the tournament has been going on for a while. I’m a bit slow. J.P. Hayes - who? - is winning, and Michelle Wie is +5. Eesh.

Also, that is a photo of Davenport’s historic and illustrious skyline. Beautiful, iddn’t it? No? I know. Go easy on us. We’re plucky, if not grandiose.

Michelle Wieeeeeeeeeeeeee!

June 6th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

Boy, this is dissapointing.

Or, not really dissapointing, depending on how much you care about golf and/or Michelle Wie.

To be honest, I can’t say I care about golf enough myself to really be concerned if Wie starts rocking out some men at the U.S. Open, or any other tournament (except the, um, Masters, obviously). I guess I can say that I’m glad she’s being forced to qualify along with everyone else. Publicity stunt though it may be, if she can play with the men, she can play. If she doesn’t qualify, fine, but at least everyone in spikes is being held to the same standard.

That said, I can understand the argument here as well:

Wie’s presence in men’s tour events and her attempt to gain entry to the U.S. Open has been met with skepticism from male pros around the world. Recently, European Tour member Jean Van de Velde said, ‘I have no objection to Michelle Wie or any other women playing in our tournaments so long as we are allowed to play in theirs. And, yes, I’m ready to play in a skirt.’

It’s difficult to manufacture a real opinion on all of this. I’m strangled with indifference.