Learned some golf lessons on Sunday. But two words before we get started…
Brett Favre.
You know, in case you needed a fix.
Now that that’s out of the way…
The U.S. Bank Championship wasn’t Milwaukee’s headline story last week. You’d slot it third at best, behind the trade-happy Brewers and that Favre guy (new nickname: He Who Shall Remain Aimless).
So yes, Milwaukee’s PGA Tour stop was overshadowed. So what else is new? The tourney’s got enough second fiddle experience to start its own bluegrass band, always playing bridesmaid to the British Open.
And yet, its organizers and volunteers consistently go above and beyond. They take a County Parks golf course, scarred with a season’s worth of hacker-crafted divots, and turn it into a gem worthy of the world’s best players.
For that yeoman’s work, they’re consistently rewarded with wonderful stories, like the one woven Sunday by Richard S. Johnson.
The guy with the name of a law partner was actually just another under-the-radar golfer from Sweden who’d gone 149 tries without winning a PGA event. His claim to fame around here was stamped at last year’s tourney, when he turned his final round into a Benny Hill skit, racing to complete it in less than 90 minutes so he could catch a flight.
Sunday’s final round was far less frenetic, which was a very good thing. Because it gave Johnson time to pick up that winner’s check worth $720,000 and thank everyone for his brand new two-year PGA Tour exemption.
His was a refreshing story. It’s so easy to forget that pro athletes are people, too. They’re always surrounded by hubbub, always behind a microphone, always getting cheered or booed by thousands. Celebrity status, no matter how slight, can’t help but change the public’s perception.
Then you see a guy like Johnson and you’re reminded that they’re just as human as the rest of us.
Had you finally won a PGA event, wouldn’t you have raced to kiss your wife and pick up your 13-month-old daughter? Wouldn’t you have carried the kid in one hand, even as you signed autographs with the other? Even as the Golf Channel interviewed you and introduced you to the world?
That’s what Johnson did, afraid that if he put young Vera down for two seconds, her screams would fill the microphones. Bad for the eardrums, worse for ratings. “If I let her down, she just keeps crying,” Johnson explained apologetically. Meanwhile, his wife Linda punched in text messages like a giddy teenager, delivering the good news halfway around the world to Sweden.
Later, when Johnson was finally back in the much quieter press tent, alone with just a handful of media types, I asked him how all this would change his life.
“Well,” he chuckled. “I don’t know. Ask me next year.”
But before we got out our crystal balls, he continued on.
“No, I mean, I don’t think it will change my life drastically. I’m like every other person. I’ve got a mortgage to pay off as well, so that probably will happen a little bit.”
So there’s one person who won’t have to worry about the housing crisis. Or, thanks to that tour exemption, unemployment.
“It’s just such a neat feeling now,” he said. “I can play the rest of the year and, you know, my mom’s biggest dream has always been to go to Hawaii. And she turns 60 in December, so I guess we’re going to Hawaii.”
Lucky guy.
At least someone gets to escape the Favre circus.
In other news…
Weak Praise
Brewers manager Ned Yost claims Rickie Weeks remains his starting second baseman despite the trade for veteran Ray Durham. And in the hours after the trade, Yost said all the right things to appease Weeks’ sensibilities.
Or at least Yost tried to say them. Not sure how much of a compliment it is when your defense sounds a lot like an indictment.
“For me, he has never underachieved because he never achieved up here,” Yost said of Weeks. “How can you say he has underachieved?”
According to my Yostian-to-English dictionary, here’s the translation: Of course Rickie’s meeting expectations. We just don’t expect that much.
Which creates something of a problem for Weeks and Yost. Because the Brewers expect to win this season and Ray Durham has achieved plenty up here. Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said as much Sunday.
“Right now [Durham’s] on our roster,” Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle, “so right now he leads our team in hitting (.293) and on-base percentage (.385).”
Rickie, meanwhile, entered the week batting .216 with an OBP of .326. Yes, he’s a better base stealer this year (14 SB to Durham’s 6), and Weeks’ supporters will note that he’s scored 61 runs compared to Durham’s 43. But that’s largely a product of having 50 more at bats than Durham and Milwaukee’s superior offense helping him around the bases.
The bottom line is, as a leadoff man and second baseman, Durham looks to be a better option this year. Not necessarily for the future, but this year.
And since the Brewers have been so public about “going for it” this year, how long can they stick with Weeks as the starter? How long can they keep putting their second-best second baseman atop the batting order?
You just hope Yost is more straightforward with his players than he is with the public.
And finally…
It’s been a pretty good week for the Bucks.
Ramon Sessions opened some more eyes in the NBA Summer League. The young point guard even earned praise from TrueHoop as the league’s best playmaker.
And the Bucks signed a couple of free agent backups – power forward Malik Allen and backup point guard Tyrone Lue.
The Lue signing is particularly intriguing, as it’s sparked renewed speculation that a Mo Williams trade could be on tap. Just don’t look for that trade to include Gilbert Arenas.
The Washington Wizards star seemingly spends more time on his Agent Zero blog than on the court, and he’s not exactly Milwaukee’s biggest fan. His comments on the Richard Jefferson trade:
“HAHAHA! Oh man, now that is funny. When I heard that, I started laughing. Oh man, did I start laughing. You know why? Because every player hates Milwaukee. Nobody wants to live in Milwaukee. I’m sorry, Milwaukee, to come down hard on you, but no one in the NBA wants to play in Milwaukee. From him going from New Jersey, actually from New York (because he lives in New York), from New York to Milwaukee is like going … let’s just say it’s not going to sit well with you. That was a funny one when I heard that one. I know Yi is happy though.”
Memo to the Bucks PR department: This screams for a promotion during Washington’s next visit.
How about Rotten Tomato Night?
Tune in every Tuesday morning during the 6 o’clock hour when I join Doug Russell and Mike Wickett on SportsRadio 1250 AM. And don’t forget to check out our Bar Time column.
