Here it is 6:30 am on a Sunday morning, and after a long night at work I should be sound asleep. But I'm wide awake and watching the Masters coverage that started at 5:00 o'clock this morning.
I got home, poured myself a tall diet 7-Up, layed down on the bed and kicked off my shoes. Just as I got comfy, I looked at my cellphone, and it said I had a couple of missed calls (I turn the ringer off at work). It was Stephanie--heading for the bar and looking for me. I called her back but unfortunately, I was already down for the count and I really wanted to watch golf, so her offer of late-night buffoonery was declined. I swear these young chicks are gonna wear me out...
Anyhow, this is an especially interesting tournament this time around because a few of my favorite golfers are right there at the top of the leaderboard--Phil Mickelson, Freddie Couples, and of course my absolute favorite, Rocco Mediate--I've been a fan of his ever since he won the Phoenix Open several years ago, and although he hasn't had nearly as much success as a lot of the other guys on tour, I root for him every week, and I always put him in my 'major pool'.
Actually, the real reason he's my favorite is because one time at the Phoenix Open, me and my drunken buddies were hanging out at the famous 16th hole, and Rocco was standing nearby talking to his caddy, and I busted out with my best Burgess Meredith voice and yelled Eye of the tiger, Rock! Not only did everyone around us start laughing, but Rocco himself looked over and gave a thumbs up, so after that I had to be a big fan.
Anyhow, my buddy Devin started the Major Pool several years back, and basically for each of golf's 'major' tournaments, everyone would pick a six-player team (and we'd throw Tiger Woods out of the equation completely, because everyone would pick him anyways), and throw ten bucks in the pot. Basically, four of your guys had to make the cut, and the winner was determined by whoever's players won the most money, using the money list published in the paper on Monday morning. The tourney winner's score under par was used for a tiebreaker, kind of like picking the total score on Monday night in the weekly football pool.
For a bunch of degenerate gamblers like my buddies and I, it was just another way to create a little interest while we waited for football season to roll around. But the Masters is everyone's favorite tournament, just because, although they won't admit it publicly, it's the tourney that every one of the pros would choose to win if they could only have one. And it's played on a course that everyone dreams about playing on, but few ever get to do. So even though the pool isn't happening anymore, I'm still glued to the tv today--and at some point I have to get some sleep before I go back to work tonight.
But for the record, I'm rooting for Rocco and Lefty, and I catch myself yelling NOONAN! at the tv every time Tiger lines up for a putt. (So far it's working--he's had like three bogeys in a row as I'm writing this!).
By the way... No Ken Venturi this year? I kind of miss his pompous ass--it was a great drinking game to do a shot whenever he said the word 'patrons'.
Mikey
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