Amateur, Rickie Fowler competitive with top co-leaders

Columbus, OH- Round two of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational created a competitive contest for the top spot after round two on the Scarlet course at The Ohio State University.  Going into round three, there are three co- leaders atop the big board;  Joe Daley, Dave Schultz and amateur Rickie Fowler, all playing accurate and crisp golf.  All three are sitting at seven back and have their work cut out for them. 

When looking at these three on paper it appears that the only thing they have in common are the positions they share today.   Standout California native, 20 year-old Rickie Fowler is the amateur who knows he deserves to be here, “I’m a pretty good player.  I know I can play with these guys if I play well.  It just shows after two days that if I play well, I can hang with these guys out here. I feel like I’m playing well, and I feel like there’s no reason why I can’t win. I mean, that’s the reason why I’m here is to try and win.” 

Today, Fowler, shot a 66 and is at 137 after two rounds.  Determined and confident, Fowler is comfortable with his current position as an amateur.   “I know for me I feel like this is a good steppingstone.  It’s like what I did, went from junior golf to amateur golf, then to college, and I succeeded at each level.  I didn’t jump ahead before I thought I was ready.”  It’s rare to hear a young athlete speak so patiently about their future. 

Changes are ahead for this Oklahoma State University Cowboy.  As his days dwindle down as an amateur, he was questioned as to how many amateur events he had before he turned pro.   Fowler said, “I’m playing the U.S. Amateur at Southern Hills and then hopefully Walker Cup, if they pick me for the team, which I hope they do.  Then after that I’m actually looking forward to starting out here on the Nationwide Tour.”

-Ashleigh Ignelzi, Columbus Wired

CONCACAF, Gold Cup

Hey everyone! Yesterday I attended two gold cup games at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. For a few hours Crew Stadium turned into a melting pot as fans came out to support Jamaica, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Canada. It was wonderful to see people from all different cultures supporting their team. The first game was Jamaica vs. Costa Rica, where although the fast paced play of Jamaica gave Costa Rica a run for their money, Costa Rica’s aggressive play and help from Costa Rica’s Celso Borges’ goal in the 64th minute made the final score 1-nothing.

The night’s second match pinned Canada vs. El Salvador. One thing was clear that El Salvador was not ready for the defense that Canada provided. The El Salvador attackers did not have what it took to contain the Canadian team. Ali Gerba of Canada scored for the second straight game. Gerba’s goal come in the 32nd minuet. Canada was light out and didn’t allow many scoring opportunities for El Salvador making the final 1-nothing, Canada.

First Thoughts of the 2009 Memorial Tournament. By, Ashleigh Ignelzi

Hey everyone,
Ashleigh Ignelzi, coming to you from the Media room at The Memorial Tournament and I must say, what an exciting start!
The weeks leading up to the Tournament were filled with speculation to whether or not Tiger Woods would play. Well, the speculation was silenced and not only is Tiger here to play but today in the Memorial Skins game he played alongside Jack Nicklaus! It was a thrill to be able to watch the best that the game has to offer.
I did a BIG no-no today. I did not check the weather radar before I left the house. Talk about big mistake. It’s freezing today, about 54 degrees and rain! But that did not stop the guys playing in the skins game for putting on a great match! Padraig Harrington and Tiger Woods brought in the big bucks for The First Tee Organization, for more on that check out our video that we shot today! Don’t mind my blue lips and chattering teeth, needless to say I was beyond cold!
The first round kicks off tomorrow, I’m certainly looking forward to it because the group of golfers here are an eclectic bunch from the old school and the new school. On a side note Y.E. Yang has impeccable fashion sense (but that’s a whole other story!) Zach Johnson who is 33 mentioned today that he is no longer a “young gun” and that the kids keep getting younger. He said “These kids that are coming to play are athletes.” Johnson has a great point and Tiger Woods discussed this topic as well today. Back in the day if you played golf, you didn’t workout in the gym. Now, many of the Pros on tour have trainers, and work with nutrition experts. This shows the growth of the game, how far it has come over the years and you know what they say, times they are a changin’ and the 2009 Memorial Tournament can attest to those changes.
Alright folks, I’m signing off and hopefully regaining the feeling in my freezing legs! Note to self: Check weather radar. Until next time!

Jimmy Smith, former Jacksonville Jaguar Wide Receiver can not catch a clue!

I lived in Jacksonville Florida when the Jaguars first entered the NFL.  I adopted the franchise as my team much like I adopted the Blue Jackets as my NHL team because we both came to town the same year. 

Since the Jaguars are not covered by local news I do not keep up with day to day issues regarding players past and present.  I happened across an article just yesterday on the net talking about how Jimmy Smith was stopped and charged with possession of drugs and driving on a suspended license for the fifth time.  I had heard he turned himself into rehab a year after he retired but assumed he was now on the straight and narrow.

The news surprised me because Jimmy had always been the quiet leader that just caught passes.  Much more in the mold of a Jerry Rice then some of today’s WRs in the NFL.  Jimmy Smith and Mark Brunell were not as potent of an offensive passing duo as Jerry Rice and Joe Montana,  but Jimmy did log some very stats for quite a few years in a row. He even had a great comeback season after stomach surgery, which some thought was career ending , sidelined him for a year.

I kind of had a bet with myself that he might be the first Jacksonville Jaguar to be inducted to the Hall of Fame.  But I suspect all his recent bad acts in society over the past few years may now stop that from ever happening. 

Is this fair?  I can understand if a player is doing steroids or is sent to prison while they are an active player would disqualify them for life.  But after they leave football or their sport,  are they still required to be viewed from a faux societal pedestal? 

Also if you believe they should still be held to that standard should players already in the Hall of Fame for their sport be kicked out.  Should OJ Simpson be stricken from the pages of the NFL. 

It strikes me funny that priests and doctors can get mulligans in life for bad choices and still be allowed to recover their name,  professional status and credentials. These are professions and chosen callings  that people say they are voluntarily entered into as a duty.  They require members to take oaths that they want to be stewards of society and humanity.

Top pros just start out as kids that like to play games,  and discover they are good at that game.  Society then spends the next 20 or 30 years letting them know just how wonderful they are for life and hold them in high regard. No one says to their favorite athlete “you are great do you promise to be a great role model for my children or do I have to boycott you?”

Yes many players look at their abilities as a gift and rise to the adilation and good will bestowed on them and give back to their local communities and society.  However we are surprised when they act only in their own interests, choosing to look at their gift as a business commodity and act only in their shareholders best interest. 

We teach courses in college to teach people to act this business savvy way,  and bestow an MBA on the best students of the craft of corporate greed.  We compare salaries of top players suggesting to all that just because they got a great sports manager (lawyer) that got them the best compensation that they are the best of the best players in their sport.

Charles Barkley is the only top basketball player to come right out and tell parents he was not volunteering to be their kids role model.  it is a good thing he did because we would have to ban him from being a commentator for life if he hadn’t warned us. 

If you have a story about one of your favorite sports personalities I would love to discuss it.  Say Michael Phelps for instance, do we congratulate his fessing up to his stupid Cheech and Chung impression, or do we strip him of his eight goal medals  or put an asterisk by his name in the record books?

2009 PGA Memorial Blog

News and information from the 2009 PGA Memorial

Welcome to our readers

The Internet has changed and is now very interactive.  We are introducing our new blog.  Feel free to comment on subjects, create subject or just view what people are saying.  Please keep it clean as we are a family magazine.