Last Saturday was National Beer Day – in case you did not know. This commemorates April 7, 1932 which is the day of enactment of the Cullen-Harrison Act of 1933 signed into law by FDR and allowed taverns to open on April 7, 1933 for people to enjoy “near-beer” after 13 years of Prohibition. Serious beer aficionados have extended the celebration of National Beer Day by creating an informal holiday of their own. Last Friday night, April 6th would have been “New Beer’s Eve” for true beer devotees.
Enough with a small wrinkle in American culture; back to the sports rant you came here to read…
Last week, I wrote about the Ravens signing RG3 and the furor that caused among some sports commentators regarding the fact that the Ravens chose RG3 instead of Colin Kaepernick as the guy to come in and be the backup to Joe Flacco. While it is correct to say that RG3 has been “less than successful” as a QB in the last several years, it is a stretch to say that he is without talent. When he was drafted in 2012, he was the second overall pick in the draft and he was the offensive Rookie of the Year.
Moreover, it is not as if the 2012 draft was devoid of talent. That was the same draft class that brought Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck into the NFL; for that one season, RG3 was better than either of those QBs who have shown that they are a lot better than chumps. Oh, and the Skins also drafted Kirk Cousins in that same 2012 draft and now that we will be entering the 2018 season, Cousins will be embarking on a 3-year contract worth $84M – – fully guaranteed.
Mentioning Cousins brings this situation to mind:
- Please note that the Skins – who spent a ton of draft capital to move up to draft RG3 – now have neither RG3 nor Cousins. That situation demonstrates the management ineptitude that pervades that organization from the top down.
Mike Bianchi has this comment in the Orlando Sentinel about another recent personnel move by an NFL team:
“The Jacksonville Jaguars dumped their longest-tenured player — tight end Marcedes Lewis — after 12 seasons earlier this week. Sadly, this is just what happens when your Marcedes gets too many miles on it!”
Finally, The Masters ended over the weekend with Patrick Reed becoming a first-time winner. For the two weeks leading up to the tournament, the casual observer of the golf media would have been hard pressed to realize that anyone other than Tiger Woods was going to show up and tee off. That brought “buzz” to the tournament despite the fact that Woods finished tied for 26th and a mere 16 strokes off the lead. Here is how syndicated columnist, Norman Chad, described his reaction to all the “Tigermania” recently:
“Here’s the Tiger Effect for me: Whether or not he’s playing, I will not watch golf on TV.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
Two comments today. First RG III was a wonderful rookie QB for the Redskins. Until his knee injury late in the season. After that injury, he never regained the edge that made him special. His most recent season (with the Browns) he was abysmal. Of course, due to injuries he suffered in every season he’s played, his body has taken a beating.
Second, the Masters on TV is not a bad event. I was a regular at the Masters growing up. The huge crowds and weird rules make viewing the tournament tedious. But real golf fans (clearly, they are still around) are willing to overlook all of it. The back nine can be very stressful for even the best golfers, so it creates the expectation that almost anything can happen. It often does.
BTW, on Sunday, Tiger mailed in the putt on 18 that would have allowed him to be even par for the four rounds. Then had the nerve to say that playing par was his goal. Of course, CBS later had him on live for an interview while the leaders were still playing. Not much class by him to agree to the interview or for CBS to show it live.
Doug:
How many other golfers who did not make par for a tournament and wound up more than a dozen strokes off the lead would merit an interview on CBS?
None.
Maybe Jack Nicklaus. But it would truly be news if Jack played close to par for four rounds.