Sports Commentary

I may sound like a luddite to some. But, I’m not suggesting we go back to the days when Mark Warner constructed a raft out of drift wood to float ponds in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, CO.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court decision in the Alston case threw the doors wide open to athletes who wanted to monetize their NIL (name, image and likeness) rights.

A putt, even from two inches, counts the same as a booming 300-yard drive. The easiest area of our game (and score) to improve upon is putting.

I sat in on a state-wide meeting of land managers discussing technology in hiking.

On Valentine’s Day of 2014 I was snowboarding at Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff and hit a jump going too fast, lost control and landed on my neck which paralyzed me from the chest down.

Playing golf with your spouse can be fulfilling. The goal is to do something together with your spouse that enhances your relationship.

When summer began on the calendar, we were under fire restrictions.

So how does a young man from the railroad towns of Hyannis and Ashby, Nebraska (population 287) go from being the son of a rancher to a rodeo cowboy and later a tennis professional?

We are now in our monsoon season, which means playing in soft, wet conditions. I will share some things that I think are important to playing your best during this time of year.

Descending into the black hole of Carlsbad Caverns, I was engaged in conversation, using my standard “library voice.” I was promptly “shhhhhed” by a Park Ranger standing off in the shadows. Like your stereotypical librarian, Big Brother is watching and listening in Carlsbad Caverns.

Has there ever been a crazier summer in college sports?

It’s probably reasonable to say most of us have lived through the greatest time frame the professional game of tennis may ever have, with four players, who are still competing, that have won 20 or more major singles championships with maybe a few more to come.

This is the third in a series of three columns on how to play golf in a timely manner.

“Just think about it. Everybody needs to just think. There ain’t nobody thinking. Brains for sale. Never used. Operating racetracks,” said Kyle Busch, two-time NASCAR Cup Champion on changes to Atlanta Motor Speedway.

This past Saturday the inductions for the International Tennis Hall of Fame took place in Newport, Rhode Island, and in some ways they were kind of the same, and in another kind of different.

Back in the ‘70s, when hiking became an all-consuming passion in my life, I recall only one directory of hikes for Arizona, 50 Hikes in Arizona.

We are continuing our series on slow play and how to play golf in a timely manner.

Many of us have fleeting moments of thinking, “Wouldn’t it be fun to get back out and start playing some tennis”, and then the thought passes and we go on with what life takes us through on a daily basis.

In a unanimous landmark decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a long overdue death knell to the NCAA’s sham argument that college athletes are amateurs.

We are in a time of our lives where we are experiencing unprecedented violence and total disrespect for others, authority and property. Let’s not have any of this, with tempers flaring out of control, anywhere on or around the golf course. Golf should be a fun and safe haven for all.

Where do you hike when two routes to the Grand Canyon are closed due to fires?

Those two words, uttered by the attorney for Matt Schembechler, the adopted son of former University of Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler, during a June 10 news conference said it all.

Last year the game of tennis’ normal inductions and professional lawn tennis tournament was cancelled at the Newport R.I. International Tennis Hall of Fame due to COVID, but this year are excited and ready for a large, fun crowd to attend — Sunday, July 11, to Sunday, July 18, 2021, for the men’s singles and doubles tournament and induction ceremony and special festivities to enjoy!

Two weeks ago, we discussed some common courtesies that, as golfers, we should be aware of and apply to make the game of golf better for everyone. Just like before, common courtesies are like common sense. Way too often, it is not common!

Canyonlands is complicated. You only need to glance at a map to figure that out (https://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/maps.htm).