Golf:
On Sunday, the European team soundly beat the United States 17 1/2 to 10 1/2. Most of the blame will go to Captain Jim Furyk, but most of the U.S. players just simply did not show up, including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau. To me the most shocking no-shows were Tiger and Bryson, considering they had won three of the the last four tournaments on the PGA tour to close out the season. I wonder what happened on the flight to Paris?
The only two U.S. players who played well were Justin Thomas and Tony Finau. Tiger looked like he was sick or exhausted for the whole week. Bryson needs to become a whole lot more consistent, because he was a mess for the entire week as well. And Phil Mickelson looked and played like he was a lot older than 48. Here's one more sour note. I hope Patrick Reed is embarrassed about his response to losing the event. He sounds like a very sore loser.
The whole European team played very well and they definitely deserved the win. Whoever was the final decision-maker for setting up the golf course did not want to see much low-scoring excitement. The rough was more like the US Open than a typical Ryder Cup set up. If you hit the ball in the rough, you were basically struggling to make par on the hole.
The next Ryder Cup is in Wisconsin in two years, at the Whistling Straits golf course. Whistling Straits hosted the PGA Championship several years ago. I guarantee the U.S. will play a whole lot better there at home, with probably with a younger team.
Baseball:
The Major League baseball season is now in the playoffs. The season is over for the Phillies, which is a good thing, since the last two months were so disappointing. I will be interested to see what kind of changes they make during the off-season. I hope they decide to trade some of the players to open up positions for other players they already have on the roster. Specifically, Scott Kingery should be given a chance to succeed or fail at second base, because that is what he has played for his entire minor league career.
The same thing should happen for Rhys Hoskins. He should play first base, his natural position. In the playoffs over all, I will be rooting for either the Milwaukee Brewers or the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series for the National League.
Football:
The Philadelphia Eagles lost a tough game to the Tennessee Titans in overtime on Sunday. If they want to win the division this year, the first thing the Eagles need to fix is their offensive line play. In the first two games, where Carson Wentz was quarterback, he has been sacked 9 times! If this keeps up, he won’t even finish the season at quarterback because he will certainly be hurt with this kind of lousy coverage.
I thought this game was going to end in a tie, but Tennessee scored a last minute touchdown to win the game 26-23. The Eagles’ next game is against the Minnesota Vikings at home in Philadelphia. This will be a rematch of last year‘s NFC championship game. Let’s hope it has the same result.
-
A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
