Tune Out Imus, Tee It Up at Primland Resort

SHAQ RAP AND OUTDATED IMUS
The Drive:
    I had the opportunity to travel to The Highland Course at Primland and play a very special golf course. It’s a spectacular 18 hole track on the top of a the mountain at the Meadows of Dan, Virginia.  As I drove in, I kept thinking..there is no way they built a golf course up here. It just couldn’t happen. Wow, was I wrong. It’s a true test, a resort course built in the clouds. The greens are the largest I’ve seen, but they also roll the fastest and truest I’ve putted since I played the hallowed ground we know as Augusta National. After reading about the architect, Donald Steel, I have a better understanding. Donald is a world-famous links “specialist” who is the retired president of the Eurpoean Golf Union.
  They are building a huge lodge up there that should make this a first class resort destination, but it is already a first class golf destination. Pro Jeff Fraim was my guide for the day and actually put me on the path to fixing some long neglected issues in my golf swing. I did manage a birdie on the par 3 14th so all was not lost, despite losing a few pellets to the cliffs that surround this place. If you are one of those guys that always wants to play the next great golf course..then take a drive. It’s worth it.
The Fairway:
  What a smattering of nonsense talk that has inundated the sports world this week. Now we suddenly care what Shaq’s freestyle rap in a club to friends is all about and haven’t we already turned the page on IMUS?  If we haven’t..why not?  Shaq can say whatever he wants in a non-interview situation, and I don’t think it should be covered like a press conference. I’m not sure why we care. The sportsworld already understands the relationship between Kobe and Shaq.
  IMUS has spent decades doing the whole shock jock shtick, and unfortunately never changed with the times. Now his act is beyond insensitive, and he doesn’t know how to change it. It’s time we tuned him out. The guy is Archie Bunker without his son-in-law to scold him. I think its funny we expect something different from him. He is what he is. He does what he does. What’s downright shocking is that somebody still pays him to.
The Green:
  The College World Series in Omaha is one of the great sporting events of our time. I’m a sucker for college sports and when there’s true emotion and drama(see NCAA…don’t see—NBA) then I’m there. I suppose it didn’t hurt this year that my wife is a Georgia grad, so this year was especially fun to watch—even if I am a Gator, I still root for the SEC to have a good showing even if Florida doesn’t. This remains one of the sporting events I have yet to be able to cover…at one point I was working in Lubbock and the Red Raiders got within a couple outs of being there, but Stanford rallied to win an elimination game..then another to oust Texas Tech. That was at the regional in Wichita..and if memory serves..that was before the “Super Regional” format.
The Jar: 
  So what in the world happened to American Tennis?  Where is all the young talent? The European nations and Russia crank them out…and the US…it feels like a trickle. Like the well has run dry. Well..this week, maybe a window of understanding in that world, as the USTA Roanoke region hosted the first—First Start program in the state at the RVITT. It’s a program geared to 10 and under and 8 and under children—something of a fun introduction to tennis to get them playing, and keep them playing. I was there and took some of this in, and as it was explained to me, it is a program similar to what the European nations do to develop young talent. It certainly couldn’t hurt. It’s disheartening when the majors come along and your lone hope is Andy Roddick. Remember Agassi, Chang, Sampras, Courier, following Connors, McEnroe, and the like?  Those memories are fading. Time to make some new ones.