Wednesday

Happy 4th of July to my many followers!  I pulled out my old flag to hang on my house as well as raising Old Glory on the new flag pole.  We are very patriotic on Maplecrest!

I think that I am passing on the regular holiday cookout, and going instead with the salad from the refrigerator.  They keep saying everyday that tomorrow will be hotter.  And they have 100 in the forecast for Thursday and Friday.  As you can see from the gauge right out my kitchen window, triple digits is not much of a leap.

I elected to golf this AM, largely because I was due for a rest day from cycling.  Geneva has an informal "regular" game on Saturday's at 0800, and they usually do that game on Summer holidays too, like today.  Since my normal playing partners were otherwise occupied today, I figured that the "regular" game was my best bet.  You just show up, put your ball in a hat, the balls are thrown, and teams are set.  I hadn't played much with the guys on my team, but they were all good guys.

Each player puts $11 in a pot.  I really don't know how all parts of the bet are played, but the teams compete for low net and low gross on both the front and back nines.  (Net being your score with handicap deducted, gross being without handicap.)  Then there's also a "skins" game in which a player can earn a payoff if he has the lowest score on a hole among all the players.  This is done on both a net and gross basis too.

We won a couple of bucks as a team on the back side, and my net eagle on the 18th hole (three for a two) won a few dollars in the net skins game.  But my natural birdie on 18 (three for three) turned out to be the only birdie of the day on that hole, and there was only one other hole where only one guy birdied.  So the two of us split the gross skins pot of $90, meaning I won $45!  Totally unexpected, but well-earned.  The 18th is a tough 400-yard hole, and I followed a decent drive with an outstanding 3-iron that left the ball maybe four feet below the cup.  It wasn't a "gimme" putt either.

Sorry for being a bit wordy about golf there, but it was a pretty fun day, even shooting 89!

I'm going to recognize 2 as Daughter of the Day for hanging in there at the Figge for the Red, White and Boom event last night.  She always does a great job steering these kind of programs for the museum, and doesn't always get the recognition that she deserves.  Not that I am biased or anything.  You 'da girl, Kiddo!

Lots of crashes in The Tour this week.  At least three pretty good riders are hanging in there with casts on their wrists.  (LBH...anybody riding in the Tour is a pretty good rider!)  Rule #1 is definitely in play. 

I don't think that I noted here last week's news that my pal Erin Andrews is leaving ESPN for a new gig at FOX Sports.  I don't think that this was much of a surprise to anyone.  She may have gotten (a word?) a little too big for her britches for ESPN, especially since her DWTS appearance where she received all that non-sports publicity.  Money mattered too, I'm sure.

Her biggest problem may have been that she just got too old for the college boys.  I mean, her hay-day was the CWS a few years back when all those guys probably thought that they actually had a shot!  Whatever.

I didn't even know that FOX did college football.  I may have to watch this Fall.  Do they do the Directional U league?

Enjoy the remaider of the holiday.  Thank a soldier.  They deserve it.

BCOT