Last Rites
Jim Rome is burning, Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon are interrupting millions daily and now Californian Assistant Sports Editor Ross Priest is reading the sports world its Last Rites.

A blog about Kern County and Sports & Recreation.
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A Heisman pose for Ryan Mathews
Moving is best for Blaze, Bakersfield
Can the Condors save baseball in Bakersfield?
Wie bit of criticism
Witnessing Olympic glory an honor for this sportswriter
Bakersfield's boys team up in 2009?
Harvick Avenue? I'd rather have a street with no name
George Carlin...you will be missed
Affiliation could be worth the wait for Condors
Frontier track is plain goofy
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Somebody's got to stop this. Michelle Wie is doing it again. news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080721/ap_on_sp_go_ne/glf_w ie_pga_tour

Last week, she forgets probably the second-most important thing in playing tournament golf, next to bringing your clubs, and somehow she gets rewarded with a sponsorship exemption for a PGA Tour event.

Michelle Wie has as much business playing in a PGA event as I do writing a daily column for The Chicago Sun Times.

She's not even a member of the LPGA. She can only golf in six LPGA events a year, and all have to be on sponsor expemptions. What kind of credentials are those?

Here's what she's done in the past 3 years. You tell me if she deserves to share a spot on the golf course with PGA members?

Last week, disqualified after not signing her scoreboard at the State Farm Classic. Seriously, my wife has second-graders that forget to put their names on their paper and that's an automatic zero in her grade book.

In 2007, she pulled out of the Ginn Tribute after an embarrassing 14-over par first 16 holes. She was in danger of shooting an 88, a number that would have disqualified her from playing in LPGA events for the reminder of the season. Wie claimed wrist injury. It wouldn't have been so bad except two days later, she was caught hitting range balls.

In 2006, she withdrew from the PGA John Deere Classic citing heat exhaustion. It had nothing to do with her 8-over par round. I get exhausted from hitting the ball that many times, too.

In 2005, she was disqualified for signing a wrong scorecard at the LPGA Samsung World Championship. I'll won't fault her for this because of the circumstances that brought on the disqualification.

Has ZERO career LPGA wins but she did tie for second at the LPGA Championships in 2005.

She's made ZERO cuts in the 8 PGA events she's played in during her career. I guess, I could give her credit for knowing the adage, 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.'

Now if those are reasons enough to earn a spot in a PGA event, I'll start looking for a first-class flight to Chicago.

Posted in the Sports & Recreation interest group.
Topics: Michelle, Wie, PGA, tour, LPGA, golf
posted by LastRites on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 01:26 PM
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Larsen Jensen has already earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. Gabe Woodward will begin his quest Wednesday. Because I moved here in December 2006, I never witnessed any of their individual athletic feats.

It's part of the business. Sportswriters can go several years, if not a lifetime, before witnessing Olympic glory. Some will never see it.

Yes, we'll see talented players, mostly Division II or III skilled players, a few Division I-caliber players and an ocassional professional athlete but witnessing an athlete with the ability to reach the Olympics is rare. So rare, I consider it an honor.

I was fortunate to witness greatness in my first year of covering high school sports in Yuma, Ariz. Her name was Jacquelyn Johnson -- Jackie for short. The star of the Yuma Criminals. She could jump out of the gym on the volleyball court, lead the transition and pull up for a 15-foot jump shot on the basketball court, and she dominated the track. Every event she competed in, she won. High jump, long jump, 200, 400 and 100 hurdles -- she was simply amazing to watch.

Our track preview of her senior season had the headline 'Full Medal Jackie.' She's the only athlete to win 14 state championships in track, and helped Yuma High to a second-place team finish by herself as a sophomore. She's also a four-time NCAA champion in the heptathlon and a three-time champ in the indoor pentathlon.

Now, she's a Olympian. She's done exactly what she told me, and countless high school writers before and after me, she would do.

Congratulations Jackie. It was an honor.

 

Posted in these Groups:
Topics: Larsen, jensen, swimming, trials, Jacquelyn, johnson, Yuma, bakersfield
posted by LastRites on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 04:27 PM
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