My Sick Mind

I had a good feeling about Paula's third round. There was a concert at Ripken Stadium on Saturday night, so our parking/shuttle area was moved to a corporate campus in Belcamp. On the way, I passed a Creamery Lane. An omen? I don't know. It sounded good at the time. She started the day at even par, teeing off at 12:14pm (in the noonday sun, as they say) and it was a challenge for her to stay there, and it wasn't until the 16th that she got into negative numbers with an elusive birdie putt. She managed to finish the day at one-under par, but it will be an uphill (if not impossible) battle to win with so many players ahead of her, and the leader at minus 10. So let's reflect on the week so far: FRUSTRATING: The shitty directions to the Belcamp parking area provided by the LPGA. First, they said, "go west on Route 563" but 563 runs North/South (odd numbers, don't-cha-know). It went downhill from there. We're back to good-old Ripken Stadium on Sunday. ...

I stopped at a Havre de Grace 7/11 on my way to Bulle Rock today to buy a few newspapers. As you may remember (you do, right?) I had my photo snapped by a Hartford County newspaper photog while walking the course with Paula Creamer on Thursday. I was figuring they wouldn't print it, with me being from New Jersey and all, but lo and behold (whatever that means) here it was, on page 10 of The Record (serving Havre de Grace, Aberdeen, Perryville and Port Deposit): It beat the Hell out of the story on page three of the Aberdeen man who was killed while trying to cross Route 40. I took a shuttle bus. Meanwhile, on the course today, I had another opportunity to enjoy the company of Paula's mother Karen. I wanted to tell her how impressed I was with her daughter's kindness toward me on Thursday, and she remembered meeting me the past couple of years on the course. We chatted and walked the course with Paula in the mid-June Maryland heat. The morning started off promisingly, w...

Some things take me by surprise. Mostly, because I'm cynical by nature and partly because I'm just surprised. As faithful readers know, I'm a fan of LPGA golfer Paula Creamer . Following golf requires that one pick a "favorite" and when I attend an event or watch on television, I like to have someone to root for. Rooting for Paula is easy because she embodies everything that I imagine athletes to be: Appreciative of her fans, friendly, easy to like and generally a good person. Two years ago, upon meeting her mother on the course at Bulle Rock, I told her that Paula was "my favorite professional athlete." What happened today cemented that belief. As usual, I spent the day walking the course with her group, which included Nichole Castrale and Kristy McPherson. Today, I went to the LPGA Championship garbed in a custom-made Paula Creamer T-shirt (above) and evidently, was the envy of my fellow Creamer followers . To the extent that a local newspaper...

Today began my annual four-day trek to Maryland to see the McDonald's LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock Country Club. It will be my final time, because the tournament is in the last year of a 5-year deal, so next year's Championship will be held elsewhere. In the past, I've added up the total distance I walked during the tournament. Suffice it to say, it's enough to make my feet hurt and my aging knees swell a bit. My love of the LPGA is exceeded only by how much I love complaining. Wednesday is what they call the practice round, but mostly, it's colleting autographs and photographs of the players while they mill around the putting green, driving range and various parts of the golf course. I collected about a hundred photos and some autographs, most notably Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak. To the right is Natalie Gulbis , who you may recognize from her recent appearance on Celebrity Apprentice . I think she was fired. She was doing an interview with a local TV station sho...

"so thought I'd drop by and see what your thoughts are on hillary's decision to drop out and support barack?" - Kimmyk My thoughts. Politics are funny business. Two people can go at each other for 6 months, then when one wins, the other must reconcile and decide to support the other, even though in (her) heart she knows the support wishes are bullshit and she would rather have stepped on (his) throat than to try to heal the party by pretending to unify it. But the Democrats are in such sorry shape now that (she) must do what is best for the party and lend (him) (her) support, whether or not (she) believes what (she) is saying. I read a news story yesterday that said the Obama campaign is willing to help Hillary with financial support for her campaign expenses, so like a lot of things, it comes down to money. I'm fascinated by horse racing. There are so-called experts who think that they can predict with certainty what a horse is going to do and tell us that they...

BLOGGER'S NOTE: Compare the weather forecast box below to the one I put on Wednesday's post and see how, in merely two days, the forecast can change significantly - then tell me if you think these guys know what in Hell they're doing. That wasn't the rant . Rather than bore you with details of another fine day on the Bulle Rock golf course, I'll give you a few details, then launch into yet another of my rantings. Today was the last day before a wretched heat wave ruins another weekend, so it was probably my final day at the LPGA McDonald's Championship. Today, rather than follow one player through the entire course, I decided to follow several players, hopscotching through the groups and seeing a few holes with each. I started with the five-star group of Ochoa, Pressel and Webb. They started in the morning, so I was able to walk the front 9 with them before I had to leave to join Annika Sorenstam's group, who teed-off at 12:37. Of course, Annika is ret...

My week off from work is winding down. Today was spent in Maryland at the Bulle Rock golf course watching the LPGA McDonald's Championship (presented by Coca Cola). After two straight late-nights at Dave Matthews shows (and yes, I did think of you ), I couldn't wait to get up at 6am and drive 65 miles to walk 6,630 yards (3.76 miles) with my favorite athletes - particularly Paula Creamer, whom I walked the course with today. Paula missed at least 4 easy birdie putts on the first 7 holes and I think her first inclination was to heave her putter into the lake, but she still had 11 holes to play. She finished one-under par. Paula's group was finished around 2:00pm, and I had the chance to go back out and walk the back 9 with Lorena Ochoa, Morgan Pressel and Karrie Webb, but I needed to get back to do my Thursday night 28-mile bike ride with the shop group - and my feet hurt. I know. The good news is that I'm going back on Friday, and since Paula's group teed off ea...

Today was the first day of the McDonald's LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock Country Club in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Well, kind of the first day. Today was one of the Pro-Am days, where the sponsor's corporate pals get to play a round of golf with one of the LPGAs professionals. I guess you have to be a corporate high-roller or one of McDonald's big suppliers to get invited, and from what I heard, hackers came from all over the country to drive balls into the sand and miss 4-foot putts with some of the best golfers in the world. I didn't go to the Pro-Am last year, so I thought I'd run down there this year and see what goes on. The answer: Not too much. Since most of the girls played on Sunday in South Carolina, the field was pretty slim, and mostly made up of whomever didn't make last week's cut or didn't play at all. The big attraction was Natalie Gulbis, who would be the big attraction no matter who showed up. I could have spared myself getting up a...

BEIJING (Reuters) - On Sunday, China became the latest country to declare war on plastic bags in a drive to save energy and protect the environment. Under new regulations, flimsy bags under 0.025 millimeters thick are banned and shopkeepers must charge for carrier bags. China, which consumes 37 million barrels of crude oil each year to manufacture more than one trillion plastic bags, is following in the footsteps of countries such as Ireland, Rwanda and Bangladesh. Italy is due to introduce a ban by 2010 . So, I guess that puts the U.S. behind some so-called Third World countries in the category of sensibility. I've grown to hate those plastic bags almost as much as I've grown to hate the giant vehicles that cart them around. Now it's time for our so-called lawmakers to do something that may actually help us - God forbid - and help us keep pace with the rest of the world. Oh wait - they're working on that Stimulus Package that will save our economy 600 dollars a...

Finally ... a headline I can get excited about ... Women Prefer Men Who Look Like Dad Now, I can start getting those 20-year old's to start looking at me. I'm your daddy. Meanwhile, some guys are at Oakmont playing a golf tournament. Something called the U.S. Open, or so I hear. The girls are taking the week off, so I might tune in. This story on Yahoo News talks about the autograph seekers waiting in the hot sun for players to sign stuff. By Wednesday afternoon, some autograph seekers were already posting their goods online. Several white U.S. Open flags, featuring Oakmont's squirrel logo, were selling on eBay with as many as 50 autographs on them. Bids on most started around $199. Pikers. That hat I had autographed at Bulle Rock last week ... you'll pry it from my cold, dead hands. And Paula's pink golf ball -- I might be buried with that baby. On reflection, it was as great a week as I have had watching any sport, and as long as none of them beats up John Daly...

There aren't too many people that I would (a) Drive 60 miles to see (b) walk for 4 hours through the hot sun for and (c) walk 6,596 yards for 4 hours through the hot sun after driving 60 miles to hang with. One of them was playing golf at Bulle Rock today, and even though Paula Creamer couldn't find her putter, it was still a great day for golf. It started early. I watched a few of the Plus three's tee off - Michelle Wie, Lorie Kane and Brittany Lang, then I headed for the best spot on the golf course; the hill that overlooks the 4th hole, 5th tee, 6th green, 7th and 8th holes. It's a great spot that fills up quickly. I sat up there in one of the few shady spots on the course for about 3 hours, until Christie Kerr's group came by, and I followed them back to the ninth hole. Paula Creamer was set to tee off at 2:22. It isn't a lot of fun watching the low end of the leaderboard play through. It reminded me of those NASCAR races where cars that crash early come o...

One of the principles that America's founding fathers had in mind when they drew up the Constitution was that we would be a nation of laws and not a nation of men. Of course, this stems from the country from which they came. Royalty places itself over the commoners and as such, they get preferential treatment in adjudicating cases. As it is with so many other issues , the principles set forth in 1776 become irrelevant when placed in current society. You would have to be naïve to think that we are all treated equally in life, but sometimes the issue is so outrageous that even the most hardened and cynical among us have to scratch our heads and wonder, WTF? Paris Hilton was taken from a courtroom screaming and crying Friday, seconds after a judge ordered her returned to jail to serve out her entire 45-day sentence for a parole violation in a reckless driving case. "It's not right!" shouted the weeping Hilton. "Mom!" she called out to her mother in the aud...

Day two at Bulle Rock was Seniors Day, where anyone 50 years of age or older was admitted free. Thankfully, I still have to pay. The joint was full of geezers. I caught the shuttle from Ripken Stadium and got there at 7:30, and true to my word, I would be there to walk the course with Paula, and as an added bonus, Karrie Webb , another great player on the tour and In-Kyung Kim when they teed off at 8:32. Among the interesting sites would be Karrie's opening drive into a shallow stream on the first hole, where she would remove her shoes to play her second shot. I got to hold the rope over her head while she walked to the stream to find her ball. I got an Aussie "thank you" for my efforts. Sorry I had to do it, Karrie . The round would go in rather uneventful fashion, with Paula hovering around even par (bogey one - birdie one), Karrie playing slightly under and In-Kyung struggling to recover from the first three disastrous holes. By the time we got to the eighth hole, thi...

"I expect some good practice round pictures at least..." - Sparky Duck , June 5, 2007. Well, Sparks old buddy ... I hope the above snapshot qualifies as a good picture! That's me and Paula Creamer after her practice round today. After missing a couple of opportunities to grab the photo, it looked like Paula was heading back to the clubhouse to call it a day, so I quickly commandeered an unsuspecting spectator and gave her my camera and called to Paula, who politely agreed. The poor kid. The day began early. I got to the course at around 9:00am after a little more than an hour drive and shuttle bus. I figured I would walk the course with someone and take in the sights and sounds of my first live golf tournament. What I didn't realize was how accessible the players would be. Once that became obvious, I abandoned my walking idea and spent most of the day hanging at the practice green (between the first tee and the clubhouse) and watching the players wander around and te...

There is something in my makeup that keeps me from getting all worked up over plans or things that I want to do, but in this case, the weird geek in me is jumping up and down - on the inside. I don't know if the ad on the tournament web site is guilty of hyperbole or merely stating fact, but perhaps history is a bit overstated in this case. Nevertheless, I have purchased a grounds pass for the week of June 4th to roam the historic Bulle Rock golf course in Havre deGrace , Maryland to watch the best golfers in the world (no debates, please) compete in the McDonald's LPGA Championship. I'm getting hungry. By the way, I'd like to find Havre and smack him for naming a town whose name is so difficult to say. A week's pass cost $55, and it allows me to go to the practice round on Wednesday and any of the four days of competition. I'll be blog-posting all week, so be prepared for LPGA overload, you lucky people. Of course, I plan on following Paula Creamer for most...