Poof! ESPN Zone Gone.

Combining Interests.

So, the East Coast ESPN Zones are shutting down.  This should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever been to an ESPN Zone.  The ESPN Zone was what happened when a group of executives got around a table and said, “Do you think we could make a more corporate, less fun and more expensive Dave and Busters?”  Done. And. Done.  My ESPN Zone experience was limited to Baltimore, so right off the bat it’s lagging behind just because of the smell in the Harbor, but things didn’t improve that much once you went inside.  It’s failure brings to light that you can’t combine just anything with a bar and expect it to work.  Sports Arcade/Bar sounds like a total lay-up, and it should be, but ESPN managed to take the pipe on it, well played.  I can’t believe that any place that had Pop-A-Shot would ever close.  I do have my own ideas for things that should be combined with bars.  First, book stores.  Tell me all those characters at Barnes and Noble wouldn’t like to crush a craft brew while lingering like no one’s business.  Second, a driving range.  If you like hitting balls, you’ll like it better with a buzz.  See, it comes with a slogan.  What would you combine with a bar?

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Jamie Moyer is my least favorite Phillie of all-time.  Why couldn’t the Yankees just have scored 4 runs off of him?  We had Ruben Amaro on the brink, stuttering like a moron, claiming there was no real problems…it was all there for the taking, and we get stuck with another smoke and mirror game.  Moyer wins!  The offense breaks out!  Yeah, six hits, great.  Murderer’s Row.  I’m not letting Amaro off the hook.  I assume they’re going to lose the series tomorrow, and we’ll go from there.  Moyer makes me furious, Chase Utley just making me real, real sad.

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We had a request for some US Open predictions in the comments section, and I realized that in my attempt to not go into golf overload, I might have undersold the sumbitch a little bit.  The US Open is a time to be excited and to get ready to stare at the television set with a childlike wonder for hours on end.  The Masters is stingy with their coverage, the USGA saturates the market.  How does nine hours sound…on Thursday.  Oh, yes, please.  We’ll get every breath Tiger takes, and every awkward smile Phil makes.  I appreciate the Masters flipping off the common man every year with their 4-7 pm glimpse, but America’s tourney, broadcast the hell out of it, and they do. Moving on…

If I Could Pick the Winner:  David Duval.  Duval wins, then says to the gathered fans and media, “I told you I would be good again,” he then throws the trophy into the Pacific Ocean and is never seen again.  Runner Up:  Tom Watson.

The One Person I Hope Doesn’t Win:  Tom Lehman.  Hate Lehman.  Beat Fred in a playoff at the Senior PGA, choked away US Opens in his prime like his life depended on it.  For him to get one now, well, I’d puke.  Runner Up:  Mike-Angel Jimenez….yourrrr weird.

Amateur Most Likely to Shoot a Million: Kevin Phelan.  He’s 19.  He’s Irish.  He’ll probably be trying to score Paddy Harrington’s autograph.  Settles down Friday to break 80.

Low Amateur:  I was going to go with Byeong-Hun An, the US Amateur Champion who got some experience at Augusta, but doing a bit of research, I see we’ve got a hot amateur in the field.  Scott Langley is the NCAA Champion, and won his sectional qualifier.  These young guys can get on good streaks and surprise in majors, Ryan Moore, Matt Kuchar, etc.  I think Langley makes the cut.

Player You’ve Maybe Heard of who Could Shoot 159:  That’s two rounds by the way.  I’m not sure anyone will go double-Jerry Rice.  My first pick here is to go with Michael Campbell, the former champ.  He’s a mess.  My second candidate for known-DAL is…Ty Tryon.  Remember him?  Made a cut at 16, said something like “college wasn’t for him,” turned pro, and dropped off the face of the planet.  He’s back.  Well, I always thought Tryon was a bit of a mutt, so now that he’s an adult, I’ll go ahead and throw him in the DAL mix.

Low Young American:  Ryan Moore.  I mentioned him up top, and he did have a good amateur outing at Augusta.  It’s taken a long time for his game to fully mature, and I loathe his attire, but this is a good spot for him.  Good ball-striker, par will be a solid score, I expect him to be in contention.  I like him more than the more popular Mahan and Dustin Johnson picks.

Ah, What the Heck, Tiger’s Totals: 74-70-72-73= +5 and T-11th.