It took Northwestern 30 minutes but they finally figured out that they're way better than UNLV and win it like they should. Drake Anderson, son of NU standout running back Damian Anderson, looked like the running back NU has been looking for as he gained 141 yards. Scary to see the kid of a guy you watched old enough to play college football. Hunter Johnson had a nice bounce back game at QB and NU looked like the team I expected to see this year.
While nobody was noticing, Chicago White Sox SS, Tim Anderson is leading the AL with a .334 batting average. Honestly, I can't remember the last time a White Sox player was leading the league this late in the season. For the casual Sox fan, many national writers and talking heads are putting the White Sox in the conversation of teams to watch out for in 2020. They have a nice nucleus of talent and with a couple additional starting pitchers and some more bullpen help they could be the team to beat in the Central division next year.
It's almost time for the annual Chicago Blackhawks season opener. My expectations this year are they will play like dog crap for the first three weeks, make a run to the top of the division through the holidays, go on a three week vacation, and then make one last push for a playoff spot getting in on the second to last game of the season. You know, just like they've been doing the past three years.
The Denver Broncos are a complete mess right now and if the Bears don't win easy Sunday it will not be a good sign of things to come this season. This should be a nice quiet win, no drama, plenty of reps for the back ups in the 4th quarter. Get in, get out, go home.
Now for the main thing on my mind today, The Solheim Cup specifically, and the LPGA in general.
Unlike most of you, I have been a huge fan of the LPGA for many years. It started back in the Nancy Lopez era, continued thru the Annika Sorenstam years, and it is still strong today. Why you ask? I realized many years ago that the men on the PGA tour were playing a game that was completely foreign to the game I played.
I had an opportunity years ago to play in the Bay Hill Classic Pro-Am, down at Arnie's Place, where I was paired up with a journeyman player I barely heard of, and can't remember his name today. On about our third hole I realized that my drive, and his, were basically next to each other, give or take a yard. Of course he started about 30 behind me on the tee. I was about 240 yards out and hit a career three wood about ten yards short of the green, he hit a 5 iron to ten feet of the pin. He spoke about 5 words to us all day and we couldn't wait to be finished.
Earlier that same summer I was, again, lucky enough to play in the Best Buy Pro-Am in Minneapolis where I was paired with another journey woman LPGA golfer, who I barely knew and can't remember today. It may have been the most fun golfing I've ever had. She was engaging, funny, interested in us, and helpful all day long. She and I basically were hitting the same clubs from the same distances all day and I could actually learn something from her, playing alongside.
I realized then that their games were much more relatable to mine, and since then, every LPGA player I've been lucky enough to get to meet has been just as fun to be around. So, that helps you understand my interest in ladies golf.
Watching the Solheim Cup these past two days I got to thinking about how some of these ladies really stand out as athletes, and in particular, how one of them may be one of the best to show up on the tour. I'm talking strictly about athletic ability here and the things it takes to be a top flight athlete.
Suzann Pettersen may be the best athlete to ever play on the LPGA. Yes she's the slowest player on tour, and she doesn't win enough, but having watched her over the years, I know that any sport she decided to play professionally, she would have been elite just like she is in golf.
Her will to win is unbelievable. Her creativity is inspiring. The way she raises the talent of players on her team to rise above their normal self is awesome. In watching her today I thought if she had taken up skiing instead of golf she would have been the world's best skier ever. Same for tennis, gymnastics, speed skating, lawyering, or anything else she decided to do in life.
Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam were the best golfers of their generations, by a mile, but you would not consider them the best athletes on tour. Now, if you wanted someone to make a putt for you to save your life, those two would be on my short list with Jack Nicklaus. Three golfers who knew how to close a tournament out and who had half the field beaten before teeing off on Thursday.
The new crop of golfers playing in the Solheim Cup are better, stronger, and seasoned like no group of players has been in the history of the LPGA and LET. The level of competition this years is outstanding. Close matches, great golf, mental toughness, and excitement that you want to see in a tournament like this.
If you haven't been watching, do yourself a favor and get up early tomorrow and watch the singles. Remember how interested you are, then, when you are watching the Presidents Cup later this fall and one team is blowing out the other, and every player is hitting driver, sand wedge to every hole, you'll appreciate what you're seeing tomorrow.
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