Media Bowl Gifts

SF, at the two Masters I covered, I did not enter the lottery to play. I just felt I would be too self-conscious of being the hacker I am on that course, and so wouldn't enjoy myself. So that makes two of us.

 

Make it three, in part for the same reason as Michael. I've covered two Masters and didn't even think about playing Monday. It would have been way too embarrassing to look at that 187 on the scorecard.

 

Ah, I would have taken the shot -- but I was too dumb to even accept a couple of days out of the office and put myself in that position.

 

I was probably about a 20 handicap when I played in the late 1980s and think I would have broken 100, even with the championship Sunday pins and tees. The course is a wonderful design. It's not all that punitive, so a hacker can hang in there. If you play it back -- especially now -- and want to score well, though, you better be ready.

I got through only 15 holes -- was on the tee at 16 -- when thunderstorms rolled through. I had told a fellow from Barcelona he could hitch to Atlanta airport with me, and as the storm lingered, it became obvious that I could either make good on my promise or wait and finish the round and let him fend for himself. I chose to make good on the promise. Don't even remember the guy's name. I keep waiting for Augusta National to reward me for my good deed and let me play a complete round. They don't seem to be in any rush ...

 

Today the disconnect is a lot larger, because the Sunday tees are so much farther back and they make the angles a lot tougher. No. 11, for example, was really tough back then, but only from the fairway in. Now, 11's just brutal from the time you stick the tee in the ground. Back then, though, the championship course was longer, but not that much longer. I was surprised at how "playable" it actually was even with the Sunday championship setup. I had played TPC at Sawgrass two weeks prioer -- the day after Mark McCumber won there -- and found it much more difficult. I did almost birdie 17, though.

 

And free booze in a hospitality suite last night.

 

Nicely done. And someday, it'll be Syracuse and Missouri in Media Bowl II at Yankee Stadium

 

I hope you left a Baby Ruth in the pool.

 

I don't think it's a big deal to accept swag. It's a thank you to the sponsor's for covering the event. If you're going for the swag, then it's a problem.
What I do have a problem with is what my editor/boss does. He constantly gets media passes for concerts and events that are not in our coverage area. He does reviews, but they have no local edge to them. It'd be like me getting media passes for a Red Sox game and writing a feature on David Ortiz.
Worst of all, he usually requests two - one for him and one for a friend/relative.

 

OK, college writers, what's been given out this year?