The Lighter Side of Golf

Sweet Redemption for Stanley

Kyle Stanley came from behind in stunning fashion to win his first career PGA Tour tournament.

        One week ago, Kyle Stanley was at rock bottom. He had a seven shot lead in the final round at Torrey Pines and looked primed for his first career PGA Tour victory. After a sluggish first eight holes on the back nine, Stanley stood on the eighteenth and final tee with a three shot lead. He could have made a double bogey and still came out on top. However, Stanley did the unthinkable, spinning his approach shot into the water and making a triple bogey eight. The 24 year old went on to lose to Brandt Snedeker in a playoff, resulting in one of the most colossal heartbreaks in golf history. Some would have even compared it to Jean Van de Velde's collapse at the 1999 Open Championship or any of Greg Norman's notorious final round fails. Obviously, Kyle Stanley was heartbroken after the events at Torrey Pines and many wondered if he would ever recover from it. Well, he definitely proved his naysayers wrong this past weekend.

        The Clemson graduate came back in stunning fashion, firing a final round six under 65 to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Heading into the day, it appeared that Spencer Levin had total reins of the tournament. The free-swinger had a six shot lead going into the round and a birdie on his first hole extended his lead to seven. However, his round only went downhill from there. The University of New Mexico alumni shot a one over 36 on the front nine and but still had a lead. On the back nine, the wheels really fell off for the 27 year old. He made two bogeys and double bogeyed the par five 15^th to end his chances for his first career PGA Tour victory.

        Levin's struggles opened the door for Stanley, who played remarkably consistent golf on Sunday. The 24 year old didn't make a single bogey during the fourth round and was third in greens in regulation for the week. Stanley really showed signs of maturity with the way he played in Phoenix, as he was able to shake the demons off from his collapse from the previous weekend to excel back to the top of the leaderboard. Standing at 5'11 and 165 pounds, Stanley uses all of his frame to crush the ball extraordinary distances. During the broadcast, CBS analyst Ian Baker-Finch noted that he thinks Stanley could skyrocket to the top 20 in the world by the end of the year and be in the top 10 in 2013.

        Over the last two weeks, the golfing world has definitely learned something. For years, many have claimed that a two shot lead is the scariest lead in golf. However, the way the last two tournaments have concluded, a six shot lead is now the most dangerous advantage in golf.

Top 5 Goalie Gaffes

Ryan O'Reilly Feature

Keep it Coming HBO!

This season of HBO 24/7 featured the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. A number of players displayed their personalities, including Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.

      For the second straight season, HBO created a four-part series following two teams in anticipation of the Winter Classic. Last year, the show debuted with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, chronicling their new found Eastern Conference rivalry featuring two of the biggest stars in the game, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. For those who aren't familiar with the idea, HBO got unlimited access to each team's dressing room and the players’ homes, essentially giving the viewers an all-access pass to their favourite players.

      The show got rave reviews last season, as people loved Bruce Boudreau's f-bomb induced rants in the dressing room and Dan Bylsma's more business-like coaching tactics. Of course, the show captured the hit that has severely affected the outlook for Sidney Crosby's career during last year's Winter Classic. The average viewer watching the Winter Classic obviously saw the hit, but if you watched the HBO episode after the game, it included a very revealing clip of Crosby talking about the incident. Thanks to HBO, it's pretty obvious that he didn't just have his 'bell rung', he actually had a concussion and shouldn't have played at all in the third period.

      This year's edition of the show featured the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. Both teams had a lot of hilarious personalities that the average viewer probably didn't know about prior to the first episode. Some of the 'stars' of HBO 24/7 included:

Ilya Bryzgalov

      It's well known that goalies are a bit of a different breed (including yours truly). Some talk to their goal posts, some vomit before games and some have to listen to the same songs before every game. Well, Bryzgalov takes the term weird to a whole new level. In the first episode, he explains how he's been learning a lot about the universe.  The next episode showed more comedy gold from Bryzgalov, when his topics of choice varied from huskies, to beautiful blondes and how he wants to stop being a goalie!  The entire hockey world probably thinks of Bryzgalov as a completely different guy now thanks to the HBO coverage.

John Tortorella

      Prior to this season of 24/7, New York Rangers coach John Tortorella was always referred to as one of the most hard-nosed coaches in the NHL. It's widely known that his first two days of training camp are known as 'death' because no pucks are allowed on the ice and he uses the time to whip his players into game shape. There were several instances of Tortorella ripping into his team during the series (warning, explicit language used in the video). At the end of that clip, he walks out of the dressing room encouraging his players and that's the sign of a good coach. At one point in the series, Rangers blueliner Michael Del Zotto mentioned that 'Torts' was the reason his game has evolved this year. Also, the series shows how Tortorella has been a huge influence on Liam, a 10year old Rangers fan who suffers from cerebral palsy. 

      The show allows the viewer to feel like they're actually on the ice with the players, as each episode features snippets of some on-ice trash talking, what actually happens during a video review and players getting stitched up. Also, when Flyers forward Claude Giroux suffered a concussion, HBO showed 'G' go through several concussion tests before he was finally cleared to play. This gave the opportunity for the viewer to see what really goes on when a player is trying to recover from a concussion.

      The HBO 24/7 series has been a marveling success in each of its first two seasons and fans will definitely feel more connected to the players they witnessed behind the scenes in every episode. There are rumours swirling that the 2013 Winter Classic is going to be held at 'The Big House' in Michigan, with the Red Wings hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. If this was the case, the success that HBO has enjoyed to date would be taken to an even higher level.

Back on the Prowl

For the first time in over two years, Tiger Woods is back in the winner's circle.

        It took 749 days, 107 weeks and 26 tournaments. He was the punch line of almost every joke and some considered him more of a cheetah than a tiger. He went through a major swing change and a pricey divorce and some thought the former world number one would never win again. Tiger Woods has always been one to prove his nay-sayers wrong and he certainly did that Sunday afternoon when he drained a birdie putt on the final hole to win the 2011 Chevron World Challenge.

        Tiger Woods has certainly been through a lot over the last 24 months. He went from a man who seemed destined to rewrite golf history to someone who looked lost and unfocused. Woods went through a major swing change, battled several lower body injuries and lost the respect of most, but he never gave up. During this time, his ‘go-to’ line to the media was that his game was a ‘process’ and it’s going to take time to get back to superstardom. Along with his play in Australia, where he finished T3 at the Australian Masters and clinched the President’s Cup for the US, Woods has definitely taken massive steps in the right direction.

        Some have argued that this victory doesn't mean anything because the Chevron World Challenge was only an 18 man field and wasn't a sanctioned PGA Tour event. Sure, Tiger only had to beat 17 other golfers, but they were some of the top players in the world. With this victory, he also earned over $1 million and jumped 31 spots in the world rankings (from 52 to 21). Even though the win doesn't count as an official victory on the PGA Tour, Woods proved to the world that he can still win. His performance confirmed that he can still make the crucial putts down the stretch and hit the important shots when they really matter. Plus, it was great to see Tiger pull off one of his vintage fist pumps, something that will definitely be imitated on golf courses around the world (at least where it's warm) in the upcoming weeks.

        Woods' victory will only bode well for golf in the upcoming season. TV ratings were down this year and a big reason for that could be pointed at the demise of Tiger. Now that he finally ended his 749 day winless drought, I'm guessing TV ratings will shoot through the roof in 2012. Many people want the former world number 1 back at the top of his game, whether it's the fans or the players. In fact, several top-notch professionals tweeted after the victory that they're looking forward to competing with Woods again next year.

        Tiger is not only a golfer, but a world-renowned public icon too. When he is in the field, an entirely new demographic tune in to the broadcast. After Woods sealed the deal on Sunday, I found it fascinating to see the Facebook status of several people that couldn't tell you who is currently the best player in the world, but were so excited to see Tiger back to his winning ways. The better Tiger performs, the greater the television audience will be on a weekly basis.

        Over the past two years, we’ve seen flashes of Tiger brilliance that had defined him for years. What had been missing was that supreme confidence to finish it off and win another tournament. Many pondered if he still had the ability to win and his performance at the Chevron World Challenge proved he still can. Woods said after the victory that he was nervous, but felt comfortable throughout his final round. If he can get himself into contention more often next year, 2012 could be a banner year for Tiger Woods.

Tangled in the Twine

Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson has been brutally inconsistent so far this season

           When the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Jonas Gustavsson in 2009, he was regarded as one of the best goaltenders not playing in the NHL. The Monster was supposed to bring Toronto back to the playoffs for the first time since the lockout, but clearly that hasn't happened yet. During his last few outings, there have been flashes of brilliance, but also some signs that he shouldn't be earning an NHL paycheck.

            Gustavsson relies on a very methodical style of goaltending and there isn't a lot of movement in the crease. When he challenges a shooter, he doesn't glide outside his crease like Martin Brodeur. Instead, he pivots using the inside edges of his skates. The Monster is a prototypical student of Francois Allaire, who happens to be Toronto's goalie coach. Allaire has turned average 'tenders’ into Stanley Cup champions by teaching them to block the puck (in fact, if it wasn't for Allaire, J.S. Giguere wouldn't have a Conn Smythe Trophy and a Stanley Cup ring on his resume). Part of Allaire's niche is that all of his goalies appear to be under control at all times. All of his students make saves look boring because they're in the right position at all times and the shooter doesn't have anything to shoot at. For Gustavsson, it's a different story. It seems like his weight is too far forward, causing him to be unbalanced in the crease, which makes it a lot harder to perform routine saves.

            While it's definitely okay to study the technical aspect of the netminding position, it's nearly impossible to be successful only blocking the puck. Time and time again early in this NHL season, Gustavsson has been far too technical and it has made him look rather foolish. Case in point, last night against the Senators, he allowed a routine wrist shot from the point to beat him to the glove side. Instead of moving his glove hand a few inches, he tried to slide into the shot and stop it with his chest. Clearly, Gustavsson was trying to make a save in a fashion more difficult than it needed to be.   

            I know I'm not an NHL goalie coach, but I was taught the position by a man who has been regarded as one of the best goalie coaches in the Ontario Hockey League for years. Piero Greco, who now instructs the Kitchener Rangers goaltenders, taught not only the technical aspects of the game, but how to actually react to incoming pucks too. One of the key fundamentals that 'Grecs’ taught was glove position. He always harped that the glove had to be in front of the goalie's body, so much so that the goalie should be able to see their glove out of the corner of their eye. This way, the netminder can watch the puck fall into their glove.

            If all of this specific goaltending talk is confusing you, let's 'dummy it down'. When my Dad taught me to catch a baseball, he told me to watch the ball into my glove. Whenever I wouldn't watch it, I'd usually drop the ball. Moving back to hockey, the same thing applies. If a goaltender doesn't watch the puck, it's very hard to stop it. On this particular play, watch Gustavsson's eyes, they are looking directly forward, not at the puck. He's essentially acting like a soccer goalie, as he's guessing where the puck is going.

            Jonas Gustavsson has to branch out his goaltending style. He should take a page out of other netminder's style guides and add them to his arsenal. Ben Scrivens is third on the Leafs depth chart and had an excellent training camp. If Gustavsson continues to give up untimely goals, he may soon be permanently riding the buses in the AHL.