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"It’s going to be incredibly fun to challenge myself, this time alongside teammates, to compete against the best in the world." - Michelle Wie West on her decision to come out of retirement to join WTGL. Massive news for the Wie-bler Elves—my brand new, name very much in progress, Michelle fan club.
I can't put my finger on why this signing specifically is giving me Real World/Road Rules The Challenge vibes. Maybe it's the mystery of grizzled, fan-favorite vets getting pulled back in to prove they've still got it? Either way, the roster is off to a solid start as she joins Charley Hull, Brooke Henderson, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson (see also: grizzled vet), and world #1 Jeeno Thitikul.
Ever wondered where "Hello, Friends" came from?
A NANTZ ORIGIN STORY
This week, the Vanity Index podcast on Golf Channel had Jim Nantz on and he revealed the origin of one the most iconic, soothe you to right into a zen state, openers in broadcasting—Hello, Friends.
But before we get into that story, we got to talk about the video podcast "trend." Guys, they're just talk shows. Anyone who's like late night talk shows are dead, never been less relevant etc... yeah but it's just moved to video podcasts. An entertaining personality or two or three interview an interesting person with varying levels of comedy thrown in the mix. THAT'S A NIGHTTIME TALK SHOW!!
Which then got me thinking about what other "dying" content format could we just revive under a different name. Books for instance. Basically no one reads, which is ironic as I type this issue, expecting people to read it. But reality is, people don't read.
What if I were to pitch you this... so you know those super long, multiple image carousels you like? Where each tile has a few sentences on it? What if I were to create one of this IRL and say, each page of the carousel had a few sentences on it that all tied into one another with a picture here and there and a single story to tie all the pages together? I call them Carousel Pamphlets!
Anyways, so Nantz shared the origins of Hello, Friends and, of course, in the most Nantz move of all—the origin is extremely heartwarming and genuine and the farthest thing from contrived.
Click through the link above to hear the full tale but basically the opener was a way for Jim to connect with his father with Alzheimer's and let him know he was thinking of him. Then some CBS exec said, hey that was cool, keep doing that. And so he did.
The GOAT and the wanna-be GOAT talk shop
ZERO TO HERO? OR STAYING THE HERO?
Last week at Riviera, the Lakers stopped by to hold court with Tiger Woods. An outing that's weirdly closer to a grade school field trip than an excursion that a professional basketball team would make mid-season. But we press on.
Tiger took questions from the Lakers and Lebron had a question. "Excuse me, Mr. Woods?" I assume is how James started, "
What was the hardest challenge? Was it more of a challenge or harder to climb from zero to No. 1 — or stay at No. 1 knowing everybody was chasing you?"
Look, I dislike Lebron partly because I'm a Chicago Bulls fan and I had to watch him stomp all over my team for the better part of this entire millennium and partly because MJ will always be the GOAT and it's only recency bias that causes people to think otherwise.
But asking a question like that would be 100% acceptable if it were literally anyone else on the team. Lebron asked, because he knew he could also then answer it. Shake. My. Head.
Tiger apparently weaseled out of it and said both were challenging. And Lebron apparently said that staying at #1 was harder because he enjoyed being the underdog in climbing to the top but once at the top, you get the smoke. Cool question, Bron.
Air horns, lasers, and land mines
PURE CHAOS... AND GOLF
There's a touch of Venn Diagram test to this one but also, video games and golf don't feel ALL that different so I think the center of that bad boy would've been meaty.
But what crossed my scrolling this week was a new game that's caught fire on Steam. It's basically a cross between Fortnite and golf. It's called Super Battle Golf and it features 1-8 players racing to finish a golf hole while everyone can sabotage one another with props, lasers, golf carts, landmines, you name it.
I caught some gameplay on YouTube, it looks like pure chaos, and I can't wait for another few years when I can finally get back into video games under the guise of "spending quality time with Jack." Those few glorious early video game years where playing with your dad is seen as socially acceptable.
I remember playing Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Kingdom Hearts with my dad as a kid, laughing maniacally as I watched him struggle to use the joystick or CRAWWWLLLLL his way through levels as he assessed every single flapping bird as a potential threat.
And while I would like to think I'll be more video game literate with my boys, I also know full well there are going to be about 18 different simultaneous maneuvers required or it's all straight VR and my aging body won't be able to hang.
But for now, I dream of a world where a father and his sons can land mine one another while playing 18 holes.
My kind of course in West Palm Beach
GOLF'S FIRST MASCOT??
I've been writing Breakfast Balls for 6 years now and I can honestly say that I have never seen this before in golf. A mascot. Not a neighboring school's mascot, not the local sports team's mascot, not a brand's mascot. A golf course mascot.
Well, it's real and it's spectacular.
This is the TO BE NAMED mascot from The Park in West Palm Beach. The Park features a full length 18 hole course as well as a nine hole, under the lights, mini course called The Lit. It's 100% focused on community engagement and being a family friendly place for everyone to enjoy. So the inclusion of a mascot to help bring the vibes is an absolute home run.
For what it's worth, I submitted a name. But with structured fan votes like this, I don't see how he doesn't end up being named Parker the Parrot. Too on the nose.
Though just in case someone from The Park reads this in time—I think Garrett the Parrot has a certain charm to it.
