Thursday, July 19, 2007

Pumping Irons

Thursday midday and all is clear. Actually it is raining, but the path to the weekend is clear and near! The fam is back in town, but it will still be nice to have some Friday night cocktails with friends and the weekly Thai Friday meal. Yahooooo!

A quick one about the Arsenal as they play a friendly today (in one hour at 1 pm Central so I must hurry!!!) as part of their preseason training in Austria. I got an update from one friend today and the whole crew has arrived safely and are enjoying themselves. Not serious drinking incidents, but as the weekend nears, I’m sure there will be some. Anyway, pictures from the training show new signings Eduardo and Sagna in action, so hopefully we will get our first glimpses of them in the red and white today. I hope that Wenger still has a few more transfers up his sleeve, but I’m liking the look of the new team and can’t wait to see them in action.

The big event today is the first round of the British Open in Carnoustie, Scotland. Tiger Woods is looking to bag his third in a row, matching a record that goes back a long way. I can’t be bothered to look it up, but I remember hearing that they played with wood shaft clubs and feather filled golf balls! It will be interesting to see how he does on the course where he struggled so much in 1999. Also, he is new dad (congrats!) to a little girl Sam born on the Monday after the US Open. If Tiger doesn’t win the title, he can at least be happy that he got to spend time with his mates and some rest, which is a rarity with newborns!



As it stands right now, Woods finished the day at -2 and Sergio Garcia is in the lead at -6 through 14. US Open winner Angel Cabrera is also up there with a round of -3. Also, Arsenal loving Ian Poulter is in, but is a bit off the mark at +2. For more info and up to date scoring, go here.

In a related story today, Gary Player has told the press that he knows of golfers using performance enhancing drugs, ranging from steroids to human growth hormones (HGH). He hasn’t named any names, but says their use is growing and that it is a problem. This seems to be a problem that runners and cyclists have, so why would it pertain to golf many are probably saying. Well, it will help players become fitter, hit the ball further, and most importantly, heal faster. There will never be a replacement for a good swing and touch, but 20 extra yards on a drive can mean a lower club and more control on approach shots, which could in turn lead to more birdies. It is really interesting how the landscape of golf has changed with the arrival of Tiger. It used to be that golfers weren’t too concerned with fitness. Arnold Palmer used to smoke all the time on the links and Jack Nicklaus was a somewhat pudgy guy all through his career. Nowadays, pros are hitting the gym and treadmill as much as they are the range, just so they can stay competitive. Amazing stuff. I don’t really think drugs are going to be a huge factor in the sport and many current pros say they don’t know of any use at all, but it is definitely something to keep an eye on.

Finally, my wife's cousin is in a band called The White Rabbits and they are going to be on David Letteman tonight. So, if you are up, or remember to set the DVR, check them out! They are pretty good and here is a link to their MySpace page where they have a few songs you can check out.

Well, that is enough for today as I’ve got to get ready to shirk some work and watch the Arsenal play!

Adios.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

solid. as a rock.

5:45 PM  

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