SBNation.com: All Posts by Brian Floyd

2013 U.S. Open: Is Merion unfair?

2013-06-15T16:38:21Z

It seems like just about every year, there are questions about the U.S. Open. Questions may not be the best word for it -- gripes, complaints, snarky comments from the best golfers in the world also fit here. The central question, however, is this: Is [insert U.S. Open course here] playing unfair?

When it comes to the U.S. Open, we know what to expect. With a few exceptions -- Congressional, for instance -- scores will hover around, at or above par. You're not going to see a barrage of birdies and numbers in the low 60s very often. It just doesn't happen at the U.S. Open.

With higher scores come complaints. This year, Zach Johnson is the one lashing out at the USGA for what he calls "manipulation" of Merion (via CBS Sports):

"I would describe the whole golf course as manipulated," Johnson said.

"It just enhances my disdain for the USGA and how it manipulates golf courses.

At the most basic level, Johnson is right. The USGA did manipulate Merion -- and manipulates every U.S. Open course. Setting up a course for the U.S. Open is a lengthy process -- one where the course supervisor essentially hands over the keys years in advance, then gets them back weeks after the tournament concludes. In that time, the USGA sets up a course in a slow and drawn-out process: The rough is grown, the short grass is firmed up and tee boxes are moved and changed.

Merion was manipulated, and needed to be. It's a short course, not your typical U.S. Open monster. The rough was re-planted and grown out to nasty levels as is customary at the USGA's signature event. Tee shots in the fairway are of the utmost importance; miss and the rough is penal. Holes were lengthened, angles were changed and greens were re-graded.

What Johnson actually seems to be saying, though, is the course is unfair. It's a common refrain at the U.S. Open. Courses are setup to walk a fine line between playable and not, with firm and fast greens and fairways that require precise shots and a significant amount of control.

Unfair is a tricky term when it comes to golf. A score relative to par won't tell the whole story, nor will it answer the unfair question. Instead, to answer the question we'll need to be more anecdotal. Namely, the question to ask is if good shots are rewarded.

If a player hits a good shot and it ends up in a bad spot -- and this happens repeatedly -- then we can go ahead and wonder if a course is unfair. A few times is luck, or typical golf. Everyone gets a bad kick or a ball that zips off a green. If it's happening consistently, then it's fair to wonder whether a course is, well ... unfair.

That's not happening at Merion, or not so much that it's jumped out. Sure, there's the occasional bad kick, but for the most part good shots are rewarded and bad shots are penalized, which is the goal of the USGA. Par should be a good score, the USGA theorizes, and it is at Merion.

Take Olympic Club last year, for example. That was a course teetering on the edge of insanity. It didn't cross that line, I don't think, but it was playing long, firm and fast, with massively penal rough and greens that weren't very receptive. I saw many players stripe excellent shots into the par-5 17th, only to watch the ball land on the front of the green, bounce like it hit a trampoline, and roll all the way off the green and down a hill into a chipping area between two trees. Unfair? Maybe.

In 2004 at Shinnecock, the USGA had to repeatedly water the 7th green during Sunday's final round because it was running like concrete every time a ball landed. This is the most modern and ignominious example of the USGA letting a course get away from them and having the setup clearly cross over the line into unfair. It also forced the entire organization to reexamine how far they were going with these layouts, and the more benign graduated rough system was implemented two years later at Winged Foot.

Merion got its dose of water throughout the week and softened up as a result. You're not seeing precise tee shots into fairways zip off into the rough; balls are landing and more-or-less stopping due to the receptive short grass. Same with the greens: We're seeing players spin short irons and wedges, which isn't something you often watch at a U.S. Open.

In its own way, the U.S. Open is special. Players aren't beating the heck out of a course and posting numbers double digits under par. It's a true test where par is a great number. It's a tournament that requires a significant amount of mental fortitude and the ability to grind out a number while limiting big misses. It's ... it's a U.S. Open.

So back to Zach Johnson who, like many before him, seems to feel wronged by the USGA. At their most basic level, his comments are true: The USGA, by definition, does manipulate courses to set them up for an Open. But he seems to be implying that Mike Davis and his crew have gone too far at Merion, and it feels like someone upset with a few bad rounds more than anything.

Besides, it's fun to watch a golf course -- even a short, historic track like Merion -- show its teeth and not concede to the world's best. We'll see a score close to par as the winning number on Sunday (or Monday) afternoon, and that's OK.

It's a U.S. Open. It's not supposed to be easy.

More golf from SB Nation:

• Tiger feels the misery of Merion | Why do we cheer for Tiger?

• Merion's metal flagsticks troll Scott Langley

• Groundhogs running wild at Merion

• Highlights from Thursday's round

• A guide to the East Course at Merion Golf Club

• Four Days in Fort Worth: Putting on a PGA Tour event

Flo Rida's manager gets slapped

2013-06-04T03:41:53Z

There's two hilarious things happening here -- both of which didn't happen on the court during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but in the crowd. The first is above. That's a photo of Flo Rida and a GIANT JESUS PIECE. Also note the lady next to him, who is not amused by, like, anything.

The second is this:

The man being slapped in the face is Flo Rida's manager.* We don't know who slapped him, or if he slapped himself or whatever, but he was ejected from the game. Things got real crazy and, oh man, Miami games are hilarious if only for the crowd.

*Okay, we think he was slapped but it's hard to tell. And he may have been motioning to someone and accidentally hit himself in the face. Either way, this whole thing was ridiculous and hilarious.

More from SB Nation:

• LeBron James, Miami blow out Pacers

• Pacers swallowed by the moment | Heat's Big 3 in third Finals

• Video: Barkley zings Shaq with Kazaam diss

• NBA mock draft: Let's collaborate! | SB Nation's Big Board

• Jason Kidd retires as one of the best point guards ever

• Longform: How Paul George got to this point

Umpire catches foul ball with genitals

2013-05-31T00:04:58Z

Oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man.

I'm assuming he's wearing a cup. Lord, I hope he's wearing a cup. But still, that's a direct hit to the ding dong while standing with legs spread and I think I'm going to need a moment to recover myself.

A few thoughts on that Tiger Woods swing GIF

2013-05-30T23:51:26Z

By now you've probably seen the GIF contrasting the different swings of Tiger Woods throughout the years — from like three years old to present. It's pretty fantastic, and a good look at the changes Tiger's swing underwent.

If you haven't seen it, take a look:

I found this via Kyle Porter, who found it via AdamSarson.com.

There's a couple pretty interesting things in this.

Young Tiger has a better swing than most amateurs. A little upright, but look at that form! Still impressive to this day.
1994 and 1997 Tiger: My back really hurts looking at it, especially the '94 version. There's just so much torque, and that spine moves so much. It really is a wonder he was able to do what he did without, you know, breaking in half or something. Still: That's a ton of power.
The outfit on 1994 Tiger is pretty amazing, especially the hat. Nothing to do with his swing, but look at that ensemble. It's wonderful.
Tiger calms down a bit in the 2000 and 2004 versions. Where his swing was "noisy" early on, he quiets down a bit in 2000 and even more in 2004. There's less moving parts, less violence, less "holy crap that back motion." This was probably a wise career move.
Then we get to the present Tiger. He's much, much more calm now, and it stands in stark contrast to his early swing. His work with Sean Foley has focused on taking some of the pressure off his body, as well as creating a nice shot shape. It shows. There's quite a bit less violence in the swing; it's more efficient and less reliant on raw power.
Also notice how he's more upright as the years progress. That's the most notable difference in the 2013 GIF to me. His address position in particular is quite a bit more upright.
The constant in this: Watch Tiger's left leg. Even in the present, he still snaps his lead leg through impact — though it looks like it's less violent now. That's his thing — how he generates power through impact. But it also generates a ton of stress on that surgically-repaired knee. Part of his work with Foley has been in an effort to minimize the stress on his knee, but breaking that habit is probably a tad bit difficult.
This is just really cool. That's all.

Let's talk about Adrian Beltre (and his head)

2013-05-26T17:48:05Z

We need to talk about Adrian Beltre. Something -- well, multiple things -- he did last night have given us the perfect opportunity to have a chat about Beltre, and why he's the best. We'll get to those things in a minute, but in order to do so we need context. Just know that Beltre is your favorite player, even if you don't realize it yet.

There are many reasons why Beltre is the best -- some serious, some not-so-serious. We're going to run down a few of them, and at the end there's a few hilarious GIFs from Saturday night. You can read through everything or skip to the end. Your choice.

Let's talk about Red first. Red is Beltre's biggest fan. I'm pretty confident in that statement, despite not knowing the lay of the land when it comes to Beltre fans. Why, you ask? Well, there are many reasons.

This is Red. He's pretty awesome and a massive fan of Mr. Beltre's. He has a huge, 4-foot Beltre bobblehead. He made a massive Beltre-head sign and held it up Say Anything-style.

Beltre is awesome because he not only acknowledged Red, but gave him a bat. It was a moment that made Red's day/week/month/life. Beltre is a neat dude (seriously, look at Red's face).

And then there are the antics. Beltre is like an adorable puppy on the field. He gets himself into mischief, and how he gets out of it is the greatest. His antics are aplenty, and many have become recurring things in the world of Beltre.

For example, he appeals to first base ... as a batter. He gets off balance, but still hits a dinger off of one knee (this isn't the only time he's done it; it's actually like his thing). He has trouble with sliders low and away, so he does this little happy dance to try and lay off swinging at them. Pretty sure he was thinking about hitting the ball twice here.

Of course he laughs at cameramen who fall. He engages in playful back-and-forths with ex-teammates while a game is in progress.

To be serious for a moment, Beltre is also a tough, tough man. When he was with the Mariners, he tore a testicle. No, really: Tore the damn thing. It was the size of a grapefruit. And he finished the game -- a 14-inning game.

The reason we're here, though, is Beltre's reaction to having his head touched. If you haven't seen it, here's the collection of Beltre head rub GIFs. He hates having his head touched, and reacts in hilarious fashion. It's so weird, yet so amazing.

All of this is to provide context for the latest in a long line of amazing Beltre GIFs. This was last night, against the Mariners. During a meeting on the mound, Elvis Andrus touched Beltre's head.

But Beltre wasn't done. Just a short time later, this happened:

(via @DShep25)

This wasn't the first time Beltre has done the "call off a teammate then give him a death stare" move, either. Hey, here's a pretty similar situation! It's just another one of his things.

Beltre is the absolute best. I wish he was still in a Mariners uniform, just so I could watch his amazing antics every night. And he should most certainly be your favorite player.

Logan Mayes' arrest the latest in a string of incidents

2013-05-19T22:43:05Z

Just about the last person I would've expected to have a run-in with police was Logan Mayes. So it was a surprise -- shock, perhaps -- to see his name in the Pullman Police logs, and for hit and run, no less.

We still don't know the details of his arrest, and probably won't until sometime on Monday. It's impossible to get ahold of a Pullman Police representative on the weekend so we're left with a police log entry that's bare at best. We know it happened out in the cluster of apartments where many students live (a small residential street out past the rec center), and that the incident happened on Thursday -- Mayes' birthday.

Mayes is, from all I know, a good person. I've never heard a word about him being in trouble with the law (until now), causing trouble, or even falling behind in class. Every interaction we, at CougCenter, have had with him has been positive. He's a great interview and has always been open, honest and up-front.

Mayes is a leader -- a young man that leads by example and lets his play do the talking -- and has been a model player and person. So sure, the arrest is certainly out of character and I would tend to believe that the incident leading to his arrest was minor -- perhaps a mistake or misunderstanding. But we'll have to wait and see.

I would, however, be surprised if Mayes did something horribly wrong leading up to the arrest. All things considered, I'm leaning more towards "oops" than something done with malicious intent. This could be proven wrong later, and I'll eat crow if so, but everything we know about Mayes indicates he's a good man with strong character.

The timing, however, is pretty awful. As we noted before, it hasn't been a great week for the Washington State football team. The offseason is always a nervous time for coaches and fans; players, without football and a daily routine to keep them busy, tend to have run-ins with the law. Hence the Fulmer Cup.

Mayes' arrest makes two-and-a-half incidents this week -- we'll count Teondray Caldwell's as a half because it happened a few weeks back and the details remain murky. All told, Washington State players have combined for a making false statements to police citation, a hit-and-run incident, and an assault/burglary allegation that may or may not hold. Not good, but still not awful -- and none of the incidents touch any of Mike Leach's third rails.

One does have to wonder if Leach will hold a meeting that includes a stern warning for the rest of the team -- or, at the very least, position coaches may reach out to their players to pass along a message. While the police-related incidents may not be incredibly serious, it's embarrassing for the coaching staff to see their team in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Nobody likes it -- coaches, administrators or fans.

But I would hesitate to call the string of incidents an epidemic -- at least not yet. Football players and college students run afoul of the law. It happens. They make mistakes and pay the price for those mistakes; members of college athletic teams just have their mistakes magnified because they're in the public eye.

I have no doubt Mayes will own up to this and take responsibility -- that's just who he is -- so I'm less troubled by the incident, despite the fact that it's completely out of character.

Logan Mayes arrested for hit and run

2013-05-19T06:12:48Z

Washington State linebacker Logan Mayes was arrested for hit and run on Thursday evening, according to the Pullman Police logs. Mayes, a junior-to-be, sat out most of the spring with an injury, but is expected to be a starter at the BUCK linebacker position -- a spot vacated by Travis Long. While we don't have details about the incident yet, it's the latest in a string of arrests involving Washington State football players.

A screen capture of the incident from the police log is below:

And a link to the log in question is here.

Earlier this week, news of a court date involving Teondray Caldwell broke. Caldwell could be facing burglary and assault charges stemming from an April 28th incident. Toni Pole was also arrested last week after allegedly making false statements to police. So not a great week for the Cougar football team off the field.

It's unclear what kind of discipline Mayes may be facing, or what happened leading up to the hit and run. The incident also happened on his birthday, which ... ouch.

We'll be back with more as it becomes available.

Where the Kings sale stands as decision week begins

2013-05-13T15:35:19Z

There are a lot of moving parts in the Sacramento Kings saga, and things have gotten more complicated by the day. Where a little over a week ago it appeared things may be winding down, now everything is up in the air again -- or at least, that's the perception. Seattle investor Chris Hansen upped his bid to buy the Maloofs' 65-percent majority share of the Kings on Friday to a $625 million valuation of the franchise, while also making a few other moves that have caused ripples.

What does it all mean at this point? We'll do this in question-and-answer format in an effort to parse things down to somewhat digestible portions. Fair warning, though: nothing is clear in this saga and information continues to change quickly.

Why did Hansen up his offer?

The short answer: the increase in his bid was one of the last chips he had remaining to play. The NBA Relocation Committee voted to deny his bid to move the Kings to Seattle, and the full Board of Governors was expected to follow the recommendation. Hansen and his group -- a group that includes Steve Ballmer -- has a lot of cash, and money does talk. So he upped the valuation in an effort to price the Sacramento group out.

Also read: Tom Ziller's argument for expansion.

Is this desperation? A power play? Something else?

Yes. Yes to all, depending on how you look at it. As with everything else in this saga, how things are interpreted depends on which side you're on. The Sacramento side views this as an act of desperation, and it may be! It could be a last resort. The Seattle side views it as a bold power play by a man who won't take no for an answer, and it might be!

There's no right or wrong answer here. Hansen's decision to increase his offer has been spun around and around, as one would expect.

Could Hansen buy the Kings and keep them in Sacramento, at least temporarily?

Sure, in theory. For whatever reason, that has been put on the table in the last week. But doing so creates an even messier situation and is only a precursor to burning things to the ground in Sacramento and then moving the team to Seattle. It's the same thing Clay Bennett did. Nobody wants a repeat of that situation, which was incredibly ugly for all parties involved. I just don't see it happening.

And what about this "backup plan?"

In yet another play for the team, Hansen also cut a backup deal with the Maloofs to purchase a portion of their majority share -- 20 percent, to be exact. This would give the Maloofs a quick influx of cash while allowing them to avoid selling to the Sacramento group. It would also give Hansen the opportunity to purchase the full majority share at some point within the next two years.

Sound nuts? Of course. Just like everything else in this saga, it's a wild twist. And yes, the Board of Governors would have to approve after rejecting the bid for 65 percent of the team. One thing seems to be clear from all of this: the Maloofs really, really don't want to sell to Sacramento.

And the relocation fee?

Hansen is reportedly offering $115 million to relocate the team, dwarfing the $30 million Clay Bennett paid to move the Sonics. That's ... that's a lot of money, and works out to about $4 million per owner.

Are Hansen's latest maneuvers going to anger the relocation committee and Board of Governors?

I've seen this idea floated, and maybe it's a possibility. The thinking goes that the relocation committee made its recommendation and Hansen was expected to gracefully bow out, take the deal off the table and allow Sacramento to complete the purchase. That may have been a less messy way to end this. He didn't, however, and instead made another play for the team. So, sure, it could anger the committees and owners.

At the same time, NBA owners are businessmen, and business is a shrewd, cutthroat game where just about anything goes. One can argue that they understand this happens with high-stakes transactions, and one can also argue that neither side was going to go down quietly. There's a lot of money on the table and a lot at stake.

Hansen feels like there's no better time than now. He has the funding and land, and Seattle made the necessary political moves to get the ball rolling on an arena. There are no guarantees when it comes to the future, be it expansion, another franchise moving or otherwise. Hansen has come right to the edge with Sacramento, and who knows if he, or Seattle, will get this close again, even despite pats on the back and "you'll get a franchise someday" from the masses.

It's not surprising that Hansen would exhaust every avenue. Were the roles reversed, I would expect Sacramento would do the same.

Does the Sacramento group have the money to get this sale done?

Sure! Vivek Ranadive and his group of investors have the money. They're very wealthy individuals. They've put half of the money needed to purchase the team on a $525 million valuation in escrow. But there have been reports that the Sacramento group is scrambling to get the rest of the money together and perhaps soliciting minority investors to help -- a claim Ranadive has also denied.

If they have the money, why hasn't it all been put into escrow?

There's a difference between being worth enough money to purchase an NBA team and that money being liquid enough to complete the sale. In other words, the investors are wealthy but that money is tied up in assets, stock and other investments. It's not cash. Individuals with a high net worth typically don't have hundreds of millions of dollars in cash lying around.* Getting that money liquid in a short amount of time isn't easy.

*Except Bill Gates. There are stacks on stacks on stacks of cash that just happen to fall out of his pockets and into his couch. A billion here or there doesn't make a dent anyway, so no big deal.

Will the Sacramento group be able to get the full purchase price into escrow this week?

Who knows! I wouldn't bet against them, though. Where there's a will, there's a way, and the Sacramento group has a strong track record of finding a way to get things done throughout this whole saga.

What about that relocation committee vote?

The relocation committee voted to recommend denying the Seattle group's bid to move the team from Sacramento by a 7-0 margin. Since then, there have been whispers, rumors and murmurs that the vote was initially 4-3 in favor of Sacramento and that a second vote was unanimous. Those whispers and rumors became a report from Art Thiel on Friday, but we'll probably never know for sure what happened. The NBA adamantly denied a split vote and the only people who truly know were on that call and those who were aren't going to spill it.

Logically, it would make sense that an initial vote was split. A unanimous vote was a surprise after we'd heard about how agonizing and difficult a decision was. Coming out with a unanimous recommendation made a statement. Announcing a split vote would've made a different statement: "We don't know." It's akin to not making a recommendation at all, and would've been a waste of everyone's time.

If the vote was split, and if a second vote yielded a unanimous decision -- both big ifs at this point -- it tells us that those who changed their votes weren't married to a side either way. This would also make sense: the Kings sale has been a lot to chew on for the owners and it's likely that the three -- if there were three -- weren't necessarily entrenched.

No matter what happened, the relocation committee's vote was the most recent and significant statement from the NBA. No matter how much noise there has been since, the recommendation still gives Sacramento the upper hand as things stand now.

Does the recommendation matter, and does it matter whether it was unanimous at first or not?

Maybe! Or maybe not! The relocation committee made its recommendation and owners, falling in line, are likely to follow it. But the vote isn't necessarily binding, either. Things can change, or things can stay the same and fall in line with the committee recommendation. Nothing would be surprising here.

Do the Maloofs have to sell to Sacramento?

The simple answer is no. The NBA can pressure and lean on the Maloofs in an effort to get them to sell to the hometown group, but cannot force them to sell the team. We do, however, know the Maloofs need money -- thus the sale of the team. Desperate individuals who need money quickly are rather unpredictable.

Who's the villain in this?

Every good story needs a villain, right? Of course. And depending on who you ask, the Kings saga has numerous villains.

There's Chris Hansen, the man who is coming for Sacramento's team. I get the feeling if the roles were reversed, however, and Hansen was fighting to keep the team in Sacramento, he'd be admired. He's shrewd and doesn't take no for an answer. He, like Sacramento, is putting up a strong fight.

David Stern, right or wrong, has been a villain in Seattle since the Sonics left. And the perception is out there that he's been working to help Sacramento and undermine the Seattle bid. There's never been any love lost for him in the Northwest.

Hello Maloofs! Sacramento hated the Maloofs before this latest mess started and they'll continue to be public enemy No. 1 in the city. The family has some kind of grudge against Sacramento, and the fans understandably hold one against them. That's probably never going to change, and I don't blame Sacramento fans one bit. Actively working to screw the city one last time just isn't a good look.

In short, just about wherever you look, there's someone to hate here.

What's the endgame here?

Nobody knows. Anyone that tells you they know how this will all play out is disingenuous at best and lying at worst. The Kings sale is complicated, and as we've seen over the past few months, it's also filled with twists and turns. Hansen's group appears to have the Board of Governors' attention, so much so that they're meeting before the scheduled Wednesday vote to sort out the latest developments. What happens from there is up in the air.

There are many possibilities still left on the table, and we just don't know where the NBA is going with this. There could be a decision one way or another on Wednesday. Perhaps the league will revisit expansion. The fight may move from the boardrooms to the courtrooms, as well. Everything seems to be on the table in one way or another.

Sacramento still has the upper hand in a significant way in the wake of the relocation committee's recommendation.

But just to reiterate things one more time: Sacramento still has the upper hand in a significant way in the wake of the relocation committee's recommendation.The Seattle group is making a lot of noise at the moment, where Sacramento was making the noise before the relocation committee vote. The odds and everything else still favor Sacramento here, despite the new-found hope on the Seattle side.

Who's going to take this to court?

I don't expect the Hansen group to sue. It's suicide to do so, and is an all-or-nothing move that will leave a bitter taste in everyone's mouth. Lose, and Hansen and Seattle are probably done. Win, and there will still be leftover animosity.

The Maloofs, however, are the wildcard. The maneuvering over the past week seems to be an effort to build a case and increase leverage. If the Maloofs are forced to take, say, a deal worth $60 million less, they might have a case. And we know the Maloofs don't care about burning bridges and going scorched earth at this point -- one way or another, they're going to end up out of the league.

And, again, this could all be a leverage play to make the owners think the Maloofs are building a case. The threat of a lawsuit is powerful, especially when it could change the league in the future.

It there any way both Sacramento and Seattle can win?

Expansion. Making both sides whole would be a win-win. But as far as anyone knows, expansion isn't on the table now and it may be a few years before it's even explored.

The NBA therefore must make a difficult decision now. On one side, they have a group of very qualified owners offering a lot of money for a franchise. On the other, they have an incumbent city that has mounted a feverish comeback to save its team. In the middle is a current ownership group -- the Maloofs -- that wants to sell to the Seattle group and doesn't appear to want to deal with the incumbent city, out of spite or what have you. It's a mess.

Whether all of these latest moves have forced the NBA to reconsider expansion remains to be seen. But unless the NBA goes to 31, someone is going to end up spurned and their hearts broken.

So will we get an answer this week?

I think everyone hopes we'll have some kind of final decision this week, but with all the last-minute maneuvering and all the questions, it seems unlikely. Even if the Board of Governors does cast votes on all the issues in front of them, it feels like this could continue to stay up in the air, especially with the Maloofs dragging their feet.

This just needs to end, one way or another, so everyone involved can get back to their lives and back to basketball.

One last request that will probably fall on deaf ears. Please be civil in the comments. It's possible -- and rewarding, in fact -- to have a civil conversation about this issue. I understand that fans on both sides are passionate. But there's no need to call each other names and make things ugly. I've had plenty of very civil discussions about the Kings over the past month and learned many things along the way. Please try it, and be respectful.