Wednesday June 19th......Golf, Gambling and Lightning 

Golf and Gambling go great together. Gambling without golf not nearly as much fun, and golf without gambling leaves a little something to be desired. Lightning though, lightning is no ones friend. 

These three unlikely bedfellows came together yesterday evening at a local golf event I was participating in for the first time with my boss.

Basically the deal is you put in 20 bucks in the pot, and go play a 9 hole 2 man captain's choice, simple enough. What I didn't realize is that once you put your money into the pot you are basically making a covenant with the golf course saying that if anything short the earth opening up and swallowing the golf course whole happens. YOU WILL BE PLAYING GOLF and you will NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK. 

So the weather isn't great its raining everyone is kind of leary of going out to play in the bad weather. The golf pro assures us that "Its going to be fine, look at the radar we will get it in" after this statement the sky opens up and dumps an inch of rain on us. So we sit and wait......and wait. Eventually the rain relents to a point where I guess the golf pro thought it was ok to send us out to the course. So he starts yelling what holes we are going to.

Ok, ok I'm locked in now so we head on out to our designated hole. We get through the first three holes alright, rain actually stops after awhile. On the fourth tee though we hear the first roll of thunder. Now if there is one thing I learned at a young age its to under NO circumstances should you wave a metal stick in the air  during a lightning storm! So once I hear the thunder, I'm out lets pack up and go home. Well unfortunately no one told the rest of the golfers that lightning will kill you. So as we are driving the cart in after seeing multiple bolts of lightning we see the other groups soldiering on through the storm! 

Look I understand getting struck by lightning is a pretty remote chance, but it still happens. No chance of me riding out the storm like Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump for the chance to win a hefty sum of $150 though. What a bad way to go out. 

                   "Well how did Don die?" 

                   "Hmm sad story he was struck by lightning trying to win $150"

Worst Funeral ever right?!

That is beside the point though. On Friday's sports corner I'm going to bring this topic up with Max and Steve. Would love to have some reader feedback. 

At what point do you call it quits, when you are outside playing golf/gardening/cutting grass/at the beach?

Email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  tell me your opinion. Am I a wuss for folding up shop after hearing thunder on the course? Or did I take the proper precaution and everyone else is nuts for staying out in the storm?

Best answer gets on air and a sweet Kool 99.9 sticker for your ride. 

Tuesday June 18th.....turning left is a privelege not a right (PUN!!) 

 IS THIS THE ANSWER!

I hope everyone enjoyed the ability to turn left onto Main Street over the past 3 months! NCDOT has decided that we as a collective group of drivers are not responsible enough to handle that privilege. 

Yesterday June 17th the NCDOT decided that the no left turn rules needed to be reinstated where Center and Main Streets meet. The DOT cited incidents of drivers having to wait through several cycles of the light in order to get across Main Street due to other drivers turning left. 

Let me start this by saying I'm not a Davidson County native, I was born and raised in Charlotte. In my 25 years in Charlotte I saw many traffic law attrocities. An intersection where the roads that meet are Queens and Queens. (My mother famously had a nervouse breakdown upon seeing this, seriously tears hysterics it was mind blowing) A section of North 85 that looked more like being inside castle walls than a highway; road barriers. Heaven forbid your car ever breaking down or running out of gas you would most certainly be destroyed. 

But I digress, 

I agree that allowing left turns at Main Street was causing an issue. Disallowing the turn away there, you are both metaphorically and litterally kicking the can down the road. A quarter mile down everyone who wanted to turn left onto Main St. then makes the left onto the next small road(admittedly I don't know the name of it), thus clogging up the afformentioned Center St./Main St. intersection again. 

So what is the answer? Can this problem be solved? Is Main St. doomed to be a constant battle between left turn people, and the people who just want to cross the street?!

I have a simple answer......Get one of those lights that is like two lights side by side. You know the ones I'm talking about (pictured above). The ones that with every cycle of the light a GREEN ARROW appears while simultaneously giving the cars on the other side of the street a RED no go sign. This would allow the left turn people to turn left in an orderly fashion without clogging everything up. 

For now though we are doomed to a life of no left turns, but who likes left turns anyway right?

Monday June 17th.....Why do we allow sports to torture us?

It is the Final Round of the US Open, It's fathers day, and Phil Mickelson sits on the 18th tee one stroke behind. Unfortunately for Phil this is just a little bit of history repeating itself. 

At the 99th US Open held at Pinehurst No.2 Mickelson was unable to hold on to a late tie for the lead against Payne Stewart. Both players hit shots close on the Par 3 17th, but Mickelson was unable to convert his putt. Stewart made his, and carried a one shot lead to the 18th hole. Stewart would then make his miraculous par putt sealing the victory and starting Mickelson down his long road of heartbreak at the same time.

For a player like Mickelson with numerous scars at the US Open (see 2005 US Open), the one left after the 99 open had to be reopened a little following his latest run at the National Title. Mickelson was once again foiled by an amazing shot by the leader on the 72nd hole of the tournament. A 230 yard shot on the 18th by Justing Rose made for an easy par, securing a one shot clubhouse lead for himself. Meanwhile Mickelson was missing a short birdie putt on the par 3 16th to tie for the lead. (Hmmmm this is starting to look familiar) Mickelson pars 17, and then fails to birdie 18. A sixth, second place finish made for a less than adequate birthday present for the 43 year old Mickelson. 

It was gut wrenching to watch in 1999 and much worse to watch in 2013 as an aging champion chased his most sought after prize only to have it ripped away from him for a sixth time. 

All of this raises the question "Why do we let sports torture us?" 

Sports take us to a place emotionally that everday life, fortunately, rarely goes. A place where we have no control over the outcome, we are simply along for the ride holding on with every heartstring fastened tight to our favorite team or player. Here rational and logic have no place. Every bad shot or bad play is THE WORST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO  US! This is a place where Patriots/Lakers/Yankees and Tarheel fans have never truly gone before. This nightmare is home to the tortured souls following the Bufallo Bills, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and NC State Wolfpack

This is where most of us found ourselves late Sunday night watching Mickelson once again crumble under the pressure. So why do we put up with it. 

The reason, for me at least is the faint light at the end of the tunnel where joy and glory live. We watch our teams run through this tunnel every year, most of the time that light ends up being a freight train built to crush our teams and dreams. Then like we have been conditioned to do, we sulk for an appropriate amount of time. Then we think "HEY, next year......NEXT YEAR WILL BE IT FOR US!" and it all starts over again. 

So for Phil, and us there is always next year. Next year means a return to Pinehurst No.2 and possibly finally realizing his dream at the course where it all started. 

Come back daily for more news and Commentary on Davidson County going ons and Local and National Sports!