LeBron's Twilight Saga

Last night, at midnight, many people were anticipating the release of the new Twilight movie. Tonight, at midnight, an event will take place that will eclipse any summer movie release. Tonight, at midnight, an event begins that may change sports forever. Tonight, at midnight, when the calender turns from June to July, the NBA free agent period begins!

It will be the breaking dawn for any team lucky enough to land LeBron James and other big names such as Carlos Boozer and Chris Bosh.

As I understand it, there are five teams seriously in contention for the services of Mr. James; the Caviliers, Bulls, Knicks, Nets, and Heat. Every day a new, news story breaks about how "it is certain Lebron will land at such and such a place with such and such people."

I honestly have no idea where he will go. It has to be hard to resist the temptations of the Big Apple and South Beach. I don't think Chicago is the place for Lebron though, the city is a rival with Cleveland and I do not believe LBJ could fill the shoes of MJ.

In Cleveland it would be as dark as a night with a new moon if Lebron leaves the Cavs. Knowing me at all, you know I am all for sticking with your hometown values. Saying that, my respect for James would significantly go up if he played until his twilight years with the Cavs, but it is not my decision.

So LeBron, whos team are you on?

New Season, New Logo, Same Old Draft Pick

(Gordon Hayward practicing in Energy Solutions Arena prior to Butler's Sweet 16 game in this years NCAA tournament. Hayward led the Bulldogs to the championship game, where they fell to Duke.)

With the 9th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz select Gordon Hayward.

There has been a lot of criticism of this pick. It was predictable. Not flashy one bit. The man fits into the system and most likely will produce. The Jazz have had a winning record in 26 of the last 27 seasons and its because of picking reliable players. But what I and the rest of Jazz fans know, is that Hayward probably will not bring us that illustrious NBA championship. I am not hating on this guy yet, I would have just liked to see the Jazz trade up in the draft in get somebody like Udoh or Monroe. We need one of those players to avoid another one those sweeps that we experienced against LA Lakers in the second round of this years playoffs.

On a side note, The 12th Green would like to point out that the newly reveled logo was just as predicted in this post. I love the music note! Not a huge fan of the color scheme on the mountain logo though (seen below).

Cool as a cucumber, but tough as nails

The sports anchor for the local news station use to do an event each summer called the "Great 18," where he would play one hole of golf per week at a course around the area versus the course pro and a local contestant. About 7 years ago, when I was 14, I applied to be the contestant. The contestant had never been a kid before but after calling the course pro to see if I was legit enough to play on TV, Dave Reichelt agreed to let me play against him on the "Great 18."

I still remember the day pretty well... We were to play my home hole, the 12th at Highland. I hit a couple poor shots but was able to make a 15 footer to save par and tie Dave. I was pretty proud of myself to not make a fool of myself on local TV! When the hole aired the next week, Dave introduced me as the title of this blog reads. It was a great compliment coming from an adult.

Flash forward to this year. For the league match play tournament at the course, my first round opponent? None other than Dave Reichelt. We played our match yesterday and I had Dave on the ropes being 3-up with 3 to play. However, I'm not as tough as I used to be. I let him back into the match, losing holes 16 and 17. On the 18th I conceded Dave his par and had a four footer left to win the match. A miss and we would be heading into a sudden death playoff. Still as cool as that cucumber though, I put the ball in the cup and moved on to the next round. Another great day on Highland Golf Course!

The Open Trip Review

(The Champion, McDowell)

It doesn't feel possible that I can already be back from California and the U.S. Open already. It was quite the trip from Pocatello to San Fransisco to Pebble Beach. I've had a couple days to think about the trip and a new champion has been crowned at the Open so here are some quick thoughts about my past week.

• San Fransisco is my new favorite city. (If you haven't been there, go!)
• Pebble Beach Golf Links is the prettiest place I have ever been to.
• AT&T Park could be my new favorite ballpark.
• A little dive of a town called Moss Landing between Santa Cruz and Monterrey could have the worlds best food. Phil's Fish Market and The Whole Enchilada, both so good!
• Pebble Beach isn't quite as good as place to watch a golf tournament as Torrey Pines in San Diego is.
• The prices for concessions and merchandise is ridiculous at the Open. But I guess that's what it takes to pay the $7.5 million purse.
• It was quite neat to Tom Watson play golf in person!
• My heart goes out to Dustin Johnson who blew the big lead today in the tournament.
• It also goes out to amateur Morgan Hoffman, who plays for Oklahoma State in Stillwater, OK, who took a nine on hole 18 after hitting two balls in Stillwater Cove.
• What happened to the killer instinct of Tiger? And what happened to Ernie and Phil? The tournament was theirs for the taking.
• Congrats to Graeme McDowell! How cool is it to be the first European to win the U.S. Open in 40 years! I hope he keeps it going.. Golf needs some up and coming consistent pros.

Well that's it for now. I'm ready to go play some golf. I've still got that dream of playing in an U.S. Open someday! I think I might be able to break 100 on that course... ;)

Pictures of Pebble Beach

Just wanted to post a few of my favorite pictures from the practice round of the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. I'll put them all up on the Facebook page when I get home. Enjoy! I'd love comments.

Stillwater Cove

Miguel Jiminez

The 18th Hole

Camillo Villegas

The Family

The Signature 7th Green

Looking back from behind the 6th Fairway

Tom Watson

Leavin' for U.S. Open

Tomorrow morning, bright and early at 4 am, the fam and I will be off to the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach! Making stops in San Fransisco and other cities along the way. The 12th Green will go travel blog style as much as possible to keep you up to date with my activities on the trip. Let me know if you have any autograph or picture requests of the pro golfers. See ya in Cali!

Petco Park

Petco Park
Home to the San Diego Padres
San Diego, CA

Date Opened: April 8, 2004- San Diego Padres 4, San Fransisco Giants 1
Capacity: 42,455
Games Attended:
June 10, 2008 Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5

Location & Accesibility (0-5): 5
Petco Park is right downtown in beautiful San Diego. You can see the cities skyscrapers from almost any seat in the park. The park is easily accessible whether it be from driving, walking or the public trolley.

Historic Value (0-5): 2
The ballpark is under 10 years old so not much historically has happened here yet. Barry Bonds hit his Henry Aaron tying, 755 home-run here on August 4, 2007. The park has also hosted games in both the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classics.

Originality (0-5): 4
Petco Park lives up to the name park in every way. The front facade is waterfalls over brick. Instead of demolishing the 100 year old Western Metal Supply Co. building, the builders incorporated it into its design having it serve as the left field foul pole. The outfield has the "Park at the Park" where fans can sit on the grass and watch games for $5. When games aren't being played the "Park at the Park" is open to the public. Also in the outfield is a big sandbox where kids of all ages can get very close to the action.

Fans (0-5): 2
You by now know that when I attended a baseball game that it is on a chilly night, so there weren't many fans out. The team has been bad the last couple years but I still would have liked to see a little more support for the home team.

Fun Factor (0-5): 3

The team store is legit. There are a lot of fun things to do in the outfield area as well. And a little Friar runs around the park as a mascot. The actually ball field is huge though, so you aren't going to see many home-runs.

Concessions & Restaurants (0-5): 4
I never had tried a fish taco before my night at Petco Park but I'm doubtful there are many better out there. It was delicious. Petco also had a good variety of Mexican food.

My own Subjectivity (0-5): 4
I really enjoyed my experience at Petco. I got to see one of my all-time favorite pitchers that night, Greg Maddox, and it was a fun evening overall at the game. On a side note, on the way to the game my mom was unaware that the company Petco had sponsored the baseball field and she kept seeing signs that said "Petco Park," so she made the comment " Oh, that's neat that Petco sponsors parks that you can take your dogs for walks in!" Silly mom!

Total Score (0-35)= 24


Criteria for "The Ballpark Series" can be found here.

And here is why I love baseball stadiums!

2010 FIFA World Cup

I am not really a soccer fan at all but this is no doubt a cool commercial. Kinda makes me wish I was more into the game. Anyways, Go World!

John Wooden 1910-2010

As you probably already know, John Wooden passed away last night. Wooden is regarded as one of the greatest coaches ever. His UCLA teams won 10 NCAA Championships, including 7 in a row. He also coached teams to three undefeated seasons. More than a coach, Wooden was a great man. When UCLA wanted to name their basketball court after him, he refused for it to be done unless his wife's name was included. The school said okay and agreed to name the court John & Nel Wooden Court. Wooden said that would just not do, and insisted the court be name Nel & John Wooden Court. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the man:

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation,
because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely
what others think you are."

"Don't mistake activity with achievement."

"The people who turn out best are those people who make the best out of
the way things turn out."

"Discipline yourself and others won't need to."

"Be quick, but don't hurry."

"The true test of a man’s
character is what he does when no one is watching."

"If you don't have time to do it right,

when will you have the time to do it over?"

"Talent is God given. Be humble.

Fame is man-given. Be grateful.
Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."

The Pressbox 2010

(2008)

Tomorrow morning at 8:40 a.m. my and I will tee-off in our ninth consecutive Pressbox 2-man Scramble & Bestball at Highland Golf Course.

As mentioned, we have played in this tournament ever year together since 2002. It was the first amateur golf tournament I ever played in and we didn't do so great. We sure had a good time though. By 2004 our games have improved and we won the third flight! In 2005 we took second in the second flight. We hit our peak performance in 2007 when we won the first flight by one stroke with a bird on the 36th and final hole.

2008 and 2009 were both dismal years in terms of weather and performance. The weather last year was so bad that we could only play one day! Hopefully tomorrow the weather, like the golf will be good!

(Scoreboard from 2007)

(2009)

P.S. It is about time a blog named after a hole on a golf course started having posts about golf!