ILMgolfnut

My guess is that the Falcons are taking a page out of the Green Bay book. The Packers have taken QBs (Rodgers and now Love) and let them sit and learn for a couple of years before throwing them into the fire. It seems to have worked pretty well, and you have a better chance to win during that internship than if Penix were going to start right away.

Welcome to the asylum, uh, the Good Morning Thread! You'll find the inmates are very friendly.

I got out of downtown Detroit just in time, and saw numerous football fans arriving at DTW Wednesday afternoon. So I am not surprised at all that it was a mob scene.

If you're serious about working up to a marathon, I've done 19 of the damn things and am/was a certified coach with the Road Running Club of America. I'd be happy to answer any training questions.

Good morning Spies! Sorry to have missed the community call yesterday; I was asleep. Seriously. I've been teetering on the edge of absolute exhaustion for weeks, and I think Detroit and Wednesday's return trip pushed me over the edge. I'd wake up to eat something or go to the bathroom or whatever and go right back to sleep. And then I still went to bed at my normal time after watching a little playoff hockey. Next week isn't going to be any better: Drive to Charlotte (4 hours) on Sunday, work there Monday, drive to Raleigh (2.5 hours), work there Tuesday, drive home (2.5 hours), fly to St. Louis Wednesday, work in the Illinois 'burbs on Thursday, fly home Friday morning because I'll work too late to get back to ILM on Thursday. Wears me out just looking at it. Golf-related stuff: I think I'm up to a Rypstick workout and a Fit For Golf workout today. Maybe. My new golf shoes arrived while I was gone and I'll try them on today.

Good afternoon Spies! The last 26 hours have been ... interesting. Worked nine hours in Detroit yesterday, headed for the airport. While waiting for my flight, was notified by the airline that it was delayed, and that I should seek an alternate flight. Number of alternate flights available to ILM last night: Zero. Called my corporate travel agent. It took three calls, but they got me on a flight at 7:30 a.m. today after I take the delayed flight to Charlotte and spend the night there. At this point a gate agent shows up and I talk to her. She looks at what the travel agent did and advised me that I still had the seat on my 10:58 pm flight home, along with the 7:30 flight today, and that there was a decent chance of making the 10:58. But she gave me a hotel and meal voucher in Charlotte just in case, since the delay was due to mechanical issues. Finally leave Detroit, get off the plane in Charlotte 12 minutes before my flight to ILM is scheduled to board, I powerwalk through the airport to the departure gate and arrive just as boarding begins. Then once I'm on the plane our departure is further delayed while maintenance crews complete some work and some paperwork. Finally left at 11:39 pm, flight home is uneventful, retrieve my car and get home at exactly 1 a.m. Then this morning I'm a zombie. Went to a doctor appointment at 8:45 (eyes barely open), came home and went back to bed until 5 p.m. Got a couple of nice emails from Mike Carroll of Fit For Golf. During our huddle with him last week for the FFG test, I advised him that I didn't think I could do one of the warmup exercises properly because of my post-surgical back. He asked me to send him a video of my attempts to do it; GF shot the video on Saturday and I sent it to him. He got back to me and suggested a variation of the exercise. Today he asked how the variation was working. I said it was slightly better than the original version, but not much. But it's nice that he's taking the time to help me with this when I'm not even a paying customer.

I don't pretend to be a draft expert or a Maye expert, even though I live in NC, but draft analysts have said Maye has some bad habits he'll have to break, including hanging onto the ball too long and being too slow in going through his reads. Even with a rocket, accurate arm he could flop if he doesn't fix those issues.

When I was having sciatica last year, a physical therapist taught me a stretch that helped, and I still use it when I get a flareup (like last night, for instance). Like this: https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/aftercareinformation/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=zp4474

Furthermore, it's not unheard of for the school to take over a hockey club and promote it to varsity status. Arizona State did that after the NHL Coyotes came to Phoenix, and for the last few years the Coyotes have been playing at the ASU rink. Now the Coyotes are headed for Salt Lake City and probably a new name. But the Sun Devils hockey program will remain as an NCAA hockey team.

That one I can answer. ACHA is club hockey; my school (Arkansas) has a hockey club that is quite successful at that level, and the kids who play on it pay for the privilege and do fundraisers to cover travel expenses, etc. The NCAA schools are varsity, where the hockey program is officially sponsored by the school, and the players may have hockey scholarships. Some schools (I know that Michigan is in this category) have both varsity hockey and a hockey club, but Arkansas does not.

I always crack up when UK people get snippy on football vs. soccer. The word "soccer" was invented in England as a derivation of "association football," as in the FA, to differentiate the round ball game from rugby. And as far as I can tell, the word soccer was used commonly in the UK until maybe 25 years ago.

Got an email from my club in Scotland that they're having Srixon and Cleveland fittings on Monday. Unfortunately I'm not there to take advantage

I spend a lot of time in Raleigh, and one of the hotels I rotate is right across the street from PNC Arena, but not when the Canes are in town; they jack up the room rates on hockey nights. Haven't made it to a game there yet. My only NHL game to date was when I attended a medical convention in Montreal probably 25 years ago. Sat up in the nosebleeds at Centre Bell where all the teenagers sit; I was the oldest one in my section by about 20 years and the only one who didn't speak French. Really enjoyed it though, and at some point I'm going to go to some Canes games.

Same here. I'm a dues-paying member of Arsenal FC so yesterday's 5-nil waxing of Chelsea was a highlight of my day. Will be tough for us to top Manchester City for the Prem title, but at the same time MCFC has no room for error either. And I have a good friend who has the misfortune of being a Tottenham fan, so we go back and forth on that. Especially this weekend since Arsenal visits Tottenham for the North London Derby.

I'm in Detroit now, leaving town this evening just as things start to ramp up for the draft. There was a welcome desk for incoming draft fans last night at my hotel, and there are NFL Draft signs all over the place. I'm a Packer fan too, dating back to the Lombardi/Titletown era (yes I'm old enough to remember the Ice Bowl). Have my one share of Packers stock which is completely worthless. I tell people I own as many shares of an NFL team as my fellow Arkansas graduate Jerry Jones. Only his share is worth $9 billion or so and mine is worth zilch.