Masters Week

I love the week that builds up to the Masters. I like it even more now that Phil Mickelson won this weekend at the Houston Open. Before Lefty’s win there was no clear-cut favorite to win the Masters, which he is now the leader with 7 to 1 odds. I love this event! I have never been to Augusta to see it live but it is on the bucket list for me. The first time I really remember watching the Masters was on a spring day in 1986. Yes that 1986 where Jack Nicklaus, at age 46, made a march at his 6^th and final green jacket. I was a 10-year-old kid just trying to impress my older brothers playing ball outside when my father yells out the window “Hey boys the Bear is on the move”. Now I went running in for 2 reasons- 1. I was ten and whatever my father liked so did I. 2. At that age I was already getting into sports and I didn’t want to miss anything that I could talk about with my friends. So as I sat down in front of the TV to watch I was hooked. I remember Jack hitting one great shot after another and all the while Greg Norman completely falling on his face, which he pretty much always did. To this day I don’t remember a Masters as thrilling as that one in 1986. When Jack putted in for eagle on 15 to tie for the lead, that was it, you just knew he was going to win. I remember my father watching and saying how great Jack Nickluas was and that there will never be another like him. Which we are still in a holding pattern on that and he still is the greatest. What made it special for me was watching this drama play out and seeing a man in complete control of everything. Jack never looked the least bit nervous and it just amazed me. This up coming weekend will be another great Masters and I will have golfers I am rooting for, some more than others. I just know that it will not be as Jack in 1986. Don’t get me wrong there have been some great masters since, but this was my first time watching the grand event and seeing amen corner bring every golfer but one to it’s knees. Enjoy the Tournament and all the drama the it brings, as will I. Thank you Augusta National and Jack Nicklaus for inviting a 10 year old boy to enjoy the drama and magic of the Masters. Until the next time….Raise your glass and hit it straight.

Game 1

Well as I sit here watching the Dodgers vs. Giants enjoying this great opening day. I am looking at Don Mattingly in a Dodgers uniform and it just looks strange. Don't get me wrong I wish Donnie Baseball all the best. I just long for the days of my favorite ball player in a Yanks jersey. It still blows me away that he has never won a World Series. Yes you read that right, Mattingly who played for the most successful franchise in all of sports never played in a world series. The other shock is that he was a coach for the Yanks from 2004-2006 and they never played in a World Series in his three years as a coach. It just doesn't seem right that a man who works as hard as anyone does not get rewarded for it. That's why if the Dodgers find some way to get into the World Series I will be rooting for my boyhood hero more than any other team in all of the MLB. Well as long as it is not against the Yankees, I don't want to think about what would happen if I would have to deal with that! Until next time raise your glass and cheers!

Here we Go!

First of all let me say thanks for stopping by Casey at the Draft. I have wanted to do this for a while and have had many friends and family tell me I should do a blog. So here we go, I hope you find this fun and interesting. You will not always agree with me but as long as you find the topics intriguiging we should have a great time!

Here we go! In just two days the MLB season starts again and I will be heading over to my father's house (for the fifth year!) to watch all the games. When I say all the games that's the truth. We have multiple T.V.'s set up with the MLB package to catch all the games. It is a tradition that I really enjoy and hope my six year old daughter will, one day, come along for the ride. We have many coolers filled with many different beverages, ok who am I kidding they are filled with beer nothing else. I will be eating as many hot dogs, brats, and as much green chili as I can. All because of this wonderful game of baseball! I love opening day! Every team in the league has that hope again that their team will make that magical run to October. It does not matter what your team did or didn't do the year before you are ready to root them on. (Let me say this counts for everyone but the Pirates because their owners are cheap and should be run out of town but that is for another blog.) No other sport opens with as much hope and excitement as baseball. One game does not define a season and many fans, this one included, can get caught up in the tradition of baseball. One reason I love baseball is because it is a slower pace and takes time and persistance to be a fan. Football is easy to follow. Your team plays once a week and you can set aside time to watch it. Now all you football fans don't get all twisted up by this. I am a football fan myself, I played  football and I love that game. But baseball is a habbit you can't watch everygame, although this guy tries to. (Gotta love the DVR) If you don't catch a game you try to find the highlights, or the score on your phone. When I was a kid we didn't have a team here in Colorado and my family didn't have espn until I was a little older so the only way I could get the score of the games was the box scores in the paper the next day. I love this and I still do. Now that I have rambled on about this a little to long, just remember to take a little time out this weekend to slow down and watch a game. Call your brother, sister, parent, or a friend sit down crack a cold one and smile. Enjoy this great game of baseball and remember how you felt when played catch when you were a kid.  Till the next time, raise your glass and Happy Opening Day.