It's 9:00 on a Friday evening. The Green Blazer is staying in as the first Saturday morning tee time at the club is worth sacrificing a night out for. Hey, why not throw on The Golf Channel and hop onto the blogosphere for some catching up? What's this? Did the cable company flip the script on the channel lineup again? It's the same old story; just when we get a hold on the channels, they decide it's time for a change. But wait ... They didn't change the lineup, so why is Analyze This airing on The Golf Channel?
The Golf Channel roasted their nuts over an open fire last Friday when after seemingly running out of golf movies and Big Break reruns, they stepped over a distinct line and aired a movie starring Robert Deniro and Billy Crystal that doesn't even have a golf scene.
The move either slipped under the radar or went over well from their perspective, so the programming geniuses threw the towel in deeper with Point Break on Saturday (even a disgusted Blazer had a hard time turning the channel when Swayze is pimping the big screen).
By crossing this boundary, The Golf Channel is basically telling its viewers they've given up. They are no longer capable of providing enough interesting material, so they have been reduced to luring viewers with 90s movies.
TGC needs to stick to golf related programming. With dozens of other movie channels, On-Demand, and a cabinet full of DVDs, people need golf when they flip to The Golf Channel. They would be better off looping Tin Cup, giving The Hammer some free air time, or gaining permission to air a golf-centric episode Everybody Loves Raymond.
The Golf Channel ... "Golf's home" (but it you come knocking and golf isn't home to answer, whatever old movie they find lying around will).
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
On this day in 1973 ...
Walt Disney's The Golf Resort opened.
Originally featuring 125 rooms, it was located near the Palm and Magnolia golf courses between the Polynesian and piece of land that would eventually become the Grand Floridian.
To appeal to more than just golfers, The Golf Resort became the Disney Inn in February of 1986. It was remodeled to include another 150 rooms and feature a Snow White theme.
In February of 1994, the Disney Inn was leased by the U.S. Government for military personnel and the name changed to Shades of Green (The Green Blazer had an impact on the name change, but we'll save that story for a different Green Blazer thread).
The government purchased the resort outright in 1996. Shades of Green was not staffed by Disney Cast Members and civilians could no longer stay there. Recently the complex was closed and torn down for remodeling (and by the look of that sign, which resembles one that would be found at a trailer park entrance, it may have needed it).
Originally featuring 125 rooms, it was located near the Palm and Magnolia golf courses between the Polynesian and piece of land that would eventually become the Grand Floridian.
To appeal to more than just golfers, The Golf Resort became the Disney Inn in February of 1986. It was remodeled to include another 150 rooms and feature a Snow White theme.
In February of 1994, the Disney Inn was leased by the U.S. Government for military personnel and the name changed to Shades of Green (The Green Blazer had an impact on the name change, but we'll save that story for a different Green Blazer thread).
The government purchased the resort outright in 1996. Shades of Green was not staffed by Disney Cast Members and civilians could no longer stay there. Recently the complex was closed and torn down for remodeling (and by the look of that sign, which resembles one that would be found at a trailer park entrance, it may have needed it).
Monday, December 13, 2010
Who says comics and golf don't mix?
Not The Green Blazer, and now not Golf Digest either.
For the first time ever, Golf Digest/Golf World released their 2010 Newsmakers in hand drawn pictures. Among the featured stories was "Tiger Tribulations" and a few paragraphs likening Dustin Johnson to Forest Gump, as Johnson seemed to be part of every big non-Tiger story in 2010. After you're done filing your next TPS report at your corporate job, peep the link and check it out.
For the first time ever, Golf Digest/Golf World released their 2010 Newsmakers in hand drawn pictures. Among the featured stories was "Tiger Tribulations" and a few paragraphs likening Dustin Johnson to Forest Gump, as Johnson seemed to be part of every big non-Tiger story in 2010. After you're done filing your next TPS report at your corporate job, peep the link and check it out.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
On this day in 1899 ...
George F Bryant of Boston patented the wooden golf tee, so naturally we must power out a scroll show showing the tee's progression over the years. Note -- all pics were taken from Google images and are being used with absolutely no permission ... Enjoy.
A golfer in 1921 gets poopy fingers as she reaches into a "tee box" to retrieve a handful of wet sand, which would then be shaped into a tee for the golf ball. The 1744 rules of golf said that the golfer must tee up within one club length of the previous hole; Ol' Blaze is sure this move is still used today a couple times a year at munis across America.
111 years ago today, American dentist, Harvard Grad, Dr George F Grant was the first American to patent a tee that he had invented in 1898. It was a peg with a rubber top and was pushed into the ground, and is very close to the modern tee, but but it did not have a concave head. He did not market it and neither this nor any other previous tee inventions caught on.
That was until another denti, who obviously idolized Grant and wanted to follow his footsteps, became responsible for sending tees commercial as he, with the help of Maplewood Golf Club, released the Reddy Tee.
This is the point where tee evolution stalled for decades, but over the last ten years numerous options have become available:
The Zero Friction tripod top tee has a tour presence, guarantees higher ball speed and rarely breaks, although it bends to the point it's rendered virtually useless*
*yet you fail to trash the deformed plastic tee for some reason, so it just takes up space in your bag and eventually you're just swimming through a school of bent tees looking for a straight one. This display of disorganization probably costs you a couple strokes a year.
Stinger brand tees clearly display the numerous options of small top tees, although good luck finding a small top tee at Golf Galaxy. For some reason, the retailer no longer stocks a single one. Also, their generic Zero Friction are more expensive than the real thing only disguised with larger packaging.
Most people have likely heard of Brush T, and all people should feel foolish using one.
And although many other variations have come and gone without really catching on, there is one more worth mentioning. The name of the next tee is also what you get by only playing nine holes (and also what we call around the club, Dipping the tip e.g. "You playing 18 today Blaze?" "No ... Just getting a golf tease and dipping the tip for nine).
A golfer in 1921 gets poopy fingers as she reaches into a "tee box" to retrieve a handful of wet sand, which would then be shaped into a tee for the golf ball. The 1744 rules of golf said that the golfer must tee up within one club length of the previous hole; Ol' Blaze is sure this move is still used today a couple times a year at munis across America.
111 years ago today, American dentist, Harvard Grad, Dr George F Grant was the first American to patent a tee that he had invented in 1898. It was a peg with a rubber top and was pushed into the ground, and is very close to the modern tee, but but it did not have a concave head. He did not market it and neither this nor any other previous tee inventions caught on.
That was until another denti, who obviously idolized Grant and wanted to follow his footsteps, became responsible for sending tees commercial as he, with the help of Maplewood Golf Club, released the Reddy Tee.
This is the point where tee evolution stalled for decades, but over the last ten years numerous options have become available:
The Zero Friction tripod top tee has a tour presence, guarantees higher ball speed and rarely breaks, although it bends to the point it's rendered virtually useless*
*yet you fail to trash the deformed plastic tee for some reason, so it just takes up space in your bag and eventually you're just swimming through a school of bent tees looking for a straight one. This display of disorganization probably costs you a couple strokes a year.
Stinger brand tees clearly display the numerous options of small top tees, although good luck finding a small top tee at Golf Galaxy. For some reason, the retailer no longer stocks a single one. Also, their generic Zero Friction are more expensive than the real thing only disguised with larger packaging.
Most people have likely heard of Brush T, and all people should feel foolish using one.
And although many other variations have come and gone without really catching on, there is one more worth mentioning. The name of the next tee is also what you get by only playing nine holes (and also what we call around the club, Dipping the tip e.g. "You playing 18 today Blaze?" "No ... Just getting a golf tease and dipping the tip for nine).
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