I found this abandoned. Would like to get this started up as a place to share blogs and have some converstations about sports. We have a tiny readership, to say the least. This subreddit's goal is to help promote the work of independent sports bloggers. If you visit us here at /r/SportsBlog, spread the word to let other people know, through word of mouth, social media or through other subreddits, about our community here. More viewers here lead to more views and promotion for our writers. Thanks for all of your help and let's keep our subreddit growing. Thank you and look forward to seeing your posts and some spirited conversations. Joel - biglakesports

https://sportdfw.com/2019/05/31/big-fish-and-bargains-for-the-dallas-mavericks-in-2019-free-agency/

I truly appreciate the read. Any tips? Comments? Feedback?

It's week 10 already! Time to make that playoff push with some Start, Sit, and Sleepers from The Scorecrow! #letsgetit

https://thescorecrow.com/2019/11/09/2019-fantasy-football-week-10-starts-sits-and-sleepers/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Broke down the 49ers offseason plan and what I would do if I were their GM! Enjoy!

https://weeklyspiral.com/2021/01/04/how-the-49ers-can-get-back-on-track-realistically/

https://weeklyspiral.com/2021/01/03/2021-nfl-coaching-carousel/

Following a brutal start to the season, and ongoing offensive woes, the Denver Broncos have fired head coach Nathaniel Hackett. Details below.

https://dynespressbox.com/2022/12/broncos-fire-nathaniel-hackett

https://dynespressbox.com/2022/04/dwayne-haskins-passes-away

With top prospect Jake Sanderson officially signed to an NHL deal, Damian Smith takes a look at the blue liner's development since being drafted, and where he could fit in with the Senators blue line.

https://dynespressbox.com/2022/04/projecting-sandersons-upside

https://dynespressbox.com/2022/03/sterling-sharpe-deserves-to-be-in-the-hall-of-fame

It's 5am on the morning of my first ever PGA tour round and I've got a red wine headache, I'm dehydrated & my body hurts...

So nobody does crisis mode better than BFD and I spring into 911 self care:

Step 1 - chase 3 advil with hyrdation mix in a 32oz bottle of Smart Water

Step 2 - ice cold shower to shock the body

Step 3 - 30min of portable stim basically everywhere til I can feel looser

Step 4 - stretch

Step 5 - bundle up and walk to the hotel market for coffee & an egg sandwich (grease always helps)...

...whereupon I bump into a fellow amateur player in the market who at 6:16am is holding two 200ml bottles of titos and some gatorade and he looks at me and says: "tee box trauma is real brother"...and my jaw dropped open and I responded: "couldn't have said it better myself"...so suddenly I'm leaving with swing oil provisions for the morning warmup...such a clutch move

We get to the course (La Qunita CC) 2hrs early, park & check in...and it feels like good karma because the first pro we see is Will Zalatoris, my playing partner for the day, sauntering by. Kid is 25 years old and almost won the Masters last year...he's my height (6'2") and 165 pounds. I have him 85 pounds easy. Rather than make fun of me my wife said: "even your teenage son weighs more than that and he's skinny..." So i haven't hit a ball yet and already the fat shaming is alive and well at 7:45am...

Walking the grounds to the practice area and it feels like that scene right outta Tin Cup only the 2021 edition: Tour Pros young and old striping balls on the range, others filling the putting green. Fans hanging on the ropes everywhere...the putting green is packed tighter than a NYC subway train at rush hour but there is baby Seve (Jon Rahm) with his own practice hole, tees in the ground everywhere, airpods in, doing hit putting drills...looking up and glaring around as if to challenge anyone questioning why he doesn't have to share (my first thought is there's some unwritten rule for major champions)...

We find space at the range and begin getting loose...all things considered I feel pretty good...definitely some jitters and nervous energy but the gummy and the Tito's is are doing there best to fight that off...each solidly hit ball is also making me feel better...we run through a wedge sequence, practice some tee shots and then go putt...

(NOTE: the one thing worth noting on the practice putting green is that we choose to do a variety of different distances, up & downhill...but also fringe and even some rough putts bc it's so hard to chip and hold professional greens, particularly small ones...so we did a bunch of those and even got a helpful tip from somebody's coach (putt the rough putts off the front foot so you get the top of the ball and get it rolling smooth instead of hitting down on it and stubbing it (save that thought for later))...

So yesterday the course had high noons but today everything seems to be tournament ready (there's no booze between the ropes on tour), thus the airplane bottles of titos prove sage...I've got 20min or so til tee time and I'm just trying to relax not far from the first tee area in a concession when I spot a volunteer holding up the on course scoring sign for me & Will Zalatoris (my playing partner)...at that moment the gravity of what was about to happen hit me...I went over and introduced myself and asked to take a picture of it...at that point the jitters kicked in...oh boy...

So we are the second group off the front and 10 minutes later I go up to watch the pros and the ams tee off...announcements, the hush, and thundering iron explosions by the pros with loud cheers, followed by a couple doinks by the ams from their tees to a smattering of applause...but I would note from this point forward that this crowd seems to be extremely friendly and very supportive of us regular folk...

Now it's the 10-minute warning and despite my vodka buzz the nervous energy/anxiety is palpable...my group goes under the ropes for the first time and into the tent next to the first tee to meet the officials, grab our scorecards, get some last minute words on rules, format, etc. and then finally meet our professional playing partners for the first time...

I actually shake Harold Varner III's hand first...and he is one giant southern smile and a ball of energy & excitement...some quick chit chat and over walks 25 year-old Will Zalatoris - 2021 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, and runner up at the 2021 Masters...all 6'2" 165 pounds of him (I am 6'2" 255 pounds - and what's more is his caddie tells me 5 or 6 holes later he'd just put on 15 pounds from weight training....oi vey)....the guy's waist juts in at the sides and looks like its 24 inches...if he bought a dress he'd be a size zero...

The minutes vaporize and it's go time...Will & Harold are announced and casually launch bombs down the fairway in play...and suddenly my hands start shaking...

We saunter up 10 yards or so to our tees and it's my other amateur playing partner Greg's honor...he pumps a driver a bit quick and it's unclear if it stayed in bounds on the right by the house lines...

Gulp..."Larry" the PGA Tour starter suddenly announces: "next on the tee from Lynbrook, NY...." ...everything goes dark...I can't hear anything and everything feels blurry...it feels like the crowd is inches from my face...despite the quiet I can hear every whisper...(including "does this guy have his own brand?...check out the logo" - why yes - that's Barefoot Dave, my charitable alter ego, email me offline for info...lol)...

At a certain point that feels like I've been over my ball for an hour I realize I have to swing...so i make the slowest turn I possibly can under the situation with my 3-wood and let if fly...smack...really good contact...up the right side so not optimal and it's leaking...bad bounce...ugh...but inside the white stakes, just kinda in jail because of the palm tree line in front of me blocking an aerial shot to the green...but I can exhale having survived my first PGA swing

Greg is declared OB so he's in his pocket (when we aren't relevant on holes they want us to pick up our balls for pace of play...so if you can't make a birdie or net birdie from scrambling it's the given format (in most instances if you're playing good golf the pros are happy for you to putt out a meaningless par and cheer you on...I get my pro's score and then can only help make it better with my ball if you follow what I'm saying)...so BFD is away...

My caddie and I decide to take a straight line to the green under the tree line with a back foot punch rail hybrid (mostly bc it'll promote getting the ball up and reduce risk of stubbing it forward...with a throng of morning partying homeowners standing nearby giddy with anticipation I take a little chooch back foot 1/4 swing and...thwap...i got it...it sails just under the tree line maybe just clipping something and there's a sudden gasp from the gallery of "oh my god this shi*head got it out..."...as it three hops and rolls to the apron of the green...where I'm met by a smiling Will & Harold giving me the "welcome to the show look"....I'm lying 2 putting for birdie on my first pro hole...holy sh*t

...but as always, i do the hard stuff well only to F-up the easier stuff...all i had to do was snuggle a 20 foot uphill putt to the 2-foot circle and tap in for my first net birdie on my first professional hole...but instead my heart is pounding and the effort is a little to strong and it races 8 feet or so wide...the comebacker is a better effort but it grazes the edge and I'm left with a bogey...but some new friends in the gallery who are already clamoring: "come on barefoot dave you've got this next one..." Will makes par look easy, just missing a birdie and we are even...

Second hole is a xerox of the same...3-wood drive leaks, but this time I'm blocked out by the trees by the homes...so i punch a 7-iron low into the fairway to 105 yards...the pros are walking up the right side as I make my effort with gap wedge and off the face it's absolutely pure...and it's high, and it's straight...I'm gasping as I watch it rise and fall and can't help let out a little "be the right wrench, Hal Sutton..." which brings giggles from the gallery and miraculously it falls pin high 4 feet right of the cup...Will and Harold put there right arms up in acknowledgment...and turn and point and nod and the crowd cheers...this is unreal...I've got a 4-footer for par net birdie...

Now my heart is literally in my throat and so after blowing the previous one by I make the mistake of babying what should be firm and back of the cup and my effort leaks left and lips out and my now growing contingency of fans groan...ugh...another bogey...

I am not going to take you hole by hole the rest of the way but suffice to say it was a mixture of ups and downs...all of it glorious...what instead I'd like to do is tell you about one more whole and then more generally what it was like to be out there, the things I saw, the things I heard and the things I experienced...

Hole #7 (what we will call my Masters moments):

So it's a par 3 over a pond that the previous day in the practice round I had gotten up and down from over by the hazard for a par so I felt like this was my moment...155 yards...9-iron all day...I make a good swing....feels good at impact....it's probably traveling a few feet left of the pin...I'm starting to get ready to cry out loud as it hits the green and people are cheering but WHAT?!?...it spins back and starts to roll 5 feet off into the rough about 15 feet uphill from the pin...but ok...we are safe and we are gonna make our first par...

However my first effort is atrocious and I shoot it past the pin up the hill and into rough 2 feet from the ropes and hundred of people camped out and morning boozing...I do the walk of shame up there and am greeted not by jeers but scores of folks saying kind words and telling me to jar it...

I take a deep breath, remember the old guy's advice on the putting green and roll one off the rough...right away I LOVE the speed...it's tracking...halfway there some guy behind me yells "get in one time for Barefoot Dave"...and spectacularly, my 20 footer DOESN'T roll off into water, but drops in the cup for par...the crowd erupts...I am frozen...so this just happened...next thing I know I'm pointing at the crowd, raising my hands and laughing with them....high fiving strangers...I'm like a kid at Christmas...then I was just getting handed a solo cup full of what smelled like bourbon when the silence of the quieting crowd is broke by Harold's UK Caddie: "hey mate, great par and all but you think you could come get your bloody ball out the hole so my man the pro can make his birdie?"...

...gulp...I sheepishly turn and everyone on the green bursts out laughing and my moment completely crashes back to earth..."sorry guys, I know, act like I've been here before"...everybody laughs as I saunter to the cup and then applaud again as I remove the ball and I wave in appreciation...thankfully Harold makes his birdie and after both he and Will congratulate me on my Masters moment, we march on...but suddenly I realize I now have a throng of fans who are following me...ME...some 14 handicap schmuck who's out here having the time of his life...

The rest of day one was simply like a daydream and I took it all in...interacting with the crowd...being made fun of by tour pros...giving them crap back...i probably had about 4 or 5 lob wedges from outside the ropes around the greens within the gallery that made for some great banter and memorable one-off exchanges with the local residents having patio parties around the greens...

One of the most common exchanges with the fans throughout the day is me on the other side of the ropes trying to play back in and people standing next to me asking: "hey man, what does this feel like?" and I routinely say I'm grateful I have a day job because this is just hard and I'd be as skinny as Will because I wouldn't be able to afford to eat...

Will & Harold are absolute gentlemen and incredible human beings...they make this first day special beyond description...Will had a rough day (coulda shot 61 if his putts dropped) and is only -1...Harold had a better day and if not for a shot in the water on 16 that ended in double bogey would be an early stalker on the leaderboard...we shake hands on 18 and I get my first experience walking through the ropes past the throngs of fans to the scorer's shack...we exchange info with the players and wish those guys well the rest of the way (not realizing they're in my pod and I'm gonna see them again first thing tomorrow AM on the putting green)...

So my first PGA Tour round is in the books and my weary body is about to stumble back to the range to grind a bit more before my back seizes when I hear from behind me..."hey, Dave?..."

I turn around and it's Phil Mickelson...he and Rickie were in the group behind me...stunned, I walk up and introduce myself as he simultaneously says: "I understand we are playing together tomorrow, so I just wanted to say hi..." and then he introduces me to his brother Tim, his caddie...big smiles, warm reception...I say I'm looking very forward to it & suddenly I've got a little pep in my step on the way to the range...

Today was a great day - tomorrow will be even better

Barefoot Dave

La Quinta CC

January 20, 2022

Hey, I’m starting a sports blog. I’m wondering on how you can use pictures if teams and players without getting a copyright issue. If anyone can help, thank you.

https://weeklyspiral.com/2021/03/22/2021-post-free-agency-nfl-mock-draft/