The Hendersonville Standard Blog

Imagine a golf tournament involving the best players in the world and at the end of four rounds, not one golfer finished below par.

That’s the U.S. Open, courtesy of that teeny parcel of a course in Ardmore, Pa., better known as Merion the Monster.

All we heard before the tournament was that Merion would give up too many birdies to uphold the honor of an U.S. Open. Why, Merion played less than 7,000 yards, unheard of in today’s pro world.

Ah, but the old girl they said was too out of touch, too short, too defenseless, had something to say about all that.

Instead of relying on length, Merion fought back with some of the roughest rough you’ll find this side of a South American jungle. She fought back with pin placements that would befuddle an acupuncturist. And, don’t forget the greens. After putting them for four days, you can bet there will be a line of pros seeking psychiatric counseling this week.

Sergio Garcia took a 10 on a par-4 hole, courtesy of three shots that settled out of bounds. There were more snowmen than you can find in Alaska.

Part of me enjoys seeing the PGA crème de la crème muttering to themselves as they three-putt greens.

If the U.S. Open chews up and spits out the best golfers on the planet, just think what the average Joe Blow would score at Merion.

First of all, they couldn’t buy enough X-out golf balls to play four rounds. Joe Blow couldn’t break 100 on Merion. Don’t kid yourself, Mr. Public Course hotshot. You either, Mr. Private Course showoff with the latest clubs, hottest golf balls and fanciest golf pimp outfits this side of Ricky Fowler.

Merion would punish you, just like it did the best golfers in the game.

Tiger Woods was not up to the task in search of his first major win in five years. Woods had 20 bogeys to go with 10 birdies. He shot 76-74 on the weekend, weekends he used to thrive on. Woods was toast after he had a triple bogey 8 on the second hole Sunday.

Rory McIlroy is projected to be golf’s next superstar, but that day will have to wait. McIlroy posted scores of 75-76 on the weekend.

England’s Justin Rose didn’t win the U.S. Open. He survived it. Finishing at 1-over, Rose became the first Englishman to win a major since 1996, when Sir Nick Faldo won the Masters.

As he made par on the final hole, Rose turned his head toward the sky and pointed upward, kissing his hand at one point. He was taught the game by his father, who has since passed away.

“Yes, the look up to the heavens was absolutely for my Dad,’’ Rose told reporters. “Father’s Day was not lost on me. You don’t have opportunities to really dedicate a win to someone you love and today was about him and being Father’s Day.’’

Once again, Phil Mickelson was left to play the role of a sympathetic figure. For the sixth time, Mickelson was a U.S. Open bridesmaid. He suffered bogeys on three of the final six holes, including 18 where a birdie would have forced a playoff with Rose.

Former Auburn golfer Jason Dufner proved prophetic after he put up a 67 Sunday.

“The last five holes can be really problematic,’’ Dufner said.

Truer words were never spoken.

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Vanderbilt’s attempt to reach the College World Series for the second time in school history came up short Sunday.

Now that the artificial dust has settled at the Hawk, you have to give credit where credit is due.

The Louisville Cardinals couldn’t have cared less about the Commodores being the Super Regional’s 2-seed. They didn’t seem to mind at all playing in Vanderbilt’s back yard.

They came, they saw, they out-pitched, out-hit and out-scored the Commodores. The Cards punched their ticket to Omaha and the CWS by beating Vanderbilt two straight games in the best-of-three series.

Vanderbilt could only manage four runs in two games. You don’t deserve to go to the CWS with those numbers, and after all, baseball is a numbers game.

The Commodores lost the series opener, 5-3, and were on the short end of a 2-1 game Sunday, as they tried in vain to tie the series Sunday and play for all the marbles Monday.

“(Sunday’s) game was labor intensive. It was tough. It was a grind,” Vanderbilt Coach Tim Corbin said. “Certainly holding them to two runs, you would think you have an opportunity to win.”
Vanderbilt had its chances Sunday. But it didn’t get the starting pitching it needed from ace Tyler Beede, who had trouble finding any rhythm, giving up two runs in the bottom of the second inning.

Vanderbilt hitters were bamboozled by Louisville’s pitching. They managed just five hits. The only score came on a solo home run. They left five runners on base in the final three innings. Three of those were stranded in scoring position, including in the top of the ninth when John Norwood was only 90 feet away from tying the game.

SEC Player of the Year Tony Kemp could not deliver in the clutch, as he flied out to left for the second out in the ninth. After Xavier Turner’s single pushed Norwood to third, it was up to senior Mike Yastrzemski, a player with Major League DNA coursing through his body.

This Yaz had been clutch all season, after he returned to Vanderbilt instead of turning pro. Cards reliever Cody Ege got Yastrzemski to swing and miss on a nasty 2-2 pitch in a lefty against lefty matchup.

Vanderbilt’s first five batters combined to go 2-for-20 Sunday. They struck out seven times and got only one free pass in the game.

It had to be difficult for this Vanderbilt team to watch Louisville players jumping, laughing, fist-bumping, high-fiving and giddy as a fourth grader on the last day of school.
 
Vanderbilt finished 54-12 and now faces a future where it has to replace the nucleus of what I thought was its most balanced team under Corbin. It must also wait to see how many juniors drafted in this month’s Major League amateur draft will sign.
 
They didn’t match expectations this post-season. They failed to come through in clutch situations, both on the mound and at the plate. Was the pressure to deliver too overwhelming, or was it a case of Louisville having the talent to match Vanderbilt pitch for pitch, hit for hit?

You can claim it was just baseball, but it keeps happening to Corbin’s teams.

Most NCAA baseball teams would love to have had the season Vanderbilt did. It could have been even better. That’s what hurts the worst.

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It’s not a matter of if the Southeastern Conference will impose a nine-game schedule of SEC games.

It’s a matter of when.

Sure, the SEC coaches voted 13-1 last week to keep the number of conference games at eight. The lone dissenter was Alabama’s Nick Saban, who prefers playing a nine-game conference schedule. But then Saban thinks his team could win the AFC South.

SEC coaches may be millionaires, but they have as much say-so in this debate as Harvey Updyke, the Toomers Corner oak tree murderer.

With the debut of the SEC Network next August, there will be an increased demand for programming. And nothing hits the programming bulls-eye like SEC football teams playing each other.

The coaches are delaying the inevitable. They will play an eight-game schedule through the next two seasons, then increase to nine.

With as much money as the SEC stands to gain, it is going to have to bite the bullet and strengthen what has been a notorious soft non-conference schedule in football.

If this year’s non-conference schedule were in place for 2015, the SEC Network would be stuck with such games as Tennessee and Vanderbilt playing Western Kentucky. Try selling Alabama games against Georgia State and UT-Chattanooga. LSU, preseason favorite in the SEC Western Division, plays UAB, Furman and Kent State in non-conference games.

Those type games won’t fly when they come under the SEC Network banner. Networks won’t buy it.

Not only will the networks refuse to air them, even longtime season ticket holders have started staying away from attending those no-name games.

If you live in Middle or West Tennessee, would you rather pack up the car, make the drive to Knoxville and fight the 100,000 fans getting in and out of the stadium, or stay at home, turn on your 60-inch high definition flat screen and relax in your recliner?

Would you like to blow a week’s paycheck at the concession stands, or walk to the kitchen and get quality snacks of your choosing? Rather risk standing in a long line to use a public restroom, or get up and use a bathroom that is clean and has real towels to dry your hands?

I didn’t even mention how much money you have to pay for game tickets, preferential seating, gas and meals. All to see Big State U. maim Pee Wee Polytech?

“One of these days (fans) are going to quit coming to games,’’ Saban said in Destin. “Everyone is going to say, ‘Why aren’t you coming to the games?’ Well, if you play somebody good, they’ll come to the games."

Now, I don’t blame some SEC coaches for trying to make a bowl-eligible schedule. Going to bowls seems to save coaches’ jobs, no matter how small or inconsequential the bowl may be. I call it the three duds, one stud non-conference schedule.

Vanderbilt’s James Franklin has mastered the formula and it paid off with nine wins last season. This year, he plays UMass, UAB, Wake Forest and Austin Peay. Tennessee’s Butch Jones is following a similar path as he tries to get the program back on solid ground. The Vols play Western Kentucky, South Alabama, Austin Peay and Oregon.

Even then, you have to work like crazy to keep you head above water in the SEC. It’s why it has won seven straight BCS Championships.

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I called Vincent Wolters on Memorial Day.

The WWII veteran was fighting a cold and was sitting out in the fresh air and sunshine at his home near Monterey

Wolters had gone on the recent Music City Honor Flight. It was the sixth and final Honor Flight out of Nashville, one which takes WWII veterans free of charge to Washington D.C. where they can visit the WWII and other memorials, as well as Arlington Cemetery and Tomb of the Unknowns.

There were approximately 100 veterans aboard a charter US Airways flight, along with some 30 guardians. I was one of the guardians whose job it was to keep track of their veterans while they were touring our nation’s capitol.

Vincent Wolters drew me for a guardian. He turns 90 years old this year and his story is worth telling. After all, he is part of what has been widely recognized as the Greatest Generation.

His comrades in arms lost 400,000 soldiers, airmen and Navy personnel in the war. Many of them are buried at Normandy and all across what was known as the European Theater of Operations. It was their mission to take down the Nazi German army under Adolph Hitler and liberate Europe.

I suspect many of you spent the day grilling out, perhaps boating, skiing or fishing on our lakes and rivers, going on a family picnic or just relaxing. Some of you may have attended Memorial Day ceremonies in your city or surrounding cities.

In Lebanon, the names of all local veterans who gave their lives while in wars around the world were read out loud. Some ceremonies had speakers, bands, and families who had lost loved ones.

It was a day to pay homage to those who kept this country free.

If you have a teen-ager or know friends who do, you will want them to hear Vincent Wolters’ story.

Wolters was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was in high school, had only six more months to go when the war broke out. He never had a chance to finish high school.

He joined the Army and his infantry unit fought its way from Normandy Beach to Germany. Approximately 20 neighborhood kids joined the various branches of service and went off to war. Only two came back. Wolters was one.

He tells about his experiences in a book – My Badge of Honor: A History of Our Company in World War II. It was printed by Vantage Press.

There were also a lot of professional athletes who fought in WWII. Every man, woman and child played some part in the war effort.

More than 500 major league players, including 29 who would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame, served. Cleveland pitcher Bob Feller enlisted in the Navy two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Feller served four years as an anti-aircraft gunner on the battleship Alabama, which fought at Tarawa, Iwo Jima and the Marshall Islands.

 The late knuckleball pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm earned a Purple Heart during the Battle of the Bulge. There were also 638 NFL players who served, 355 officers, of which 66 were decorated and 21 lost their lives.

Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams flew missions as a fighter pilot in Korea.

There are now an estimated 1,000 WWII veterans dying every day.

We honor them and all who went before and after them.

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Lipscomb was hesitant to follow Nashville neighbor Belmont from the NAIA to the NCAA.

At the time, longtime Lipscomb basketball coach Don Meyer didn’t believe it was in the school’s best interest to move to the NCAA.

It was basically a three-year move to be fully vested at the NCAA level. And Meyer was Lipscomb’s winningest basketball coach.

Belmont took its lumps during the transition, which is pretty much the norm for every institution that takes that leap of faith. But the Bruins actually thrived after going through the tough times. They have been to the NCAA Tournament four times, in addition to getting an NIT bid.

Lipscomb eventually decided to follow Belmont to the NCAA. Meyer resigned, refusing to make the move. It created a messy situation, pitting Meyer fans against Lipscomb.

The school hired Scott Sanderson, son of former Alabama coach Wimp Sanderson. He is the one who would take the brunt of making the transition. I remember Wimp telling me he didn’t think Scott should have taken the job because Wimp knew Scott was going to get his brains beat out.

Scott survived. Both Lipscomb and Belmont joined the Atlantic Sun Conference. In recent years Lipscomb basketball has fallen on hard times. Last year Belmont left the Atlantic Sun and joined the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Bruins won a hard-fought two tournament games in its first year to win an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Lipscomb forced Sanderson to resign and 40 days later hired longtime Belmont assistant Casey Alexander. Even though Alexander has been head coach at Stetson the past two years, he is a familiar name in Williamson County. He was a three-sport athlete at Brentwood Academy and was Rick Byrd’s top assistant for 16 years.

In the near future I predict we will see Lipscomb leave the Atlantic Sun and join the OVC. The Atlantic Sun is all over the map and in danger of losing East Tennessee State and Kennesaw State.

The OVC should covet Lipscomb and vice versa. Can you imagine the financial savings Lipscomb would realize in cutting travel costs?

But here is where the OVC can profit. It will give the conference three teams located in Nashville – Tennessee State, Belmont and Lipscomb. That means increased attendance.

Area basketball fans would see Lipscomb and Belmont play Austin Peay, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin in the state. Murray State would bring a large following to Nashville. Local fans know those teams. They don’t have a clue where Florida International or USC-Upstate is.

At a press conference Sunday to announce Alexander, it more resembled a pep rally. Enthusiasm over the move to hire a former Belmont coach filled the room. Alexander received a rousing endorsement from Rick Byrd.

There is a mutual admiration and they will face each other twice, even though they are in different conferences.

“The truth is I would rather coach against people I really respect the way they go about doing their business and I’m always going to want Casey to be successful and so that does change the dynamic,’’ Byrd said.

“I don’t think many people here sit around and pull for Belmont to win the other games either, or vice versa. That’s the nature of a great rivalry. But now I will be for them and it won’t be hard to be, because of Casey.’’

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Former Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray came to Knoxville with the size and arm strength that college and NFL scouts drool about.

He is 6-foot-6, a lean 215 pounds, has a rocket arm and brought Vols fans to their feet with his ability to put deep downfield passes right on target.

His physical attributes bring to mind two Vols quarterbacks that preceded Bray – Peyton Manning and Heath Shuler.

My question is, will Tyler Bray become Manning, or Shuler?

Only Bray can answer that question, but unless he has a significant lifestyle and mental makeover, my money says he will be more like Shuler and I don’t mean to infer Bray will become a U.S. Senator.

If Bray is to succeed in the NFL, he has landed in the right camp with the right coach.

There is nowhere but up to go as a Kansas City Chief under the friendliest of friendly quarterback mentors in Coach Andy Reid.

Does Bray have what it takes to become a starting NFL quarterback?

The answer is all between his ears, just as it was with Manning and Shuler. Manning was the epitome of being a student of the game – mastering the mental part of the most difficult position to play in the sport.

Unlike Manning and Shuler, Bray did not have the coaching at Tennessee that they profited from. He had Derek Dooley.

Shuler was the third player picked in the 1994 NFL draft. He was tagged quarterback of the future for the Washington Redskins. However, when he held out in training camp to acquire a $19.25 million contract, he fell out of favor with some veterans. More importantly, he lagged behind in learning the playbook, a more difficult playbook than he had at Tennessee.

In his third season, Shuler lost his job to Gus Frerotte, was traded to New Orleans, where he suffered a serious foot injury that he never recovered from.

In 1997, Football Outsiders made Shuler its “least valuable’’ NFL quarterback that year.

As everyone knows, Manning has won just about everything you can win in the NFL.

Bray comes in with far fewer expectations. He had three losing seasons at Tennessee and came out early. He was ignored in the recent NFL draft and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chiefs.

As a junior Bray threw for 3,612 yards and 34 touchdowns. He benefitted from having wide receivers Cordarrelle Patterson and Justin Hunter. Patterson was drafted by Minnesota with the 29th pick. Hunter quickly followed, grabbed by the Titans in the second round, who moved up six spots to draft him.

It wasn’t Bray’s physical ability that prevented NFL teams from taking him. He had too many red flag issues. He would sulk on the field when things didn’t go his way. He made bad decisions in the passing game. Off the field, his lack of maturity and judgment became a black mark against him. Whether it was throwing beer bottles off an apartment balcony onto parked cars below, or other bone-headed incidents, Bray’s NFL stock dropped off the chart.

“I made a lot of mistakes at Tennessee, a lot of off-the-field issues,’’ Bray told ESPN.com. “That had a lot to do with it. They were just stupid mistakes. I’m here now, I’m a free agent and that’s OK with me.’’

Manning, or Shuler?  It’s all between the ears for Tyler Bray.

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Christmas came early for Titans quarterback Jake Locker.

Thanks to General Manager Ruston Webster, Locker is a beneficiary of an improved supporting cast. Thanks to owner Bud Adams because he gave Webster the money he needed to add free agents and draft picks. Coach Mike Munchak now has the personnel he needs to make the playoffs. There will be no excuses.

Webster and Munchak’s goal was to fill the position meeting rooms with more and better players than they had a year ago when they went 6-10.

“I think it is a way for us to get better as a team if there is competition day in and day out for jobs,’’ Webster said.
 
While they had an offensive line last year that was soft in the middle and lost right tackle David Stewart to a broken leg, they now have an offensive line that, when given the time to gel and get on the same page, is an offensive line that should stack up with other NFL teams.

Left to right on your radio dial will be tackle Michael Roos. He’s a solid veteran and in the top echelon of tackles. Then you have guard Andy Levitre, a coveted free agent they swiped from the Bills. At center look for Fernando Valesquez and rookie Brian Schwenke, to slug it out.
 
At right guard, first-round draft pick Chance Warmack should start as a rookie. The Alabama All-American comes fully credentialed. Stewart is expected to fully recover from his injury and man the right tackle spot.

Before and during the draft, Webster sounded the alarm.

“We’re looking to add competition as every position. No position is out of play for us,’’ he said.

He was true to his word, moving up six spots to take talented, but raw, Tennessee wide receiver Justin Hunter in the second round.

That makes for some nervous veterans in the wide receiver room. They’ve already cut Lavelle Hawkins. Veteran Nate Washington and Kenny Britt are in contract years and need the breakout season that has eluded them. It’s time for holdover Damian Williams and free agent Kevin Walter to get in the mix.

I’d say second year slot receiver Kendall Wright is the only receiver who is safe. They do need someone to fill the shoes of tight end Jared Cook. Craig Stevens is more of a blocking tight end.

Running back Chris Johnson should be the happiest man at Baptist Park. If he can’t run behind this offensive line, well, maybe free agent Shonn Greene can show CJ how it’s done.

“We put a lot of weapons in place to be able to make plays,’’ Munchak said after the draft.

The onus is on Locker to make those plays.

The defense is harder to predict, simply because we don’t know at this point how much influence former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams will wield.

Five of the Titans eight draft picks were on defense and they added some veteran free agent safeties in Bernard Pollard and George Wilson.

The uncertainty on defense makes it even more imperative for the offense to get out of the gate on a roll and allow the defense to come along.

I sense more optimism this year than in the past four or five years. It should be fun to watch.

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Is Tim Tebow finished in the NFL?

It was no disgrace to be let go by the Broncos when they had their eye on Peyton Manning.

And it’s certainly nothing to stain your reputation when the dysfunctional NY Jets cut you loose after one season. Head coach Rex Ryan wouldn’t know a quarterback if one hit him between the eyes on a skinny post route.

Ryan’s prepared statement brought tears to my eyes.

“Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we all had hoped,’’ Ryan said.

Oh, really?

Tebow might get picked up before you read this column Tuesday. Then, again it probably won’t be by an NFL team or he would have already been signed.

It borders on inconceivable that someone who won the Heisman Trophy at Florida and could have won it twice, would be out of work.

His college career was Hollywood material. Tebow had it all. Athletic. Smart. Leadership qualities were off the chart. Females from 8 to 80 loved him. He played on two national championship Florida teams.

But to make it in the NFL long-term, they want you to stay in the pocket to pass. Every time an NFL quarterback runs out of the pocket, coaches gasp and the quarterback’s pro career is shortened.

Tebow never looked comfortable under center, taking  three-five-seven step drops and hitting his receivers in stride. Oh, he worked at it. Is still working at it. But it’s not who Tim Tebow is. He may never be that guy.

He is Rambo in shoulder pads. He is Rocky who gets knocked down and bloodied, limps back to the huddle and launches a game-winning pass. It may flutter. It may float. But in the end, Tim Tebow came out a winner.

He sticks by his guns when asked if he will change positions in order to make another NFL roster. Tim Tebow a tight end? Tim Tebow an H-back? A fullback? A wide receiver? Part of a wildcat package?

No thanks. He firmly believes he was born to play quarterback.

But if Tebow insists on playing quarterback, he will likely have to play in the Canadian Football League, on a wider field with only three downs to make a first down. It worked out for former Oilers quarterback Warren Moon who after honing his skills North of the border came back to become one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks.

The Montreal Alouettes hold the exclusive rights to Tebow.

Or perhaps Tebow could flourish in the Arena Football League, where former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner stocked grocery store aisles and acquired a quick release, one that produced accurate passes and made him a Super Bowl MVP.

The owner of the Orlando Predators Arena team stated Monday that there is a contract waiting for Tebow’s signature. Tebow would be more popular than Mickey Mouse in Orlando. Life could be worse.

It makes one wonder why the Jets ever traded a fourth-round draft pick and $2.5 million to acquire Tebow from Denver in the first place. He was never going to get a fair shake in Gotham City.

If I were Geno Smith, I would rent, not buy. I would get it furnished. The way the Jets toss out quarterbacks like two-week old garbage, I would always be looking behind me.

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Terrorists attacked a major sporting event last week, the Boston Marathon. It was a soft target, virtually impossible for authorities to prevent.

It was an attack pulled off by amateurs compared to lifelong terrorists determined and trained to bring this country to its knees.

If you didn’t believe before Boston that we have terrorists living in our country, our states, cities and neighborhoods, I bet you do now.

What better place for them to strike than a sporting event? College and NFL football stadiums are packed on weekends during football season. More than 100,000 fans attend Tennessee games at Neyland Stadium.

Occasionally, the thought has crossed my mind about what would happen if a planned terrorist attack occurred during a Titans game at LP Field.

The same applies to Bridgestone Arena when they have a sellout crowd for the Predators or an SEC or NCAA basketball tournament.

We live in a much different world than we did before September 11, 2001 when maniacal terrorists hijacked commercial flights and flew the planes into the World Trade Center. They flew a plane into the Pentagon, causing death and destruction to perhaps our country’s most impenetrable building.

Who knows what would have happened if a handful of brave Americans had not overtaken hijackers who were allegedly headed toward Washington, D.C. on another suicide mission? Those American heroes were able to crash the plane into a Pennsylvania field before it could reach its intended target.

Those terrorists were trained to fly in our country. At our flight schools. Under our noses. Most of them weren’t interested in how to take off or land. They just wanted to learn how to fly a plane. How incredibly stupid were those instructors if any of them heard the students say that?

The Boston bombings should change the way we protect sporting events in our country.

Pastor Sam Boyd of Forest Hills Baptist Church ran the Boston Marathon last week with his son-in-law. They finished less than 25 minutes before the first bomb went off, but were only a block away from the start-finish line.

They heard, saw and felt the explosions. The sound was deafening. The ground vibrated. They were part of the chaos that followed.

Reflecting on the situation after he returned home, Sam Boyd said in his Sunday sermon he will never look at a backpack again like he did before the blasts killed and maimed the most innocent of runners and spectators.

An American tradition turned into an American tragedy.

Whether we admit it or not, the war we are involved in going forward is a war on terrorism. Fought with no rules. No conscience.

How could the now captured and wounded 19-year-old terrorist drop the bag he was carrying so close to a family that lost their eight-year-old son, took a leg from his six-year-old sister and seriously wounded their mother?

All of us better wake up, pay attention to everything and everybody around us. Terrorist cells are here. They are determined to kill, many of them radical Islamics who profess their highest calling is to give their lives and kill others in the name of Allah.

I don’t care if I have to get strip-searched at Titans games or any other sporting event. You shouldn’t either. If it will stop another deadly attack, it will be well worth it.

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The 77th Masters had more twists and turns than a Grand Prix layout.

Tiger Woods, the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world was penalized two shots Saturday for a rules violation he committed Friday.

Many golf observers were touting him to win last week despite the fact Woods had not won a major in five years. It has been eight years since he won a Masters.

They were convinced Woods had righted his yacht, gotten his life under control and was ready to show the world he is still tracking Jack Nicklaus, who has 18 majors on his profile, compared to Woods’ 14.

It would have been more interesting had not Woods messed up on Friday, when his shot at 15 hit the pin and caromed back into the water. It could have just as easily been a birdie, but he turned it into a bogey, a probably two-shot turn of events.

Woods contemplated where to drop his ball. He nixed dropping in the designated drop area, instead returning to his divot.

But he chose to drop the ball a full two yards behind the divot, apparently not aware that the rules don’t allow that. Neither Woods’ caddie, nor his playing partner, noticed a rules violation.

The Masters Rules Committee received what they termed an anonymous call Friday, claiming Woods had taken his drop beyond what was permitted. The committee studied the tapes and found no violation. But in a TV interview later, Woods admitted that he dropped two yards behind the divot to get the same shot.

The Rules Committee reviewed the evidence and retroactively docked Woods two strokes. Until two years ago, Woods would have been disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. But due to a new rule (33.7) Woods was allowed to play the final round because the rules officials were asleep at the wheel.

I believe Woods honestly did not know the rule. Bet he does now. I don’t think he knowingly did what he did to gain an advantage. Even if he did, he still had to make the shot.

Belmont basketball coach Rick Byrd is the most honest golfer I know and a stickler for following the rules of golf.

“When I heard (Woods) interview, I felt I should have caught that," Byrd said Monday. “It has been very interesting to follow and understand it.

“I’m not a Tiger Woods fan. I don’t pull for him, but I think what he ultimately did was by the rules. He accepted the penalty. I think what everybody did was OK and by the rules."

It’s an argument that will carry over for some time. Old Guard pros said Woods should have withdrawn to protect the integrity of the game. No one on the Masters Rules Committee asked Woods any questions before he signed his scorecard. If it had not been what Woods said during the TV interview, there would have been nothing done.

If he had not incurred the two-shot penalty, Woods would have been in the mix Sunday when the leaders were at 7-under. As long as Woods believes he has a chance to win, he is capable of producing miracles on the course.

I have always admired Tiger Woods the golfer. I no longer have good things to say about Tiger Woods the person. But in the end, I think it was a fair penalty.

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They opened the Augusta National Golf Course gates early Monday morning, as patrons ushered in the first day of practice rounds.

By all accounts, this year promises to be one of the most sought after Masters badges ever.

You have Tiger Woods trying to prove he is back, after going through a divorce brought on by his numerous well-publicized illicit affairs. It’s been seven years since Woods won a green jacket. It’s the longest time between victories than in any of the other three majors.

Closer to home, there are two intriguing storylines that will play out this week at the Masters.

Will former Montgomery Bell Academy and Vanderbilt product Brandt Snedeker be able to return to his winning ways after missing five weeks on the PGA Tour with medical problems?

How will Hendersonville amateur Steven Fox fare in his first Masters? Fox came out of nowhere to win last year’s U.S. Amateur, earning the Chattanooga senior his spot in the Masters field. He is paired in the first two rounds with Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson.

There is another Nashvillian scheduled to be part of Masters Week Wednesday.

David Meador is a three-time winner of the National Blind Golf Championship. Meador is to receive the Ben Hogan Courage Award at Wednesday night’s Golf Writer’s Association of America’s annual awards dinner.

Meador has continued his competitive golf after having to fight two types of cancer over the years. Having known Meador for years, I guarantee the golf writers group it could never pick a more humble and deserving recipient.

Meador doesn’t have to take a back seat to anyone when it comes to being successful in life.

Having been left totally blind after an automobile accident when he was an 18-year-old freshman at Southern Illinois University, Meador was urged by his father to return to a sport he loved growing up.

Prior to his accident, Meador was a 5-handicap and recorded two holes-in-one. He has since added a third.

After 20 years as one of Northwest Mutual’s most productive agents in Nashville, Meador has also written an autobiography and traveled the country as a motivational speaker.

He accepted his fate and turned it into a positive. He and his wife of 41 years, Connie, have raised two children. A keen sense of humor has helped Meador through the rough times.

He often jokes that he only plays golf at night.  The courses are less crowded then.

Paired with him in a night golf tournament years ago, I hit my first of the two illuminated golf balls in the water on my first tee shot. Six holes to play with one golf ball was not my idea of a fun round.

I told Meador I admired him even more after seeing how difficult it was to play the game without seeing the ball.

He laughed, telling me every round he plays is in the dark.

Jokes aside, Meador confronted Hodgkins Disease when he was 24 years old. When he was 54, he added stage 3 colorectal cancer to his medical obstacles.

Nothing has taken away an ounce of Meador’s deep love of golf.

That’s why the Ben Hogan Courage Award is apropos for David Meador. Others who preceded him in winning this award include Tom Watson, Judy Rankin, Ken Green, Dennis Watson, Hubert Green, the late Bruce Edwards, Casey Martin and Paul Azinger.

They should be honored to share the award with David Meador.

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When Louisville guard Kevin Ware jumped in an attempt to block or alter a 3-point shot by Duke’s Tyler Thornton, he had no sense of what would happen.

Ware came down awkwardly on the floor without making any contact with Thornton, but there was a sickening sound as his leg snapped in two places right in front of Louisville’s bench.

Part of the tibia broke through the skin and was so gruesome, CBS officials decided not to keep showing the accident. They have now banned any other outlet from showing it.

How bad was it?

Louisville-based columnist Rick Bozich texted me, saying: “Worst I’ve ever seen in basketball. Several inches of bone were sticking out of his leg.’’

Bozich has seen as much basketball as anyone this side of Dick “Hoops’’ Weiss with the New York Daily News.

It was reminiscent of Joe Theismann’s injury, when his leg snapped after being hit by Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor during a 1985 Monday Night Football game. But that injury was caused by the hit Theisman sustained. Ware touched no one.

Theismann was watching the game Sunday at his Virginia home. He had a unpleasant flashback.

“My world came to a complete stop,’’ Theismann told USA Today. “It was just a horrible, horrible thing to see happen. I hate to see anybody have an injury that is anywhere near anything I went through.’’

Ware underwent two hours of surgery at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis to re-set the bone and prevent possible infection. Doctors inserted a steel rod in his tibia to aid in recovery.

Louisville Coach Rick Pitino said it was similar to the injury former Louisville running back Michael Bush sustained and noted that Bush is now playing in the NFL. Bush did have to sit out his senior year at UL, as well as his rookie year with the Raiders before he could return.

Like Theismann, Bush was watching the game on TV. Like everyone else, Bush was sickened by what he saw.

“Oohhh (crap). I just cried. I feel so bad. Flashback of myself. Anyone, if he needs anything please let me know,’’ Bush tweeted.

“I can’t even get myself together. I don’t even wanna watch the rest of this game.’’

So while there is hope that Ware’s basketball future will resume in time, there will be months of healing and rehab ahead.

Theismann never played again. There are no guarantees Ware will, although he has youth on his side.

It cast a morbid pall over Lucas Oil Stadium. From fans of both Duke and Louisville, to Pitino and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and their players, it caused everyone to pause and grieve for Ware.

Some Louisville players collapsed on the floor, sobbing with their hands covering their faces. Pitino wiped away tears, as did Krzyzewski.

During every timeout after the accident, the Louisville players chanted, “Bring Kevin Home.’’ They held themselves together long enough to secure the 85-63 win and punch their ticket to Atlanta.

Atlanta is Kevin Ware’s hometown. If he can travel, Ware will join Louisville at the Final Four. He played at Rockdale County High School and originally signed with Tennessee.

But with the coaching change to Cuonzo Martin, Ware asked for, and was granted a release from the Vols. He then signed with Louisville.

Fate changed Ware’s life with no warning – a lesson for all.

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I don’t know about you, but this NCAA Tournament has been one of the more whacked out, unpredictable tournaments in recent years.

Everyone looks for 12-seeds to upset 5-seeds. We saw three of the four 12-seeds advancing.

The one I enjoyed most was when Ole Miss whipped Wisconsin. I am not sure which college basketball coach has the more sour disposition -- Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim or Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan. At least Boeheim shows a sense of humor every lunar eclipse or so.

Ryan could not have been more condescending when interviewed by a network reporter at the end of the first half of the Ole Miss game. You could tell she would have preferred being locked up in Gitmo rather than talking to Ryan.

Ryan must have been preoccupied by the halftime adjustments he would make. They turned out to be nothing short of brilliant. Ole Miss, led by the mercurial Marshall Henderson, bullied Ryan’s Badgers, 35-21, in the final 20 minutes. Nice job, coach.

You also had to enjoy 14-seed Harvard’s TKO over New Mexico. Coach Steve Alford’s team was the national media’s darling to go deep in the tournament. They suckered me in, as I had them a Sweet 16 team. Oh, well. My bracket was pretty much toast by that time. 

We didn’t see a 1-seed go down to a 16-seed for the first time in the history of the tournament since seeding began, but Western Kentucky was leading top seed Kansas, 31-30, at halftime. The Hilltoppers had some chances in the second half, but came up short.

We did see a 15-seed eliminate a 2-seed as Florida Gulf Coast advanced to this week’s Sweet 16. I confess, I had no clue where Florida Gulf Coast is located. I bet 2-seed Georgetown didn’t either. After getting sent home after their first game, the Hoyas will have plenty of time to study up on the fellas from Fort Myers.

Florida Gulf Coast has become the story of the tournament. To say they love to get up and down the floor is like saying it’s cold at the North Pole. By beating Georgetown and 7-seed San Diego State to set up a Sweet 16 game against Florida, the Eagles (bet you didn’t know that, either) averaged 23 points a game in transition.

La Salle is another Cinderella team, having beaten three teams, including Ole Miss, to make the Sweet 16 as a 13-seed. That’s an indicator of how much parity is alive and well in college basketball.

While the underdogs are having some success, the top seeds are holding their own going into the Sweet 16 rounds.

The only No. 1 seed to go home was Gonzaga. For years, the Zags were considered a mid-major program. No longer. The Tournament Selection team let them put on their Big Boy pants by awarding them a No. 1 seed.

They lasted one game, beating SWAC champion Southern, before Michigan State took them out in the second round.

The Big Ten was considered the premier conference this season and that is holding up so far. They have a No. 1 seed (Indiana), a No. 2 seed (Ohio State), a No. 3 seed (Michigan State) and a No. 4 (Michigan). They are all in different brackets. Don’t be surprised to see a heavy Big 10 presence in the Final Four.

Now, to the next two rounds. Fasten your seatbelt.

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How long has it been since Middle Tennessee State’s men’s basketball team played in the NCAA Tournament?

So long that current Blue Raider Kerry Hammonds Jr.’s father was on the last MTSU team to make the tournament field.

So long ago that none of the current Blue Raiders players were even born.

So long ago the Blue Raiders have had three coaches since Bruce Stewart’s 1989 team upset Florida State in the tournament.

David Farrar couldn’t do it. Neither could Randy Wiel. It has taken current coach Kermit Davis 10 years to take them back to the Big Dance.

But tonight in Dayton, Ohio, the Blue Raiders take on Saint Mary’s of California in one of four play-in games to be played Tuesday and Wednesday. Both teams are vying for an 11 seed in the Midwest Regional. The winner will play 6-seed Memphis at Auburn Hills, Mich.

The at-large bid didn’t come without Raider Nation sweating it out. Having lost to Florida International in the Sun Belt Conference semi-finals, MTSU had to rely on its regular season credentials to impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee. It’s always a risky proposition.

They posted a 28-5 record, including a 19-1 Sun Belt regular season championship. Their RPI rating is 29. Their strength of non-conference schedule is sixth.

The three non-conference games they lost were to Florida, Akron and Belmont. All three teams won their conference regular season championships and all three were road games for MTSU.

Also factored in their favor was the fact that no team has ever won 28 games and been excluded from the NCAA Tournament.

But without the automatic bid, they had to wait a week to learn their fate. The days grew longer. The palms were clammy.

Davis gave a tweet out to fellow college coaches whose teams seek publicity.

He told them the best way he knew to get national attention was to become a bubble team. Then you will be talked about for a solid week before Selection Sunday.

MTSU drew a tough first game against Saint Mary’s, a California school whose team is one of the top offensive teams in the country. They are guard oriented, which is always a plus in the postseason.

But MTSU is deep at every position. They play a lot of players and keep the defensive pressure turned up, not worried about incurring foul trouble.

And, if they should defeat Saint Mary’s, the Blue Raiders will find themselves playing Thursday against 6-seed Memphis, led by former All-State high school guard Joe Jackson. Not the shoeless one.

Unlike a lot of NCAA Tournaments, there doesn’t seem to be a dominant team, or teams, in this field.

While MTSU is one of eight teams playing in the First Four, it should take notice and use it as inspiration.

In 2011, Virginia Commonwealth and Coach Shaka Smart made it from the First Four to the Final Four. If Dayton was golden for VCU, why not MTSU? It’s been done before.

Davis talked before heading to the conference tournament about how his team went through the season with only one conference loss.

“Our motto has been that we are re-creating our identity every day – day to day, practice to practice, week to week," Davis said.

“This is going to be hectic. It’s a quick turnaround, but it’s just as quick for Saint Mary’s."

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Out of the thousands of high school basketball players in Tennessee, only a small percentage will be in Murfreesboro this week for the boys state tournament. It’s the closest thing to true amateur sports we have left.

It is estimated that approximately two percent of those who play high school athletics go on to play college sports. For most of the players you will see this week, it will be the final games of their careers.

Players who won Most Valuable Player awards in past state tournaments reads like a who’s who in state basketball circles.

Brentwood Academy’s Brandan Wright won MVP honors four straight years in the Division II state tournament. He is currently playing in the NBA.

White Station’s Joe Jackson was MVP of the 2009 Division I Class AAA tournament. He is the University of Memphis’ top player and will be in the NCAA Tournament.

Vanderbilt signed former state tournament MVP players Mike Rhodes, Jason Holwerda, Charles Davis and Kevin Anglin.

Tennessee got MVPs Dane Bradshaw, Vincent Yarbrough, Tony Harris, Tyler Smith, Aaron Green, Stanley Caldwell, Lang Wiseman, Jimmy England, Doug Atkins and Carlus Groves.

Other names familiar to basketball fans are Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, Tony Delk, "Cannon" Whitby, Kirk Haston, Sylvester Gray, Trey Pearson, Willie Kemp, Elston Turner Sr., Ron Huery, Malcom Mackey, Anthony Roberts, Richard Fuqua and Bobby Parks, just to name a few.

Four teams have won a state-leading six state championships – Bolton, Perry County, Memphis East and Montgomery Bell Academy. Ensworth has now won four of the last five Division II Class AA state championships with guard Corn Elder winning three straight MVP honors.

Personally, I remember the 1960 state champion Hampton Bulldogs. There were no classifications at that time. You played District, Regional and State tournaments. Often times a small school would have to beat a school that was three or four times larger in enrollment.

Hampton was one of those small schools. Their coach was the legendary Buck Van Huss. The school had no football team and every basketball player had a key to the gym. They practically lived there.

Their tallest player was maybe 6-3. They pressed full court the entire game and could shoot the lights out. That year they went 44-4 and won the state championship game at Vanderbilt. Players on that team included Willie Malone, Wesley Forbes, Jerry White and Cotton Nave. Malone had a deadly two-hand set shot, a popular shot in those days.

They were the "Hoosiers" before the movie. Van Huss would move to Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett where he produced several state tournament teams.

This week, there will two area schools in the tournament that will be experiencing their first state tournament.

Watertown is 30-3 and will compete in the Class A division. It is the first time to make the state tournament in the history of the school, dating back more than 100 years.

The Class AAA Brentwood Bruins are also first-timers, but their school is only 30 years old.

They need to let the whole experience soak in. The players don’t realize it, but the young kids in their cities think they are larger than life. Those kids will remember those players’ names years from now, just like I remember that Hampton team.

They should feel honored to be a part of what so few high school athletes will ever experience.

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Three TN teams should make it
This state has three basketball teams that should make the NCAA Tournament. All three – Belmont, Memphis and MTSU – are enjoying outstanding seasons.

Belmont is 24-6 and won the OVC regular season with a 14-2 record. It was the Bruins first season in the OVC.

Middle Tennessee is 27-4 overall and won the Sun Belt regular season with a 19-1 record. The Blue Raiders will move to Conference-USA next season. Memphis is 25-4 overall and finished 14-0 in C-USA play. The Tigers are bound for the Big East Conference.

So, how would you rank these teams in order? It’s difficult, because they play in different conferences and don’t have many head-to-head games.

There is no right answer, no wrong answer, but I would  rank Memphis the best team of the three. The Tigers are No. 19 in the AP poll. Belmont and MTSU are among teams receiving votes for the Top 25.

Memphis has three players averaging double figures, led by guard Joe Jackson at 13.9. He also leads in assists with 4.8 per game and shoots 75 percent from the free throw stripe. Close behind Jackson is another West Tennessee product, Adonis Thomas. He averages 11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and hits 76.5 percent of his free throws.

The Tigers lost to Virginia Commonwealth, Minnesota and Louisville in December and at Xavier by two points Feb. 26. That snapped an 18-game win streak. They also beat state rival Tennessee in Knoxville by five points.

The Tigers have an RPI of 19, followed by Belmont at 23 and MTSU at 24. Those are outstanding RPI’s.

Memphis is 2-3 against teams in the top 50 RPI rankings. Belmont is 1-2 against top 50, but an impressive 1-1 against top 25. MTSU is 0-3 against the top 50.

In strength of schedule rankings, Belmont leads with a 73. Memphis has a 74 SOS while MTSU shows up at 131.

I would rank Belmont second behind Memphis. The Bruins run Coach Rick Byrd’s system, which favors a fast pace and an offense that puts four players on the perimeter looking for open 3’s.

Belmont beat Stanford on the road, 70-62, for its signa- ture win. They also beat Ohio by 19 points in a recent  bracket-buster game. 

The Bruins have more trouble with larger, more athletic opponents. Their only two OVC losses came at Murray State and Tennessee State. Tournament play demands strong guard play and Belmont’s Ian Clark and Kerron Johnson fill that order. Clark leads in scoring (18.1), while Johnson averages 13.5 points. Both can handle, shoot and play the point.

MTSU’s success is team depth. They average 71 points a game and Marcos Knight is the only Blue Raider averaging double figures (12.6). Coach Kermit Davis suffered his only loss in Sun Belt play at Arkansas State in overtime.

MTSU knocked off Ole Miss by three in December, then lost its next game at Belmont, 64-49, in a game where the Blue Raiders’ offense never found a rhythm.

All three teams should make the NCAA Tournament, even though historically, the OVC and Sun Belt have not gotten a second team in.

Frankly, I prefer the tournaments where only the champion gets a bid. Memphis can lose in the C-USA tournament and still get to the Big Dance.

I predict all three teams will make it, but in March there are no guarantees.

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It was a day of firsts at Daytona International Speedway.

It was the first time a female driver finished in the top 10 of the legendary Daytona 500.

It was the first time racing on the newly resurfaced 3.1-mile tri-oval track.

It was the first time racing 500 miles in NASCAR’s new Gen-6 cars.

Was it a perfect race? Winner Jimmie Johnson thought so, but perfect races don’t exist, especially on superspeedways. This was no exception.

The drivers were anxious to race, but in the back of everyone’s mind was the horrific crash during Saturday night’s Nationwide race that sent nearly 30 fans to Halifax Hospital and other local emergency rooms.

The catch fence did its job. Barely. It did prevent even more parts and debris from going into the stands, but a tire and other dangerous objects were hurled over the fence and into the stands like missiles. One fan said it resembled a war zone.

Unless the drivers had been instructed to say nothing but good things about the new cars, most comments were positive. Like anything new, tweaking is standard procedure.

Racing two and three together at speeds as high as 200 miles per hour on the backstretch demands a driver’s undivided attention. They found out that when the cars are side-by-side, the air produces a negative drafting effect that needs to be addressed.

But since NASCAR had proclaimed the new cars to be the best thing since Barney Oldfield was racing his Lightning Benz up and down the packed sands of Daytona Beach, it was impossible to match expectations.

Was there hard racing as when the Hueytown gang of Allisons, Cale Yarbrough, David Pearson and Richard Petty were bringing the sport into the mainstream? No. Not a lot of swapping metal, no punches in the infield.

They were reluctant to mix it up very much, and over the last 10 laps only Dale Earnhardt Jr. could gain significant ground to finish second.

Pole sitter Danica Patrick was content to ride along in third place in the faster upper portion of the track while those on the bottom part of the track found it difficult to pass each other and catch up to the field.

Patrick admitted she didn’t know what to do when those around her made their moves to improve. She basically froze and that comes from having never been in that position before. Inexperience is a frightful thing on the high banks of Daytona. She will get better in her Go Daddy car.

She led some laps earlier in the race, didn’t embarrass herself and didn’t cause mayhem on the track during the run for the checkered flag. She settled for eighth place, a solid day.

The race gave the experts something to work off of now. It will be a work in progress as they tinker with the aerodynamics, handling and horsepower. Next comes working out the kinks on shorter tracks, as they are two different animals.

But it was unanimous around the garage area that the new cars are so much better than the joke NASCAR called the cars of tomorrow, it’s not even funny.

It can’t help but make the racing better and that is what everyone desires.

It’s a start, a good start at that.

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It was 2002 and MTSU was looking for a basketball coach to replace Randy Wiel.

Then Athletics Director Boots Donnelly had moved from the football field to run the department.

It would be the first basketball coach Boots had hired. If you know Boots, it wasn’t his favorite sport. Boots had always been street smart. He realized he needed to do his research.

He called me during the Final Four and wanted my opinion on Kermit Davis Jr. He had interviewed Davis and liked everything about him. But. For Boots, it was a big but. He was worried about Davis having run afoul of the NCAA when he was head coach at Idaho. The rules violations put Davis one step away from a coaching grave.

I remember telling Boots he shouldn’t worry about it. Davis would be the safest hire in the country. Why was that, he asked.

Because, I told him, Kermit knows if he even thinks about breaking a rule, he could be banned from coaching for life.             
And coaching basketball is all over Kermit’s DNA. His father, Kermit Sr., had been Mississippi State’s head coach and was highly respected. Kermit grew up around the game. The threat of losing that would allow Boots to sleep at night.
Boots brought Davis to Murfreesboro. Now in his 11th season, Davis not only has more wins (203) in MTSU history, but more than any coach in the Sun Belt Conference. His 113 victories are the most in that league’s history, one ahead of South Alabama’s Ronnie Arrow.

Davis has proven to be the perfect fit.

He has really been in a groove the past two seasons. Davis is riding a hand so hot a Las Vegas pit boss would ask him to leave the casino.

MTSU has won 16 of its last 17 games. The Blue Raiders have won a dozen games in a row, have an overall record of 23-4 and are leading the Sun Belt with a 15-1 record.

“This is the closest team I’ve had since I’ve been here," Davis said Monday. “They play with an edge and toughness. We have depth and it is an unselfish team.

“I think a lot of that unselfishness started with LaRon Dendy last year," Davis said of last year’s Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, now playing professionally in Greece. “He could score six points and be happy if we won and that’s the way this team is.

“I think they have taken on my personality. This season has been great. I grew up in this stuff."

As his team continues to rack up wins, Davis is putting up other numbers.

The 12-game winning streak is the fourth longest winning in school history. Their current RPI is 25, better than every SEC team except Florida’s.

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has them projected as a 12-seed in the NCAA Tournament. They need to win the Sun Belt tournament to get an automatic bid. If they keep winning, it will be hard to keep them out.

“I think we have a great chance based on our RPI. We have the second most wins in the country and the committee likes teams playing well at the end," Davis said.

An NCAA bid would be the first since the late Bruce Stewart years and a perfect farewell to the Sun Belt on their way to Conference USA next season.

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Brandt Snedeker is spending this week in Maui. No, not playing golf. The PGA Tour star is taking a well-deserved family vacation.

Life is good. For Snedeker, it’s great. He is one of the hottest golfers in the game right now.

Numbers don’t lie. The former Montgomery Bell Academy and Vanderbilt golfer has played five tournaments this season.

He won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Sunday by two strokes. He jumped from sixth to fourth in the World rankings, trailing only Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Luke Donald.

Snedeker has put 10 straight rounds together in the 60s. Sixteen of his 19 rounds have been in the 60s. He is an incredible 82 strokes under par in the five tournaments.

“It’s just hard to put into words, to have a stretch of golf like I had the last couple of months, something you dream about, something you think that you can do, but you don’t really know until you actually put it together and I have," Snedeker said in a press conference after winning the fifth PGA Tour tournament in his career.

If it’s consistency you value, don’t go any further than Snedeker’s start this season.

He was third at the Tournament of Champions with rounds of 70-70-69. He tied for 23rd at Humana’s tournament at PGA West with rounds of 67-68-67-67. That’s 19-under par.

The last three tournaments have really boosted Snedeker’s confidence, not to mention his bank account.

He finished second to Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines. He was second the next week to Phil Mickelson at Phoenix. With a closing round 65 Sunday, he played Pebble Beach in 19-under par.

With a birdie on the par-3 No. 17 hole Sunday, Snedeker went to the 18th tee with a two shot lead. Patiently waiting out a delay, Snedeker took time to let the moment sink in.

“There’s not a much better place to be on the planet with a two-shot lead on that tee box,’’ Snedeker said. “It was a nice feeling."

It didn’t hurt that Snedeker was playing with Nashville businessman Toby Wilt all week. Wilt endowed a golf scholarship at Vanderbilt. The first recipient was Snedeker. The fact they got to take the pro-am trophy home after tying for first was icing on the cake.

“We played hundreds of rounds of golf together," Snedeker said of Wilt, who played football and golf at Vanderbilt. “He knew what to say when I was kind of hurting and not playing my best and he knew what to say when I was playing great.

“We had a lot of fun talking about everything but what we were doing. … I wanted to make sure that we both walked out of here with a trophy and for us to do that was a very special thing."

The two will be reunited in April at the Masters, a tournament Snedeker would rather win than any other. Wilt, an Augusta National member, announces the pairings on the first tee.

It’s the site of Snedeker’s biggest disappointment and he’s looking forward to making it his biggest achievement.

“I’ve gone in there in the past thinking I can contend. This year I’m going in knowing that I can contend and knowing that winning is not a farfetched idea," he said.

“It’s very much a reality."

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It may not have been the most flawless Super Bowl, but it was top tier in my book when it came to excitement and action, both on and off the football field.

Off the field, kudos to whoever made it happen for the Sandy Hook Elementary School students to sing just prior to kickoff. To see those young kids, full of life and innocence, makes you wonder how on earth anyone could ever shoot and kill some of their classmates.

I also enjoyed the National Anthem, performed by Alicia Keys. It wasn’t the way Francis Scott Key intended it to be sung, but hardly anyone sings it that way anymore. I think because they are singing it at the Super Bowl, they have to inject all these extraneous notes.

Beyonce was her bouncy, dancing machine self during halftime and far better than some of the retreads the NFL has trotted out there in the past.

It was unfortunate the Superdome experienced a blackout during the game. It covered approximately half the field and took 34 minutes to regain full power. Everyone seems to be passing the buck for how it happened. I heard a cluster of squirrels providing the power had a 30-minute break in its union contract.

Now to the game, which drew a preliminary 52.5 rating in the Nashville market. That means 596,761 local homes saw all or part of the game. That beat the overnight rating (48.1) from a selection of big cities. It was the most watched TV event in U.S. history.

Viewers saw the quarterback of the future in San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick. He is 6-4 with a powerful arm and an ability to run, which he did seven times for 62 yards and a touchdown. Kaepernick threw for 302 yards, with one interception. Remarkable numbers, as this was only his 10th NFL game as a starter.

To coincide with Kaepernick’s start, we perhaps saw the NFL offense of the future. That may be a stretch as the NFL is slow to change from a pocket passing offense. The 49ers read option offense requires a quarterback who can pass/run and make split second decisions.

I saw more imagination in the 49ers offense than I have seen from the Titans since they came to town. Locker may be an inch shorter and a little lighter on the scales than Kaepernick, but Locker has proven he can run. But that is another column for another day.

Kaepernick was not widely known going into the 2011 draft. He was the sixth quarterback taken that year and lasted until the fourth pick of the second round, one spot behind Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton. Locker was the No. 8 pick that season, the second quarterback taken behind No. 1 draft pick Cam Newton.

We also saw the value in the traditional NFL offense with Baltimore’s Joe Flacco. It was Flacco who earned MVP honors Sunday night. The fifth year pro plays with a steady hand and is Joe Unflappable.

He finished the season with a remarkable 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions in four playoff games.

It wasn’t a perfectly played game, but then Super Bowl games never are. The pressure is enormous.

Just when you thought the Ravens would run away with it, the 49ers made it a game. And what a game it was.

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