Golf is a sport which is sometimes embroiled in turmoil and controversy because of disqualifications and penalties in tournaments. What is refreshing about those violations is that they are frequently self-imposed by the golfers, honoring the tradition of a game where the players police themselves. Jim Furyk, the number six player in the world, was barred from last week's first FedEx Cup playoff-----for oversleeping the day before The Barclays event started in New Jersey. [caption id="attachment_8207" align="alignnone" width="190" caption="Jim Furyk"][/caption] Furyk missed his 7:30 a.m. tee-off time in the pro-am. He set a wake-up call on his mobile phone which he uses as an alarm clock, but the power ran out during the night. Jim was five minutes late and had no way to be on the 11th tee when his group took off. The PGA tour has a strict rule regarding pros participating with amateurs the day before a tourney. Only an injury or a family emergency is acceptable as an excuse. The top 54 available players on the points list are required by the PGA Tour to compete in pro-ams of tournaments in which they have entered. The Players Championship is the only one without a pro-am. It's understandable why they have this rule. A major portion of the annual charitable proceeds come from the revenue a pro-am brings. These amateurs pay a lot of money to have the right to play 18 holes and ride in a golf cart with a professional this one day. It's five hours or more of personal contact with a sports celebrity, and that is not usually possible except in golf. Furyk said, "I've got no one to blame but myself. The rules are rules. I'm kicking myself." [caption id="attachment_8208" align="alignnone" width="176" caption="Phil Mickelson"][/caption] However, the number 2 ranked golfer in the world, Phil Mickelson, was sharply critical, calling the rule "inherently unfair." Mickelson said, "If you're going to have a rule that does not apply to everybody, because not everybody played the pro-am, you cannot have it affect the competition. It's got to be a different penalty. It's not protecting the players or the sponsors. I cannot disagree with it more. I have no idea how the commissioner let this rule go through. It's ridiculous." Over the years, there have been numerous cases where professional golfers have been penalized. The most infamous occurred in the final round of the 1968 Masters. Roberto De Vincenzo made a birdie 3 on the 17th hole, but his playing partner Tommy Aaron put down a 4. Neither man caught the mistake and when the Argentine signed his incorrect scorecard, he missed a chance to be in a playoff for the green jacket. Not using the proper golf ball has cost several tour players. In 1996, Greg Norman was using a legal ball at Hartford, but for the lack of one digit, a zero, on the balls he had used in the first two rounds, he disqualified himself. There was a different stamping on his golf ball. Attempting to qualify for the 2009 PGA tour, J. P. Hayes discovered that on two shots on one hole, he had unwittingly used a prototype golf ball not approved for competition. No one would have known and a full-time spot on the tour was on the line, but J. P. turned himself in and was disqualified. In June of 2009, Paul Azinger disqualified himself for playing a nonconforming ball due to a label issue. The ball had become nonconforming only a few days before. Television viewers have been responsible for disqualifications. In 1987 at San Diego, Craig Stadler had a shot land against a tree trunk on muddy ground. In order to take the shot, Stadler needed to get down on his knees. He laid a towel on the ground and kneeled on it. That constituted a breach of USGA Rule 13:3, which prohibits a player from "building a stance." A fan reported the violation from his home, and Craig learned after signing his scorecard that he had not finished second. It cost him $ 37, 000. In 1991, another TV watcher turned in Azinger for moving a loose impediment while in a water hazard at Doral. That was Rule 13-4 (c), and only a slight variation on Dustin Johnson's recent mistake which cost him a place in the PGA tournament playoff. Johnson twice tapped the earth in a beaten-down scrub brush on the 18th hole, breaking the rule which states, "The player must not touch the ground in the hazard." Lady professionals are not immune to alert watchers of the tube. A week ago last Saturday, a fan watching an LPGA event in Oregon e-mailed tournament officals that Juli Inkster had committed a violation. [caption id="attachment_8209" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Juli Inkster"][/caption] The 50-year-old Hall of Famer was disqualified for using a weighted device to warm up while waiting at the 10th tee. Rule 14.3 bars the use of practice devices during rounds, specifically weighted "doughnuts." Inkster was three strokes behind as she made a bid to become the oldest golfer to win an LPGA tournament. Veteran PGA tour professional Tom Kite once commented about self-imposed disqualifications. "I don't think you'll see that in other sports. People set those standards long before us, and it's expected of us. And we expect it from the younger players."

It's here ! College football season begins this week with most teams opening their schedules on Saturday. Who are the teams to beat in the race for the national championship? There are two facts to keep in mind before we preview the experts' choices. 1. In the last decade, four teams played in the National Championship Game which had lost four or more games the previous season. Three of those schools lost five. 2. Only 10 of the 60 previous Associated Press preseason number 1 teams won the national title. Just two schools------Florida State in 1999 and USC in 2004------have held the top spot for the entire season. [caption id="attachment_8202" align="alignnone" width="245" caption="(AP Photo/Paul Connors)"][/caption]

PREDICTIONS

Pre-Season Magazines:

Yahoo! Sports	Athlon	Sporting News	Lindy's	Phil Steele's
1. ALABAMA	ALABAMA	ALABAMA	ALABAMA	OKLAHOMA
2. OHIO STATE	FLORIDA	OHIO STATE	BOISE STATE	OHIO STATE
3. BOISE STATE	USC	BOISE STATE	OHIO STATE	ALABAMA
4. OREGON	BOISE STATE	MIAMI ( Fla. )	TEXAS	TCU
5. NEBRASKA	OKLAHOMA	FLORIDA	FLORIDA	NEBRASKA

Sports Illustrated

1. ALABAMA
2. OHIO STATE
3. BOISE STATE
4. TEXAS
5. TCU

Major Polls:

Associated Press	USA TODAY
1. ALABAMA (54)	ALABAMA ( 55 )
2. OHIO STATE ( 3 )	OHIO STATE ( 4 )
3. BOISE STATE ( 1 )	FLORIDA
4. FLORIDA	TEXAS
5. TEXAS ( 1 )	BOISE STATE

It's hard to believe, but the last time Alabama was first on the AP preseason poll was 1978 when Bear Bryant was coaching. The Tide can become the first school to win consecutive AP titles three times. Oklahoma and Nebraska also have accomplished it twice. The Southeastern Conference has six teams and the Atlantic Coast Conference five in the AP preseason rankings of the top 25 schools. USC is rated number 14 by The Associated Press, the first time outside the Top 10 since 2002.

One of the most heart-warming stories in thoroughbred racing this year occurred a week ago Saturday in Chicago. [caption id="attachment_8194" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Dick Duchossois"][/caption] 89-year-old Dick Duchossois is the chairman of Arlington Park, and one of the Grade 1 races at his racetrack is the $ 750, 000 Beverly D., named in honor of his first wife, Beverly, who died of cancer in 1980. Duchossois had tried to win the race for fillies and mares in 1991, 1992 and 2006 with horses he owned, but came up short every time. Last fall, Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally called Duchossois from France and told him he had seen a smart-looking filly that had only been in five races there, but had two firsts, a second and a third. McAnally said, "She's very feminine, very alert, has all the credentials, and everything about her is class." [caption id="attachment_8195" align="alignnone" width="125" caption="Ron McAnally"][/caption] Duchossois gave Ron the green light to buy Eclair de Lune which he did for $ 365, 000 at the Arqana Arc Sale at Longchamp. In the 21st running of the Beverly D. on August 21, jockey Junior Alvarado had Eclair de Lune running second with less than an eighth-mile remaining in the 1 3/16-mile grass race. Then, she took command and won by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:56.56 on good turf. As the fourth choice in a field of nine, the 4-year-old German-bred filly based in California paid $ 14.80 to win. Dick had tears in his eyes as he made his way through the stands to the winner's circle as fans gave him a standing ovation. How much did the victory mean to him? Duchossois put it this way, "I'd rather win this race than the Kentucky Derby." McAnally was equally jubilant, and remarked, "I'd rather have won this race than another Arlington Million" which he did with the legendary John Henry, the only two-time victor in the 28-year history of the Million. "We looked for many years, trying to find a horse to win this race. This is a great thrill because I wanted so much for Dick to win this special race.

Won't it be ironic, if in his final at bat with the Dodgers, Manny Ramirez was ejected by an umpire after one pitch as a pinch-hitter with the bases loaded? Will Ramirez go to the White Sox before the Tuesday deadline to make him eligible for the playoffs if Chicago qualifies? In Denver on Sunday, the Rockies were ahead 8-2 in the sixth inning when the Dodgers put three men on base with one out. Ramirez came off the bench to hit. He and Alex Rodriguez each have 21 career grandslams, two behind record-holder Lou Gehrig. Plate umpire Gary Cederstrom called the first pitch a strike, Manny complained, and was kicked out of the game. Reed Johnson then replaced Ramirez and grounded into a double play. [caption id="attachment_8185" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Manny Ramirez"][/caption] Ramirez had a sensational start in Los Angeles after coming from Boston in July 2008. He hit .396 for the Dodgers, helped them advance to the National League Championship Series, and was rewarded with a two-year, $ 45 million contract. But, injuries and a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy cut into his playing time in 2009, and he never returned to his previous form as more injuries plagued Manny this season. ********************* On Tuesday night, the Dodgers found out why it's not good to be in fourth place with less than six weeks remaining in the season. They won in Milwaukee, but first place San Diego shutout Arizona, second place San Francisco mauled Cincinnati, and third place Colorado defeated Atlanta. No advancement in the division or wild card race, and one more day taken off the schedule. The Dodgers stayed 12 games off the top and 6 1/2 games behind in the wild card race with four clubs ahead of them. By late Sunday afternoon, the wild card deficit was still 6 1/2 and the Padres had them by 10 games. ************************

WINNING DOZEN UNDER THE SUN.........

Wednesday, August 25 Three afternoon games were played west of the Mississippi River......... ROCKIES 12 BRAVES 10 Atlanta blew a 10-1 lead in Denver REDS 12 GIANTS 11 ( 12 ) Cincinnati squandered a 10-1 lead & trailed, 11-10 ANGELS 12 RAYS 3 Tampa Bay leadoff man homered to open the game Colorado also rallied from 9 runs behind to edge Florida, 18-17 on July 4, 2008 The major league record for the best comeback is 12 runs. It's happened three times, most recently by Cleveland against Seattle in 2001. The National League mark is 11, also accomplished on three occasions, the last one when Houston overhauled St. Louis in 1994. [caption id="attachment_8184" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Trevor Hoffman earns 599th save (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)"][/caption]

There were some strange happenings over the weekend in major league baseball.

Host SAN DIEGO scored 3 runs in 3 games against PHILADELPHIA and lost them all The ANGELS tallied ONE run in 3 games at home versus BALTIMORE and were swept In Arlington, TEXAS got only 2 runs in the last 2 outings against OAKLAND and dropped both The TWINS managed 2 runs in the final 2 starts in SEATTLE-----but got a split WASHINGTON won 3 of 4 from ST. LOUIS, scoring 11 and 14 runs in two of the victories Four American League teams are in excellent position to make the postseason The YANKEES, RAYS, TWINS and RANGERS all lead by five or more games What was the nationwide average cost of a gallon of gas when Vin Scully began broadcasting Dodger games 61 seasons ago?

27 CENTS

Sources: American Automobile Association The Wall Street Journal

"Honor-----Respect----Remember" our true American Heroes American Veterans Traveling Tribute (AVTT) Operation Gratitude, a charitable organization that assembles and mails care packages to U. S. troops in harm's way, happily announces the First Annual Patriot Days to be held in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Lake Havasu City claims to be the most patriotic community in the United States of America, and this historic event may prove that to be true. The American Veterans Traveling Tribute and the Lake Havasu Hospitality Association have joined together to celebrate freedom, to promote patriotism and to honor our real American heroes. Their mission is to raise money for the mailing of 20, 000 Operation Gratitude Holiday Care packages at 11 dollars each. Altogether, 100, 000 packages will be mailed this year. Since its inception in 2003, Operation Gratitude has mailed 559, 641 care packages to our active military men and women. The Patriot Days event also hopes to gather 20, 000 letters of appreciation addressed to our soldiers, plus beanie babies, and knitted scarves for the care packages. Each box includes food such as Girl Scout Cookies and beef jerky, personal hygiene items, DVD's, CD's, books and magazines, as well as one or two handwritten letters and cards, a beanie baby and, in winter, a knitted scarf. These boxes are meant to lift morale and show loving appreciation for each soldier. The contents of the packages are donated, and all money raised goes for preparing and mailing. I urge you to go to the Operation Gratitude website ( www.operationgratitude.com ) to read a few of the messages sent back from receiving soldiers. Some life-changing stories have been shared. The Patriot Days offer a perfect way to celebrate freedom. The 11-day long event will kick off September 15th with a motorcycle escort accompanying the Traveling Tribute to Lake Havasu City. The American Veterans Traveling Tribute is a veteran-owned project intent on educating people on what it takes to keep America great. The "Cost of Freedom" Tribute includes an 80 percent replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D. C. This replica is 380 feet long and displays 58, 253 names of military members who died in the Vietnam War. A "Gold Dog Tag" tribute to all who have given their lives in the Global War on Terror will also be featured. This is updated constantly. The AVTT contains memorials to the Korean War, World War II, and facts on every war/conflict that has involved the United States of America. The whole list of the Traveling Tribute can be seen on the AVTT website. (www.AVTT.org) Patriot Days will feature scheduled events daily including honor ceremonies. parades, 5K runs, Patriot Bowling, patriotic film classics, and live music. Veterans, military police, firefighters and other American heroes will be speaking at the "God, Country, and Freedom Rally" to be held September 24th. We hope the spirit of this First Annual Patriot Days continues to spread across this great country. All Americans must know what it costs to keep our nation free. Don Allen of Lake Havasu City says, " 'Support our troops' is not a bumper sticker. What did you do?"

If you are a baseball fan, you likely know what must be done by a major league hitter to win the Triple Crown. That's right..........have the best batting average, the most home runs, and more runs-batted-in than any batter in your league. In the last 72 years, just one big leaguer has captured the Triple Crown------Carl Yastrzemski----of the 1967 Boston Red Sox when he hit .326 with 44 homers and 121 RBI. No one has accomplished that feat in the National League since Joe Medwick in 1937. I noticed Carl had his 71st birthday on Sunday. What is he doing these days? [caption id="attachment_8130" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Yaz signing autographs"][/caption] 'Yaz" is a roving instructor with the Red Sox. That means he visits the Boston minor league teams and works with the players on their hitting and fielding. Carl won three batting titles and seven Gold Gloves for defensive excellence after arriving in 1961 at Fenway Park as the heir apparent to Hall of Famer Ted Williams in left field. Yaztrzemski was the son of a potato farmer and grew up in Bridgehampton, Long Island. He was a fabulous athlete in highschool, playing football, basketball and baseball, and won a basketball scholarship to Notre Dame. But, Carl signed with the Red Sox during his freshman year, played two seasons in the minors, and 23 in the bigs, all in Boston. He and Brooks Robinson of Baltimore share the record for the most seasons with only one team. Carl Yazstrzemski retired in 1983 at the age of 44 after setting Red Sox records in games ( 3300+), RBI (1800+), runs, hits (3400+), singles, doubles and total bases. He finished with a .285 lifetime batting average and slugged 452 homers, second to Williams in Boston history. A first ballot selection to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1989, Yastrzemski drew nearly 95 percent of the votes. He was the American League MVP in 1967, and made 18 All-Star game appearances. *********************************** Does anyone have a chance to win the Triple Crown this season? Before the games on Sunday, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers led the A. L. in RBI, but was 16 points and seven home runs behind the league leaders. Joey Votto of the Reds paced the N.L. in batting average, but was four homers and six runs-batted-in behind the league leaders. Six weeks are left in the regular season.