"The Stack" 4-10-17
Sergio Garcia won his first ever green jacket and first career major, outlasting Justin Rose in a sudden death playoff on the 18th hole to win the tournament.
The Stack is back on this Monday. Hopefully you all have had a chance to read the belated 2017 MLB season preview blog we posted on Saturday. NHL and NBA playoffs start this week. We’ll be previewing both sets of playoffs. The Cleveland Cavaliers blew a 26 point lead on the road in Atlanta Sunday to the Hawks and lost 126-125 in overtime. That’s no good. They have some issues there in Cleveland. Russell Westbrook broke Oscar Robertson’s record for most triple-doubles in a season with 42 following his 50 point, 16 rebound and ten assist night. He is the MVP! The last game at Joe Louis Arena (aka The Joe) was Sunday as well for the Detroit Red Wings. They will be playing in a new arena next year. They beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1. Those two stories didn’t make “the stack.” There isn’t a lot in there today, but there is enough so let’s get right to it and see what’s in “the stack” for today, Monday, April 10th:
Sergio Garcia wins the Masters
Sergio Garcia hadn’t won a major in his 73 career major tournament starts. That statistic can be cast aside now. Sergio Garcia beat fellow Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose on the first sudden death playoff hole to win his first green jacket and the first major title of his professional career. Things started out well for Garcia right away by getting birdies on two of his first three holes, but then he went on a par run and Rose was able to get back in it with three straight birdies holes six through eight to get back to eight under (-8). Garcia was playing very poised and under control, but the start of the back nine would prove to be his unraveling, at least right away. He had a couple of errant tee shots that took him into the pine straw and he bogeyed holes ten and eleven. Rose had a two stroke lead at that point. Keep in mind that no one else was really coming close to these guys. Jordan Spieth imploded just like he did last year. Charl Schwartzel made a run there for a little bit as did Matt Kuchar thanks to his ace on the 16th hole, but neither was really within true striking distance.
Garcia got closer to Rose with a birdie on the 14th and then took the lead thanks to an eagle on the par 5 15th, but that was short lived because Rose putted one in for birdie on the same hole to tie it back up. Rose would take the lead after a magnificent tee shot on the par 3 16th set him up for a nice birdie, but he gave that lead right back with a bogey on 17. We went to the 18th hole all tied at nine under (-9). Both players had nice tee shots, but even better second shots to get within about ten feet of the hole. Rose was out and he just missed the putt. Sergio had a chance to win it right there and his put missed the mark so we headed for sudden death right back at the 18th hole. Rose’s tee shot went way off the mark and into the Magnolia trees, but he got a fortunate kick. He still had to punch out though. Garcia’s tee shot was superb and his second shot would put him in great position. Rose would end up making bogey on the hole so Sergio had two putts to win. Just don’t do anything foolish. Garcia got his putt to roll around the lip of the cup and in. He won his first green jacket. It was quite an exciting finish to the first major of the season. A lot of people have issues with Garcia based on some of his actions over the years and things he has said, but on this Sunday, which also was the late Seve Ballesteros’ birthday, Garcia won his first major and his first green jacket at the Masters. The emotion pouring over him was fantastic. Well deserved.
Wichita State leaving for AAC
The American Athletic Conference unanimously voted to invite Wichita State into the conference becoming eligible for the 2017-18 season in all sports except football since the school doesn’t have a football program. It’s a great move for both Wichita State and the AAC as it boosts the AAC as a conference overall. Wichita State has dominated the Missouri Valley Conference over the last few years now and this move up is a good thing for them. It leaves the MVC in a bit of a quandary though. Who will they replace the Shockers with? They have also lost Creighton in the past couple of years making this conference go from the one of the best mid-major conferences to average at best. Murray State and Valparaiso are reportedly high on top of the wish list. Look at Belmont and the Dakota schools also to be mentioned. I think within the next five to ten years you are going to see some of these mid-major conferences dissolve and join with other mid-major conferences to form some bigger more powerful ones. Can’t keep losing the good schools like the MVC has with Wichita State and Creighton and expect to keep competing.
NFL quick hits
This is probably more baseball news than football news, but former Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow hit his second homerun of the season down in single A with the New York Mets’ minor league affiliate Columbia Fireflies. That is now two homeruns in three games. Maybe Tebow is starting to figure this whole baseball thing out.
And the NFL is announcing the preseason schedule today at 5 PM ET. That means the NFL regular season schedule, which is a big event for a lot of fans, will likely be revealed sometime next week. Tony Romo’s first action calling a game on CBS will be one of the more anticipated games in an otherwise meaningless glorified slate of exhibition games. Still though, preseason football is important. It’s how guys make the teams and how teams develop young players. Going down to two games would not be a good decision. We’ll see the preseason schedule in its entirety this evening.
Coming up Wednesday: Stanley Cup Playoff previ
