The world after Jim:
• If you missed the news this week – and that might be part of the problem – the LPGA Tour has lost part of its soul and the Coachella Valley’s heart was torn a bit with news that the tournament was ahead of The Dinah Shore was known to leave the city after the 2022 tournament next March.
For 50 years, the women’s golf event at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage at the end of March and beginning of April has been an integral part. It became synonymous with Shore, whose statue still graces the walkway to Mission Hills’ 18th green; She has been the famous face of the tournament since its inception in 1972, and because of her contributions, she became the only honorary member of the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame. The tournament became a major in 1983, the winner’s jump into Poppie’s Pond has become a cherished ritual, and the list of winners includes Shore 12 of the 25 Hall of Fame members. …
• All of that story will be blown up after the 51st edition of the tournament next March, the first since 2019 with galleries. New LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan announced earlier this week that the tournament’s naming rights have been sold to Chevron and will move to Houston, where the company is headquartered, in 2023. So if you’re upset about this step, you know which gas stations to avoid from now on. …
• Yes, it’s business. Chevron has pledged $ 5 million, and part of the package is a TV engagement from NBC. Last year, the All Nippon Airways sponsored wallet totaled $ 3.1 million, and ANA was in a battle just to survive the effects of the pandemic as a company. …
• The change of location, according to the LPGA announcement, is intended in part to “promote enormous fan engagement, participation and enthusiasm within the community and among Chevron employees”. (Meanwhile the event in the desert is traditionally accompanied by the “Dinah Weekend”, which is described as the world’s largest get-together for lesbians. Will they be anywhere near as welcome in Texas?) …
• But the hidden agenda here is a date change that would be difficult to manage in the desert with mega-events on both sides of the golf tournament, the BNP Paribas Open (usually) in early March and Coachella in April. And while the fossil fuel guys may be the culprits, the good old guys from Augusta National are the real arch villains here.
It was they who counter-programmed the LPGA 2019 with their amateur women’s tournament, even though it was the ultimate bait, because only the last round of the 54-hole tournament is played on the famous Masters course. The effect, however, was to get attention and force the top amateur competitors to go for one thing or the other, and ultimately it was the LPGA that buckled. …
• Former Commissioner Mike Whan said this in a media session in Mission Hills ahead of the 2021 tournament: “We don’t have a lot of these tournaments – Toledo, Portland, here – where we can really talk about (how) these women when they were 7, 8 and were 9 years old saw this tournament on TV and dreamed that it was here. This is important here because on the LPGA (tour) we simply don’t have much of these long-standing, historical pieces. “
• Now you have one less. Will the winner jump into an oil spill when the Chevron Championship moves to Houston? …
• In other news: I’m not a huge fan of the Rams’ bone-colored jerseys and pants because they just look dingy, like the dressing room attendants need to find stronger detergent. But it was wise of them to try out Seattle that Thursday night when the Seahawks were wearing their neon green. (And what happened to the “look good, play good” theory?) …
• How many of you have forgotten that when the baseball postseason began, the extra innings runner-up rule ended? …
• Exposure of the Week: A convicted scammer on the run since 1998 when he refused to face jail may have been a man killed during a televised game at Dodger Stadium in. was spotted on the seats behind the homeplate in 2016.
I love that a) they post this now when the game in question was in 2016 and b) it was a 9-0 defeat for the Dodgers that saw Scott Kazmir meh and then Jesse Chavez blew up with relief. Imagine this game is what caught you on the run after two decades. https://t.co/eM86CPeq4W
– Emma Baccellieri (@emmabaccellieri) October 6, 2021
US marshals released the photo on Tuesday. The very next night someone with a giant plastic head – think of a cross between Jack In The Box and Mr. Met – was spotted on home plate during the Dodgers Cardinals wildcard game. It turned out to be a promotion for a cryptocurrency company and Mr. Bighead was gone after a couple of innings, but according to speculation he was either the escaped criminal of the game or Trevor Bauer in disguise. …
And tonight is Felon On The Lam / Fan Of The Game… https://t.co/AcGON7V1sh
– Jim_Alexander (@Jim_Alexander) October 7, 2021
• Finally, one more sign that the world has indeed changed: the late Jerry Tarkanian used to say that he loved transfers “because their cars are already paid for”. Now a sports marketing firm and car dealership in Las Vegas will ensure that every UNLV basketball player receives a $ 500 per month auto allowance for a year without breaking NCAA rules.
All hail names / images / similarity offers. I hope the same goes for walk-ons.
@Jim_Alexander on Twitter