Welcome back to the NLU Mailbag! This is a place where we answer questions that have a lot, a little, or nothing at all to do with the world of golf.
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Scottyrp4: Given how close Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson were at Augusta, do you think any LIV players win a major this year? If so, who do you think it is, and where?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot during the last two weeks. A fascinating summer awaits us, doesn’t it? I’m hesitant to say I think that Phil will contend in majors the rest of the year (Augusta is a place he can think his way around until he’s 60) but I would be surprised if Brooks wasn’t in the mix at the PGA, a place that seems perfect for his game. Major championship golf is really more interesting when he’s in the mix, and as much as the LIV bros want you to think Brooks’ success at the Masters was supposed to upset LIV critics like myself, I loved every minute of it. I wish he’d played better on Sunday so we could have a true duel, but now that he’s gotten a taste of major pressure again, maybe he’ll be better for it. If anything, LIV has made the majors even more entertaining because it’s the only time we see all the best players together, and there is a natural tension as a result. I think a lot of the LIV players are washed, but obviously, many of them are not. Cam Smith seems like a great pick for the Open Championship, but I could also see Sergio or Lee Westwood or Paul Casey having a moment like Darren Clarke or Henrik Stenson did when they won an Open Championship after what was considered their prime.
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The interesting question about Mickelson is: Does LACC represent his last genuine chance to win the career Grand Slam? Two months ago, when he couldn’t seem to break 70 on the LIV Tour, everyone would have laughed at the possibility he still had a major in him. But after that Masters performance? It doesn’t seem THAT crazy. We don’t know yet what the USGA setup will look like, but speculation seems to be it won’t have an abundance of thick rough. Recovery shots would favor players with creative minds. Can you imagine if it did happen? Phil would read off the name of everyone who’d ever so much as favorited a tweet talking shit about him. (Hey Phil, it’s pronounced VAN VAUL-KEN-BURG.) It would be a spectacle. I would love to witness it and write about it.
Tron: KVV, an earnest question to ponder for the next mailbag. Did Curt Schilling paint his sock?
This is a fascinating question because, while I think there is absolutely no chance Schilling painted his sock, Schilling is such an unlikeable, despicable person, people would love for this to be true, so the fantasy persists even 20 years after that game that he whipped out a marker to frame himself as the hero. I was actually working at the Baltimore Sun when columnist Laura Vescey wrote a column saying she thought Schilling’s sock was doctored, and of course, he went nuts, so it was interesting to see that battle waged from the inside of my own newspaper.
One thing I think I find interesting is that Schilling was one of the first athletes to realize they could punch back at reporters by blogging in a rage about his various critics. He was basically longform tweeting before it was even a thing. It was kind of interesting when it was a post-modern rewriting of the power dynamic between journalists and subject, but then he turned into a genuine loon who was radicalized by being extremely online and clearly hated everyone and everything who didn’t share his own extreme views. It became much less interesting to me.
It does raise an interesting question though: Can you separate an athlete’s performance from his personal views? I think most people would say yes. I often feel the same. But I also don’t think you have to feel that way. You’re not required to be agnostic. There are plenty of people who dislike LeBron James because of his progressive worldview, and they have every right to root against him for those reasons.
I grew up a Red Sox fan, and the 2004 ALCS is one of my favorite sports memories. Even if Schilling had painted his sock, it wouldn’t change the way I felt about that performance in Game 6. It doesn’t inspire me to consume any of his current garbage takes, but I loved rooting for him at that moment.
TTrentC: What was the greatest sandwich you ever had?
What a great question. As someone who loves sandwiches, I wish I had a better answer to this, but I can’t pin it down to one specific meal. Maybe this is where the advice of Warren Zevon is apt: Enjoy every sandwich.
When I was in college, I got recruited by the Baltimore Sun in my senior year. Someone from the paper called my house in Montana as part of the recruiting process. They wanted to take me out to a fancy dinner in Baltimore and woo me into accepting the job, and they wanted to know what kind of food I liked so they could make reservations. I wasn’t there when the call came in, but one of my college roommates picked up the phone and answered a few of the recruiter’s questions. “Um, I know he likes turkey sandwiches,” my roommate said. It was an earnest answer, but no less true. I do like turkey sandwiches.
If forced to choose, I’d probably pick the Big Bad Wolf sandwich from Big Bad Wolf BBQ here in Baltimore. It’s so decadent that I only eat one every three or four months, but I always eat one on my birthday to celebrate the passage of time. It contains brisket, pulled pork and bacon, and it’s a little piece of heaven. If you ever come to Baltimore, skip the fancy bullshit and visit the little yellow shack on Hartford Road.
The truth is, every city has at least one amazing sandwich, and you usually need some local knowledge to help guide you there. I typically rely on my buddy Wright Thompson, who can tell you where to find the best food in just about any American city. But this is a good example of why you shouldn’t be obnoxious on Twitter. For all its ills, people can point you in the direction of a pretty good sandwich if you’re not a jerk.
I think in either a future mailbag or newsletter I’ll put this question to the NLU crew and make them share their pinnacle sandwich.
Jgolf1: Let’s say money IS a factor but you live anywhere in the US. You have to take your family to a sporting event and pay for everything out of your own pocket (tickets, parking, concessions etc…). This is purely a family night out, not doing anything for work. What are you choosing?
This question feels extremely relevant as I’m taking my daughter to the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble this summer and it is definitely not cheap. But if I was bringing the entire family, I think I’d ultimately choose tennis’ U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, particularly one of the early sessions. You know that line David Foster Wallace wrote about tennis on television vs. tennis in person is like the difference between video porn and the felt reality of human love? That is 100 percent true when you see tennis up close. Night matches at Arthur Ashe Stadium are among the coolest experiences we have in sports. Even from the upper deck, you still feel like you’re on top of the players. The food (while overpriced) is genuinely pretty good at the U.S. Open, and just walking around the grounds is great for people-watching. A couple of years ago, I wrote about watching Naomi Osaka closely at the U.S. Open and it
Source: https://nolayingup.com/blog/kvv-mailbag-liv-and-the-majors-all-timers-and-sandwiches