boomboomsroom

We know you like ten nuggets.  We hope you like hash.  It’s how the ten nuggets are served today.  The sports world was a bit of everything over the last 48 hours. So we have a lot of leftovers.  We sling some below.

1.  Dustin Johnson took full advantage of soft greens at Augusta and won The Masters in rare wire to wire form.  Finishing with a 4-under 68 in Round 4, Johnson set a 72-hole scoring record of 20 under, the lowest score to par in the history.  Twenty-one under would have been the lowest to par total in any majors in their collective histories.  In his interview afterward, he could barely speak.  It’s a must-watch.  It speaks volumes about why we love competition, hard work, and inner success.
2. His two closest competitors by mid-third round and through the final one weren’t named DeChambeau, McIlroy, Koepka, Thomas, Rahm, Rose, Casey, Woods, nor Mickelson.  If you think that watered down the crown, think again.  The golfing world officially introduced us to Sungjae Im and Cameron Thomas.
3. Im won The Honda Classic earlier this year, is all of 22 years old, and hits the ball down the middle EVERY time he tees it up.  His short game is flawless as well.  With ball-striking like that the world-rated 25th player is here to stay.
4. Smith hails from Down Under.  He’s an interesting character.  He isn’t built like a Koepka.  He doesn’t talk like a Thomas.  He doesn’t dress like a Speith.  He somehow made pars from the woods, the parking lot, and the hot dog stand.  He’s a breath of fresh air.  Oh, and along the walk all over the hallowed grounds, he became the first player in the history of The Masters to shoot sub 70 in all four rounds.  The 49th highest-rated player is here to stay as well.
5. There wasn’t a top 25 matchup in all of college football Saturday.  That didn’t stop the theater though.  The best/worst of all came late Saturday.  It certainly appeared to the naked eye that the Oregon St. Beavers had a first down, not once but twice, in a crucial spot at the end of their PAC 12 matchup with Washington.  Two bad spots later, the momentum swung.  If you want to dig deeper, there is a bigger mess behind the scenes in the PAC 12 season exposed by this article.
6. On Friday COVID-19 times forced the cancellation of the California at Arizona State game and the Utah at UCLA game both scheduled for Saturday.  Later that afternoon the PAC 12 scheduled the two “healthy teams” Cal and UCLA to square off on Sunday. Yes, Sunday.  UCLA dominated the game 34-10.  Did anyone see it?  Anyone?  Still, it’s better to have played than not.  It was an aggressive move from a conference that was very reluctant to start the season at all.

7. Michigan fans are trying to reconcile how a team that was ranked in the preseason is now 1-3 for the first time since 1967 after suffering its largest home loss in 85 years.  Wisconsin worked them 49-11. Head coach Jim Harbaugh, who is 10-9 in his last 19 games, couldn’t really pinpoint how it happened.  But he did concede that Michigan is lousy.  “Not in a good place as a football team,” he said.  Cerebral he is that Harbaugh guy.  It looks like another worn-out welcome for the quirky former QB.

8. Penn St is arguably worse. They suffered their fourth loss in four games this one to a Nebraska team who entered the game winless and having scored only 30 points total in two games.  The Cornhuskers put 27 on Penn St. by halftime and 30 in all in their win with a first-time starter at QB.  Directionless is the Nittany Lion team this fall.  A recent recruiting article states that they only have one of the top ten recruits from Pennsylvania from 2018-9 on their squad.  Perhaps, void of talent is the Nittany Lion team this fall?
9. South Carolina decided to put the worst behind them.  Will Muschamp was bought out as HC for the Gamecocks.  His once proud D surrendered 59 to Ole Miss in their latest loss and the administration and the money that runs SC said sayonara.   Muschamp was once named head coach in waiting behind Mack Brown at Texas.  He decided that he didn’t want to wait and bolted to Florida.  He was not ready for an HC job then.  He was run out of there and is still owed six million from that buyout.   South Carolina thought differently.  Now they think again.   Muschamp wins the Charlie Weis Award for having two universities paying him buyout money at the same time.
10.  However, we turn to the NFL for the worst of all.  The NFC East’s four teams now stand collectively at 10-26-1.  That’s a 28% winning percentage.  Eight of their wins, and therefore, eight of their losses have come against each other.  That puts their out of division record at, wait for it, 2-18-1.  That’s a 10% winning percentage.  Perhaps we should say that’s a 90% losing percentage.  Historically bad doesn’t accurately describe the worst of the worst.

You’re excused.  Put your plate in the sink.