Perfectly Frank…
On Saturday’s coverage of The Open Championship, ABC’s Mike Tirico said that Greg Norman was Tiger Woods before Tiger Woods. Actually Greg Norman was Phil Mickelson before Phil Mickelson. While the 53-year old Norma’s bid to win the The Open Championship saved this Tigerless major - and gave the golf world something to watch - there was little chance that Norman could win. Seven times prior, Norman had held the third round lead in a major, and six times he failed to close the deal. On Sunday in England, Norman not only held a two stroke lead after 54 holes, but he still held a one stoke lead with nine holes to play. What came next was predicable to long suffering Norman fans. Not only did Padraig Harrington overtake Norman, he defeated him by a whopping six strokes.

To be fair, Harrington was brilliant, but Norman was anything but. As Phil Mickelson continues to over-think the game of golf, Norman under-thought this final round by boldly playing for birdies on a golf course that offered up few, rather than playing for the pars that could have secured him this championship. Like Mickelson today, Norman, in his prime, was a physical talent whose poor game management made him an underachiever. On the other hand, Tiger, like Jack Nicklaus before him, is not only the most talented player of his time; he is the most intelligent. Greg Norman did not let one get away on Sunday, he gave yet another one away. With a better head he could have been a legend. Instead he has two majors to his name, the same as John Daly.

…Speaking of Greg Norman, the subplot of his recent marriage to Chris Evert was played as a Cinderella story. In fact, Norman spent almost $100 million to dump his wife of 25-plus years for Evert, and Evert paid second hubby more than $7 million to get lost. To make matters worse, Evert’s ex was Norman’s best friend. Everybody is free to their lives in anyway that suits them, but let’s not make this into a great love story.

…And for those who might say Tiger not being in the field diminishes Harrington’s win, remember, this was Harrington’s second consecutive Open victory, and last year’s came with Tiger in the field…How much longer will golf pundits continually proclaim that Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia are among the pre-tournament favorites? They have collectively won one major since 2005, that being Mickelson’s 2006 Master’s championship. Watching the tournament coverage gave viewers a greater appreciation of the TV crews in the US. The guys from the BBC worked hard under trying conditions, but too often the golfers weren’t the only ones who didn’t know where there shots were landing.

….On the ladies side, Michelle Wie was disqualified at the State Farm Classic for failing to sign her scorecard before leaving the scorers’ tent on Friday. She signed it outside the tent, which is a violation. Why do players today even need to sign the scorecard? An official scorer who accompanies each group documents every stroke they take. Players keeping score is a relic from a by gone era. It’s time to do away with that rule at the professional level…

Keeping Pace…
It was nice to see Joe Paterno inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this past weekend. What where they waiting for? Joe Pa’s only been around 43 years, posting 372 wins along the way… Speaking of Hall of Fame coaches, I’ve never been a big fan of Bill Parcells. I always thought he took too much credit for winning and not enough blame for losing. Trading 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Jason Taylor for a draft choice because he hurt your feelings by not showing up for voluntary spring workouts while performing on Dancing with the Stars is not the way I would try and rebuild a 1-15 Miami Dolphins team.

…If you weren’t among those who anteed up about $200 million worldwide to see Batman-Dark Night, you need to do so. It’s an outstanding execution of a terrific script. They do make ‘em like they used to… Nice turn too by old friend Nestor Carbonell as the mayor of Gotham City. Nestor and I spend four years together on the TV series Suddenly Susan, where he played Cuban photographer Luis… I also finally caught Will Smith’s Hancock, which was another winner. It’s been a good summer for superheroes with Batman, Hancock and Ironman doing Boffo BO Biz, as they say in Daily Variety.

And finally Steven Colbert is on the cover of the August 2008 issue of Esquire Magazine. If anyone thinks he’s funny, could you please respond to this blog and tell me what I’m missing? Because quite honestly, I just don’t get it.