{"id":414,"date":"2011-01-21T13:01:16","date_gmt":"2011-01-21T20:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tgpnolan.com\/?p=414"},"modified":"2013-05-10T02:45:34","modified_gmt":"2013-05-10T09:45:34","slug":"looking-for-signs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/golf\/equipment\/414\/looking-for-signs","title":{"rendered":"Looking For Signs"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>\n

Snowing.\u00a0 Again.\u00a0 We live in our zip codes and take what we get.<\/p>\n

Up here on the mountain, winter is emphatic in cleaving golf into separate seasons: one forever gone, one way too far in the future.\u00a0 There is last year, and next year.\u00a0 Between them is now.<\/p>\n

If we didn\u2019t strain for signs of the fresh season\u2019s start within weeks of the old season’s end, we\u2019d be reasonable people, and golfers are not reasonable people.\u00a0 So the signposts, implausible as they may be, are needed, and noted.<\/p>\n

A few I count on.<\/p>\n

Jim Nance \u2018s seductive tones, promising for the first of what will be many times, that come early April, CBS will for the zillionth time host The Masters.\u00a0 (All genuflect.)\u00a0 Georgia\u2019s azaleas will bloom in just, mmm, ten or so weeks.<\/p>\n

Jim’s plugs came on last weekend’s football broadcasts. \u00a0Parenthetically, is Bill Belichick not a tad quirky?\u00a0 In fact, the only thing he\u2019s missing to complete his look is the scythe. \u00a0Now that he\u2019s secured his last offseason berth (his home) and the Jets remain alive, media outlets here in New York are encouraging Jets Coach Rex Ryan to have fewer press conferences.\u00a0 If the Jets beat Pittsburgh come Sunday, the prospect of doubling up on Rexspeak over that two week lull before the Super Bowl becomes a real danger.\u00a0 Could be rough.<\/p>\n

I like the January Thaw.\u00a0 Not this year. \u00a0No thaw. \u00a0Sorry.<\/p>\n

The Super Bowl.\u00a0 It used to be played in mid-January.\u00a0 Now the tournament stretches into the first part of February.\u00a0 Toss in the fact that Ground Hog Day will be in your rearview mirror by the time the game is played, and winter looks like it might someday conclude.<\/p>\n

Spring Training.\u00a0 Is there a surer promise of spring\u2019s advent than the news that pitchers and catchers are due to arrive across Florida and Arizona? \u00a0A true milepost.<\/p>\n

Equipment Fantasies.\u00a0 More complicated because they arc across the entire winter.\u00a0 Gardeners, afflicted with the same off-season malady as golfers, cope by memorizing Burpee\u2019s catalogues and promising themselves that this is the year they\u2019ll really, really, commit to weeding.<\/p>\n

Golf magazines, prospecting among this year\u2019s new clubs, new balls, new shoes, and all the collaterals, whet the appetite.\u00a0 All-new, much-improved, custom fit.\u00a0 None of this off-the-rack business.\u00a0 In darkest January, this is light, and what it illuminates is the path to a better game. It best, or some players might reason that it would be okay to stick with the thousand or so bucks worth of equipment they\u2019re playing now.<\/p>\n

Of new equipment, there is no reason to dismiss it out of hand, but balance expectations of equipment-driven improvement with Brooklyn Dodger general manager Branch Rickey\u2019s comment on the connection between money and success enunciated in a contract negotiation with outfielder George Shuba: \u201cWe finished last with you, we can finish last without you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s true.\u00a0 Maybe I can play just as crummy with what I\u2019ve got as what I might get.\u00a0 But. \u00a0I just saw a prominent\u2014make that blaring\u2014teaser on the cover of one of my golf magazines that said simply: \u201cBuy a Better Game!\u201d<\/p>\n

Shook my world.\u00a0 A flat out guarantee?\u00a0 This is the best idea.\u00a0 Ever.\u00a0 I\u2019m off to the world of sporting goods, credit card in hand.\u00a0 Just as soon as I finish identifying the car (I know it\u2019s somewhere in the driveway), shoveling it out, and finding a kindly neighbor to give me a jump start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Snowing.\u00a0 Again.\u00a0 We live in our zip codes and take what we get. Up here on the mountain, winter is… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3380,3,18],"tags":[944160,4798,4799,4800],"class_list":["post-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-la-carte","category-equipment","category-lifestyle","tag-equipment","tag-custom-fitting","tag-new-clubs","tag-new-balls"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2011\/01\/DSC01617.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":423,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions\/423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tgpnolan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}