GOOD BYE METRODOME by Tom Abts

This February the Metrodome will be torn down. It opened in April of 1982 – so it had a run of over 30 years. That’s pretty amazing considering that it was a pretty brutal facility.

I know – it was home to a lot of great Minnesota sports memories … especially the 1987 World Series. I honestly never thought I would see a Minnesota team win a world championship. The pain of being a fan of the Twins, Vikings, and North Stars through ’60’s and ’70’s had hardened my heart.

And “The Dome” is the only facility to host the MLB All Star Game, the World Series, the Super Bowl, and the Final Four. That’s pretty incredible.

But, it came at quite a price. The Minnesota Gophers’ football team left the U of M campus to play downtown. I believe that not only did the dome hasten the demise of Gopher Football, but it also really negatively affected the campus atmosphere of the university. Everybody’s talking about the resurgence of the U of M … yeah … and they have football back on campus – maybe a correlation there?

Not only was Gopher football affected, but Vikings’ football really changed. The Vikings had the best tailgating in the NFL at Met Stadium in Bloomington. And people talk about the dome home field advantage… the Vikings never lost outside at “The Met.” Was it cold? Yeah – I sometimes wore a sleeping bag. But it was great – really great.

And the Twins. Summer nights at the old Met watching Major League Baseball … the days of Carew, Oliva, Killebrew, Mantle, Yaz, Kaline … don’t let me go on – I won’t stop. Sure, the Twins won two World Series at the “Homer Dome,” but when the Twins weren’t winning, the fans weren’t coming. The last three years the Twins have been horrific, but they still fill Target Field.

Architecture is important. Look at the incredible ancient cities of Europe adorned with magnificent buildings. Even cities in the States like Charleston and Savannah are beautiful because of the gorgeous architecture of long ago. Some of our cities in the American West are about as attractive as the Metrodome. I don’t say that to be cruel – it’s just a short-sighted philosophy in action. Good things are built to last. The Metrodome was built to be torn down.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

How are you coming with your New Year’s Resolutions?

Don’t get defensive … I’m not trying to run your life. But, most of us do need to work on a few things.

Actually, I have a pretty long list … but I’ve learned not to take on too much (I’m pretty good at rationalizing). So, here’s one that’s staying on my final list: “Just think positive thoughts while playing golf.”

I can hear you laughing. Sounds pretty trite and ridiculous. Though I love to play golf, I can get really frustrated, and get pretty negative. Does that negative attitude help my game? Not so much. How about my enjoyment of the game – does the negative attitude help that? Again – not so much. Then what’s the point? Why be negative?

Well … it is hard to justify. In fact talking about it is kind of embarrassing. What happens, is that it feels like God or the gods of golf have turned on me – that they want me to suffer. Then I get mad and want to fight back. Who? Fight whom? Maybe if I squeeze the club really hard and swing really fast … yeah – that’s real helpful.

Every year we watch “Christmas Vacation” … not “White Christmas” or “It’s a Wonderful Life”, but “Christmas Vacation”. Do you remember the scene where Chevy Chase is unsuccessfully plugging in his Christmas lights and goes crazy? He starts to kick and punch the yard ornament reindeer and Santa – he snaps – the gods have turned against him. Sometimes golf makes me feel like that … ok – a lot of the time.

That was last year. Oh, I might get that tinge of frustration … but I’m going to shift gears into being Mr. Positive.

Can’t wait.

Happy New Year,

Tom

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

People need heroes. We need to be inspired. Life gets tough and the example of a hero can be really helpful.

But what is a hero? I think we’ve gotten confused with thinking that celebrities are heroes. Maybe a hero becomes a celebrity, but being a celebrity doesn’t make someone a hero.

A hero does something heroic. A celebrity does something to become famous. Kim Kardashian – celebrity. A good samaritan who pulls a drowning kid out of frigid water – hero.

In 1962 Dan Boorstein wrote a book “The Image: or Whatever Happened to the American Dream”. In the book he said “ Images now replace ideals.”

The goalie for the Wild – Josh Harding – is a hero. Not because he’s a professional hockey player, but because he has MS and is fighting to keep his job. His spirit – not his talent is what makes him a hero.

Celebrities are the latest fad. Heroes endure. There’s nothing wrong with getting a kick out of celebrities… but a society is in trouble if celebrities take the place of heroes.

Celebrities are usually the recipient of God-given gifts… the hero is the one who overcomes the odds to do the right thing.

Heroes are admired for bravery, nobility, honor, and character. Celebrities are admired for beauty and talent.

There’s room for both… I just don’t want to see celebrities become our idols instead of heroes.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

For those of us of a certain age, we all remember where we were when President Kennedy was killed. Fifty years ago tomorrow, I was in 3rd grade when the awful news came over the classroom loudspeaker. That night my Cub Scout Pack Meeting was cancelled – the whole country went into shock – everything stopped.

I know this is a golf newsletter … but I have been known to get off topic. How’s this for a save: “Golf Digest” magazine rated JFK the best golfer of all American Presidents. Even though he had a bad back, he supposedly had a sweet swing.

Most of the Presidents of the 1900’s played golf – usually not well – Woodrow Wilson and Dwight Eisenhower were the most avid. In fact, Ike’s love of golf and Arnold Palmer’s magnetism combined to bring golf to the masses in the 1950’s.

Then after Eisenhower, Kennedy was elected President in 1960 to lead America into a new, youthful, dynamic era. But on November 23, 1963 that hope was ended. Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson took the reigns.

History is still confused about the ensuing years: Viet Nam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the Civil Rights Movement, LBJ’s Great Society, the Moon Landing, Chappaquiddick, Richard Nixon, Watergate. The ten years after President Kennedy’s assassination were chaotic and ended with Watergate.

I read somewhere that 80% of the American public believes that we don’t know the truth behind the JFK assassination.

We may never know the truth. But I do know that America changed 50 years ago tomorrow. Though we changed and still haven’t completely healed, we are a strong, resilient nation. I knew that then and know that now – that hasn’t changed.

Respectfully,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

It’s November and we’re closed. Last weekend was pretty nice and we were pretty busy… that feels like a month ago. We’ve put the course to bed and are cleaning the Clubhouse. There’s a lot to do in the off-season and it goes by all too quickly.

That’s enough about the off-season of the golf business – these emails aren’t supposed to be boring.

The NFL’s not boring – not lately. How about the Miami Dolphins’ locker-room/hazing story? How about the Vikings beating Washington last night? I won’t go into the Washington team’s nickname issue.

But most of these NFL stories aren’t so much about football as about issues in society. That mess in Miami hasn’t blown up yet. The team is trying to keep it together … but how? by defending a racist bully? where does that lead? and the coaches – what was their role?

Seems to be a lot of confusion about roles – teammates, friends, being a man.

The bottom line is that we have to get along with each other – that’s the only way a team or a society works. Treating each other with respect is the answer. I don’t get how treating people poorly is supposed to make things better – unless you believe in keeping people down.

Maybe chivalry will make a comeback. I wish the NFL would lead the way. How cool would it be if the culture of the NFL was more like King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable – than like Piggy and the Lord of the Flies?

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

David Ortiz – 2013 World Series MVP. Was that a fluke? Hardly. The Red Sox have broken their curse since Ortiz arrived in 2002… from the Minnesota Twins.

I know, I know … teams trade future stars all the time – no one has a crystal ball. But, look at these ex-Twins and see if you see a pattern: Johan Santana, Matt Garza, Francisco Lirianno, Carlos Gomez, Wilson Ramos, and David Ortiz?

Remember how good the Twins were in the ‘60s with Tony Oliva, Zoillo Versalles, Camelo Pascual, Cesar Tovar, Leo Cardenas, and Rod Carew? At least the Twins in those years kept their Latin players.

Just because we’re in Minnesota doesn’t mean that every Twin has to look like a hockey player.

Hurrah for Jerry Kill and the Gophers Football Team. Talk about a “Rocky” story. Did you hear Kill’s staff being interviewed after the Nebraska game? Their loyalty to Kill was moving/inspiring. I hope he can hang in there and build a strong program.

Good organizations don’t always win all of the time. But they do things right and they’re looking at the long term. They don’t cut corners and they’re open minded.
Some of these local teams need more than a quick fix … they need new organizations.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

Halloween marks the middle of the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. Which means a change in the seasons. And a change at Deer Run GC – closing for the winter.

We might stay open through Sunday, Nov. 3 if the weather looks promising. At the moment, the forecast looks about as promising as the Vikings.

But the weather for this weekend should be pretty good – especially Sunday.

When we were kids, Halloween was my brother Rick’s favorite holiday. It was a great time to be a baby-boomer… the neighborhoods were packed with kids – Halloween looked like New Year’s Eve in Time Square. We would Trick-or-Treat for 3 hours and get enough candy to last until Christmas.

Ah, the good old days. Some things get better – but not everything. I don’t believe that everything has gotten worse – I haven’t turned into that guy. But the future isn’t always better.

Halloween used to be better … and the Vikings used to be better. Ah, the days of Bud Grant and the Purple People Eaters.

Hope to see you before we close.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com