Greetings Golfers,

Have you been watching the baseball playoffs? It’s been good baseball … and smart baseball. The good managers seem to excel in the playoffs – what a shock.

Sort of like the Vikings. They finally have a good head coach … and surprise, surprise … they’re winning.

But as much as I’m enjoying the playoffs, the season is too long. If the World Series is between Cleveland and Chicago … well, I hope they don’t have to play in snow. All professional sports seasons have become too long. The NHL finishes their playoffs in the summer. That’s ridiculous. I’m a fan, but more is not always better. They’re just being greedy.

The PGA Tour should be done for the year. But now, they’re starting the new season before the New Year. How does that make sense?

Youth sports have also become year-round seasons. They want kids to fully commit to one sport by age 10. That’s also ridiculous.

I’ve heard that the Vikings new quarterback – Sam Bradford – was a superstar basketball player, superstar hockey player, and could have been a PGA Tour golfer. Obviously, he’s a freak athlete. But, I think playing all of those sports helped him become a better athlete and a better football player than if he’d only played football as a kid.

It’s the same with developing your brain. What if a kid decided at age 10 that he was only going to do math?

I think we’re becoming too specialized at the expense of being well-rounded. And maybe by becoming too specialized we’ve lost what was considered common-sense. Common-sense requires more than a narrow perspective … it requires a fundamental sense of how the world works – not just a specialized area.

The best coaches have common-sense. Too often coaches get so hung up on the X’s and O’s that they can’t see the obvious. I think the Cubs and Indians have the best managers in baseball – should be a great World Series. And Mike Zimmer could be one of the best coaches in the NFL. I’d love to see the Vikings and the Patriots in the Super Bowl. How good would that be?

Cheers,

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