Hallucinogenics | The Masters | NY Baseball Week 3 Report | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
With a song title like Hallucinogenics, I gotta get out in front and control the narrative immediately. I am not a drug guy. To each his own, I don’t judge. I certainly drink my fair share of pints, but Week to Week Notes does not get involved in the use of hallucinogenics. Glad we got that sorted.
Anyway, Matt Maeson is an excellent songwriter and this is his biggest hit thus far.
The opening verse draws you in right away. Hallucinogenics isn’t even a real word, Maeson made it up…
Sidenote: Not going to lie, @YouTheReader, I do be saying the same thing to myself sometimes with certain words and phrases.
This is sorta an intense tune, but Decker always requests it on our walks. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to go out with friends, but I got quite content with staying in and missing out on the Jamo-Ginger-Ale hangovers. Crawling back to bar crawling was actually something I was dreading, but my bar crawls with Guinness today are a bit different.
“Whatever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type. THAT was an American. He wasn’t in touch with his feelings, he just did what he had to do. See what they didn’t know is that once they got Gary Cooper in touch with his feelings that they wouldn’t be able to shut him up. Then it’s dysfunction this and dysfunction, ahhh fagool!” - Tony Soprano in the Pilot of The Sopranos
These lines sorta remind me of one of the all-time best-running bits on The Sopranos. Tony Sopranos’ thoughts on Gary Cooper were comedic genius, but there’s an element of truth in them. I feel like most guys grow up admiring the strong silent types so it can be in our nature to not be all openly in touch with our feelings. Before Week to Week Notes, I for one was certainly a bit closed off. Now I’m a fookin’ blogger who probably shares too much.
I guess it’s pretty ironic that before #GuinnessChallengeSeason I thought I was retiring from bars & pubs. Kinda funny to think now my goal is to have a pint at them all! Charlie Chaplin said it best, “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.”
On to the sports…
After Friday’s 2nd Round at Augusta National, the Top 50 players on the leaderboard advance as the rest of the field gets cut.
Scottie Scheffler
Scottie doesn’t know when his wife will be going into labor. He and his wife, Meredith, are expecting their 2nd child at some point in April. Per the Golf Channel, Scheffler has vowed that he would withdraw from The Masters if she does. Despite that on his mind, Scheffler is tied at the top of the leaderboard entering the weekend. Something to monitor.
Bryson DeChambeau
Bryson DeChambeau had himself quite a Friday round. On the 13th hole, which is called Azalea for the rare plant that grows by the green, DeChambeau had a directions sign that was blocking his shot. As one does, DeChambeau decided to pick the sign out of the ground and carry it. Pretty funny, but the officials made him return the sign to its original spot. He would still go on to birdie the hole. Later on at the 17th hole, Bryson hit a 372-yard bomb off the tee. After being 7 under on Thursday, the sign carrier was 1 over par on Friday.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods set a record on Friday as he made The Masters’ cut for the 24th year in a row. That is the most all-time. After hitting one into the woods, Woods would also knock a fan out during his round. The fan is okay. As always, Tiger brings a different type of electricity to the golf course.
Patrick Cantlay
On Thursday, Patrick Cantlay eagled from the fairway. He gave no reaction so no need for a reaction here. After receiving a ton of criticism for his pace of play last year, Cantlay had avoided the slow play talk this year. Instead, English golfer Tyrrell Hatton was complaining about Patrick Reed’s group which was ahead of him. Hatton said Reed’s play, “Yeah, the lads in front have been so slow… It's pretty poor from the officials that it took 32 holes to put them on the clock. Yesterday they'd lost a hole and a half, and then they weren't any better even this morning, and then for the second round they were just brutal. Fine for them; they're not waiting on any shot that they hit. But for us, we stood in the fairway, we stood on the tee. It was really hard to get a rhythm, so it was disappointing that it took 32 holes for an official to go, oh, we've put the group in front on the clock." Gotta love slow-paced play drama.
Shane Lowry
Shane Lowry sponsors his U12 GAA Boys of Rhode GAA. They picked up a win on Friday evening and gave their guy a shoutout on Twitter. As for Lowry’s play at Augusta, Shane has had a tough 2 days. After his Friday round, Lowry told reporters, “Shooting one-over how I played yesterday was pretty disappointing, and then I was behind the black ball after a few holes today. It’s an absolute battle. It’s honestly a lot of guesswork, a lot of luck involved. The wind is all over the place. I’ve never seen it like this. That was probably the toughest two days of golf that I’ve played. I’ll sleep well tonight.” In regards to his chances for the rest of the weekend, “Stranger things have happened around here. Mad stuff has happened.”
It looks like it’ll be another year of disappointment at Augusta for Rory McIlroy. While he may have made the cut for the weekend, Rory shot 5 over par on Friday. This included a double bogey on the 11th hole known as White Dogwood. The par 4 is famous for being the start of Amen Corner, which is a 3-hole stretch at Augusta National where Rae’s Creek plays a factor on the course. Amen Corner got it’s nickname from Sports Illustrated writer, Herbert Warren Wind back in 1958. Wind was not only a fan of golf but of jazz as well so he named the stretch after the jazz recording “Shoutin in That Amen Corner”, a tune sung by Mildred Bailey way back during the Roaring ‘20s. (Source: Golf Weekly)
Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson pulled out the driver on the fairway at hole #8 (Yellow Jasmine). It worked out for him as he would birdie the Par 5. Apologies for the low-resolution GIF, it appears the Masters doesn’t want to promote the lefty’s play too much on Twitter.
JT Thomas
JT Thomas had a very rough Friday round as he shot 7 over par. For the 2nd year in a row, JT Thomas missed the cut for the weekend at the Augusta National. It’s back to the drawing board for JT Thomas.
Viktor Hovland
Viktor Hovland had a very rough Friday afternoon as well. The Norwegian went 9 over par for the day. I’m singling him out for what he did on the 15th hole (Firethorn). Hopefully, it will serve as a reminder to never take for granted a tap-in putt, especially on Augusta greens. C’mon Viktor, respect the game!
Jordan Spieth
Jordan Spieth’s ‘24 Masters is also over. He had a horrific hole on Firethorn where put one into the water as he quadruple bogeyed. Hey, he is one of us!
Week 3 Report of the best baseball town in America is upon us. Here is a detailed report on the Yanks’ and Mets’ past week.
Game 9 (4/6 ‘24)
- Set an alarm for the first pitch at 7:05 PM ET after coming home from pints of Guinness in Newark. Completely slept through it and woke up in the 6th inning.
- Yanks after getting shut out in 2 of their last 3 prior games scored a season-high 9 runs. Aaron Judge went deep for his first blast at Yankees Stadium in ‘24. Mike Stanton and Anthony Rizzo also went yard as they won 9-8.
Game 10 (4/7 ‘24)
- Luis Gil starts the game with a first pitch 96 mph fastball up and in. He was either setting the tone early or had no idea where the ball was going today. Gil struggled in the 3rd inning as he allowed 1 run on 1 hit, 1 hit batter, 2 walks, along with a back-and-forth with umpire, Angel Hernandez.
- After more Angel Hernandez antics with Gleybor, the Yanks respond in the bottom of the 3rd after as Mike Stanton hits a grand slam. Anthony Volpe, who is awesome by the way, manufactures 2 more tack-on runs in the 6th (an infield hit) and 8th (single before stealing 2nd + 3rd). The Yankees win 8-3.
Game 11 (4/8 ‘24)
- Nestor gave the fans a shimmy in the 1st. He was dealing and had no trouble in the 1st inning, unlike his 2 previous starts. Cortes would go 8 innings strong, his longest start since May 26, ‘22.
- The Yanks’ bats woke up in the 4th inning as Volpe and Juan Soto each hit 3-run homers. Michael Kay hates oatmeal raisin cookies, me too! The Yanks win 7-0 in a laugher that lasted 2 hours and 1 minute… The fastest Yankee game in my lifetime.
Game 12 (4/9 ‘24)
- I got home from work & pints in the 7th inning. Carlos Rodon pitched great but allowed 2 unearned runs on an Anthony Rizzo error. Soto hit another homer earlier that I missed.
- Picked up a mixed platter from Tastee Platter on Washington Ave for dinner. It was spicy, burnt the hell out of my lips, good portions though. The Yanks hold on to win 3-2.
Game 13 (4/10 ‘24)
- Didn’t get home until the 8th inning from work & pints. I’m guessing moving Anthony Volpe to the leadoff spot wasn’t the right move.
- In the 9th inning, Drew makes a good point via text that the Yanks should’ve pinched hit for Jose Trevino. They had Oswaldo Cabrera or Austin Wells as options on the bench. That’s on Boone. Aaron Judge flies out with the bases loaded as the Yankees lose 5 to 2.
This Weekend
- The Yankees are in Cleveland to take on their baseball team. Friday night’s game got postponed from rain so they play a double-header today. Clarke Schmidt will start the 1st game and Cody Poteet will get the ball in the 2nd. Poteet didn’t pitch in the majors in ‘23 but went 4.1 innings with 7 ks last week in Triple-A.
After starting the season 0-5 with 3 rainouts, the Mets have gone 6-2 since. Last night Luis Severino picked up his 1st victory in New York Mets’ pinstripes as he went 5 innings allowing only 1 run. The former Yankee has a 3.00 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched. Pete Alonso went deep for the 4th time this season, as he blasted a 404-foot shot to CF. The other player of Note should be 3B Brett Baty. The 24-year-old has gotten off to a good start offensively, hitting safely in 11 of the Mets' 13 games thus far which has got him a .327 batting average thus far.
I’m heading to Citi Field for some pints around the area. Might bother some Mets fans tailgaters with some Week to Week Notes cards, hope this goes well in enemy territory.
YouTube Rabbithole
The Gary Cooper Compilation - The Sopranos
One of the most underrated running bits in TV History.