By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Derek Holland threw the variety of pitches he wanted in his first start of spring training. Then he tossed a few figurative hard ones at baseball executives reluctant to sign top free agents.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — His orange Giants hat had been replaced by a black one, this with the “4440” on the front, a model number of John Deere tractors. Madison Bumgarner, heading toward his 30th birthday, remains the country boy from North Carolina.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
MESA, Ariz. — The view was rare — and fantastic. There beyond the centerfield fence, the wonderfully named Superstition Mountains, glistening white from a snowstorm, stood like sentinels.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Not once was there a mention of Bryce Harper. At least within earshot.
There was talk about the Giants' pitching rotation for the first few exhibition games, Chris Stratton starting Saturday against the Angels, Madison Bumgarner on Sunday in the home opener against the Cubs.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — It was the day when southern California seemed more like eastern Scotland, the day the wind whistled down the coastal canyons and turned Riviera Country Club, the place known as Hogan’s Alley, into a nightmare of missed putts and blown leads.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Tiger Woods started making putts. Matt Kuchar continued making amends. And Justin Thomas again was playing as if he was going to make the 2019 Genesis Open his tournament.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — The thinking in golf is to get out trouble before you take a chance on getting into more trouble. With a printed statement and a proper payment, Matt Kuchar was able to extricate himself from some self-created difficulties.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — And haven’t these been a few strange days of golf?
The revelation of Matt Kuchar’s perhaps low payment to a caddy after winning a tournament. The apology by Sergio Garcia for wreaking havoc on a course during a tournament in Saudi Arabia. The unprecedented hail that fell Sunday during the AT&T at Pebble Beach.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — What do they call these people? Movers and shakers? Power brokers? There's no question in sports, as in other facets of life, that some people make a difference — on the field or the fairways, or maybe more importantly at the gate or the television ratings, where the money comes from.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — He was so good, so young, on the cover of Golf Digest when still an amateur. The sport belonged to Phil Mickelson, along with Ernie Els. And then Tiger Woods came along.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Bing Crosby must be smiling up there someplace. They can take his name off the tournament. They can take some of the historic plaques off the wall near the pro shop. But they can’t change that central California mid-winter climate known as Crosby Weather.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — He’s in first place. As a golfer. As a humanitarian. Whether or not Paul Casey holds his lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am going into Sunday’s final round, Casey is a winner.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Phil Mickelson finished, and for a few inelegant holes he seemed to be finished off. Jordan Spieth was still splashing forward. Open your umbrella, grab that Gore-Tex jacket and we’ll add another tale to the wintry woes of the tournament that can’t escape the Pacific storms or (drip, drip) its own reputation.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The great thing about Jay Monahan’s job is that he didn’t have to ask the boss if he could take the day off and play golf. He is the boss, the commissioner of the PGA Tour.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — He did so well so quickly. Jordan Spieth couldn’t miss a putt, it seemed, and winning two majors before his 22nd birthday surely meant that he couldn’t miss becoming a Hall of Fame golfer. Didn’t his teenage pals call him “The Golden Child”?
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
ATLANTA — It wasn’t very super. Instead it was a verification of one of football’s oldest adages: You win on defense. Especially against team built on offense.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
ATLANTA — They came from the suburbs of the Bay Area, growing up 50 miles and almost a generation apart, the new kid on the block and the onetime kid who has knocked off everyone’s block, Jared Goff and Tom Brady.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
ATLANTA — The job has its benefits, starting with the current annual salary of $35 million a year. The job — or at least the person holding it — has its critics, and it always has.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
ATLANTA — His father, Bum Phillips, once said of another coach, probably Don Shula but possibly also Bear Bryant, “He can take his’n and beat your’n, and he can take your’n and beat his’n.”
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
ATLANTA — Super Bowl media day always has been crazy. Now it’s commercial. Now it’s “Opening Night Fueled by Gatorade.” Now it’s been turned into another spectator event, people in the stands and, of course, paying to get in.
Copyright 2019, The Maven