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field

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Posts posted by field

  1. On 4/5/2024 at 3:27 AM, Aqua Buddha said:

    About that.....

    We know some people that live in Scottsdale.  They said the summer really isn't that bad.  Wake up early, do whatever, nap in the afternoon, and then go back out at night.  (They're 55 and retired so there's that.)  

    How true is that?

    Kinda true for mornings. June is great because the sun comes up out here by 5:15, so you can workout, hike or do whatever early and it’s not too bad. I know guys that will have played 18 holes by 9:30. With that said, the summer sucks and there’s no way around it. My biggest issue with it is actually nights. Days are consistently 108-115.  That wears on you but whatever. The thing is, the temp is still like 98 and will feel like over 100 at 9:00 or 10:00 pm.  So you don’t get a break from the heat when the sun goes down. That’s what I really hate. And nights don’t cool into the 70’s until around Halloween.  

    We’ve been here 9 years.  It’s not a bad place to live. If anything it’s kind of an easy place to live. I don’t love it and want to get back to Texas, but there are a lot worse places. I will say that you’ll never see a more beautiful sunrise or sunset than in AZ. 

    NOMAAA isn’t wrong about the drivers. 

  2. 10 hours ago, hornian said:

    I donated enough this season to get 6 OU tickets, but the site is saying I can only request 4 OU tickets. Guess I'll call next week to have them unplug it and plug it back in again. 

    Same. Let me know what they say. 

  3. 16 hours ago, field said:

    The north gate is the better entrance and will funnel you by the range and then merch store.  It's not a tent - it's a beautiful building.  They allow you one re-entry each day, so we always take our merch back to the car.  You can also ship it onsite if you want.  Definitely go first thing and get it over with. 

    Other random thoughts:

    1.  If you're going with buddies or just more than one person, be sure and wear a wrist watch and pick a "when we get separated meet here" spot.  It can be really easy to get separated - especially around the clubhouse - and you won't have your phone to text/call.

    2.  Spend time around the big oak tree by the clubhouse.  It really is cool.  Since you'll be there Tuesday, and if you stay around basically until they kick you out, you'll see a lot of the past champions under the tree before the Champions Dinner.  Last year we just stared at Scottie and Crenshaw talking for 20 minutes before the security guard politely told us that we didn't have to go home, but we had to leave the premises.

    3.  We walked down to Amen Corner around 5:15 after all the players were off the course.  It was the most beautiful and peaceful time I've ever had on a golf course.  It was awesome.  Just soaking in the beauty the course at that time of day was spectacular.  

    Have fun.  It's the best. 

    Coupe of other thoughts on merchandise:

    1. The merchandise building is a little overwhelming.  You're going to be shopping with what feels like 5000 other people jammed in there with unlimited options on shirts, caps, sweatshirts and literally everything else you can think of.  Have a list of people with sizes you need to buy for.  You'll end up buying more, but make sure you have your must buy list with you.    

    2. They have shirts hanging on hangers in the middle of each room and you'll be tempted to grab those for ease.  Don't.  Decide what shirt you want and then go to the counters where you'll get the same shirt but which is folded in a beautiful clear plastic Masters bag.  Much easier to pack and much nicer to give to friends/family than one on a hanger.

    3. They have mini merch stands around most of the concession areas on the course with limited selection of caps, flags, t-shirts and stuff like that.  If you forget somebody or, like me, decide "you know, I need another three caps and a couple of flags for the hell of it", they're very handy so you don't have to wait in line for the main merch building after you've been in there.

    4.  The line for the merchandise building is always long.  It's like a Disneyland line for a popular ride on a holiday weekend.  I wouldn't look at the line and say "we'll come back."  Get it over with.

     

         

    • Hook 'Em 1
  4. 43 minutes ago, AUinHsv said:

    Which gate is correct for merchandise? The website seems to indicate two areas for merchandize

    The north gate is the better entrance and will funnel you by the range and then merch store.  It's not a tent - it's a beautiful building.  They allow you one re-entry each day, so we always take our merch back to the car.  You can also ship it onsite if you want.  Definitely go first thing and get it over with. 

    Other random thoughts:

    1.  If you're going with buddies or just more than one person, be sure and wear a wrist watch and pick a "when we get separated meet here" spot.  It can be really easy to get separated - especially around the clubhouse - and you won't have your phone to text/call.

    2.  Spend time around the big oak tree by the clubhouse.  It really is cool.  Since you'll be there Tuesday, and if you stay around basically until they kick you out, you'll see a lot of the past champions under the tree before the Champions Dinner.  Last year we just stared at Scottie and Crenshaw talking for 20 minutes before the security guard politely told us that we didn't have to go home, but we had to leave the premises.

    3.  We walked down to Amen Corner around 5:15 after all the players were off the course.  It was the most beautiful and peaceful time I've ever had on a golf course.  It was awesome.  Just soaking in the beauty the course at that time of day was spectacular.  

    Have fun.  It's the best. 

    • Hook 'Em 3
    • Like 1
  5. 6 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

    I am a big traditionalist, but the way the bowls distribute tickets has always pissed me off. The fact that the participating schools, especially for the major bowls, get such a small allotment is just absurd. And the seats generally suck.  Meanwhile, thousands and thousands of people who have zero interest in the game are comped prime seats.

    It's a racket and if it starts to die I won't shed a tear.

    Fun fact - if it was up to the bowls, they'd require the participating schools to contractually buy way more tickets than they do now.  As it is, the bowls enter into contracts with conferences - not individual schools - and the conferences are the ones who have limited the contractual requirement on ticket allotment at the request of their schools.  Most schools lose their ass on ticket allotments, which is why conferences pushed back on ticket allotment numbers and reduced them to 13,000 (from 17,500) during the last round of contract negotiations in 2014 for the New Years Six bowls.  

       

    • Hook 'Em 1
  6. 1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    there is not doubt that the venues and artists/teams are getting a cut of the resale fees. Perhaps not always on a per transaction but they are in other ways. I know that when I bought MLB playoff tickets on Stub Hub or Seat Geek, the MLB app was fully aware of the transaction and I could use the MLB app to go into the game. You know that Stub Hub and Seat Geek pay MLB for that data integration. It might be an annual or even a transaction fee charged by MLB, but the buyer/seller are indirectly sending money to MLB as part of their fees.

    At least as it relates to bowl games, neither the bowl nor the schools get any percentage or cut of resale fees. 

  7. 12 minutes ago, Etexhorn13 said:

    How many does the school get allotted for season ticket holders? I put in my request but not super hopeful… you’d think it would at least be a bigger number than what they got for the Big12 champ game 

    Each school gets 20,000 tickets for championship game.

  8. Good summary of how players can automatically qualify for the Ryder Cup this week.

    Scenarios for players to automatically qualify for the U.S. Ryder Cup Team at BMW Championship

    Spoiler

    Here’s a look at the unique scenarios for U.S. Team automatic qualification at this week’s BMW Championship, contested at Olympia Fields Country Club (North Course) outside Chicago.

    Guaranteed to make the team:

    Scottie Scheffler

    Wyndham Clark

    Patrick Cantlay

    Minimum finish required to have a chance to auto-qualify:
    (10 players outside the top six have a chance)

    Xander Schauffele Two-way T43
    Jordan Spieth Three-way T4
    Cameron Young Two-way T3
    Collin Morikawa Three-way T2
    Keegan Bradley Three-way T2
    Sam Burns Solo-2nd
    Rickie Fowler Solo-2nd
    Denny McCarthy Win
    Lucas Glover Win
    Kurt Kitayama Win

    Brooks Koepka is bumped out if two of these things happen:

    Max Homa Two-way T9
    Xander Schauffele Solo-9th
    Jordan Spieth Solo-3rd
    Cameron Young Two-way T2
    Collin Morikawa Solo-2nd
    Keegan Bradley Solo-2nd
    Sam Burns Win
    Rickie Fowler Win
    Denny McCarthy Win
    Lucas Glover Win
    Kurt Kitayama Win

    Brian Harman is bumped out if:

    Max Homa and Xander Schauffele finish in a two-way tie for second AND Jordan Spieth, Cameron Young, Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns or Rickie Fowler wins.

    Result required to guarantee a spot in the top six:

    Brian Harman Solo-20th
    Max Homa Runner-up finish (any ties)
    Xander Schauffele Solo-2nd
    Jordan Spieth Solo-2nd
    Cameron Young Win
    Collin Morikawa Win
    Keegan Bradley Win

     

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  9. 56 minutes ago, Catpfish said:

    Quick question.  We went last year through buying tickets at a charity auction.  This year, I won tickets through the lottery, but I can't make it.  I'm sending friends who haven't been.  I'm assuming they mail the tickets and I don't remember them checking IDs or anything, so there shouldn't be a problem with them getting in if I'm not there, right?

    They mail them about three weeks before the tournament - or at least they did last year.  Your friends will be fine getting in. 

    • Like 1
  10. 16 hours ago, Rickylovesweed said:

    Anything can happen in match play but aggy's #5 was at least 14 strokes behind every Texas golfer in stroke play. 

    If aggy doesn't think there's any chance she can beat anybody the smart play is to just concede the point to one of our top golfers. If it plays out that way. 

    That post didn't necessarily age well.

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1
  11. Probably a stupid question, but do practice rounds have any day of information as to who is playing and when or is it just whenever the players come out and play?

    There are signs on the grounds, similar to tee sheets, which are updated when players go out for practice rounds. You can’t find out who is playing or when before getting to the course though.
  12. 1 minute ago, BurntOrange&White said:

    Someone post that athletic article

    Spoiler

    ASU, Arizona presidents address schools’ Pac-12 futures: What to make of their comments


    The presidents of Arizona and Arizona State publicly addressed their schools’ futures within the Pac-12 this week as the conference continues to work toward securing a new media rights deal. Here’s what you need to know:

    • Arizona State is “committed to the Pac-12,” school president Michael Crow told The State Press, ASU’s student newspaper, on Tuesday.
    • In an interview with Bay Area News Group’s Jon Wilner, Arizona president Robert Robbins said that “I don’t think anybody wants to leave (the Pac-12)” but also that “it’s heavily dependent on (commissioner George Kliavkoff) and his team negotiating a good media deal for us to stay competitive.”
    • The Athletic reported on March 3 that the Big 12 conference had been in recent contact with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah as the Pac-12 continues to negotiate a new media rights deal.

    What else they said

    Crow told The State Press, “There have been no discussions with the Big 12 conference on moving.” But he added: “I mean, there’s been discussions between everyone everywhere on all things related to where our conference is going and where stuff’s going to end up and what’s happening. We are committed to the Pac-12.”

    Crow also said the Pac-12 is in the “final stages” of negotiating a new media rights deal. “We’re close to knowing where we’re going to be, and I think we’re close to a deal,” he said.

    Said Robbins: “(Kliavkoff) has done a great job working on the media deal, and I think he’ll bring us something that’s good enough.”

    Are Crow’s comments surprising?

    This isn’t a surprise. Crow is loyal. He long supported Larry Scott while others questioned the former Pac-12 commissioner’s decision-making. His commitment to the Pac-12 falls along these same lines. Crow has said in the past that he feels the university better aligns with Pac-12 membership. He views Arizona State as a West Coast school.

    “Arizona is, it’s just not the same as Iowa or Kansas,” he said last fall. “It doesn’t mean that we’re like a separate region or a separate country, it just means being part of the Pac-12 for the last 44 years has been a proud honor.” It would take a lot for Crow to change his mind on this. — Haller

    What about the University of Arizona?

    With Arizona State committed to the Pac-12, the focus turns to its rival in Tucson. Like ASU, Arizona would seem to be a natural fit for the Big 12. It makes sense geographically. It makes sense competitively. The Big 12 already fields the nation’s top basketball conference. Adding the Wildcats would make it even stronger.

    But would Arizona separate from ASU? Ten years ago, maybe even five, that answer would be no. The Arizona Board of Regents likely would have a strong say in the matter as well. But times have changed. Robbins told The San Jose Mercury News that the Pac-12 schools are “joining arms” to try and stay together, but he added that much depends on the conference getting a media deal that allows them to be competitive.

    Bottom line: Previous alliances don’t matter as much these days. Schools have little choice but to look out for themselves. — Haller

    Backstory

    The Big 12 expanded from 10 to 14 teams for the 2023 season with the additions of former AAC schools CincinnatiHouston and UCF as well as independent BYU. However, the conference will lose two schools after the season concludes when Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC in 2024, a year earlier than they initially planned.

    Last week, Yormark said he’s focused on expansion and “exploring every little possibility” for adding new members to his conference.

    Last July, weeks after USC and UCLA’s stunning announcement that they would leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff made a bold realignment prediction: “No Pac-12 school is going to the Big 12.”

    “With respect to the Big 12 being open for business, I appreciate that,” Kliavkoff added. “We haven’t decided if we’re going shopping there or not yet.”

     

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  13. 7 minutes ago, dieucla98 said:

    If the club nets $1.5 - $2M for hosting, why charge 2 months of dues? Seems silly to "subsidize" an event that turns a profit for the club.

    Obligatory tell me you don't understand country clubs without telling me you don't understand country clubs. 😉

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  14. 24 minutes ago, Gidnik said:
    Spoiler

    When a headline about a potential broadcaster for your games draws a negative reaction, you’re not in a good place.

    The Pac-12 is nearing dire straits right now. There’s no other way to put it. The New York Post’s report Tuesday that Apple TV+ is a potential landing spot for Pac-12 sports landed like a lead balloon among fans, and for understandable reasons.

    It doesn’t mean the league is about to fall apart or that it can’t still secure a good enough TV deal for the short-term future. It will probably be OK. But the Pac-12 may be the canary in the coal mine for college conferences outside what is becoming the Power 2 of the Big Ten and SEC.

    Streaming won’t be the answer to saving college football as we know it. We know this because streaming isn’t saving TV.

    You can’t completely blame Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff. He needs to find some other interested bidders to gain some sort of leverage in negotiations with ESPN after he inherited an incredibly difficult situation from former commissioner Larry Scott. Fox, a current Pac-12 media partner, has expressed little interest in the league with USC and UCLA on their way out. NBC and CBS also appear set when it comes to college football. The Big 12’s decision to renegotiate early with ESPN and Fox and take a larger-but-under-market deal for the sake of security was a smart move to outflank the Pac-12 that also highlighted how far it, too, is from the Big Ten and SEC.

    The Pac-12 needs leverage, but Amazon and Apple aren’t that. A move to heavy streaming would dramatically decrease game viewership and threaten to speed the conference into irrelevancy. In a sport based around recruiting and donors, people need to find your games easily. ESPN knows this. It’s why Conference USA rushed back to ESPN as part of its new TV deal and away from streaming places like Stadium. Even if Amazon and Apple, which have been more prudent with streaming spending than other places, overpay for the sake of content on a potential sports-only app, it’s an incredible risk for a conference. This isn’t Major League Soccer.

    For years, forecasters predicted the sports TV money bubble was about to pop. They said there would be a limit to how far broadcasters would pay for live sports as cable subscribers went down. “TV Sports a Spectacular Bubble” read a Forbes headline in 2013. But as cable subscribers began to slump, it became clear that live sports were the only thing saving television from dropping even further, increasing their value. The NFL had 75 of the 100 most-watched broadcasts in 2021, so the NFL has continued to get more and more money from the networks. The Big Ten and SEC, with their large audiences, are about to take another financial jump up with their new TV deals. The 12-team College Football Playoff will be another boost, with Fox expressing interest in joining ESPN as a potential broadcaster.

    Amazon is paying more than $1 billion per year for Thursday Night Football because it’s the NFL. It made a play for the Big Ten because it was the Big Ten. Even Apple, the most valuable company in the world, reportedly let the NFL take Sunday Ticket to YouTube TV in part because Apple didn’t want to increase its price for customers.

    If you’re not the NFL, Big Ten, SEC, NBA, CFP,  World Series or the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, your negotiating leverage may begin to fade as the biggest leagues take up more.

    Take it from returning Disney CEO Bob Iger, who on a recent earnings call expressed a desire to keep NBA rights but said: “ESPN has been selective in the rights that they bought. I’ve had long conversations about this with (ESPN president) Jimmy Pitaro. And we’ve got some decisions that we have to make coming up — not anything particularly large, but on a few things, and we’re simply going to have to get more selective.”

    ESPN used to own college football. Now it lost the Big Ten and does not see the Pac-12 as such a priority as to overpay. Iger also said that while ESPN+ has grown nicely, he does not want to commit to an all-streaming ESPN or spin the company off unless it makes financial sense.

    And that’s the dirty not-so-secret about streaming: It’s not actually working. The boom is over.

    Disney’s direct-to-consumer business — which includes Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu — lost more than $4 billion in 2022. The financial losses continue to climb even as subscribers grow. It’s a big reason Disney stock is down 31 percent over the past year. NBCUniversal’s Peacock lost around $2.5 billion for the year, and CBS’ Paramount Plus also lost around $1.8 billion. These companies planned to lose lots of money and aimed for profitability by 2024 or 2025, but there is little sign of that yet. Dramatic cuts have come across the board.

    Fox’s decision not to jump into the standalone streaming game and instead focus on the biggest live sports like the NFL, college football and the World Cup, has proven to be a more successful strategy thus far. It has increased its market share in college football, and despite the loss of cable subscribers, this year’s Super Bowl on Fox was the third-most-watched game ever and the highest in six years. As Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks put it on a Sports Business Journal podcast, speeding up into streaming also speeds up the decline of linear TV, your actual money-maker.

    What does it say when Netflix, the rare profitable streaming success, has opted against jumping into sports bidding wars, even after a recent decrease in subscribers? It has instead focused on sports documentaries and made smaller runs at sports like Formula 1 racing or the World Surfing League, showing no interest in major sports.

    “We’re not in the business of live sports rights. We’re not in the business of renting,” Netflix vice president of nonfiction series Brandon Riegg told the New York Times.

    While more games than ever are available to watch — a certain positive for fans — all of this doesn’t even touch on how cumbersome it is to watch live sports on streaming. Broadcast delays lag behind social media and betting sites. Some can’t pause or rewind. Switching between games can be a hassle and an even more frustrating process if you have to switch to another app.

    On a busy college football Saturday, will casual fans who use one screen flip back and forth to Prime Video or Apple TV+ for one Pac-12 game if their favorite team isn’t involved? If conferences move into different streaming apps, the sport will be even more fractured.

    “No one streaming sports service can fulfill what a sports fan needs,” Shanks said.

    The Pac-12 may still come out of this OK. It might sign a good enough deal with ESPN and a streamer and provide schools with money similar to the Big 12. Linear TV for sports is still in a good place. But the next round of college media deals in six or seven years is the moment when industry leaders believe major change will truly come. I dread the future of conference realignment, but if you’re not in the Power 2, it’s impossible to predict where you’ll be as the top conferences take an even larger market share.

    Live sports, particularly football, have kept linear TV alive, but there is no sign that streaming will save college football in the form we currently know it.

    Season 3 of Ted Lasso should be good, though.

     

    • Hook 'Em 1
  15. 5 hours ago, Nueces River Rat said:

    Sounds like they may have to use the existing facility area to build it.   How much does the outdoor part of that practice facility get used these days vs the team just doing that stuff at DKR on the turf?   Easiest path would be to use that area to build the new one and then make the area where the Bubble stands, the outdoor portion after tearing it down.  Just looking at a map, I can't see anywhere closer to the stadium that would suffice without tearing down something that is probably historical or would cost an arm and a leg to rebuild elsewhere on campus.

    CDC made the point during the town hall that it took the players too long to get to the current practice field and that they were looking for a new, more convenient location.  I can't figure out where that would be, but he made it seem like they were going to a new, closer location to DKR.

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