Big Break X: Michigan

[Doctorfro]

I don't know if I've seen too many of these shows but it seems like something's missing. Tonight's show was boring.

[Awsi Dooger]

I went to college with the Snedeker guy. I remember he was a very good college player but his swing looks jacked up these days.

Haymes is really good in the interviews on Golfgal's blog. He offers anecdotes and interesting observations.

Those interviews on Gayle's site finally enabled me to care about some of these teams. I still can't fathom why they started episode one smack with the golf. It's like a movie that opens with a dangerous chase scene or some type of peril, but they haven't given you any reason to give a damn about the characters. There are obvious reasons to care about Camila. I was instantly relieved in the first two minutes tonight when she had a big smile on her face in the confessional. Such a contrast to episode two. I was convinced she and Hugo had survived elimination. Haymes revealed in his interview with Gayle that episode two indeed was the end of the golf for that day, with the next episode not filmed until the next afternoon. So there was no room for the previous confessional to have included aftermath emotion of an elimination result. Wow, I'm semi-shocked that Andrea and James were first ousted. I expected it to be the coaches. After sensing Camila was safe I didn't pay attention to the confessional facial expressions of the other two teams. Amazing difference of caliber of play between Cirbie, first gone in Ka'anapali, and James/Andrea here. But Andrea's bunker shot may have been the worst I've seen in my brief Big Break viewership. She barely swung at it. Normally I don't mind when Gators are struggling but I felt bad for her, especially after listening to her interviews on Gayle's site, and appreciating that she gave the Duramed Futures Tour some exposure by wearing their hat on the show. Otherwise, who designed the holes they've picked so far, Jack Nicklaus? Every one seems designed for a fade. James was compromised partially by his draw tendency not fitting the layout of the holes. The males on this show in general seem to overplay a draw. I think I might watch the replay tonight, simply to watch Camila's reaction after Hugo secured immunity. She is wild and fine...

[Awsi Dooger]

How can you not like Casey and Rachel? They've got the wholesome, mid-western thing written all over them. It's also apparent that they are among the better teams in terms of talent under pressure. And that lob was just incredible.

Agreed all the way around. That team is All-America personified. But Rachel is like Kim Welch, better looking with her hair down. She needs to stop bundling it on the course. It works very well with her features when it's down in the confessionals.

Andrea has great facial expressions, and can do plenty with few words. Until that second hole of elimination, I never considered the possibility they would leave tonight. I hope she continues to do interviews with Gayle every week, as Tina Miller did. BTW, Billy Ray Brown needs to loosen up, Sandy baby, to quote John Riggins. Andrew Magee may not have been the equal of previous Big Break hosts, at least according to message board consensus, but at least he was occasionally lively and provided some memorable lines -- "what's going on?" I'm not sure Billy Ray was thrilled to be there, or to be associated with the program. Last weekend I was watching the Las Vegas event on TGC, and the fellow commentators clearly had Billy Ray annoyed by calling him "Big Break." And absolutely, ever version desperately needs a jerk or jerkette. I'm pulling for Camila, but not rooting against anyone.

[Golfgal]

The thing I love (and hate) about BB X is that I never guess right what's going to happen (which I love), but then I share my ignorance with the world and show how wrong I can be (which I hate). So I'm left humble (well...not really - that would be asking too much ;:)

Anyway....tonight I was sure after last week that Camila and Hugo were going home. Maybe it's because I've never had a chance to interview them, but somehow I just didn't think they'd last very long. Wrong again...

Anyway...Mike and Sherri were like a different team tonight. Actually there were like a real "team" which was quite a transformation from last week. I think that's what made them successful. They really stuck together. I was able to interview Mike right after the show and found out he has an interesting collection of tatoos. You just never know what you're going to learn from these late night chats :)

Andrea and James also looked much more together tonight. I'm not sure what went wrong, but that bunker shot was certainly uncharacteristic of Andrea. I'm chatting with her Wed AM so I'll ask her and I will certainly ask her to continue the weekly interviews like I did with Tina Miller - always great to get the perspective of those who have been eliminated. And I really like these people. I would hate to cut off the conversations before we really got started.

I am also going to be talking with Haymes and Sally D tomorrow. Did you know that Sally is playing in the Remax Long Drive World Championship this week? I talked with her today briefly and she had made it into the semi finals. I think she won it in 2004. Wouldn't that be cool to see her win it again? I will know more tomorrow when I interview her.

Meanwhile...I'd like to know who you think will leave next week. I have an opinion, but I'm wrong so often, it really doesn't matter what I think :)

Gayle

[Q.Q.Quillume]

...it seems like something's missing. Tonight's show was boring.

Agreed; ennui for me.

I can't find anyone I want to pull for nor anyone I want to pull against.

[worst_shot_ever]

Meanwhile...I'd like to know who you think will leave next week. I have an opinion, but I'm wrong so often, it really doesn't matter what I think :)

Well, if I were a betting man, I'd say the odds favor Otis and Rachel for that honor. But who knows -- maybe the next sneak peak will give us something to work with.

[jambalaya]

I agree that Otis has been really shaky. I think he needs to let Rachel take more of the pressure shots. They would be my pick to go in the next elimination. I need to see some more golf to pick a favorite but my bottom three are Otis/Rachel, Amber/Robby and Michael/Sherri.

[Awsi Dooger]

Well, if I were a betting man, I'd say the odds favor Otis and Rachel for that honor. But who knows -- maybe the next sneak peak will give us something to work with.

I think they are the weakest team. But some of the interviews on Gayle's site the past couple of weeks included references that not knocking them out in episode one could come back to bite some teams.

For some reason I thought Sally was past her peak in the long driving and didn't compete anymore. So far she hasn't demonstrated awesome length in this show. Granted, she hit a 3 wood off the tee in the challenge against Hugo and Camila, but short hitting (by her own assessment) Camila put it past Sally with her driver. Last night I didn't mention that I thought the celebration after the elimination was odd, slapping hands and big hugs in the BMW zone. That certainly didn't jive with the subdued mood in Ka'anapali. Christina Lecuyer even felt compelled to apologize several times for a brief fist pump after eliminating Samantha Head with a long birdie putt. The Big Break Michigan producer took it quite a bit further in his blog entry for this week on TGC website: http://www.thegolfchannel.com/core.aspx?page=23468 "At this point in the competition, you can definitely see which teams have found a common bond and which teams are all business. There is a clique that seems to wants to play mind games and it was very apparent following this elimination. Keep in mind, I didn’t grow up in the game of golf, but I was in organized baseball for almost 20 years and understand the word respect. Always respect your opponent and show respect when you lose, but more importantly, show respect when you win. At the end of this elimination, some of the cast didn’t show the respect that Andrea and James deserved for their efforts in this show. " I hope Andrea and James were indeed walking in the other direction as that "disrespectful" celebration occurred. The camerawork indicated that, but you can never be sure with the editing. Otherwise, Camila's English was entertaining, twice describing her shot as "...pretty crappy."

[Awsi Dooger]

Sally Dee made it to the semifinals of the Re/Max World Long Drive Championship in Mesquite.

She had many drives beyond 300 this year including a 314 to advance to the semis. On Wednesday, Sally was eliminated by Phillis Meti, the 2006 champion, 300-266. Sally was the winner in 2004.

The final match was decided by a strange 254-250 margin, Meti losing to Lana Lawless. Perhaps there were weather issues. Highlights of the competition will be shown on ESPN in late December.

http://www.longdrivers.com/08WomenFinals.php

I had no idea Sally had so much success on the LPGA, including a T3 in 2000 at the Michelob Light LPGA Classic. Has any other Big Break contestant managed that type of result on a major tour before competing on the program?

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/sg00/lpga0024.htm

[worst_shot_ever]

I watched the most recent episode again last night. I have to agree about the celebration at least appearing a little bit unseemly after James and Andrea got booted. I also think that Robby's wedge over the wall, though further from the pin than Casey's, was actually a better golf shot. Casey would have been in a terrible position if he had hit it either a couple inches shorter or longer (obviously he wasn't actually trying to bounce it off the top edge). He also admitted that he got under it more than he meant to. But hey, that's the luck of the Irish. The putt Robby left for Amber was no gimme, but it didn't look longer than 6-8 feet and was entirely do-able. So let this be my first (and potentially last) shout out to Robby. Speaking of Robby and Amber, anyone else see the full page ad in GolfWeek with a big picture of Amber? It's nice to be a cutie. I hope she gets her golf game together -- the trailer for the next episode at least appears to be trying to suggest that she and her man may be in jeapordy. Looks like we have the glass pane contest to look forward to.

I'm shocked that Sally had that kind of success in her past. I haven't seen much yet that suggests she ever had sufficient game to reach that level. Good for her. As you say though, there must have been some serious weather issues in that LD contest. I realize they're women, but 250 yard drives are rather pedestrian. Kim Welch supposedly regularly hits beyond 300. Maybe she should have made a run at the ReMax thing. (Speaking of long driving, did anyone else see the HW 18 audition video for Rob and Charlotte? Apparently, believe it or not, Rob is a long hitter and once had aspirations for competing in the ReMax thing. During HW 18 the producers and other players never did anything to suggested Rob had huge length off the tee, however, so maybe he's lost some of that distance.)

[Awsi Dooger]

I'm shocked that Sally had that kind of success in her past. I haven't seen much yet that suggests she ever had sufficient game to reach that level. Good for her. As you say though, there must have been some serious weather issues in that LD contest. I realize they're women, but 250 yard drives are rather pedestrian. Kim Welch supposedly regularly hits beyond 300. Maybe she should have made a run at the ReMax thing. (Speaking of long driving, did anyone else see the HW 18 audition video for Rob and Charlotte? Apparently, believe it or not, Rob is a long hitter and once had aspirations for competing in the ReMax thing. During HW 18 the producers and other players never did anything to suggested Rob had huge length off the tee, however, so maybe he's lost some of that distance.)

I'm shocked also. Maybe I'm overreacting to Sally's shanked 9 iron into the woods in the progressive distance challenge. On the interview from Gayle's blog, Sally says she wasn't striking the ball well when Big Break Michigan was filmed, particularly early in the competition. If she was at that LPGA level at one point, we should see glimpses of it as the rust wears off. On one article about that 2000 Michelob Light tournament, it says Sally had the 3rd longest driving average on tour.

BTW, Kim Welch was in the Re/Max long drive championship at Mesquite a couple of years ago. I remember reading an old article on the Duramed site months ago during Ka'anapali. She qualified via winning the long drive competition at a Duramed event. There were many quotes from Kim. I'm sure it could be located via Google. She said she switched from her typical driver to a 48 inch driver, and laughed when she opened the box. Instead of her typical (at the time) R flex Aldila NV driver shaft, she used a stiff shaft. I don't remember the model of driver. Kim said she brought her whole set of clubs and the other competitors couldn't understand it, since they were merely blasting drivers all day. I think she survived many rounds but didn't come close to the final four. Her drives were generally in the 270-280 range. It didn't seem like the 48 inch driver helped. From the tone of her quotes, Kim didn't take it too seriously, more of a curiosity to watch the specialists. She was happy her drives were staying in the grid, compared to some competitors who were wild with every shot.

[Harry Longshanks]

I don't know if I've seen too many of these shows but it seems like something's missing. Tonight's show was boring.

Weird. I enjoyed this show, except for James and Andrea getting eliminated. I think they were more talented than some of the other teams . . . in theory. But they were definitely playing "one-legged".

Agreed; ennui for me.

I am having that problem. I think Casey and Rachel L. are my frontrunners right now.

(Bonus points to Qx3 for use of the word "ennui".)

I hope Andrea and James were indeed walking in the other direction as that "disrespectful" celebration occurred. The camerawork indicated that, but you can never be sure with the editing.

I must have missed the "celebration" and I deleted the episode off of my DVR. What happened?

[Awsi Dooger]

I must have missed the "celebration" and I deleted the episode off of my DVR. What happened?

Michael and Sherri walked toward the other couples in the BMW Zone bench after eliminating James and Andrea, at the back left of the green. I expected a brief subdued congratulations from the other couples. Then I thought James and Andrea would appear in the picture as everyone said goodbye to them.

Instead, there were bear hugs and slapped hands and beaming smiles. Not from every team, but at least 2 or 3. It definitely looked strange. But my Big Break watching is confined to Ka'anapali and a handful of isolated episodes from previous editions. It wasn't until I read the producer's blog that I had backup the celebration was out of place. For some reason, TGC website is allowing the competitors' blogs to be posted several days late. It's obvious they can read the producer's blog, which is posted immediately after the program airs, and then tailor their message, if they wish. IMO, that's pathetic mush. Lori Atsedes' blog entry was posted immediately, blind to what the producer had posted. This week Michael and Sherri had high praise and used the word respect in regard to James and Andrea, an obvious reaction to what the producer had emphasized. Anyway, I'm encouraged we're apparently headed to ruffled feelings courtesy of the long drivers.

[worst_shot_ever]

There was one celebration I must say I enjoyed quite a bit, however: Camila's leaping grasshopper hug of Hugo after he defeated James. ;)

[ttime]

This is one of my new favorite shows, every tuesday Im right in front of the tv watching this. Any predictions on what couple will win?

[Awsi Dooger]

Tina Miller wants some votes in a Hottest Female Athlete competition. It's a series of elimination matchups. Tina is up against tennis player and Playboy layout Ashley Harkleroad in the first round.

http://blog.ingamenow.com/category/hottest-athlete/

Tina posted a related thread on another site. I don't know if she's a member here.

[Awsi Dooger]

It looks like they've created someone to root against.

And another "Sugar"?

[Q.Q.Quillume]

It looks like they've created someone to root against.

Even though BB Michigan is still a lot of ennui for me, at least there's that -- I now have someone to root against! And if I hear "Sugar" one more time, I'm rooting against her as well; unfortunately I'm so bored with the show I can't even remember which woman said "Sugar".