The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Moving a major will come with drawbacks
The Register’s Joe Morelli points out that moving the PGA Championship from August to May beginning in 2019 will come with a few drawbacks.
The Terrible Twos have arrived. My son just looks at me with that wry smile as if to say, “I’ve got you wrapped around my little finger already, no matter what destruction I can cause.” Yep, you do.
• The PGA Tour players have wanted for quite awhile to end their FedExCup season before the NFL starts, so they are finally getting their wish with the PGA Championship moving from August to May beginning in 2019. I’m not a fan of the move. A few tournaments will be on the move in addition to the Players Championship going back to late March.
Didn’t the Players originally move to May in 2007 due to the bad weather it was getting in the last week of March in Florida? The PGA of America feels its premier event will get better exposure in between the Masters and the U.S. Open. I honestly think it will lose a little bit of luster. Either way, the PGA will always rank fourth among the majors.
And although nothing has been decided for the other PGA Tour events, including the Travelers Championship, nothing is set in stone beyond 2018. Some are going to move, a couple to the fall season. Maybe one of the FedExCup playoff events gets eliminated. Time will tell.
• My spies confirmed that two high school boys basketball players rumored for most of the summer to be Hamden Hall-bound is a done deal. Swingman Christian Adams is leaving Hillhouse and guard Tim Dawson will depart Notre DameWest Haven. The two were among the top returnees in the Southern Connecticut Conference.
Adams rejoins Byron Breland III wit the Hornets, who are looking really, really good in the Fairchester League under first-year coach Sean Doherty. It leaves two big voids to fill for Hillhouse. Most programs couldn’t withstand those departures. Hillhouse isn’t most programs and will be fine, but will have its difficulties making a three-peat come true in March.
• Don Baylor remains fourth on the all-time list for hit by pitches with 267. He never flinched, just took the shot in his massive left arm and trotted to first base. Attempting to throw at anyone now and you expect a brawl to break out.
Hard to believe Baylor is gone all too soon at 68. He played for many organizations and represented all of them well.
• About that American League: only four teams are at least four games above .500.
• As someone who grew up 10 minutes away, seeing a baseball stadium last for two decades as the Ballpark at Harbor Yard has is quite an accomplishment. I’m sorry to see the Bridgeport Bluefish go, but happy many kids for many years got to see players trying to either get to, or return to (remember Jose Canseco and Juan Gonzalez playing for opposing teams?) the bigs.
• There is not a person alive — if you’re being honest — that thought Terry Collins would become the longest-tenured Mets manager. Collins has exceeded expectations. Unfortunately, that tenure is going to end when this season does — hopefully by mutual decision.
• Yes, you may have missed the one-year anniversary since Alex Rodriguez “retired.” Never mind that the New York Yankees are still paying him to be a minor-league instructor, or a studio analyst, or the latest man in J-Lo’s life — whatever it is, it actually ends in less than two months, one of the worst contracts in the history of sports.
• Has it really been a quarter-century since the Dream Team, the best team ever in any sport you can think of, won its gold medal in the 1992 Olympics? Where exactly has the time gone?
• So the Miami Dolphins threw money at its desperate QB situation and Jay Cutler came out of his brief retirement. Exactly how many playoff games has he won? I can’t say I’m shocked Colin Kaepernick hasn’t been signed, but I probably would have given him a little more consideration than Cutler. He did play in a Super Bowl.
• I was so looking forward to seeing former Tampa Bay Bucs kicker Roberto Aguayo on Hard Knocks this month. He was cut after the team’s first exhibition game.
• Our condolences go out to the family and friends of former longtime Sheehan boys hockey coach Ray Crew, who died a week ago at 82. He coached the Titans for 27 years and was a longtime assistant for the school’s girls soccer team. He’s even better known in the Elm City for playing three years with the New Haven Blades (1959-62) among his many stops during 16 seasons.
• Last Sunday was the six-year anniversary of our former colleague’s passing. I wonder if Dave Solomon would still be writing his “I was Thinking” or would he be retired. Somehow, I think he’d still be exciting and annoying our audience to this day with his thoughts on the local and national sports scene.
Dave had a knack for doing both. Time really does fly.
Joe Morelli can be reached at jmorelli@nhregister. com Follow Joe on Twitter @nhrJoeMorelli.