Who was the most interesting golfer....

[T_MacWood]

...I caddied for?

I caddied for a very interesting golfer in the NCAA tournament, an All-American from Memphis St. who hailed from Connecticutt...Greg Powers. Why they would stick a little kid with an All-American is still not known...we held out own against Lenny Wadkins and John Mahaffey until faltering at the end. Despite my incompetance he couldn't have been nicer.

But the most interesting was an eldrly Larry Snyder, retired long time Track coach at Ohio State, who was also the US Olympic Track coach at the 1936 Olympics. He was a fascinating man with plenty of stories, but what realy stood out was the fact he was blind and still played like demon in his late 80's.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tom MacWood,

The golf world is a small world

I knew Greg Powers and his dad, and played with Greg who eventually went on tour.

[John Kirk]

Dave Schmidt wrote"

"For those who haven't played table hockey at the highest levels, these scoring plays happen in about 1/3 of a second. "

For whatever reason, this strikes me as the funniest thing I've read on GCA in a long time.

My father introduced me to All-Star Baseball.  I played APBA and Strat-O-Matic baseball, plus a variety of others.  Anybody remember PTG Basketball?

I also remember a Foto Football, or something like that, where you selected an offense and defense, placed them over a lighted board, and where the offensive play intersected a defensive player determined your gain.

John

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

I n 1986 I was based out of Medinah..as that is where my coach was teaching....and I was lucky enough to befriend Stan Mikita.
I was totally unaware who this guy was when  first played with, but whne I tried to apologise for not realising he was this hall of fame hockey player..he laughed and said how happy he was to play with someone, who did not know who he was.

Over the next few months we played a fair bit together, he invited over to his house on a number of ocassions, but I mention all this not to name drop , but to lead into the next story.
He called me one morning, and said I just had to show up to play...by now I realised not to say no to the great number 21.

When I showed up on the tee, standing there were a shoeless, cigar smoking Jim Mcmahon and Michael Jordan.
In what is now well known, Air made his bets and off we went.
The beer guzzling, foul mouthed Mcmahon was a joy to be with, despite his lack of regard for the finer etiquette of the game..in fact he was hilarious..non stop stories of wild NFL roadtrips, rows with Ditka, simply because he "liked to f*^! with the old man" and just the whole sight of him playing barefoot at Medinah!!!

Jordan was in the process of losing the bet, then the press, then the press on the press..you get the story..but never got mad,just kept on making big numbers and losing money...
Well we all know now Jordan doesnot lose bets, he only wins..so at the end of the day I am expecting to collect my winnings and the great one has left the premises...Mikita sees the look on my face and just bursts out laughing..
"You thought he was going to pay?   He is Michael Jordan, he does not have to pay for anything"

The next time I saw Michael Jordan, it was just as though nothing ever happened, so I learnt that Mikita was right.
We played three times that summer, I never got paid on any ocassion, but who cares..he turned out to be a real superstar and I got this story.

The really cool part though, is that in September, I went up to Nike HQ in Brandeton, and MJ was there on the same day.
His visits are kept somewhat on the quiet, but we just happened to walk into the same foyer of one of the buildings, and from about 50 feet I hear Michael!!!!!!
The people with me freak out...how the hell do you know MJ..well you guys know the story.........

[TEPaul]

Michael W-P:

Good story about Jordan--that was your payoff. Reminds me of the J.P. Morgan story when some Wallstreeter asked him if he'd loan him some money and Morgan said;

"No, but you can walk across the 'street' with me."

[JBergan]

Dave Schmidt wrote"

"For those who haven't played table hockey at the highest levels, these scoring plays happen in about 1/3 of a second. "

For whatever reason, this strikes me as the funniest thing I've read on GCA in a long time.

My father introduced me to All-Star Baseball.  I played APBA and Strat-O-Matic baseball, plus a variety of others.  Anybody remember PTG Basketball?

I also remember a Foto Football, or something like that, where you selected an offense and defense, placed them over a lighted board, and where the offensive play intersected a defensive player determined your gain.

John

I had a football game similar to what you descrbe, I think it was called NFL Strategy. It was played with offense and defense cards, which were inserted into a slot on the "field."  A spring loaded ball on the "field" determined the outcome of the play.  There were probably 20-30 different offense cards and maybe 10 defense cards, with rather complex plays (for a kid).

Nok Hockey was another favorite of mine.  
 

[mikes1160]

Jbergan,

I've been following this thread to the end, thinking, "what the hell was that game before Foto electric?" Thank you for burning NFL Strategy back into my brain - it was a great game, and you're right, for a kid, it did require a lot of thought and decision making.....me and the cousins burned through a lot of holidays playing NFLS non-stop.

On the most interesting golfer, mine would have to be Chip Beck - this was about three years ago at a pro-am. Obviously on the downside of his career, Chip was/is the most upbeat of guys - constantly chattering, really engaging, and paid attention to everyone's game. He's also a history buff/fanatic, and at the end of every story, whether he was talking about Stonewall Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, etc., he would end it by exclaiming "That was a great American!!!"

The sad part was that the high school kids who were carrying our bags had no idea that they were in the presence of a three-time Ryder Cupper.

[John Kirk]

I owned and played NFL Strategy for a while.  That was a pretty good game.  Not the same as the football game I'm referring to, which may have also been a Cadaco game.  Foto-Electric Football, or something like that.

Good grief, I played a lot of sports games as a kid.  What a geek!  No wonder I never had a girl friend in high school.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

jmkirk,
I to used to play the same game with the light box and the plays--both defensive and offensive. what a cool game!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Michael Wharton Palmer,

If you had lost, would he have collected on the bet ?
 

[RJ_Daley]

Heck, I played with Dan King and Tommy Naccarato in the same foursome, does that count?

[Jeff Fortson]

Tiger Woods.

End of discussion.


Jeff F.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Tiger Woods.

End of discussion.

Jeff F.

Sure, but how interesting was he?  

[Mickey Boland]

....and some minor celebrities like Don Cherry.  

Minor celebrity?!?  The voice of a country and an entire sport.  And we used to go drinking in his bars in Canada when we were 19 and living in Detroit.....short drive across the border.

Not THAT Don Cherry.  The one I'm talking about was a B-list singer/entertainer/semi-pro golfer back during the time period I'm referencing.