Sports

Phil Mickelson changed the business of golf.

Published

1 year ago

April 5, 2023

Phil Mickelson walks up the eighth hole during a practice round for the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 5 in Augusta, Ga.Matt Slocum/The Associated Press

When golf’s schism happened roughly a year ago, most players tried to strike a neutral pose. ‘This is a business’ and all that jazz. It didn’t last, but they tried.

As we begin the first Masters since LIV, we’re into the open-war phase of engagement. It’s been widely noted that at Thursday’s start, no LIV heavyweights are matched with their PGA Tour equals. Plus, only the PGA’s stars were placed in featured groups. Augusta National isn’t being very subtle about whose side it is on.

Until recently, most of the guidance on comportment came from Phil Mickelson. After getting off to a terrible start (“We know [the Saudis] killed Khashoggi” etc. etc.) Mickelson tried to play the split off as a minor disagreement among colleagues. As for politics, he’d never heard the word. Politics. Is that French? Actually, don’t tell me. Next question.

Mickelson got that the media would hate him for leaving, but he really did seem to think that everyone who matters would remain his pal. Sure, he forced everyone under hot lamps to answer questions about human rights, but c’mon. Who’d be angry about that?

I don’t credit the Dustin Johnsons/Brooks Koepkas of the world with much savvy, but they understood they’d crossed a hard border. Mickelson still talks as though he’s off on a professional vacation and that everyone might soon be joining him overseas.

Instead, kicking LIV has become its own sport and Mickelson’s the guy with a sign taped to his back. The media have slapped him silly on podiums around the world and the most he’ll do is roll his eyes. Knowing what was coming, he didn’t bother speaking before this Masters. One thing golfers don’t skip – an opportunity to say things such as, “If it weren’t for the love and support of Titleist/Nike/NetJets, I’d be bereft” in front of a microphone.

It’s worse than that. Fred Couples called him a “nutbag.” I don’t know what that means, but it sounds pretty bad. What did Mickelson shoot back? Nothing. He has become as placid as cattle.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Mickelson was speaking of the Masters like a sick man on his way back to Lourdes. He isn’t looking so hot lately. Once a guy who got ribbed for being roly-poly, Mickelson is now just this side of worryingly gaunt. He looks like he isn’t getting much sleep.

“[The LIV contingent] are grateful to just be able to play and compete and be part of it,” Mickelson told reporters. “A lot of the people there who are playing, competing, in the Masters are friends for decades and I’m looking forward to seeing them again.”

That’s not an olive branch. It’s an olive grove. So how’d that go over?

According to two wisemen of the game – Fuzzy Zoeller and Tommy Aaron – like a ton of bricks.

Here’s Zoeller, to Golfweek, on how Mickelson carried himself at this year’s dinner: “Phil sat near the end of the table and kept to himself. He didn’t speak at all.”

And Aaron: “I couldn’t believe how quiet he was. He took a low profile. He didn’t say a word.”

Sure sounds like a fun get-together with old friends who were looking forward to seeing you.

Social opprobrium might be bearable if Mickelson, 52, were showing professional gains. But he isn’t.

It’s not quite two years since he won the PGA Championship, to become the oldest winner of a major. You may remember that walk up the 18th to end it, an enormous crowd roiling around him. That moment in May, 2021 felt like the end of the worst part of the pandemic.

It also felt like a new capstone on Mickelson’s career. He wasn’t going to go down as Tiger Woods’s shadow self, the silver-spoon traditionalist to Woods’s middle-class revolutionary.

Mickelson was going to be his own guy with his own story, one that went on longer and in a more dignified manner than his closest rival. He was having a real middle-aged renaissance.

That seems a long time ago now.

Now it’s Woods who gets to talk in avuncular terms about being at Augusta (“The joy is different now”) while Mickelson is twisting out on the periphery.

The whole point of bringing Mickelson to LIV was so that he could dominate. The Saudis knew they weren’t hiring a spokesperson. What they were counting on was a familiar face appearing regularly in highlight reels.

Instead, Mickelson has been abysmal. He can no longer crack the top 25 in LIV events. His world ranking is in the 400s and headed south. Playing irregularly against middling talent in meaningless tournaments can’t be helping.

There was a small to-do this week over a court decision that makes it unlikely European LIV golfers will appear on future Ryder Cup teams. At least they’ll have the excuse of a legal impediment. What best-of-the-best team would want Mickelson any more? He’s not even useful as an aged-out mascot.

Normally speaking, there is little tragedy in the case of an athlete who finds him or herself out of favour. People don’t like you any more? Score three goals. They’ll like you again.

But this is a different case – an athlete who’s lost his friends, his reputation and his mojo at the same time.

People such as Couples aren’t taking runs at Mickelson because they don’t like him. If that were the case, they’d have been doing it years ago. They’re taking runs at him because they don’t like him, plus he’s lost his alpha status. They sense Mickelson’s weakness. That’s made him a target.

There’s something Shakespearean about all this. No man had more to gain from the LIV deal than Mickelson, especially once Woods took a pass. Mickelson has made himself monstrously rich. But in order to fully reap that windfall, he must continue humbling himself for the foreseeable future.

Mickelson wanted to change the business of golf, and he changed it. Having got everything he wanted, now it’s time for his punishment.

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Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

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AP NHL:

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.

WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.

“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”

Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.

Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.

Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.

Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.

The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad

Forwards

Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

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Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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