I was reading the April issue of Golf Digest which contained, among other things, a list of the 50 greatest Master's moments. Included in the list of greatest moments for the Master's was the year that Martha Burk, the head of the National Organization of Women, raised a big stink about Augusta National's lack of female membership. Now Golf Digest didn't list that as an all-time great moment because Martha accomplished anything out of the ordinary. In fact, the Richmond County sherriff kept Burk's group so far away from the National, and slapped so many restrictions on their protests that they hardly got any press coverage that week. No, the reason that Martha Burk's 15 minutes was considered a great moment in Master's history was because for the first time ever, the Master's was shown without any commercial interruption. I mean, talk about your all time backfires! Instead of exposing injustice and inequality, Martha Burk single-handedly gave every golf fan a commercial free Master's. Now here's the part where I get political. I was not and am not now a financial contributer to NOW, but if I had been I would have stopped as long as Martha Burk was in charge. You see I don't care who Augusta National admits as a member, as they are an entirely private entity and make no claim of equal opportunity status (which is not the main point). The point is that NOW is a very influential lobby group, and I really think that their head honcho could really have used her resources in a much more positive way. Do you really think that a terrified young mother that just left her abusive husband cares if she might someday have an opportunity to be an Augusta member? No, I think she's probably thinking about where her next meal is coming from, and after that where her family is going to live. Or for that matter do you think that a women with breast cancer cares that Augusta National doesn't have female members? I seriously doubt it. There you go, that's my political opionion for the week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a humorous note:
I played golf today at Bear's Best in Lawrenceville, where I had the opportunity to utilize the services of a caddie. One thing you should know about me is that I am an absolutely frighteningly horrible putter. On about the 15th hole, my caddie described my lack of feel around the greens like this: "You know, when it comes to putting, you have the feel of a rapist." Yeah, no tip for you buddy!

I have been on vacation for the last week, and my scruffy face can bear witness. You see, I don't shave on vacation, ever. I have no need to shave, no one to impress, and since Jenn is knocked up and battling morning sickness, I certainly don't have to worry about a scruffy face getting in the way of "affectionate moments." Among other things, you may be wondering exactly why I'm on vacation. To tell you the truth, I just felt like taking some time off. Since Ace gives me a minimum of three weeks off in my first year (I can't cash it in or roll it over), I decided that I would take a few days off here and there for mental breaks. Did I mention that I really like working for Ace? This week has actually been the first time in 4 years that I've taken more than one normal business day off at a time, and the first time since I got my first job at 15 that I've gotten paid for a full week of vacation. I now consider myself mentally rested and ready to charge back into the fray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've spent a great deal of my time this week on my bike. I think that it's safe to say that spring is my favorite time of year to ride. For a number of reasons I basically wasn't able to ride for the last three weeks of February, and it was absolutely breathtaking to get out there this week. Riding has been simply brilliant due to the warm temperatures, the gentle breezes, the smells of the flowers and plants waking up again, and the fact that the whole world seemed to turn green again overnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are two events coming up that I want to participate in: The Lake Lanier Islands duathlon, and the BRAG spring tune-up. If anyone is interested in training for and participating in either or both of these events, please let me know. I would be very grateful for company, particularly on the long BRAG rides.