DL551: Masters Preview with Jay Busbee & Shane Bacon (Sorry for Bad Audio)

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I hate Skype. The last ten minutes of this show and somehow MY mic was choppy. Inexplicable. If anyone asks why I’m giving up the show, you can tell them it’s because I hate the new Skype. Maybe that’ll get me a feature on Engadget or something.

Anyway, damn you Skype, but thank goodness the Masters is here. Jay Busbee and Shane Bacon preview the tournament, talking about some of the favorites, some of the players who have the most (and least) momentum. Seriously, PGATour.com has a meter determining each player’s momentum heading into the tournament.

Thinking about picking Anthony Kim? Don’t, his Uncle Mo’ has left him behind. That said, SANDLY LYLE has high momentum coming to Augusta! Yeah, it’s that kind of list.

We talk a lot about Phil, not as much about Tiger, and wonder if it’s more important to have a history of good play at THIS TOURNAMENT or to be hot coming into the tournament. Also, is the course better suited for a lefty, or do we lumpREAD MORE

News@Noon: Bradley to EPL, Strasburg Quits Chew, KD/Bosh, Media, SAGs, Phil’s Layup & Pujols Math

News@Noon is a collection of links from people we know and like or stories about folks in sports we know and like. It is, and will always be, completely arbitrary. If you have something you want linked, send along.

• The transfer window deadline day has been must see reporting and tweeting and reporting about tweets and tweeting about reporting. Plus, news(!) like USMNT midfielder Michael Bradley making the move, reportedly, to Aston Villa. Many people think Bradley is a prototypical EPL midfielder, and finally he’ll get his chance.

• Last week we linked to Richard Deitsh of SI, tweeting about whether or not he’d be interested in Ombudsing for ESPN. Here’s Deitsch’s take on Don Ohlmeyer’s run with the WWL and other media thoughts — including an interview with Mike Mayock — in his Media Circus column.

• Big League Stew posted a story from the Washington Post about Stephen Strasburg trying to quit chewing tobacco because his former college coach, Tony Gwynn, was diagnosed with parotid cancer. Hopefully high school kids who think it’s cool to dip — baseballREAD MORE

DL514: All Star Weekend, Pro Bowl, Bubba Watson, Djokovic, College Hoops, More

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Here’s the email I sent Nick this morning:

• Pro Bowl blowout • NHL All-Star weekend/skills competition/player All-Star Draft • Golf – Watson/Mickelson • Djokovic – Murray • Kevin Durant calling Bosh soft • Insane college basketball games (UConn 2OT loss, Duke smoked by St. Johns) • Soccer transfer window is insane

That’s the show. I was really excited for a great weekend in sports, despite having no meaningful football. Nick was less than thrilled. Where’d you fall and did I convince Nick that the weekend was better than the thought?

Call of the Day: Bubba Watson Wins, Tears Up On A Great Day For Lefties

During the off-season I joked with Shane Bacon that he was my second-favorite lefty golfer, other than Phil Mickelson, but he could drop to third if Bubba Watson ever got it going.

Boy did he, winning the Farmers Insurance Open atop of a stacked field, sinking a snaking 15-footer on 18 for birdie with Phil Mickelson a stroke back, waiting to hit his approach. This tournament serves as the de-facto start to the PGA Tour season, as well, with the likes of Tiger and Phil playing for the first time all season. With a leaderboard with names like Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan, Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Nick Watney and rookie sensation Jhonny Vegas, It was Watson who took home the title.

It was a great moment for Bubba, and of course, a great moment for lefties.

Seriously, how can you not like this guy? He went from a bomber who nobody looked at as a serious contender to, likely, the next great lefty on Tour and one of the top players, names and personalities in the game.

Again, what aREAD MORE

Four Questions – Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters

Hey, look, a new recurring post we’re hoping to pull out a few times a week! Why is it called Four Questions? Well, because of this old story: My roommate in college had an internship at The Daily Show and his first day was also Jon Stewart’s first day. I told him that he’d make a great first impression if he suggested to Stewart that they change Craig Kilborn’s “Five Questions” to “Four Questions,” what with Stewart being Jewish and all. Instead, Stewart did five, four, three, two and one question on each of his first five shows in a quick and painless way to retire Kilborn’s bit. Alas, the Four Questions remained a dream…until now.

There’s a lot of news surrounding the announcement of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters. Shane Bacon and I go over some of the biggest questions to come out of the news.

1. Jim Nantz is the voice of the new Tiger Woods 12: The Masters game from EA Sports. We media wonks think this is a big deal because NantzREAD MORE

DL445: Shane Bacon Talks Ryder Cup, Tiger, Swing Changes, Betting A Tie & Rickie Fowler, Not Ricky Barnes

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Shane Bacon, writer at Yahoo’s Devil Ball Golf as well as this fine site here joins the show to talk about the Ryder Cup, which is going on right now. Yes, for one more week of the year, golf is entirely relevant.

We start with a conversation on the FedExCup, which hasn’t been able to capture the audience you’d expect for a tournament full of big names that offers a $10 million prize. Is it too much money? Seriously, are people turned off by that big of a prize that the event has become more of a sideshow than the “fifth” major?

And why not amend the schedule so the FexExCup doesn’t land on the second or third week of the NFL season? End the major golf season on Labor Day weekend and it will have Sunday (and Monday) to itself without any NFL interference. Sure, it’s a holiday weekend, but it’s not an NFL weekend (yet).

(Note: this topic allows me to share my “sports on TV as snack foods” analogy that I’ve hadREAD MORE

DL361: Phil Mickelson is the Master of Golf’s Domain

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They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. Here’s 1,000 words on Phil Mickelson winning the Masters.

Plus, Nick’s best man speech, our trip to the hospital and a detailed breakdown of CBS covering the Masters. Thanks for listening.

Food. More Food. Food. Signing Day. Overrated Chants. Food. Grooves. Food.

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So if you can’t tell by the headline, we talk about food today. Sarah Sprague from Black and Gold Tchotchkes joins the show to talk about her 14 Days of Super Bowl Recipes. Amazing work.

But first, Nick and I talk about National Signing day, focusing not just on the teams this year, but taking a look back at some previous years to see if the five star locks held up. Fun stuff to look back from a few years ago to see how the recrutniks fared.

The Weekend That Is = FOOD.

Sarah, aka TheStarterWife on the interwebs, has your Super Bowl Party covered. We run through nearly the full list of her recipes, and she talks about how simple some of them really are to make.

And we get so into this food stuff we actually talk about the rehydration process of peas, only do dehydrate them again to be coated in wasabi. Yes, a twice dehydrated pea!

We talk about the lack of native cuisine to Indianapolis, which is what led to her pickingREAD MORE

TSB’s Chris Littmann Talks Media Day & Super Bowl Week from Miami. Plus: Rex’s Fine, Signing Day, Golf Grooves and more Soccer Infidelity.

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Chris Littmann from The Sporting Blog joins the show from Miami to talk about media day. We run though what the event was like and talk about some of the highlights. Honestly, rather than read it here, go check out the great coverage at TSB from Littmann and Tunison, who I am calling the Crockett and Tubbs of the Sporting News team.

Football Talk:

Nick and I follow up the football talk with more football talk. Really.

We discuss the two major ankle stories this week, including the one where Warren Sapp is adamant that Dwight Freeney won’t play this Sunday because he didn’t have his ankle wrapped or iced during the ONE HOUR of media day. Methinks he’s talking just to talk. Oh, and the other story? Favre. Whodathunkit?

We touch on Signing Day and Rex Ryan’s fine as well.

Speculation Station:

We update the conversation in the PGA of whether or not golfers, including Phil Mickelson, are cheating for using old clubs. Scott McCarron has backed off his initial claims and says he and Phil nowREAD MORE