WHITT'S END: 12.1.17

   Whether you're at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt's end:

   *From the Dept. of Too-Little-Too-Late, the Cowboys last night were ... lucky to be playing the hapless Redskins. Washington committed four turnovers, Dez Bryant crawled out of his grave and even a flimsy rookie draft class looked like Pro Bowl players in a 38-14 victory. Ryan Switzer, Taco Charlton and Chidobe Awuzie all produced positive plays. One win won't turn around a season, but it will temporarily warp expectations. With the awful Giants and reeling Raiders next on the schedule and then Zeke Elliott comes back and if they can only ... Stop it. No. Even 10-6 doesn't guarantee a Wild Card berth in this year's NFC, but it is a guarantee that the Cowboys won't win out.

   *Dez may have lost a step in speed, but his leaping touchdown catch proved he hasn't lost an inch on his vertical.

   *It was only 10 months ago that national NBA pundits were applauding the Mavs for "stealing" center Nerlens Noel from the Sixers in a trade for Justin Anderson, Andrew Bogut and a first-round pick. Noel, the 6th overall pick in '13, is young and wiry and athletic. He was acquired to both protect the rim defensively and attack it on offense, giving Dallas an aggressive alley-oop option it hasn't had since forever. Noel produced 16 points and 11 rebounds in the season opener. Now? Buried deep in Rick Carlisle's doghouse. Noel, who turned down a $70 million contract offer in the offseason, didn't play in Wednesday's loss to the Nets. That's right, the Mavs' center of the future is now behind Maximilian Kleber, Salah Mejri and Jeff Withey in the rotation. This season is officially all about saying goodbye to Dirk Nowitzki, hello to Dennis Smith Jr., and somehow salvaging Noel.

   *The Mavericks will make the postseason in 2018. My Mavericks, that is. UTA has two legit stars in Erick Neal and Kevin Hervey and will punch its own ticket March Madness.

   *These days I'm semi-retired and - I'll admit - getting real bored, real quick. I mean, I can only play so much golf and tennis. I'm ghostwriting a book. I'm a Senior Consultant at On-Air Media, helping companies launch podcasts with our old radio friend Jagger. But if you have something sorta interesting, then sorta let me know.

   *After a horrible three games and an ugly first quarter, No. 4 suddenly found his Dakuracy.

   *Why Whitt's End now? I dunno (see above?). Maybe it's only because Mike Fisher drew me a fancy logo. Is it back for good, on a regular basis? Probably not. Have I missed writing it? Um, ask me again after about 20 bullet points.

   *If you're wondering about Wally Lynn and missed my update, it's right here. Be warned, though, it may not be the Christmas-spirit pick-me-up you're looking for.

   *Hang in there DFW sports fans, this nightmare year only has one month left. What did the StarsRangersMavsCowboys bring us in 2017? How about a combined record of 151-177 and one - count 'em, 1 - playoff game. And, boy, was it a doozy. On January 15th the Cowboys fell behind 21-3 to the Packers, rallied, but eventually lost 34-31 when Green Bay nailed field goals of 56 and 51 yards in the final 1:33. Otherwise ... hurry 2018.

   *Some days you're on top of the world. Some days you can't open your car door without a bloody incident.

   *To get an idea of where America is and where it's headed, watch the movie Idiocracy. I know, it's horrible. But also telling. We've forgotten how to reason, while perfecting the art of reaction. Rational decisions have replaced by blind tribal loyalty. And where does the decline start? Lack of reading. With Twitter and Facebook and audio books and Netflix and satellite radio and ... everything, our society has simply run out of time to have time. Our attention spans have shrunk as our options have expanded. The 24-hour news cycle has deteriorated into 24 seconds. Where once writers had a couple paragraphs to hook readers, now they have a couple of characters. I still love long-form, in-depth writing. But I also realize that literary foreplay is about as trendy as head lice. Reading is learning. And learning helps us reason, not merely react. Do it. For the good of our future. Otherwise, we'll someday elect a President that doesn't know the nuance between your and you're. Wait ... oops.

   *Hot.

   *Not.

   *It is Dec. 1. The Cowboys+Mavs have 11 wins. The Eagles+Sixers have 22.

   *I'm all for equality for females and it's justice that all these women are now coming forward with their tales of being sexually harassed. I hope it is indeed a tipping point, and that the women with momentum help the men in charge to re-draw the lines of acceptable, civil behavior. The bottom line will be less unwanted touching and decreased penis flashes. But - you knew that was coming didn't you? - I fear the reverse chill. The unintended consequence. The sex drives in male CEOs, politicians, Hollywood stars and lower-level employers will not decrease, but their releases will be re-directed. Don't get me wrong. It's a good thing. A great thing. But somewhere soon, if it hasn't already happened, an attractive female will be denied a promotion - or perhaps even an internship - because of her looks. Because of what will be perceived as her danger factor. Attractive females are now Kryptonite to lazy men still in power. To the men, it'll be easier to remove the temptation rather than refuse it. In other words, buy stock in companies that provide escort services. Business will soon be booming.

   *I like blondes. And curves. And fish. And calendars. But I do not want this for Christmas. Because it's weird AF.

   *My better half (Sybil Summers) is twice as good-looking as me and way more than half the writer I am. Add it all up and I win. By losing.

   *Tiger Woods shot a 3-under round. Roger Federer won two Grand Slam tournaments and is No. 2 in the world. Gregg Popovich and Tom Brady are at the top of their professions. 2017 sure looks a lot like 2007.

   *Feel like these days there's more traffic on the roads and less room for your elbows? Here's why: Every day on this planet there are 360,000 births ... and only 151,000 deaths. Every. Single. Day. Scooch a bit, will ya?

   *I babbled earlier about our shrinking free time, but is it just an excuse? If you have a typical 9-5 job you work 40 hours a week, or 2,080 hours a year. Add an hour commute and your "work" load increases to 2,340 hours annually. Sleep eight hours a night? You're up to 5,260 of committed time. Bewildering, right? But, there are 8,760 hours in a year. That leaves you 3,500 hours of totally free time per year. Sooo get to gettin'. By the way, you've wasted about six minutes reading down this far.

   *LaVar Ball deserves Donald Trump. And vice-versa. Watching them Twittfight is like watching the Eagles play the Redskins. You hope it ends in a scoreless tie with numerous injuries.

   *In six years since leaving the Big 12, Texas A&M is 25-23 in the SEC. It has had only one season with a winning conference record and has yet to play in a SEC title game, much less win a conference championship. My question is, therefore, where are all the riled-up Aggies that promised I'd eat crow for writing this?

   *We have a pussy grabber in the White House and we'll soon having a crotch grabber winning the Heisman Trophy. 2017 can't get outta here fast enough.

   *One of the paintings below cost $200 at Pier One. One was done by Sybil and hangs in our dining room. One recently sold for $46 million. Quick, tell me which is which. In a related story, we all chose the wrong profession.

                 


   *You can have one wreck and not be a bad driver. You can be momentarily reprehensible with a woman without being a predator. And you can blurt out a flippant racial comment without being a racist. It's habits and patterns, people. Not one-offs. America has totally lost the art of "context."

   *As I mentioned earlier, On-Air Media is our new media production company. Over by Love Field. 3 studios, complete with 4k cameras, state-of-the-art audio, green-screen backgrounds and A-to-Z podcasting/webcasting. If you or your company wants some attention, hit me up.

   *Recently moved from McKinney to the White Rock Lake area of Dallas. Best thing about it: Lack of traffic. You get accustomed - see: numb - to stop-and-go commutes. But once your 49-minute drive turns into a 9-minute drive, you realize how bad it sucked.

   *If the Tryptophan in your Thanksgiving turkey makes you sleepy, why don't we use turkey pills as sleeping aides? It's as though turkey is a healthy choice for a vibrant lifestyle ... every day of the year except for the third Thursday in November.

   *Similarly to how I feel about Jeff Heath and the Cowboys, I just don't think the Mavs will ever be a legit contender while giving quality playing time to Yogi Ferrell. Both are great guys and try-hard players, but ... no. Just no.

   *I'll never understand our your fascination with British royalty, in particular royal weddings. I think it's the female fantasy of An Officer and a Gentleman, on Molly.

   *Re: Artwork, Sybil's gem is on the left and the middle mishmash - "Ketchup on Canvas" - sold for almost $50 million.Without knowing the value, I wouldn't trade. You?

   *This weekend? Maybe a bike ride around the lake. Maybe put up a Christmas tree. Maybe I'll No way I'm going to pen another Whitt's End. Don't be a stranger.

THE 20 MOST MEMORABLE SPORTING EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF ME

   “Be more positive!” she says.

   “Stick to sports!” he chides.

   “Too many Top 10 lists!” they decry.

   Fine, you win. Today: A warm-’n-fuzzy Top 20 list about sports.

   But first, a little background …

   I lied to get into the sports media business. Sorta.

   Went down like this:

   In 1986, a few months before I graduated UT-Arlington with a degree in journalism, I caught the eye and grabbed the ear of an editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

   “I’ll do anything, for any price,” I begged, attempting to jam the tip of my toe into what I perceived to be a sliver of an opening in the door.

   “Hmm, okay,” returned the editor. “Do you follow soccer?”

   “Are you kidding?!” I fibbed, having attended a Dallas Tornado game or two as a kid but not really knowing a goal from a goal kick. “One of my favorite sports!”

   Two nights later I was inside Reunion Arena covering a team called the Dallas Sidekicks and a sport called the Major Indoor Soccer League. Orange ball? Walls? A guy who takes his shirt off when he scores? I was clueless. And I was hooked.

Not necessarily on the MISL, but on getting paid to attend sporting events.

   What a scam brilliant career choice.

   I’ve covered sports in the Metroplex for 30+ years, writing/talking about everything from dart tournaments to The Olympics. Today, with a little prodding and a lot of reminiscing, I pieced together the most memorable events I’ve attended during 18 years at the Star-Telegram, seven more at the Dallas Observer, five at CBS Radio/105.3 The Fan, three more at NBC5 and, since the Summer of 2013, here in my own lil’ corner of the blogosphere.

   My initial brain dump birthed 44 memories. I painstakingly narrowed it to 20. Not necessarily the best moments. Merely the most memorable. (Leon Lett, Brett Hull and Bill Clinton's White House just barely missed the cut.)

   Hope you enjoy re-living them half as much as I delighted in covering them.

   20. February 16, 2001; Infield Circus – Assigned to capture the suds, speed and socializing of the Daytona 500, I drove through the tunnel at the Daytona International Speedway and immediately saw a woman. Walking. On her hands. Naked. With grinnin’ guys playing ring toss. Using her legs as the targets. Swear.

   19. April 6, 1997; Mav-Wrecks – Though the franchise had bottomed out a couple years earlier with head coach Quinn Buckner and consecutive 13- and 11-win seasons, the Mavs under the utterly forgettable Jim Cleamons managed only two points – on a pair of Derek Harper free throws – in the third quarter of a lowly loss to the Lakers in The Fabulous Forum.

   18. Nov 30, 2006; Anna Nirvana – Got to play three games of tennis at the T Bar M Racquet Club in North Dallas against one of the hottest females on the planet, Anna Kournikova. Nothing really spectacular about the tennis, other than the fact that it was against one of the hottest females on the planet, Anna Kournikova.

   17. June 20, 1987; Sidekicks Celebrate – Down 3-1 with less than two minutes to play in Game 7 of the MISL Championship Series, the Sidekicks pulled their goalie in desperation. After an improbable two goals to force overtime, Tatu drilled a shot that Mark Karpun re-directed for the goal that stunned the Tacoma Stars and 20,000 fans in the Tacoma Dome. Two days later I covered a championship parade through downtown and around Reunion Arena. Still pinching myself to this day.

   16. Dec. 10, 1989; Bounty Bowl II – After Cowboys’ head coach Jimmy Johnson had chastised the Eagles’ Buddy Ryan for putting out a bounty on kicker Luis Zendejas in a Thanksgiving Day game at Texas Stadium, the payback at Veterans Stadium was gruesome. Philadelphia beat an infamously futile Cowboys team, 20-10, punctuated by batteries wrapped in iceballs hurled at the sideline and even inside CBS’ broadcast booth at Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw.

   15. June 29, 1998; Dirk’s Debut – He stepped off the plane from Wurzburg, Germany all of 19 years old. Chili-bowl, long haircut. Big, gold hoops dangling from his ear. But then Dirk Nowitzki dazzled us inside the Baylor-Tom Landry Center gym. 3-pointers with each hand. And a smooth, flowing stride leading to effortless dunks. The Flamingo Fadeway wasn’t yet born, but just days after the NBA Draft Nowitzki’s eventual Hall-of-Fame star was already rising.

   14. Dec. 20, 2008; Farewell, Old Friend – It was freezing that night. Winter wind whipping through the tunnel at Texas Stadium. But with the Cowboys rallying and former players lined up to see the last game in Texas Stadium it would end up warm and cozy. Right? Nope. As Baltimore Ravens’ fullback LeRon McClain rumbled 82 yards right up Dallas’ gut it almost made us vomit. Then, about 17 months later, an 11-year-old from Tyler pushed a plunger that imploded my all-time favorite sports stadium.

   13. May 14, 2005; Tiger Prowls – Back when Tiger Woods was Tiger Goods, I followed his every move at the Byron Nelson golf tournament. On the 9th fairway he exited a Port-a-Pot … to a rousing ovation.

   12. July 4, 2004; Fantastic Federer – Only thing more amazing than sitting at Centre Court Wimbledon and watching Andy Roddick spank 140-mph serves was witnessing Roger Federer deftly return them for winners with merely a flick of his legendary wrist.

   11. June 17, 1994; The Day The World (Cup) Stopped – International media from the globe’s four corners descended upon Fair Park to cover the World Cup, but suddenly we all found ourselves not watching soccer inside the Cotton Bowl but instead huddled around a TV in the Hall of State’s makeshift media center gawking at another type of football player. It was O.J. Simpson, leading Los Angeles police on a low-speed chase.

   10. January 17, 1993; How ‘Bout Them Cowboys?! – Candlestick Park. The mud. Major underdogs. Up 24-20 with four minutes remaining, but backed up to their own 10. Get conservative and work on the clock? Nah. How about Troy Aikman to Alvin Harper for the most important 70-yard pass play in franchise history. Cowboys 30, 49ers 20. Hello, Super Bowl.

   9. February 28, 1989; Doomsday Indeed – Only days after he was fired by new owner Jerry Jones, Cowboys’ coach Tom Landry went to Valley Ranch and cleaned out his office. Unfortunately, I had to document every sad detail.

   8. June 14, 1998; The Joy of Six – With his Chicago Bulls on the brink of losing Game 6 and having to play a Game 7 in the Delta Center against the Utah Jazz, Michael Jordan scored, stole the ball from Karl Malone and then deftly shoved Bryon Russell out of the way before swishing an 18-foot jumper to seal his sixth title. We forget John Stockton front-rimmed an open 3-pointer at the buzzer.

   7. October 22, 2010; Hello, World Series! – When closer Neftali Feliz struck out Alex Rodriguez on a nasty curveball, our goose bumps had goose bumps. Yep, after 38 seasons the Texas Rangers were finally going to the World Series.

   6. February 8, 1986; Soaring Spud – On NBA All-Star Saturday at Reunion Arena it was 5-foot-7 Spud Webb who stole the show by winning the Slam Dunk title. But in the locker room it was Celtics’ legend Larry Bird who chugged a Lone Star beer, loudly burped and then offered “Excuse me, I’ve got a trophy to win.” He then went out and at one point made 12 straight 3-pointers en route to the Long Distance Shootout championship.

   5. July 27, 1996; Olympic Bombing – During The Summer Olympics in Atlanta I saw Michael Johnson’s double in the 200/400, the Dream Team cream everybody and Andre Agassi win gold. But it was 1:30 a.m. when our bus taking us to our dorms at Emory University abruptly stopped. Announced our driver, “A bomb went off in Centennial Park.” Still makes me queasy. I had been there 20 minutes before. And now I was headed back.

   4. August 22, 1989; 5,000 – I was assigned to paint the scene surrounding Nolan Ryan’s historic 5,000th strikeout. Not Nolan fanning the A’s Rickey Henderson or the ball caught by Chad Krueter, but more so the scalpers selling box seats for, get this, $150 a pop. Probably go for $1,500 today.

   3. October 27, 2011; Title Tease - One strike away. Twice. I was lined up with a gaggle of media underneath Busch Stadium, awaiting the Texas Rangers’ World Series celebration that would never happen. Plastic was hung from lockers. Boxes of championship hats and T-shirts were carted past. But after David Freese tripled off Neftali Feliz in the 9th, Lance Berkman singled off Scott Feldman in the 10th and Freese homered off Mark Lowe in the 11th to end a dramatic, gut-wrenching Game 6, it was instead our worst case of blue balls. Ever.

   2. January 31, 1993; 'Boys Are Back – From Garth Brooks’ National Anthem to Michael Jackson’s halftime show to Troy Aikman’s four touchdown passes to the nine turnovers, the Cowboys’ 52-17 romp over the Buffalo Bills in Super  Bowl XXVII will be eternally vivid.

   1. June 12, 2011; Finals, Finally – As Nowitzki made a lefty layup to give the Mavs a nine-point lead in the final minute, I found myself trying to do my job – blog and type and talk – amidst a stream of tears. Couldn't have been more perfect. In Miami, against the Heat team and villainous player (Dwyane Wade) that ruined the ’06 party. Favorite moment: Original owner Don Carter handing the Larry O’Brien trophy to Finals MVP Nowitzki. Sometimes, if you stick with it long enough, life turns out to be fair after all.

WHITT'S END: 10.23.13

      Whether you're at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt's End:

   *Told y'all to chill on the Cowboys' salary-cap panic. I know the rest of the NFL wants to think Jerry Jones is such a financially-handcuffed dufus that he won't be able to even field a team in 2014, but the way out of their perennial predicament is - once again - not all that complicated. I explain over at NBC 5's Blue Star Blog.

   *I'm intrigued by the World Series. Best two fandoms in baseball, right? I've been fortunate enough to watch games in both Fenway and Busch, and those folks don't just love their baseball. They know their baseball. They live their baseball. DFW is a baseball town, sure. But Boston and St. Louis are baseball neighborhoods, much more passionate and close-knit communities of one. When a big, positive play occurs at Rangers Ballpark, the fans' nights just got better. When it happens in Fenway or Busch, those fans' lives just got better. And, for what it's worth, I don't hate either team enough to invoke Failure Jesus.

   *So does former PGA Tour member-turned-Golf-Chanel-analyst Brandel Chamblee think Tiger Woods is a cheater? Or not? I'm a little confused. He gave Tiger's five-win season a score of "100", yet a grade of "F." Said he got a "little cavalier with the rules" and cited four incidents. But in the wake of creating the controversy, Chamblee both stood by his story and apologized to Woods. How can it be both?

   *As expected, Chris Arnold returned to 105.3 The Fan Monday after a week's suspension for plagiarism. We all make mistakes, but usually they're innocent errors. Not pre-meditated, calculated theft. We accidentally knock the lamp off the nightstand; We don't scheme to steal our neighbor's chandelier. As a writer in this market for 27 years I've been wrong on predictions or breaking news, but never have I blatantly just copy-and-pasted somebody else's work and sold it as my own. Chris' job has survived. But I don't see how his credibility does.

   *I know this is weird, but the best Cowboys' offensive lineman through seven games has been Doug Free. And their best defensive back? Orlando Scandrick. I'd have lost that bet back in August. You?

   *Okay, maybe there is hope for this country after all. Despite some protests from ninny parents who erect statues for the kids when they finish half their morning juice, the Keller Youth Association football league is discontinuing the embarrassing and dangerous act of participation trophies. "Life makes you earn everything you get," the group says, causing anyone who's ever been screwed over by life to stop what they're doing and give a standing ovation. (Stopping. Standing. Clapping.)

   *Hot.

   *Not.

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   *Happy Humpdaaaay White Truck Wednesday. Was stuck in traffic on 121 in the Mid-Cities yesterday for the 19th consecutive day, and got caught behind a big you-know-what-color construction dump truck. On the back of its bed read this sign: "NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR BROKEN WINDSHIELDS!" Says who? I mean, just because you underline a word and use all caps accented by an exclamation point doesn't absolve you of spraying rocks all over the highway. Otherwise, why don't bad guys with guns just bust down a door, shoot up a joint and then walk away free men while pointing to a T-shirt that reads "Not responsible for death"? Putting that sign on that truck isn't a pro-active safety move, it's a lame attempt to cover the company's ass in the wake of lots of complaints from drivers who have driven behind it before and, sure enough, had rocks fly off it and break their windshields. That sign might as well have read "F*k You."

   *As I've said before I think the NFL overdoes it with the pink-for-a-month breast cancer awareness initiative. And this story says that only 8 percent of the total proceeds from pink items actually make it to the cancer research level. But a couple thoughts: How can you possibly have too much cancer awareness? And, unless you've given more than 8 percent to the cause, you have no right to belittle the NFL's effort.

   *An example of how Fantasy Football negatively affects the NFL: There are actually fans debating and writers actually analyzing a trade that would send Adrian Peterson to the Cowboys. Happens in Fantasy leagues all the time. Happens in the NFL none of the time.

   *Been inundated by the hype (Nov. 5 I think it is) for the next Call of Duty. As a guy who stopped playing video games the day I conquered Mario Bros. back in the early '90s, I no longer have a desire to just pretend to do stuff. But I was thinking how different life would be growing up as a 9-year-old in 2013 compared to my habitat in 1973. Nowadays kids have NFL Sunday Ticket. Whereas - I swear this is true - I actually spent considerable time as a punk waiting for the rain to stop so I could go outside have a grassboat race against my friend. A what-the-what you say? A grassboat race. We each picked a big blade of St. Augustine grass as our "boat", then placed them in the gutter that ran along the curb of our street and let the swift-moving water propel them through the neighborhood. We'd monitor and chase and cheer on those suckers for hours, until one of them crossed the "finish line" of our neighborhood creek. Yeah, try that idea on your 9-year-old.

   *Today? Final day of training camp at Pizza Buzz. Couple of pre-season games Thursday and Friday, then this weekend we start keeping score and playing for keeps. Don't be a stranger.

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Old American: Golf's New Challenge

   Yeah, golf's weird that way.
   As in, last Thursday at Cleburne Links I scuffed my way around a 90. And today, on a tougher course:
   Seventy Seven.
   Played this morning at the Old American Golf Club on the edge of Lake Lewisville. It's nothing like Muirfield at this week's British Open in Scotland - except for the throwback shoulder-high flagsticks, that is - but it resembles few courses in and around the Metroplex.

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   Old American's premise is to take you back to the early 1900s, when golf was pure and the courses were natural. They say the layout is "touched, but not manipulated." You'll find hard, fast, but fair greens. A gazillion (actually 139) bunkers. A smidge of the lake. And a forget-about-it-the-weeds-are-shin-high-and-there's-probably-snakes-in-there second cut of very rough rough.
   Crafted by Dallas' Justin Leonard, Old American (even at the $125 green fee) is one of the best public tracks in Texas. Where else around here can you be reminded of Shinnecock Hills?
   Played with Pops and The Choppy's, Ralph and R.J.
   Honestly, 'twas my best round of 2013. My 77 (36-41) featured one birdie, 12 pars, two double-bogeys and a handful of up-and-downs and more than a few 9-foot putts. But do I have room to complain? You betcha.

   On the par-3 No. 4 I hit a 7-iron within eight feet and ... missed the birdie putt. And on the tough 437-yard par-4 11th I hit a glorious 1-iron to within six feet and ... missed the birdie putt. I could've ... oh, who am I kidding? Anything under 80 is splendid for me, especially when it gives me bragging rights over the best golfer at 105.3 The Fan. (When you bump into him, ask Choppy about his "fake Mulligan", on 18 no less.)
   And, remember, when you play Old American you'll step back in time.
   Except for the GPS on the carts.
   Enjoy!
   No, wait, in closing you know the only thing better than shooting 77 in the morning? Coming home in the afternoon to find Susy Solis, Sybil Summers, Fiona Gorostiza and Jasmine Sadry in your pool.
   Pics or it didn't happen, right?

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The Next Great American Golfer? Yep, He's From Dallas.

   Here comes Jordan Spieth!
   Actually, if you've been paying attention, he's been here a while.
   Spieth, a 19-year-old who attended Dallas' Jesuit High School, rallied for a dramatic victory Sunday in the John Deere Classic to become the youngest golfer to win a PGA event in 82 years. Spieth, who'll turn 20 on July 27, is the fourth-youngest PGA winner ever and the youngest since some dude named Ralph Guldahl won something called the Santa Monica Open back in something called 1931.
   It's very cool. But it shouldn't at all be surprising.
   Some of us saw this coming years ago.

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   I was tipped off to Spieth while working as a columnist for the Dallas Observer. I first mentioned him as a 14-year-old who took runner-up at the 2008 Junior British Open and then awarded him with "Best Sports Debut" in the Observer's 2010 "Best Of Dallas" issue.
   Spieth dominated in high school and during his one year in Austin, where he led Texas to the NCAA Championship. He became the only golfer not named Tiger Woods to win the U.S. Junior Amateur multiple times, and made cuts at the Byron Nelson at age 16 and the U.S. Open at 18.
   His win - much less his emergence on the tour - shouldn't be a shocker. Instead of taking the long road to the PGA Tour via Qualifying School or the Web.com Junior Varsity route, Spieth turned a couple sponsors' exemptions into a permanent place on the leaderboard. He has six Top-10 finishes this season and on Sunday rallied from seven shots back with 17 holes to play, punctuated by a dramatic chip-in birdie on 18 that forced a playoff with former Masters champion Zach Johnson and David Hearn.
   Along with the winner's check of $828,000, Spieth gets a couple of nice accessories:
   *Bragging rights that he accomplished something - winning a pro tourney in his teens - never done by Tiger or Jack Nicklaus.
   *A plane ride to Scotland, where he'll compete in this week's British Open.
   Who needs Dwight Howard, we have Jordan Spieth.

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