Red On Sundays

Dan Jenkins once said in a Golf Digest interview that during his salad days as an up-and-coming sportswriter at Sports Illustrated, he was frequently asked to urge Arnold Palmer to wear a red sweater on Sundays.

Red, you see, shows up terrifically in photographs, and since Arnie was such a magnetic and reliable winner, the SI editors wanted him in red for the inevitable cover shot. Jenkins, who would grow into one of the best sportswriters that ever lived, considered this practice "idiotic" - aware, no doubt, of the SI "cover jinx," which dates back to the 1950's.

There's a great story out there (and for all I can remember, Jenkins may have written it) about a professional golfer who held a sizable lead after three rounds at a major championship and was asked to wear red on Sunday - again, for the benefit of photographers. It might have been Palmer at the 1966 US Open, where he coughed up a seven-shot lead with nine holes to play on Sunday and lost to Billy Casper in a Monday playoff; it may have been Andy North. I can't remember, and after an embarassingly exhaustive internet search, I can't find it. Anyway, the golfer in question, whoever he was, lost. This would be much more powerful and pithy had I actually located the damn story.

In any case, wearing red on Sunday for the benefit of a still-undecided magazine cover shot is a sure way to tempt fate. Tiger Woods likes to say that he wears red (or vermillion, or coral, or whatever Nike is calling it that week) during final rounds because his mother believes it to be a color of strength; personally, I think he's facing the Golf Gods head-on. You can play it safe and appease the Gods, or you can tell them to pound sand. It's pretty obvious which side of that fence Tiger and Arnie inhabit.

On December 27th of last year, I presented my fearless predictions for 2006, having already graded myself on my fearless predictions for 2005. We're not even halfway through the year, but I feel compelled to provide an update. You'll see why in a moment.

Note that I am fully aware of the grave consequences of tempting the Gods. I do not talk to the pitcher during a no-hitter; I always let the goalie hit the ice first. Like I said, I'm wearin' red. Pound sand, you onerous Gods.

From the December 27th blog entry:

"The Orlando Magic will reach the playoffs, aided by a nose dive from Indiana, Philadelphia, and/or Washington. Miami will make it as well, but won't get past the second round. Dwight Howard will not win Most Improved Player - they'll give that to Boris Diaw, Mehmet Okur, or Gilbert Arenas - but Howard will capture the NBA rebounding title, thanks in no small part to the inevitable Marcus Camby knee or shoulder injury. Chris Paul wins Rookie of the Year in a runaway. Flip Saunders wins Coach of the Year, but the Pistons lose to San Antonio in the NBA Finals."

Ahem. The Magic missed the playoffs by a fraction, winning 16 of their final 22 games. Philadelphia tanked to the tune of a 10-16 record in March and April (and Indiana made it despite a 13-16 record over the same span). Diaw indeed won Most Improved, with Okur also receiving votes. Dwight Howard finished the regular season as the NBA's second-best rebounder, two-tenths of a board per game behind Kevin Garnett. Paul is a mortal lock for Rookie of the Year. Missed on Flip, but still like the San Antonio pick.

"Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods each win another major this year."

Lefty at Augusta, check. On June 15th, Winged Foot will host the US Open, where Tiger has two wins and no finishes outside the top 20 over the last nine years. Stay tuned.

"In college hoops, the Florida men will become the next national media darlings, reaching the Sweet Sixteen and prompting dozens of comparisons to both their own Final Four team from 1994 and Billy Donovan's 1987 Providence Friars."

Looks like I undersold the Gators. Sure, they were 11-0 when I wrote that, but get serious. Half of those wins were against the likes of Albany, Bethune-Cookman, and Alabama State. We all undersold the Gators.

"UCF will have a down year, failing to reach their conference final, while Matt Doherty's FAU squad will sneak up on somebody - I'm looking hard at the Gardner-Webb game on January 15th."

Kirk Speraw's club went 14-15, failing to win 20 games for the first time in four years. They reached the quarterfinals in the Conference USA tournament, losing to Houston. And on January 15th, 2006, Florida Atlantic blew out Gardner-Webb, the defending Atlantic Sun Conference regular season champs, by a final of 72-51. I'll admit that I didn't see Coach Doherty doing a one-and-done in Boca.

"Watch for the FSU women to make the most noise in the postseason, skating into the NCAA tournament and shocking a favorite in the first round."

March 18, 2006: Florida State 80, Louisiana Tech 71. The only part I missed was naming the favorite - FSU was a 6-seed in the women's tournament, while Tech was an 11-seed.

A first-round win, more noise than Florida winning a national championship? No. But considering that Florida State was 5-22 the year prior to coach Sue Semrau's arrival, and considering that Louisiana Tech's program has won 899 games all-time and is one of only two schools to appear in all 25 women's NCAA basketball tournaments (Tennessee being the other) - well, that first-round win was pretty darn noisy.

"Having already disposed of the freaks from Harvard in the ECAC tournament, the Cornell hockey team will reach the Frozen Four in Milwaukee in April, where they will beat Minnesota and Boston College to claim the national championship."

This one hurts. Harvard beat the Big Red in the ECAC championship game. The Red made the NCAA tournament anyway, reaching the Midwest Regional Final before losing to Wisconsin in triple-OT. Note, however, that BC did indeed reach the Frozen Four.

It's only May, and we still have 2006's back nine to play, but I'm liking my scorecard right now. I might even spot the Gods a couple of shots.

And for the record, I'm wearin' red from here on out.