Draft Day Suit

photo by Matt Freed, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Kaye Young Cowher, wife of former Pittsburgh Steelers coach and CBS football analyst Bill Cowher, passed away after a battle with melanoma in North Carolina on July 23.

She was an accomplished athlete in her own right, playing basketball on a full scholarship along with her identical twin sister Faye at NC State, and later in the Women’s Professional Basketball league for three seasons. (Yes, the twins did commercials, including Doublemint gum and Dannon yogurt.) She was also a tireless advocate and fundraiser for Family Resources Inc., a Pittsburgh-based child abuse prevention and treatment agency.

Kaye Cowher was not always visible in Pittsburgh. She stayed out of the limelight, raising her three daughters in as normal and private a home as possible. She was so private that her illness was not common knowledge, and her passing came as a shock. Bill Cowher’s resistance to coaching offers makes a bit more sense now.

Here is his statement:

Sadly, my wife Kaye lost her battle with cancer on Friday. Kaye was such a loving and compassionate person and she was the foundation of our family. Kaye was always at my side throughout my career as a player, coach, NFL analyst and, most importantly, as a parent to our three daughters Meagan, Lauren and Lindsay. They will miss their mother dearly.

Our condolences to the Cowher family.

Source

Source

photo by John Mummert/USGA

The 2010 US Women’s Open Championship was contested this past weekend at Oakmont Country Club, near Pittsburgh, PA. Site of the 2007 men’s open and host of more USGA and PGA championships than any other in the US, the course is an absolute beast. No poor shot goes unpunished and the greens are more like glass than grass. Around a 15 on the stimpmeter, for those of you scoring at home.

Angel Cabrera won the men’s open with a score of 5 over par three years ago. One caddie predicted one of the women would shoot 100. It isn’t surprising then to find only one golfer, winner Paula Creamer, ended up under par for 72 holes. She is the only golfer to muster three sub-par rounds. Only one other golfer, Brittany Lang, managed two sub-par rounds. I witnessed one player on Sunday throw her putter after finishing the 9th hole, complete with a few words not exactly suitable for a family sport. Like I said, a beast.

But maybe your dream isn’t to win a major. Maybe it’s just to shoot a round at par, probably on a course a bit more suitable to mortals than Oakmont. Maybe you decide to devote a year to this task and write a book about it.

That is exactly what John Richardson of Ireland set out to do. Then end result is Dream On:  One Hack Golfer’s Challenge to Break Par in a Year.

He’s a regular guy, with a wife, a daughter, and a full-time job that has nothing to do with golf. He also writes like a regular guy, with a conversational style that’s not unlike a lot of bloggers. The book is very approachable, thought it would have benefitted from a bit more editing. (I thought I would scream if I saw the phrase “hard graft” one more time.) It chronicles the entire year of ups and downs for the 24-handicapper who is striving to just once shoot par.

Richardson feels guilty, so very guilty, about the time spent on the golf course instead of at home with his family. This particular horse is beaten up a bit for my taste, but he’s incredibly sincere at the same time. Not for a moment did I doubt him, though I did find myself wishing for running commentary or at least an epilogue by his wife. I could imagine an audio book with little parenthetical comments from her, or perhaps little mutterings under the breath.

The geek in me loved how he was sucked in by every book, video, and gadget he found (and bought, many on eBay or late night tv), searching for another saved stroke. Then I discovered he’s selling what he learned for a mere $19 a month. He will even send you a crisp 10 pound note if you don’t shave 33 strokes off your golf game too.

But none of that takes away from the book. It’s a fun, easy summer read, and certainly inspirational. Dream on, indeed. And come play Oakmont, Mr. Richardson. I’ll hook you up.

[The publisher graciously provided this book to me. The words are my own and I received no other compensation besides the book.]

ClumberKim has been obsessed with golf for more than 25 years. Someday she might even swing a club.

Jennifer Capriati is recovering from an overdose of prescription drugs. Reportedly, it was accidental.

Capriati is known for her tennis career that began in 1988 with her holding the record for the youngest French Open Junior winner at 13 years, 2 months. Yet, she’s also known for her repeated brushes with the law, including arrests for shoplifting and marijuana possession beginning in 1993. She has been quoted by the New York Daily News as saying “If I don’t have [tennis] who am I? What am I?”

And in researching other articles for this story, I accidentally came across the supposed reason for her accidental overdose: her maybe-ex-boyfriend Dale DaBone (yes, you heard me right) is going back to porn.

Seriously? Who says “I’m so overwrought that DaBone is going to (da) bone several someones on film that I think I’ll take a handful of this crap.”?

Accidentally or on purpose? You decide, because I may never recover from the knowledge that there is actually a movie being made with the title “Batman XXX: A Porn Parody”

Kendra was shocked at the twists of this story. Kinda. But not really.

Photo Source Source

When I saw the pictures this morning the mother in me screamed “VENUS EBONY STARR WILLIAMS! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU WEARING!” I am a pretty liberal person. It is not easy to offend me by talking about sex or using coarse language, but I admit I cannot believe that Venus Williams wore this outfit outside of her house.

She looks like a hooker.

I really can’t believe that she wore this outfit to play in the French Open. Outside. Where people were looking at her.

Seriously, what the hell am I looking at?

If that little black lacy number isn’t supposed to be lingerie, I don’t know what one would consider unmentionable.

Many were referring to her tennis dress as lingerie and we can see why.  Venus wore nude nylon booty shorts underneath her “costume” —- the same kind that caused so much controversy at the Australian Open.

- Bitten and Bound

And no kidding. At one point I was entirely convinced I was looking at Venus Williams’ bare ass, and while I find Venus to be an attractive woman, this is neither the time nor the place for partial nudity.

News everyone! She designed it herself.

Whistles and whispers circulated through the stands, a reaction brought about not by Venus Williams’ play, but by the outfit Williams designed herself. The fashionista, who has her own apparel line called EleVen , told the press it was all “about illusion”  which, she noted is “a lot of my motif this year” when it comes to clothes design.

As Williams ran and jumped her way around the court, the tennis dress —- designed to give the illusion of being see-through —- was prone to several revealing moments. The black overlay material made the dress appear as if it was see through, even though it was not. To add to the raciness, she also sported skin-colored underwear, which was visible to fans and photogs and gave the illusion that she wasn’t wearing any undergarments at all.

- Pretty Tough

I don’t mean to be a bitch, but maybe she should either stick to playing tennis or designing intimates, because outerwear that is not.

Of course Venus won the match. Venus almost always wins the match. She is an extraordinary tennis player. I just wish she would show some respect for the game. I think I am actually offended as a tennis fan.

I am sure that there are people out there who think that her little outfit was great but when I did a google search for May 24th with the words: Venus, Williams, French, Open and Outfit and the exact phrase “I liked it,” there were zero matches. I guess you can interpret that however you want.

It seems to me that Venus Williams was playing two games at the French Open, and she only won one of them.

Originally Written for and Cross-Posted with minor changes on BlogHer.