{"id":84810,"date":"2021-07-13T17:31:20","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T17:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=84810"},"modified":"2023-04-14T17:51:15","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T17:51:15","slug":"behind-mic-americas-guest-saga-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-americas-guest-saga-continues\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Mic: America’s Guest (The Saga Continues)"},"content":{"rendered":"
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/em><\/h5>\n

In my previous blog, I spoke of having played seven of the top 20 golf courses in Pennsylvania.\u00a0 The caveat of doing that was that I had not paid to play any of them.\u00a0 Due to RCN, Lafayette, and a couple of \u201cJoes\u201d, I had managed to be a guest at all seven.<\/p>\n

You can find the courses listed on this site: Golf Magazine’s 20 Best PA Golf Courses<\/a> and the ones I played on my previous blog.<\/p>\n

I bring this up, because on July 2, I was supposed to play my 8th<\/sup> \u2013 the Philadelphia Cricket Club<\/a>, which is #4 on the list.\u00a0 Once again, this was as a guest.\u00a0 I was prepared to put another checkmark on my bucket list.\u00a0 That morning (7:31 AM) I received this e-mail \u2013 \u201cThere are no carts out today due to the week\u2019s heavy rains.\u00a0 Any issues or concerns?\u201d<\/p>\n

For me, there were both \u201cissues\u201d and \u201cconcerns\u201d.\u00a0 I had no idea if this would be a difficult walk and, at 75, the last thing I wanted to do was hold up my three playing partners, all of whom were much younger and had lower handicaps.\u00a0 I did not wish to spoil their enjoyment.\u00a0 As disappointed as I was, I told them to play without me and enjoy the day.<\/p>\n

At 8:49 AM, this email arrived: \u201cGood news- Joe bailed us out with a tee time at Saucon\/Old Course at 12:30 today.\u00a0 Let\u2019s meet around noon and hit a few balls.\u201d\u00a0 This great golf course has been the venue of many PGA events with the Senior Open coming up next year.\u00a0 I have played it before, but it is a golfing treasure.\u00a0 Any opportunity to play it is certainly special.\u00a0 This past Friday was no exception.\u00a0 The course was in magnificent condition; the golf was good; and the camaraderie and the friendly insults were flying. \u00a0It was what a day of golf should be.<\/p>\n

More importantly, I continue to be amazed by friendships that offer benefits far beyond my ability to reciprocate.\u00a0 The best I could do here was to give my hosts Saucon Valley Senior Open golf hats as a token of my appreciation.\u00a0 Naturally, however, they gifted, not a sleeve of golf balls, but a BOX of golf balls (of course, they were Titleists).\u00a0 As you can see, it\u2019s hard to balance their generosity.<\/p>\n

The final line of the last email said, \u201cI will circulate some alternate Cricket dates and we can reschedule that visit, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

In conclusion, I WILL get to play the Philadelphia Cricket Club (#4 on the list of Pennsylvania\u2019s best courses) this summer.<\/p>\n

I think you would agree that the early disappointment caused by the \u201cno carts\u201d rule at the Cricket Club was more than overcome by what transpired the rest of that Friday and what is certain to be another memorable round of golf in the future.\u00a0 I am not sure why I am so fortunate and I am not sure how I will ever repay their generosity, but the list of things I am thankful for is constantly growing \u2013 friendships being near the very top of the list.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Did you watch golf\u2019s The Match –<\/strong> Tom Brady<\/a> and Phil Mickelson<\/a> vs. Aaron Rodgers<\/a> and Bryson DeChambeau<\/a>? On the second hole, Mickelson made the comment, \u201cWe\u2019re not in a rush\u201d.\u00a0 And they were not.\u00a0 The round was not good television \u2013 little drama, with few great shots by the pros, and much, much too long.\u00a0 Thank goodness for Aaron Rodgers.\u00a0 His shots, especially his putts, made for some enjoyment.<\/li>\n
  2. It was announced this week that there will be no fans at the Olympics<\/a> in Tokyo. Does this mean that those who have the rights to broadcast the events are disheartened or secretly smiling?\u00a0 Now the only way for anyone and everyone to get their Olympic \u201cfix\u201d is by watching the events on television.\u00a0 And, ironically, it is because of television that the Olympics will go on.\u00a0 75% of the IOC\u2019s income for the Olympics comes from television rights estimated to be worth $3 to $4 billion.<\/li>\n
  3. It has been a long time since I set aside the time to watch the MLB All-Star game<\/a> and an even longer time set aside for the Home Run Derby. But this Monday and Tuesday, I want to watch because of the LA Angels\u2019<\/a> Shohei Ohtani<\/a>.\u00a0 He is a two-position All-Star (pitcher and DH) and the modern day Babe Ruth.\u00a0 He will be in the HR Derby and he will also pitch in the game.\u00a0 He is worth watching.<\/li>\n
  4. Speaking of All-Star games, 50 years ago, the All-Star game featured 22 Hall of Famers<\/a> – Rod Carew, Brooks Robinson, Luis Aparicio, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson, Al Kaline, Harmon Killebrew, Jim Palmer, Johnny Bench, Willie McCovey, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Willie Stargell, Lou Brock, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Ferguson Jenkins, Juan Marichal and Roberto Clemente, who would sadly be there for the final time. The managers, the Orioles<\/a>‘ Earl Weaver and the Reds<\/a>‘ Sparky Anderson, are also in the Hall of Fame. This was the greatest collection of baseball talent on one field ever.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. In my previous blog, I spoke of having played seven of the top 20 golf courses in Pennsylvania.\u00a0 The caveat of doing that was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[905,206,906,907],"class_list":["post-84810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic","category-featured","category-sports","tag-best-pa-golf","tag-golf","tag-philadelphia-cricket-club","tag-saucon-valley-senior-open"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Mic: America's Guest (The Saga Continues) - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the Mic: America's Guest (The Saga Continues) - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 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