2018 – Week 8
Reading this week’s Kreyling Korner blog post made me step back, pause and realize during these times of uncertainty, there’s one staple of stability that we all can lean on, the GCCGL. It’s the one thing we can count on for 20 weeks in the Spring and Summer that will be there, rain or shine (literally). It’s comforting to know that for three hours a week, no matter how your day is going, the only thing you need to worry about is whether to play it safe or go for the green. For three hours a week, we’re not accountants, sales, HR reps or managers. We’re just men, women….. and Lip Gloss playing the greatest game ever invented with colleagues and friends. OK, now this sounds like a Pure Michigan commercial. Look, no one knows what the future will hold. Regardless of what happens, the company will survive and new opportunities will surface inside and outside of the company. And YES, it is quite possible that this may be the last season of the league. It’s too early to tell. But here is what I do know. As long as I continue to live in the Cincinnati region, I will do everything possible to make sure this league that I founded 23 years ago, makes it to year 24. But I can’t do it alone.
We had a few days in a row of dry weather and the Pioneer course was dryer than a Dennis Miller joke. After the round, I found out that the irrigation system for the Pioneer course is broken. The course is only being watered by Mother Nature but that’s ok because the parking lot looks FANTASTIC!
During the post-round libations at BarleyCorn’s, the topic of all-time slow starts was brought up as the discussion steered towards Han Solo’s 1 game winning streak coming to an abrupt end. Speaking of “Han” Solo, it was pointed out to me that I screwed up Crowe’s nickname. I thought it was “Hans” instead of “Han”. Here’s the thing….. I don’t know the first thing about Start Wars. Never watched it and don’t know any of the characters or even the plot. Just because I’m an IT nerd, doesn’t make me a sci-fi aficionado. Don’t get me wrong, I love sci-fi……GOOD sci-fi. I’m talking old original Star Trek, Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. Even the newer stuff like Fringe, Stranger Things and Black Mirror. Heck, I’d rather sit through an entire day of eating artificially buttered popcorn and watching Harry Potter movies with Nick “Potter” Duer than subject myself to mediocre movie franchises. Just one man’s opinion.
Anyway, we got off topic, Slow Starts. Now, I’m not the statistician that Cupcake is but I took a quick look of all the slow starts in the past 23 years of the GCCGL and what I found is compelling. Han Solo is in a league of his own. Here are my unofficial rankings.
| Rank | Member | Record | Years | Notes |
| 1 | Han Solo | 1 – 16 – 1 | 2017-2018 | Will the kid turn it around? |
| 2 | Ollie | 5 – 17 – 1 | 2002-2003 | Started as an “A” and finished a “D” |
| 3 | Bush | 6 – 13 – 3 | 2002-2003 | Could shoot a 43 one day and a 60 the next |
| 4 | Dorsey | 7 – 13 – 3 | 2000-2001 | His stand-up act was much better than his golf |
| 5 | Lip Gloss | 8 – 16 – 2 | 2008-2009 | Slow start but has since picked it up |
Did anyone else witness the tongue-lashing that Lip Gloss was dishing out to Joel “Fatone” Miller before tee off? Holy Moses Mother of Pearl….. he was ripping into Fatone like Cupcake rips into a morning fart. Lip Gloss isn’t kidding about wanting a championship this season. This may be his one and only shot. He’s got a loaded team and with the uncertainty of the league’s survival, HE WANTS THIS BADLY! But did the public humiliation of Fatone work to the advantage of Putter Face? You bet your millennial-being, boyband-looking, fat ass it did! Not only did Fatone win his match, team Putter Face destroyed the first place Donkey’s Disciples (25-15) and moved within ½ a point of first place! They were led by The Senator who shot a 39 and took 8 points. How about Catalina Wine Mixer? They posted their third straight match play team win, trouncing The Process (24 -16). They were led by super-sub, Cletus who grabbed 7 points this week. The Hackstreet Boys continued their winning ways by defeating Ballers…Schott Callers (22-18). They were led by Swiper who managed 7.5 points. The handicap is coming down every week. After 8 weeks we have only ½ a point separating the top three teams. The bottom three teams have a way to go but there is a lot of golf left. Things can look a whole lot different in about a month after the Pink Ball event.
The low net winners this week were Meat and The Senator (A/B) who both shot a net 30 and Captain Hairy and Swiper (C/D) who both scored a net 32. Great rounds everyone and congratulations! We move to the back of the Pioneer for the next two weeks. We hope to see you on the course and as always, hit ‘em straight!
George Almeida – GCCGL co-commissioner
