2022 – Week 18

I heard a rumor while enjoying some libations on the 19th hole last Thursday. The little birdie (well, it wasn’t so much a little bird as it was a large bird with a mostly black plumage, a heavy bill and raucous voice). It was CROWE people! Jeez, do I have to spell everything out for you? At any rate, the “bird” was a bit upset that the 2022 GCCGL season was going to be its last season, ever. I said, “What the f**k are you talking about?” And he replied, “There are rumblings, I’ve heard rumblings, that this is the last year of the league. That a bunch of folks are quitting after the season and starting their own “league” and that I (PW) was going to step down and become a substitute”. I replied, “Are you f*****g serious?” This “rumor” was confirmed by a few others that evening. 

Let’s get some facts straight. Yes, it is true that PW is seriously contemplating stepping down from a full-time member to a substitute. But it has nothing to do with the GCCGL or my golf game, it has more to do with my diminishing desire to play golf.  The fire and excitement to play golf just hasn’t been there for the last couple of years but I’m working on it, I really am. I love this game and I don’t know why I feel this way sometimes but I’ll get it back and start playing on the weekends again. I’m sure of it.  I know I suck, but my league numbers the last two years are pretty good if I say so myself. 

2021 – 5th in WINPCT (7-2-2)
2021 – 6.0 avg points (11 matches)
2022 – 8th in WINPCT (7-5)
2022 – 5th in points (despite missing 2 match play weeks)
2022 – 8th in point avg (12 matches)

So, when I confirmed that several other members believed these rumors, this upset me. As far as I know, there is one player who quit the league this season for reasons he only knows. Whether it had to do with The Pink Ball Incident of 2022, the 2022 Stableford Massacre so brutally perpetrated by the Booze Rattlers, or he just doesn’t like PW or others in this league, it doesn’t matter to me. I respect anyone’s decision to drop out of the league. This is not why I’m upset. I got upset because of the spreading of negativity and untruths to the rest of the innocent league members about how “everyone was leaving the league”. How, a small group of individuals hold “all the cards” and “control this league“? What does that even mean? If you consider yourself a truly objective person, which I strongly believe you have to be to run a league such as this, then surely you can understand why this would upset me. I’m proud of this league that I formed 27 years ago. I may act like I want to retire from the league and let’s face it, I’m no spring chicken. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about it. 

Over the years, I have had a lot of help building this league to what it is today thanks to people like Allen Bloomhuff, Jason Nill and Kurt Kreyling as well as many of you who’ve provide great ideas and memories over the past almost three decades. My point is this; if you are one of the folks jumping ship, don’t try and take the crew down with you just because you don’t like something or someone. That’s not cool. If you want to leave, then leave. I will miss you. I miss anyone, especially GCCGL veterans like Bloomhuff and his whacky hijinks or Eiser and his post-round “what-ifs”, when they leave. But please don’t spread misinformation and try and lure others for your own personal reasons.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, the thing that I’m most proud of in regard to the GCCGL is all the life-long friendships it has created that would have otherwise not existed if not for this league. Sure, some friendships would have formed naturally but many of them never would have without this league. I never would have gotten to know Cletus, Jason and Kurt the way I do now. I most certainly never would have rubbed elbows with Rayburn, Harris, Roller, Duer, Goldie, Bedell and so many others. The Vegas crew would have only consisted of Roller and Harris most likely. I’m not sure they would have even heard of Rayburn or even knew that Duer existed. To be fair, no one else knew Duer existed too, but that’s another story. I’ve gotten to know many other great people like Serkan, Parveese, Jim Allen, Roddy, Etheridge, Crowe, Cap, Leininger, Morell and of course our little golf angel, Melissa.  And I certainly never would have met the likes of McCrone, Austin and Klein without the other connections to this league.  There are folks I didn’t mention like Livermore and Nixon because I worked with them. I know I’m missing many others, but you get the point. The point is that this league has provided so many good things to a lot of people over the years, and to trash talk it and try to take it down, well, that upsets me.

So, let’s talk about this proverbial elephant in the room. If somehow, these rumors are true and the GCCGL is facing a mass exitus, then the commissioner’s office will begin the recruiting process early in order to fill all 24 slots. The league will work with 6 teams, 5 teams and even 4 teams. It doesn’t matter. Therefore, I’m asking every single member to commit (or not commit) to the 2023 GCCGL season by Wednesday, August 24th at 12 midnight. After that, I will know how many slots will be officially opened to fill and they will be filled well before the start of next season. If you want to hold your spot as a member, please respond to Cupcake, Lip Gloss or myself by August 24th. Or just comment below. I understand a lot of things can happen between now and next April, so I understand that by committing now doesn’t necessarily mean you are under any firm obligation. But you are, at the very least, agreeing that this league is still fun, and you want to be part of it. Where else are you going to get this kind of entertainment for $60? I paid $37.56 for 4 slices of cheesecake the other day at The Cheesecake Factory! That’s more than half of the money I spent on this great golf league of ours and it wasn’t even half as good. If you do not want to be part of it any longer, then that is OK too.  I sincerely hope you enjoyed it as much as I have over the past 27 years. No matter what, I have no hard feelings. I consider everyone in this league someone that I’m very grateful for having known and hope to continue knowing and golfing with for many years to come.

Let’s get one more fact straight before I end this blog post, the GCCGL will be in business for its 28th season. It will be bigger and better than it has ever been. Also, I’m officially announcing that I am returning as a full-time member next season. Over the years, you’ve all learned a lot about the Portuguese culture through these blog posts. You’ve learned how we are peaceful people, hairy people, good looking people. But we are also spiteful people. 

This league is a fun, beer drinking league. There is only one goal and one goal only, and that is to get together once a week for 20 weeks every summer (win or lose) and enjoy the game we love to play with friends, co-workers and acquaintances and who knows, make some new friends along the way. No pressure, just fun.

We have two more weeks left in the season. Good luck everyone. We hope to see you on the course and as always, hit ’em straight!

The Portuguese Warrior – GCCGL co-commissioner