TED SOBEL SPORTS AUDIO VAULT: Your Inside Access to TOUCHING GREATNESS

My 2 1/2 hour Friday drive into Rancho Mirage from the KFWB studio had me thinking that there was little chance at an opportunity to interview any players on the Kraft Nabisco Championship leaderboard. And on a whim, I walked into the media tent just in time to see the two 2nd round leaders finishing up their newsconferences. So of course I quickly got out my trusty recorder and went to work for our radio listeners and my blog supporters.

Four-time LPGA Tour winner Inbee Park under some tricky windy conditions shot a 5 under 67 today (her best KNC round in the 7th year of playing this event) and she holds a one shot midway lead over native southern Californian Lizette Salas who shot a 68 in her 2nd year playing the Kraft.

Park who’s a native of South Korea currently lives in nearby Murrieta after growing up in Las Vegas where she also attended UNLV. She has one win this year and her first tour win was a major in the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open where she was the youngest at 19 to ever win that event. And Inbee went on to tell me she how she feels being in this position:

Salas (from Azusa) is the daughter of Mexican immigrants who’s father works as a mechanic at Azusa Greens Golf Club and she learned to play golf there and worked her way onto the U.S.C. team and is a proud first in her family to earn a degree and graduate from college. Lizette is in her 2nd year on tour looking for her first win…and how sweet would it be if she did it in her own backyard and in THE major with the most tradition…

The unfortunate part of the day was seeing my friend and former Pro-am partner Louise Friberg’s 2nd round score of 80 causing her to miss the cut after she was a guest on Golf Channel yesterday when she posted a 1 under 71. Louise has been retired from the tour for about 2 years but came back thanks to her caddy’s wishes to take advantage of her 5th and final exemption year to play the Kraft (her tour win was back in 2008). Now Louise can go back to being a proud mother to her puppy along with her full-time golf instructor gig in Arizona and her native Sweden.

Tomorrow starts my 5th year as the 18th green announcer at this tournament and it always makes it more special to introduce some of our locals. Hope to see you near the Dinah Shore statue next to the bridge overlooking Poppy’s Pond this weekend!

I wasn’t feeling baseball at all until I walked towards the new-look top level of Dodger Stadium on Friday night before game 2 of the practice Freeway Series with the Angels. When I saw the retired numbers in front of the entrance (specially my all-time fave Don Drysdale’s #53) I was ready to start another season.

Here are some season preview chats that I had from the Angels/Dodgers 2nd exhibition game last Friday at the new look Chavez Ravine…

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly covers the bases on several topics including starting out with such high expectations:

Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten and I discuss the newly renovated Dodger Stadium:

Matt Kemp says he’s physically back to 100% and ready to take on the season with his gorgeous new clubhouse:

Dodgers injured shortstop Hanley Ramirez says he’s dealing with his thumb injury as well as he can:

Dodgers utility guy deluxe Jerry Hairston, Jr. talks baseball and his other love…Golf and makes his Masters picks:

Dodgers outfielder Nick Punto is happy to get the season going:

New Dodger infielder Skip Schumaker on seeing his old Cardinals buddy Albert Pujols in the Freeway Series and looking ahead to wearing his favorite blue uni that he grew up rooting for:

Angels manager Mike Scioscia talking casually about the season ahead in his pregame dugout gathering:

Angels sensation Mike Trout isn’t very talkative which I guess is ok as long as he speaks loudest with his game:

Angels outfielder Peter Bourjos will start the season in centerfield as Trout awaits his turn:

Mark Trumbo talks about high expectations for his Angels:

Angels closer Ernesto Frieri is confident he’s the man for the job:

Gordie and Mark show their Hall of Fame rings

He was born on March 31, 1928 in Floral, Saskatchewan and 85 years later to this day, he’s still stands out like the biggest bouquet in the building. When Gordie Howe walks into a room it’s simply hockey royalty with all eyes glued to this living legend. I am not going to list all of his amazing accomplishments here as I’m simply posting this message to give respect to the man who I remember as one of the pro athletes that I admired as much for his being a classy individual as a superstar player.

There are way too many true star athletes who simply don’t come close to living up to their status in the real world…but Gordie is one who’s in my human Hall of Fame. I’ve never seen him turn down an autograph seeker under normal circumstances and he’s always shown dignity, class, and kindness when dealing with the public—something that his former opponents on the ice would’ve rather seen instead of facing one of the fiercest competitors in any sport.

with Gordie on the Grezky watch in 1994

I’ve only been around the man several times all of which are very memorable, but two of them standout in my mind. One was interviewing Gordie on the night that Wayne Gretzky broke his all-time scoring record at the old ‘Fabulous Forum’ and he couldn’t have been more gracious and sincere about dropping into the 2nd spot behind ‘The Great One’. The other was randomly running into him in the Montreal airport after the 2009 NHL All-Star game. He was waiting for his boarding call to fly home to Detroit while I had just checked in to head back to L.A.

Receving an infamous Howe elbow alongside son Marty

There was simply no way that I was not going to re-introduce myself when I saw him sitting with his grandson and it turned into a fantastic 20 minute or so chat. And most of it had nothing to do with hockey at all, simply talking about his family and some of the business endeavors that he was up to at the time. Actually we were so caught up in our conversation that I remember hearing the final call for his flight and I had to rush him to the gate in time). It was like we were old friends after I had opened my introduction by letting him know that his son Mark had become a friend through his scouting travels. When I was doing play by play for the now defunct IHL Long Beach Ice Dogs from 1995-2000 I would see Mark at numerous games (mostly east of the Mississippi) often being the only recognizable scout in the press area so he became a semi-regular between periods guest on my broadcasts. Since Mark and our Coach/GM John Van Boxmeer were longtime hockey friends we also socialized a few times after games and it was easy to see who was a chip off the old block in the Howe family.

Sharing a Hall of Fame Howe family moment with the Stanley Cup

I had never met his son Marty until Mark’s November, 2011 Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Toronto and I enjoyed our nice chat learning how he oversees Gordie’s personal business and marketing along with some quality reminiscing and to no surprise at all, Marty also had that same great down to earth Howe quality. We took some fun pictures in which you can see my too casual dress because I didn’t have time to change clothes after my delayed flight had caused me to barely make the early newsconference in downtown T.O. on time.

I had already known of Gordie’s early stages of dementia but also learned that when well rested, he could be his usual self and fortunately he was in great form that day. We chatted privately and during a brief group interview (which you can hear going back to my November 14, 2011 post here) and it was a time that I’ll always treasure. Gordie and I walked past some Hall of Fame plaques together and he was telling me stories of his dealings with many of the greats of the past which included some inside memories that only he knew about. And if you don’t think that was special, you don’t have a pulse! The funniest thng that happened between us that day was while lining up to take a picture he threw an old-tyme hockey Gordie Howe elbow under my chin. I really don’t think he realized how hard he had hit me as he laughed while I was just making sure that my teeth and jaw were still intact! The best thing about this was his friend who was holding my camera, took the picture just as Gordie’s elbow was about to nail me. That’s the closest thing to a Gordie Howe hat trick that I’ll ever be a part of and a picture that I’ll treasure forever. It was a special day for Mark and his family and I was truly privileged to be there.

I sent a text to Mark yesterday wishing his father a happy birthday and he sent this message to post here for you all to read:
“Dad will be celebrating his 85th B-Day in Detroit with his 4 children, their families and also a few close friends. Catching a game at the Joe and then spending some quality time over dinner and of course an 85th B-day cake”.

Sounds like a Howe kind of day…just enjoying a hockey game with his family. Who needs more than that? He’s a very proud father and all you have to do is to meet his sons and you’ll know why. If you’d like to pass along your birthday wishes to Gordie, please do so on this post (at the bottom under Leave a Reply) and I’m sure he’ll have the opportunity to read them.

Simply put, they just don’t make ’em like Gordie Howe any more…and may he enjoy many more years of just being himself, which is one special man and THE Mr. Hockey…Happppppppiest of birthdays Gordie!!!

As we approach April, golfers start thinking about the majors with the Masters just two weeks away. But always the week before the guys take on Augusta National, the LPGA tour is in the spotlight in Rancho Mirage for the Kraft Nabisco where I have the privilege for a 5th straight year of being their 18th green announcer on Saturday and championship Sunday.

This past Sunday I covered the final round of the LPGA’s Kia Classic in Carlsbad and met up with some of the women who’ll be competing next week on the Dinah Shore course, right after they signed their scorecards. Logically some were all smiles having completed a great finish to their tournament like winner Beatriz Recari of Spain who posted her 2nd tour title. Others weren’t so happy but still gave me a little piece of their time for some preview thoughts on the Kraft.

Once again—Here’s my 1-on-1 with Recari after winning the Kia and you can understand why she wouldn’t let go of her bulky trophy even while chatting with me. The next day Beatriz moved up 19 spots to #26 in the world:

with 2012 KNC champ Sun Young Yoo

A few weeks earlier at KNC media day, I spoke with now world #24 Sun Young Yoo about coming back to defend her title:

I also got a few comments from the new host of the Kraft Nabisco Pro-Am events on Tuesday and Wednesday-Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam:

New #1 in the Rolex women’s world golf rankings is Stacy Lewis who won the Kraft just 2 years ago and is coming into this week on a major high, winning 2 of the previous 3 events on tour. She was very disappointed at finishing the Kia on a sour note, with a double bogie on 18 to end up 3 strokes behind Recari… so she was obviously in NO mood to chat with me at the end of her round. But her father Dale was standing nearby and he graciously gave me a few minutes of his time to set up this first major of the year for his now famous daughter:

Lewis and her caddy hope to be a winning team again at the KNC

World #6 Ai Miyazato is looking for her first major win after 25 other pro titles and her game is rounding into form nicely:

World #8 Suzann Pettersen walked off the Aviara golf course with a T-13 in the Kia and then talked to me about trying to improve on her three runner-up finishes in the Kraft:

World #10 Paula Creamer (the 2nd highest ranked American) had a solid week in Carlsbad before her final round 77 and is still excited about going for her first jump into Poppy’s Pond:

World #12 Christie Kerr finished the Kia with a nice T-3 an then told me she’s ready for another big week:

World #16 Azahara Munoz of Spain was all smiles after a 71 getting her a T-9 and some momentum going into Rancho Mirage:

World #32 Karine Icher of France stopped to chat even after finishing T-43 and 11 shots off the pace…and showed a great attitude going into the Kraft:

World #37 Sandra Gal of Germany a former winner at the Kia loves the Dinah Shore course and would love to make that her first major victory:

Chatting it up with Sandra Gal

USC’s Lizette Salas who moved up 8 spots to #38 in the world after a nice T-6 in the Kia and only 2 shots back, can’t wait to show her So-Cal followers that she’s ready to move into the bigtime in just her 2nd time playing the Kraft:

World #51 Jenny Shin of Korea and a Torrance High grad is getting closer to reaching her goal of winning on tour…how about 21 of 25 cuts made last year along with 5 top-10 finishes and hoping that some extra practice with the flat stick will be the difference:

Two-time Kraft Nabisco titleist Julie Inkster is back after a year off from elbow surgery and she told me that golf is now a hobby compared to a job, but still looks to win everytime out:

Another former Trojan Belen Mozo who’s originally from Spain and now lives in Florida, loves coming back to So Cal where she gets a nice following and her game is rounding into form on a course that she loves:

And finally some love for the cross-town UCLA Bruins and their local favorite Mo Martin who missed being in the Kia Classic playoff by just one shot while moving up 58 spots to #110 in the world in front of her biggest fan–her very proud 101 year old grandfather. Mo is playing lights out and is beaming at the thought of the biggest challenge of her golfing life:

I’m also looking forward to seeing Pepperdine star and Thousand Oaks resident Danielle Kang’s first time in the Kraft as a pro. She’s currently up to 23rd on the LPGA money list in just her 2nd full season on tour. And we have one thing in common…we both have the same guy overseeing our game in the impressive Brady Riggs (out of Woodley Lakes GC in Van Nuys, California) who’s a top 100 golf pro. Of course Brady has taken Danielle to major league level, while I’m still in the developmental league just trying to make the cut in every day life! 🙂

Dinah’s 18th green and Poppy’s Pond await another KNC

Have a great time in Rancho Mirage and please stop by and say hello at my office—the bridge leading onto the 18th green with Dinah’s statue keeping me company over the weekend. 🙂

The living members of the 71-72 Lakers championship team plus Elgin Baylor and without Pat Riley

Records may exist to be broken but the 1971-72 Lakers 33 game winning streak will remain pro sports all-time best at least for now after Miami lost in Chicago last night. And you can thank the shorthanded Bulls for bullying the Heat into submission at the United Center ending the 2nd longest NBA victory streak at 27.

It was a physical matchup that saw Chicago’s tough defense prevail and frustrate Lebron James into a flagrant foul and a few frowns that had his declining amount of detractors smiling. During this streak, Lebron continued to show why he’s the most talented overall player the league has ever seen and his Miami squad deserves huge respect from a history standpoint.

But this is L.A. baby…and the Lakers remain as the NBA’s marquis franchise not just in the Hollywood spotlight. And since I’m the guy who’s covered this team on the radio longer than anyone, this post will be about that team 41 years later.

It was only this past December when I had the priviledge of co-hosting (with Bill Walton) the West Coast Sports Medicine’s charity event at the 5 star Valentino Restaurant in Santa Monica celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Lakers first championship in L.A. (which included that amazing winning streak). And since this site was down at the time, I’m posting a few pictures now along my sit down interviews with Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, Jim McMillian, Flynn Robinson and the great Elgin Baylor (who retired just days before the streak started but was still given a ring when it was all over.
To check out the very special “Team to Win” charity that I’ve been involved with for several years, please go to http://www.wcsportsmed.com/Team-to-Win.

Let’s begin with this afternoon’s (Thursday) phoner with Gail Goodrich who was kind enough to call me minutes after I had contacted him via email. As you’ll hear later, Gail had earlier told me that his guy’s streak would likely never be broken. But he recently changed his mind when the Heat got hotter than most along with a weak streak in the schedule:

Jim McMillian (sitting at the far left in the above picture) then contacted me a day later to discuss the end of the streak but we also got into several other topics including the Clippers…who he played for their original franchise the Buffalo Braves before they were sold and moved to become the San Diego Clippers:

Here’s my sitdown with Goodrich from last December at the Team To Win charity dinner:

Jerry West and I reminiscing about his only championship year and how it hurt to not having Elgin Baylor along for the ride:

My chat with Elgin Baylor who had a great time with some of his old teammates:

I will add more pictures and audio later with Jim McMillian and Flynn Robinson…as for now, enjoy some great history with me and thanks for stopping by.

Recari celebrates while I.K. stands for ‘I kan’t believe I let another get away!’

If you’ve never heard of Beatriz Recari I fully understand as I learned more about the 25 year old Spainiard today then I’d ever expected. She pulled off her 2nd LPGA tour win at beautiful Aviara resort in Carlsbad with about a 20 foot birdie putt from off the green on her 2nd playoff hole to beat I.K. Kim and then let go of all of her emotions. She was ecstatic not only over winning for the first time since 2010, but doing it with so much support from her entire team including her caddy (who just happens to be her boyfriend).

By the way, Recari is known as the ‘Iron Woman’ on tour for something that is amazing to me…how about playing in all 27 tour events last year while making every cut? The tour couldn’t confirm to me that it’s been done before but either way, that is SuperWoman-like to me.

The championship couple

As for Kim, it was another tough local loss for the resident of nearby Rancho Sante Fe. She was the unfortunate one who missed that 2 foot putt on 18 at last year’s Kraft Nabisco Championship while eventually losing to Sun Yung Yoo in a playoff. It was also the start for yours truly of a few tough weeks of interviewing a distraught player after they just blew a great chance at winning (the other was Kyle Stanley at Torrey Pines). They both cried their eyes out right to me and folks, if you think that’s easy to take…you are dead wrong!

Beatriz Recari shares her emotions with me as she hopes to make it two in a row at the Kraft Nabisco in 2 weeks:

Recari holding back tears on Golf Channel

Hope to see you at the Kraft where I’ll be their 18th green announcer for a 5th straight year and looking forward to another awesome tournament.

[all pictures are courtesy of my right index finger] 🙂