Tag: karma

Can Arnie’s Army Provide Support on the Greens?

I can’t play golf to save my life. Yet I can watch it all day. I have no idea why the sport seems to draw me in like a piece of Black Forest Torte, but I am mesmerized watching someone use a stick to hit a ball into orbit and land in a tiny hole.

I imagine it’s partly because I grew up watching my father watch the greats. Palmer, Nickolas, Player, Weiskopf, Hogan, Tiger and on and on. So those memories probably have a great deal to do with my fondness for the game.

Having said that, this isn’t so much about the game, as the players. I find it very interesting to see the enormous difference in the ways players approach their fans.

To me it’s truly disappointing seeing young kids excitedly awaiting a fist bump from their idol as he walks by and then ignores them. Nothing is so sad as a disappointed look on a kid’s face.

Of course, I’m aware that each player has their own way of dealing with game stress. Some are laser focused and crawl into their head. What I call the Meryl Streep method. She is notorious for never breaking character, even when the cameras aren’t rolling. If that’s their method of dealing I would never criticize. Sometimes the players will be stoic walking by fans, then later in the game they interact. I suppose it’s about how each is feeling about their game at that moment.

Then there is the I-love-the-fans player. Tony Finau always impresses me when he stops and greets the fans. He signs their caps and chats. Takes time to give someone a smile that costs nothing and is so valuable. I know watching the interactions they are moments that will stay with these kids forever. He’s a true mench. And yes, I know menchiness doesn’t create a birdie. Or does it?

Bryson De Chambeau also attends to the fans and often practically makes them a part of his game. Although he is a controversial figure, since signing on with LIV golf he has become far more fan friendly and accessible. Bryson also engages with fans on social media.

So does it add? To their scores I mean.

Honestly, I haven’t done a study. Yet I am a firm believer in bad juju.

Does every sad look on a fan’s face, especially kids, take just a bit off the positive energy you need to cross that line between winner and loser?

Or are juju, vibes or karma just notions that don’t exist? Just part of the fairy tale we tell ourselves to explain away failures and rationalize surprising defeats?

Does fan interaction translate to champion status?

Some of the players with a reputation for great fan friendliness are also great champions.

The great Arnold Palmer is the pioneer of fan interaction. His charisma created “Arnie’s Army,” a following of dedicated fans that created today’s personal connection between golfers and spectators. Akshay Bhatia has even noted how much the support from “Arnie’s Army,” has meant to him and how he enjoys having fans cheer for him.

Rickie Fowler is approachable and his colorful style and social media connection with fans has made him a favorite. Jordan Spieth is also known for his grounded and fan-friendly approach.

Golf great Jack Nicklaus is a genuine fan ambassador who is approachable and became kinder to fans later in his career. Jack Nicklaus is highly praised for his work as a humanitarian.

However, Tiger Woods blows my karma theory to bits.  Although he eventually became the most popular golfer of all time, fans and media criticized Woods for his poor temper, swearing on the course and often showing irritation with fans.  

Bubba Watson had a reputation for emotional volatility. His demeanor has been called “gruff” and difficult to be around.

So does the way a player acts around his fans and on the course define him? Is it a predictor of success? I imagine Tiger is an example of the flaws in that theory.

Yet, golf has always been known as a gentlemen’s game. And yes, I know the age of manners is long gone. Yet is winning the game all there is to golf?

Every sport has its nice guys and jerks. As do fans.

Do fans sometimes go overboard and become nasty and overbearing? Yes, at times. Are we all human after all? Yes indeed.

It’s often a two way street. Many players have criticized fans for becoming too rowdy and aggressive. Rory McIlroy labeled some fan behavior “unacceptable” after he and his wife were abused during the 2025 Ryder Cup.

As a kid I loved attending the Tiger games at the old Brigg’s Stadium in Detroit. That was when there was actually the smell of freshly mown grass as part of the game.

Rocky Colavito, one of my favorite Tigers was widely regarded as a very nice, likable, and charismatic person, often described as a gentleman who loved his fans. He was beloved  for being accessible, not drinking or smoking, and consistently signing autographs for children because of his own childhood memories.

Al Kaline was known to be a fan favorite. Yet my own experience with him was quite the opposite. Kaline was a neighbor and one Halloween when I took my younger brother trick or treating, we wound up at his door.  His wife answered and I nicely asked if it would be okay if Kaline signed an autograph for my brother. She became annoyed and left the door returning with a signature on a torn off piece of paper. Familiar with Al’s autograph I knew it wasn’t his. I said nothing and thanked her. My brother left without an autograph and I left as living proof of the old adage: You should never meet your heroes.

Okay so I’ll give Kaline a pass and say maybe his wife was in a “mood.” Perhaps he would have been nice had he answered the door that night, but he didn’t and she did and it left my brother and I without a great memory of a baseball legend. Did it matter? Did it change anyone’s life. No, not at all.

Maybe these young kids who look up to the Scottie Schefflers, Tigers and Rorys might see a fist bump, an autograph or a hello as something inspiring to cherish. Perhaps even to use when they need a boost and that signed cap from a hero can make the difference in their own golf score.

So do the fans change a player’s game? Probably not at all. Can they provide the bad juju at times? Sure. Still, there is something to be said for positive energy. The old home court advantage thing, isn’t about property as much as emotion. Love spreads while indifference goes nowhere. An act of kindness is always a positive addition to any athlete’s game and if it isn’t, well good vibes can ultimately spread and land somewhere you’d never anticipate. Maybe even back on you when least expected.

Is Life What Happens While We’re Making Other Plans?

Is Life What Happens While We’re Making Other Plans?

When I was young I remember my mother and grandmother had a phrase they used often. It was their version oh well or que sera sera. I remember them saying, “Man plans and God laughs,” over and over. It seemed to address every situation. Death, a divorce, a disappointment, sickness, it seemed to apply equally to any situation.

But what does it really mean? Where does it actually apply and why?

Assuming you are a religious person you would believe that God is in charge of all things. Your destiny is determined before you’re born and even after if you believe in reincarnation.

So what is the issue with free choice and doesn’t this saying in effect eliminate your free will? Your ability to choose the life you want without interference. Then what is the truth, do we have the freedom to choose or are the choices made without any input from us at all?

My grandson asked me if I believe we have free will. Without getting into a religious discussion, I answered simply, yes about most things. What you have for lunch, what movie you want to see, the video game you choose to play, the choices we make in our own lives each day.

However, and here’s the caveat, in my estimation the big choices that affect our path are chosen for us. If on the way to Starbucks for a coffee we are meant to meet our demise, than it’s no longer a small choice, but one that’s predestined. So can we really escape our fate?

We set out in life on a path and if we veer off the universe has a way to push us back where we belong. Part of our journey would include; when we are born, die, our children our soulmates and of course the lessons we are here to learn.

Many, including my daughter believe that the lessons not learned will be repeated. If that’s true I have to say I am a slow learner because it seems like I’m always making the same mistakes. Yet if I have no free choice aren’t these mistakes inevitable and perhaps I’m destined to never learn them? And if it’s part of our destiny to learn, then what happens when we do? Does that signal the end for us, or are there always new lessons after we’ve conquered previous ones?
I’m no expert here but I do believe in destiny because I’ve witnessed it at work in my own life. Major life choices I assumed I made seem to have been pre-chosen for me and there was some type of cosmic interference in the most important ones.

So many people believe there is no fate and you are on your own. Whatever you do or how you live your life is strictly up to you and how things turn out is because of the choices you and you alone have made.

If that’s true then why are there so many choices and why do some people seem to instinctively know what to do to enhance their lives? While others, and I guess there’s no other way to say this, screw everything up?

Are some born with a superpower that allows them to instinctively know the best outcome while some are clueless?

Is there a psychic ability some possess and others don’t that allows them to live great lives while others are constantly faltering? Can having an “old soul” truly be a character trait many possess?

Is it man or is it God or Destiny that has the final say here?

I don’t know why life seems so random. Why was Cindy Crawford born looking like Cindy Crawford while others can break a mirror just walking past one.

A question I’ve always asked is: why can some eat anything they want and not gain weight while others can just sniff an éclair and gain five pounds?

Or why people are born into wealth and privilege while others face horrible circumstances in every area of their lives?

Can it be something in this life that determines our destiny before we’re even born?

Obviously this can only be the case if we’ve done something before birth to determine how we’ll be rewarded or punished in this life incarnation. Perhaps kicking our mother too much in the womb?

Are our trials and tribulations simply a result of a past existence we screwed up and are now back again to make everything right?

And did those who have good lives earn them before by conquering the lessons somewhere else?

Damned if I know. I’ve shaken my head too many times to count watching horrible people, who have done nothing but hurt and abuse others, be rewarded for their selfish, callous ways.

I’ve also seen wonderful generous giving people who spend their lives helping others suffer terrible fates.

Then what’s the answer here? Not so sure I buy the “karma” explanation anymore. Since I wasn’t there when the universe was created I can’t say for sure what this whole human experience truly consists of, or its purpose. Actually I’m not certain there is any purpose at all some days.

Many say you come back with a good life if you suffer in this one. Others argue there is no karma and what we do in this life has no bearing whatsoever on any lives past or present. It’s just one and done.

Is there a destiny, do we have free will and are we on our own here with no one to answer to but ourselves?

Do we choose our path and if wrongly chosen will we be forced back onto the one chosen for us?

I myself have thought many times about other lives I had planned to live and wondered how I got here. Is this truly the life I’d envisioned or did I miss the cues that might have led me somewhere else? 

I’ve always told myself it’s never to late to live out your dreams, but as I get older I find myself asking, were those dreams or merely an imagined life so destiny led me somewhere different? If that is the case then it is to late.  There are no do overs and although we can make changes, in the end we can’t go backward and relive another desired existence.

If this all sounds a bit familiar and a great deal sad, perhaps it is. Mostly because we lived believing we had free will and might have chosen quite differently had we known we actually did not.

So many ask themselves and others “if you had your life to live over, what would you change?”

I have never had the courage to admit I might. For in saying I’d want another life I’m expressing regret for all the good things and blessings in this one.

Perhaps we as human beings are not born with the skills or insight to choose wisely so we must be guided.

Should we have regrets? Should we castigate ourselves for bad decisions or accept our fates.

Had we ourselves chosen might not our life be empty and devoid of those sad moments that allow us to distinguish them from happy ones? And don’t we need both to understand the human condition?

By now you’re thinking I’ve taken the long way around the block to get to the same place, and perhaps I have. Perhaps because this is a question that can’t be answered.

Yet I know with certainty that as one nears the end of this voyage we truly understand the meaning of how we selected and where it all ultimately led. Why regret our choices when it’s simply easier to believe our lives were predestined. Performing the shoulda coulda woulda exercise on our lives is a wasted effort.

I say there’s nothing like blaming someone or something else for our mistakes. Now that’s a lesson most people learn very young. Perhaps God is always laughing when he sees what I choose and after all everyone loves a good laugh.

I believe the blame game comes under the heading of “The Dog Ate My Homework and Other Time-Honored Excuses.” Too bad dogs can’t eat chocolate or I’d use that one all the time.

Easy Peasy Meatball Soup

Winter is coming and even those hardcore never cook at home diners crave something easy to make on a cold snowy night. If you’d rather stay home in lieu of braving the elements, try this. It takes no time to make and it’s so tasty, you’d never know it’s a true hack.

2 Cans of Campbells Tomato Soup

2 cans of milk or half and half

½ cup of spinach

½ pound of hamburger

1 tsp Italian seasonings

½ teaspoon basil

1 slice of no cook lasagna noodles

½ cup of grated parmesan cheese (optional)

salt and pepper

Season the hamburger with salt and pepper and roll into tiny meatballs.

Place cans of tomato soup in a saucepan and add other ingredients with the exception of parmesan cheese. That’s for sprinkling on top of finished soup.

Add meatballs and turn on low heat. Break up lasagna noodle into small pieces and add to soup. Cover and cook on lowest heat until meatballs are done and noodles are soft, gently stirring occasionally. 

Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan if desired.

Enjoy!