Author: ljf5256

Tiger Woods’ 2019 Masters Victory Will Always Be His Greatest One

 

Tiger Woods celebrates his victory at the 2019 Masters Tournament, his first major championship in 11 years at the time. Image link here.

There are only a few athletes who are synonymous with the sport in which they play. When you think of swimming, you think of Michael Phelps. When you think of golf, you think of Tiger Woods. When Tiger is playing, you want to tune in.

Woods is perhaps the most successful golfer of all-time: he’s tied for the most victories in PGA Tour history at 82, and is second all-time in major championships (15), behind only Jack Nicklaus (18). Woods’ numbers on the surface are otherworldly, as is his effect on professional golf.

A look at some of Woods’ greatest accomplishments in golf. Infographic created in Piktochart.

On the surface, these numbers tell the story of a career filled with nothing but sheer dominance and greatness over 20 years. However, that has not always been the case for Woods, who has endured several surgeries involving his knees and back, an infidelity scandal, a DUI, and chipping yips, all within the past decade. It seemed that the man who dominated many major championships would never win another, and that his final major victory would remain the 2008 U.S. Open at the young age of 32.

That’s what makes the 2019 Masters so special.

Tiger showed flashes of familiar brilliance in 2018. He held the lead with 8 holes to play at the Open Championship, before squandering it and finishing tied-6th. He later shot an incredible 64 in the final round of the PGA Championship to finish 2nd only to Brooks Koepka, the world’s #1 player. Woods then finally broke a five-year winless drought at the Tour Championship (a non-major event).  There was a sense in the air that Tiger would win a major title soon, perhaps as soon as the next one he would play, in April 2019.

I, like many, practically live and die with each shot Tiger hits when in contention at major championships. However, I could not have been more thrilled to see him come back and have as good of a season as he did. What I’ll always remember from that 2018 season was the reaction that Tiger received after finishing the PGA Championship, an ovation unlike that for any runner-up I’ve ever seen:

There was a real sense of confidence around Tiger heading into the 2019 Masters. Once he started to put himself into contention, it seemed as though the spotlight was all his, just like old times. Tiger does not move the needle for golf; he IS the needle. This week encapsulates that.

On Saturday, everything started to feel real, as Tiger played a nearly flawless round. There was an overwhelming sense of excitement within me and the golf world going into Sunday’s final round, with Tiger just two strokes back of the lead, searching for his first major victory in 11 years.

After a quiet start on Sunday, seemingly within an instant,Tiger first grabbed the lead all week on the 12th hole when leader Francesco Molinari hit his ball into the water. Woods made par to take a share of the lead.

In typical Tiger fashion, he would never look back.

Woods added birdies on the two back-nine par-5 holes at the Masters, the 13th and 15th. Then, on the 16th hole, he struck one of the greatest shots of his career. I remember specifically as soon as the ball hit the ground, I told my dad “that ball could go in the hole!” It nestled just a few feet from the hole, and Tiger would tack on his final birdie of the week, which proved to be just enough.

The things that I felt were “getting real” before, were finally becoming reality.

The final moments of the championship were truly magical. I felt privileged just to be able to watch what was happening, as it seemed for so long that we would never see anything like it. Jim Nantz of CBS Sports even said “many doubted we’d ever see it” seconds before Tiger tapped-in on the 18th.

Hearing thousands of people chanting his name while Tiger hugged his mom, children, and peers showed just how much he, and this day, meant to the sport. He finally conquered all of the demons he encountered over the past decade. It was the greatest thing I’ve ever seen in my 15 or so years watching sports.

Tiger is 43 now, and has shown the ability to still win major championships. Can he win 3 more to tie Jack Nicklaus? Maybe. But, will he ever win another as special as the 2019 Masters? Not even close.

Coldplay is Doing Everything Right In Promoting ‘Everyday Life’

The ‘Everyday Life’ album cover (left) and a promotional photograph of the group (right) to celebrate their 8th full-length release.

You don’t sustain relevance and dominance of the music industry for two whole decades by simply following the norm and being the same. Coldplay is perhaps the most successful band of this century so far, and, is by far my favorite artist. Coldplay continues to challenge the norm through the music and promotion of their most recent album, Everyday Life.

In an era where social media is so important to generate conversation about something like an album, Coldplay started out by doing the opposite for their 8th studio album. In mid-October, billboards were erected around the world featuring the band in an old-time black-and-white photograph, featuring the date November 22, 1919. This indirectly allowed for Coldplay to cause a huge stir on social media, as fans who viewed the posters took to media such as Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, and others to share the images, trying to make meaning of it all. In the days leading up to any official announcement, I was constantly refreshing Reddit and Twitter to find anything linked to a possible release.

On October 19, the band confirmed the relevance of the billboards by posting the exact image on their social media sites in a 15-second teaser video (inserted above), with a snippet of the track “Sunrise.” However, in keeping with the old-time theme, Coldplay shared their track-list for Everyday Life in several print newspaper outlets a few days later, and also mailed out letters to certain fans about the album. These letters and advertisements confirmed the album’s release date of November 22, and that it was a double album in nature, with the two sides being “Sunrise” and “Sunset.” On October 22 (exactly one month prior to release), in a cool touch, Coldplay tweeted out the typewritten-letter as their official album announcement: 

The following week saw a more modern approach to advertising the album through social media. Using tweets and Instagram posts, Coldplay spread word about the release of their first (double) single, the tracks “Orphans” and “Arabesque.” The band also promoted themselves through a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live on November 2. Coldplay did a great job in using traditional, printed ways of carrying out a message, and intertwining it with the social approach that younger fans like me are more accustomed to. To me, this greatly shows their versatility and creativity.

They later announced via a humorous “mock” press conference video posted to their social media sites that they would partner with YouTube to stream two live performances in Jordan: one at sunrise, and one at sunset, coinciding with the two album sides. You could not go on YouTube in weeks leading up to release without at least seeing one advertisement for #ColdplayJordan.

In the weeks leading up to Jordan, bassist Guy Berryman gave an inside look on the process of making and rehearsing the album through posts on Instagram. I found these to be particularly interesting, as Berryman showed exactly what the band was working on musically and how they rehearsed for the Jordan shows. 

I watched the Jordan “Sunrise” performance (11:00 pm EST) and woke up early for the “Sunset” performance (9:00 am EST), with the live shows being my first full listen through the album, seemingly how the band intended for it to be. This was such an innovative way to use social media to reach millions of fans worldwide in real time to all celebrate the album’s release.

The way I can best describe the album is that it was, in a way, tied very well into their “old and new” promotion for it. There were many tracks that sounded like “old” and traditional Coldplay, while they also tried a lot of new things as well: stepping into the gospel, jazz, and even doo-wop genres with some of their tracks.

Coldplay is always changing and evolving, just like how social media is. Without a social audience, a band is basically obsolete. Coldplay consistently finds a way to engage their current fans while also pushing the right buttons to reach new fans who were unfamiliar with them before.

Make sure to set an hour aside to listen to Everyday Life, in particular the jazzy track “Arabesque” (which is the one that I CANNOT stop listening to) the joyous anthem “Orphans,” the angry “Trouble in Town,” the beautifully serene “Èkó,” and the heart-wrenching and powerful title track that concludes the album.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a Fun, Spooky, Mind-Bending Test for All Gamers

The promotional art for Luigi’s Mansion 3, featuring Luigi (left) and Gooigi (right).

I have to admit that I’m not the biggest gamer out there; I might play about five different video games per year. However, when Nintendo announced Luigi’s Mansion 3 would be released on their Switch console this year, I was super excited, after playing the first two installments of the franchise years ago.

One thing that I loved right off the bat was that Nintendo set the release date for October 31, Halloween this year. This was, to me, a genius marketing plan, as people are celebrating “spooky season” and looking for something to entertain them. Normally, the year’s biggest video games are released in mid-November, just before Black Friday, the biggest consumer shopping day of the year (Nintendo did that with Pokemon Sword and Shield this year, releasing them November 15.) However, Nintendo saw an opportunity to capitalize on both the Halloween and Black Friday holidays in order to have a successful release for this game. I bought the game the day after it was released, so their marketing ideas surely worked on me.

The game’s story won me over immediately. Luigi (and friends) win a trip to the Last Resort, what they think is a state-of-the-art hotel at a remote vacation site. Luigi soon finds out that the hotel is run by ghosts who they have captured his friends and trapped them in paintings, hidden in random places throughout the 15 floors of the hotel. Luigi must capture and beat all of the ghosts throughout the hotel to free his friends and get out of dodge himself.

What I found incredibly unique about this game was that Luigi’s equipment now allows him to spawn a “slime” version of himself called “Gooigi” that can sneak through small areas and help Luigi make his way through the map. Gooigi isn’t just a gimmick that developers threw into the game; instead, he serves a huge purpose in helping you complete important tasks and get through doors/rooms that Luigi could not possibly get through alone. Nintendo really hit a home run in this new feature, adding so much more thought and puzzle-like aspects to the game experience.

My favorite part of the game, however, was the immense creativity that they put into the design of the hotel. Rather than just copy-and-pasting The Stanley Hotel (the haunted hotel that inspired The Shining) across their 15 floors, the developers shine in making each floor a “world” of its own, incredibly unique. One floor is like a mall, another is set up as a giant theater, another as a medieval castle, and another as a giant garden circled around what has to be a 50-foot tall beanstalk (which honestly, should count as far more than just one floor, but that’s just me.) 

Tying everything together, Luigi travels the mansion by way of an elevator; however, all of the buttons are missing. In order to get the button to the next floor, he must beat the “boss” ghost on each floor, each tying in to the theme of the setting. What I found incredibly fun and charming about the game was that Luigi, clumsy in nature, would often drop the elevator buttons out of excitement. In one instance, a cat steals the button, and Luigi has to search through the hotel to get it back. I’ll admit, it was annoying, but it really helped make the game feel more genuine to me.

I have yet to finish the game, although I definitely could have finished it by now. In all honesty, the game is so great that I am trying to take my time in finishing it, because I do not want to have it all end so quickly, maximizing the experience. You never want to rush a masterpiece, despite how much you may love it. I’m no professional video game grader; however, as of right now, I give Luigi’s Mansion 3 a 10/10.

Flyers’ Young Stars Driving the Team’s Early Success

Carter Hart (foreground) celebrates the Flyers recent victory over the Boston Bruins with Oskar Lindblom (center) and Philippe Myers (left). Image link here.

Travis Konecny, Joel Farabee, Oskar Lindblom, Ivan Provorov, Philippe Myers, Carter Hart — The average sports fan in Philadelphia may not be quite familiar with these names. Fans have grown familiar with the faces and names of Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, and Sean Couturier, who have been synonymous with the Flyers brand for much of the past decade. However, the Flyers’ young stars mentioned (all 23 years old and younger) have stepped up to provide scoring, defense, and goaltending in order to make the team a more serious contender. The team currently sits 10-5-2 after 17 games, good for the 4th-best record in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.

Travis Konecny, 22, has by far and away been the team’s most valuable player to start the season. Konency leads or co-leads the team in the three most important offensive categories, with 8 goals, 11 assists, and 19 points. After signing a 6-year contract extension totaling $33 million just two months ago, the 22-year-old seems bound and determined to lead the Flyers back to the playoffs after missing them last season.

Oskar Lindblom, 23, co-leads the team (with Konecny) in goals, and is second in points with 14. Playing on the same line as Konecny, Lindblom has both created and capitalized on many scoring chances to give the team a spark early on. After struggling to stand out on the score sheet earlier in his career, Lindblom’s growth has allowed the Flyers to take a big step forward.

Ivan Provorov, 23, holds the tall responsibility of being the Flyers’ #1 defenseman despite only having turned professional for a few years. Provorov co-leads all Flyers defensemen with 3 goals, and leads with 7 assists, and 10 points. He also leads the entire team in time on ice per game by a wide margin of almost 3 minutes (24 minutes to 21 minutes, respectively) over veteran Matt Niskanen. Provorov’s time on ice stat shows Head Coach Alain Vigneault has immense trust in Provorov, a player who is wise beyond his years.

Joel Farabee, 19, and Philippe Myers, 23, did not even make the Flyers’ roster at the beginning of the season, however have been called up to give the team a boost: something they each have certainly delivered on. 

Farabee is a gifted skater and scorer who, at just 19, has the potential to blossom over the course of the season. In their most recent game, Farabee scored the game-winning goal in a shootout versus the Boston Bruins. Coach Vigneault chose Farabee to be the team’s first shooter (of three), showing that he has utmost trust in the youngster.

Myers, despite only playing 6 of the team’s 17 games, already leads the team in the “plus/minus” stat for goals scored while on the ice. He also co-leads with Provorov for most goals on the team for defensemen already. In addition to creating offense, Myers is a 6-5, 210-pound nightmare for opposing skaters to face.

Finally, franchise goaltender Carter Hart, 21, has the responsibility of being the team’s last line of defense, and probably their most important player. His stats may not “wow” you early on, however Hart has led the Flyers to four consecutive victories in his last four starts, boasting an impressive .929 save percentage in that span. This is Hart’s first full season in the NHL. He  can benefit immensely both from the coaching of Vigneault as well as the veteran expertise from teammate Brian Elliott, who is in his 12th season.

It has been very encouraging to see a wide array of young players having great success with the Flyers. It shows that they each have potentially very bright futures, and may work as a unit to help the team win this year and in the long run, in hopes of eventually bringing another Stanley Cup title back to Philadelphia.

All stats used for this article found here.