CHARLES KRUPA / Associated Press
Phil Mickelson hits out of the rough during practice for the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. Tournament officials should resist calls to make the course "a fairer test."
Morning Bytes
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Keep U.S. Open from being too vanilla
The purpose of the Open, a USGA official once famously noted, was not to penalize the best players but to identify them.
An Open filled with fury, frustration, and four-inch rough is still the best way to do that.
With two, you get Lisa Leslie
I don't want to make any mindless assumptions about the WNBA, but if a recent Washington Capitals playoff-ticket promotion is any indication, the women's pro league must be on shakier ground than Coit Tower.
Since its home playoff games were sold out, the NHL's Caps offered fans a $175 package that included a seat in the arena's bar-restaurant, a hat, a buffet, 90 minutes of free drinks, and season tickets to the WNBA's Washington Mystics.
They ought to have thrown in a T-shirt that read: "I went to a Caps game and all I got was these lousy Mystic season tickets."
NASCAR note of the week
According to the Wall Street Journal, a Northern Michigan University professor claims NASCAR is a modern-day outgrowth of medieval jousting.
"It's almost a direct carryover," said Karen Rybacki, a communications studies professor.
Her evidence?
Fans travel a long distance to watch. Dale Earnhardt's nickname was the "Black Knight." There's horsepower instead of horses (get it?). And fans of both liked beer and turkey legs.
And they say serious scholarship is dead.
Say what?
Jimmy Rollins the leading vote-getter among NL shortstops?
Have they limited the fan voting to:
1. Those wearing team jerseys?
2. Those who never leave Ashburn Alley?
3. Those who boo every time the pitcher throws to first base? Or yell balk whenever one fakes a pickoff attempt? Or cheer on two-strike foul tips?
Contact staff writer Frank Fitzpatrick at 215-854-5068 or ffitzpatrick@phillynews.com.
