http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford RSS Feed for Inq Col Bob Ford en-us Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:01:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20130618_Luckily_for_city__Merion_s_still_a_winner.html Somewhere in the late afternoon of the U.S. Open's third round on Saturday, as Tiger Woods stalked yet another errant tee shot, a proud local pierced through the perfunctory smatter of misplaced applause and yelled, "Merion's got teeth, Tiger." http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20130616_Merion_caddie_lends_star_amateur_Kim_a_fortunate_hand.html The last amateur to win the U.S. Open was Johnny Goodman in 1933. It's been a long wait for the next one, but for a few sun-kissed moments on the back nine at Merion yesterday, Michael Kim, the top-ranked collegiate golfer this year, was taking a run at old Johnny. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20130614_Old_Man_Merion_wins_Day_One.html The Old Man of the Main Line undoubtedly heard the talk. The pros were coming back and, like kids who return to a playground from their youth, they were supposed to find the place a lot smaller than anyone remembered. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20130612_Tiger_makes_this_Open_bigger.html The sun came out Tuesday at the U.S. Underwater and there hasn't been that much rejoicing on the Main Line since the long-term capital gains tax became law. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20130609_Baseball_ahead_of_other_leagues_in_fighting_PEDs.html For sports leagues, the result of taking an aggressive anti-doping stance and backing it up with real programs is that cheaters will definitely be caught, something that is good for the long-term health of the game, but can be painful and bad for business in the process. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20130606_Roy_Halladay_a_reason_to_believe_in_mediocre_Phillies.html It takes some searching for the Phillies organization to find a reason to believe, really believe, these days. There are games here and there that are uplifting, and individual accomplishments, like Domonic Brown's hot month and Cole Hamels' good start on Wednesday, that can brighten the darkness of a mediocre record. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20130604_Last_thing_RGIII_needs_is_McNabb_s_advice.html Donovan McNabb says he'd like to sit down with Robert Griffin III and have a little chat about the right things to do and say when you happen to be a budding superstar quarterback in the NFL. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20130602_Rutgers__problems_won_t_go_away.html Having taken an already terrible situation and somehow made it worse, Rutgers University seems intent on drawing the blinds now and waiting until the furor over the hiring of new athletic director Julie Hermann goes away. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20130531_Bob_Ford__Phils_simply_aren_t_getting_on_base_enough.html Maybe it was the carryover effect from a win the previous evening, or maybe it was the optimism that every major-league manager must harbor for his team, but Charlie Manuel had a good feeling about this one. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20130530_Bob_Ford__Time_for_Phils_to_see_what_Cesar_Hernandez_can_do.html The Phillies either passed along bad news on Wednesday or finally owned up to some. It really doesn't matter which, because whether they were previously being optimistic or deceptive, the facts come out the same way. Chase Utley isn't going to be out for merely two weeks with a strained abdominal muscle. It's going to be more like a month, and that's if everything goes right.