Love's colossal blunder cost USA the Ryder Cup
Congratulations and kudos to all the hardworking people who put together a hugely successful Ryder Cup event and made Chicago and Medinah Country Club the center of the golf universe for a week.
From a television viewer standpoint, it was absolutely spectacular.
Every so often in the mid- and late-1990s, I would run into a gentleman touting Medinah, and how he someday was going to bring the Ryder Cup and other great events there.
That man was Don Larson, the Medinah general chairman, and the main man. I love a guy who talks and then backs it up, and Don Larson did just that.
Unfortunately, the USA had the greatest collapse in Ryder Cup history. People say the U.S. did the same thing in 1999 at Brookline, but they were the home team then. For the Europeans to win on the road Sunday after being down 10-6 makes it one of the most impressive comebacks in sports history.
Davis Love III, the captain of the U.S. squad, should be the MVP for the European squad. He didn't use Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson in the afternoon session on Saturday. Later, we learned Mickelson told Love early in the morning match they didn't want to play a fourth-straight match because they would be emotionally spent and wanted other guys to play.
That Mickelson and Bradley quit after going 3-0 and that Davis Love III went along with them was the turning point in these matches.
When you win three poker hands in a row, you don't get up to have a sandwich. When you throw the dice and roll three straight sevens, you don't give the dice to somebody else. And when you win three straight matches, you don't say I don't feel like playing anymore.
I think Phil was covering for Love and his colossal blunder. Either way, Bradley and Mickelson lost on Sunday because Davis Love took the clubs out of their hands, and the juice from the team.
The team didn't get it done either. The captain's picks and oldest golfers, Jim Furyk and Stricker, killed the U.S. on Sunday.
They say nice guys finish last. Well, Davis Love III seems like a nice guy, but the only thing missing from his inept performance was a Chicago Cubs hat. He played his best guys early and his average guys late. Not a wise move at all.
Oh, I forgot to mention, the Europeans were very very good, but if you look up choke in the dictionary, the U.S. Ryder Cup team from 2012 should be pictured.
Konerko fades in second halfThe Chicago White Sox didn't get it done either.Paul Konerko went on a tear the first two months of the season with 11 home runs and 33 RBI. The next four months he had 14 home runs and 39 RBI. People will say Adam Dunn cleaned up the bases in front of Paulie, but Dunn walked 104 times, giving Konerko plenty of chances to drive in runs. It didn't happen for the Sox, but Konerko says it was a heck of a year. Wouldn't the Sox in the playoffs if Konerko showed up in the second half?Odds and ends:Happy 35th wedding anniversary to my wife, Be-Be. What a ride. It ain't over any time soon. I won the lottery the day I met her.I'll be sitting in on Fox Sports radio Tuesday night from 6-9 p.m. Listen in on XM169, iHeart radio or foxsportsradio.com.#376; Mike North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.