Louisville Lip (part five)
By Rob Hodgetts and Alex Trickett
European song no-contest
If the Ryder Cup was decided by a , Europe would be 10&8 winners.
A full two hours before play got under way in Sunday's singles the European and American fans were engaged in a fierce battle of the ballads in the grandstands surrounding the first tee.
Except as a contest it was a walk over.
The Lip arrived to be greeted by the classic "Twelve years, one cup" taunt from the visitors waving - and wearing - European flags, and with Irish tri-colours, Scottish Saltires and the Union Jack hung over the railings.
Then came a patriotic medley of "", "" and "", "" and, er, "Knowing me, knowing you" from Abba.
The US fans hit back with ", here I come and I'm sending you home". Like congratulating a good shot, the Europeans applauded, but countered with, "Four songs, you've only got four songs."
The home support was gaining in confidence and the "Opening Ceremony Stage End" tried out a ditty along the lines of "Check the scoreboard" but that was cancelled out with the clinical "You only sing when you're winning."
But the US found some form with,"If you're winning and you know it clap your hands (repeat)...if you're winning and you know it and the scoreboard really shows it, if you're winning and you know it clap your hands."
Europe, though, were thinking on their feet and replied with the genius, "Five songs, you've only got five songs" to go dormie nine.
And they sealed the win with, "We play football with our feet, doo-da, doo-da..."
As an encore they gave us, "Practice ground, give us a song, practice ground, practice ground, give us a song."
And in the sort of display typical of Europe's famed team spirit, the away contingent in the stand behind the range belted out a fitting finale and a reprise from Saturday evening - "Walking in a Poulter Wonderland."
Gallacher grief
Former Ryder Cup captain and 5 Live summariser Bernard Gallacher got himself in a bit of a pickle on Saturday.
Fresh from his stint, he went for the door and found it locked, having to rely on shoulder muscle to break free.
The tale was recounted to general hilarity on the media bus this morning before a sheepish Andrew Cotter admitted that he "might" have locked it by mistake.
The Lip has a positive sighting of Gallacher to report, so all is well. But Cotter may want to take cover for a while...
You're Boo - tiful
New US sensation Boo Weekley conjured a wonder shot from halfway down the 15th to within two feet of the pin in Saturday afternoon's fourballs.
American great , now an NBC commentator, said it was the best shot of the day. Asked if it was his best-ever shot, Weekley replied: "I'd have to say number nine because I've had eight holes-in-one."
But opponents Lee Westwood and Soren Hansen were unimpressed.
The pair refused to concede it as a gimme and watched on impassively as the fervent home support let forth a prolonged chorus of booing as distinct from the chants of "Booooooooo" they use to support their man.
No love for Lee
It may be because of Westwood's tight-fisted nature, or his formidable Ryder Cup record, but he has become a particular target for American fans at Valhalla.
"You're going down Westwood, you know that man," one fan screamed out from close range on the 13th tee on Saturday, prompting the faint hint of a smile across the unflappable Englishman's face.
And after his criticism of Weekley's enthusiastic pumping-up of the crowd, the standard heckle is now, "Are we too loud for you Westwood?"
U r grrr8
Paul Azinger said before the event that he would have a hotline to during the Ryder Cup but it seems to be the other way around.
Azinger said he had received "at least 10 texts" from Woods on Friday. "He likes to heckle," said Azinger.
"I kind of told him he needed to step up his heckling skills a little bit, and he brought it today.
"I didn't know he could take it to such a high level, so I give him credit."
Inside the insect house
The Lip has discovered that there isn't another word for an insect house. Birds have aviaries, fish have aquariums, people have jails. But insects have to be content with .
The Lip knows this (and please correct him if he is wrong) because he has just looked it up. You see, the world's golf media are increasingly living as one with nature in our giant tent.
Crickets, wasps, flies, moths and more have all pitched up alongside us at 91Èȱ¬ blogger HQ this week. And a spider wandered across Rob's keyboard as he wrote his round-up late last night. Might explain a thing or two, you cry...
Country croon
This beauty from goes to show that it is not only male country singers who are completely obsessed by cars. Take it away Heidi...
Oh there's something 'bout a man in black
Makes me want to buy a Cadillac,
Throw the top back
And roll down to Jackson town
Why? What's the correlation between black clothes and a Cadillac? The Lip is guessing it has something to do with - answers by postcard please...
Comment number 1.
At 21st Sep 2008, higgsymayo wrote:great blog guys!!!
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Comment number 2.
At 21st Sep 2008, abbebodinelli wrote:Yes indeed--agreement with higgsymayo. For those of us in Louisville KY who are still without electricity one week after Ike, the chance to read the blog from a powered-up coffee shop has brightened what has been a very dark week for us locals--especially after about 8 p.m.
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Comment number 3.
At 21st Sep 2008, BSowder wrote:As a Kentuckian I have used this blog to get the European perspective. Great job! I really enjoyed reading it! Here's to another great contest in two years!
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Comment number 4.
At 21st Sep 2008, northwalestaff wrote:Nice blog Rob, thanks for the insight into the fans singing antics!
Look forward to it again in 2 years time.
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Comment number 5.
At 21st Sep 2008, L A Odicean wrote:I am new to golf but this Ryder Cup contest was much more exciting than the Scottish Open which I watched on TV during the summer. However I was disgusted by all the booing I heard on the radio. Surely golf fans should behave themselves better than that. I do so hope they weren't British spectators making that frightful noise.
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Comment number 6.
At 22nd Sep 2008, Alex Trickett - wrote:Glad most of you liked it. Thanks for the kind words and the Lip looks forward to seeing y'all at Celtic Manor.
In the meantime, the indoctrinated among you might want to read our Ryder Cup 2008 awards, the Lippies: /blogs/robhodgetts/2008/09/the_lippies.html
Laodicean2 - 99.9% of the booing was Americans acknowledging their new hero Boo Weekley. There was no malice in it and everyone rather enjoyed it.
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Comment number 7.
At 22nd Sep 2008, L A Odicean wrote:Oh. Sorry.
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Comment number 8.
At 24th Sep 2008, Impressedfan wrote:As an American, I do not get many opportunities to listen to the 91Èȱ¬. However, during my attendance at last week's Ryder Cup, I listened to the 91Èȱ¬'s radio feed of the tournament while walking the course. VERY impressive! The insite provided by the announcers, coupled with the interviews, humor and genuine excitement of the play-by-play really added to the overall experience.
Well done 91Èȱ¬!
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