Loose Impediments

Somewhere over the Rainbow

I have a conference for travel writers in Belfast. So naturally, I took the opportunity to arrive a couple of days early and get in some golf. Today's round was at Rosapenna. On the 17th hole, I saw the biggest, most vivid rainbow I have ever seen. Alas, there was no pot of gold at the end of it, but the pint of Guinness after the round was treasure enough.

My Old School

Tim Finchem may consider the Players Championship to be golf's fifth major, but for me, that honor goes to this week's NCAA Northeast Regional at Galloway National Golf Club in New Jersey, near Atlantic City. That's because my alma mater, Columbia, is in the field.

Granted, they are the 13th seed in a 14-team field, and has as much chance of advancing to the finals at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, as Cornell did of reaching the Sweet 16 in the NCAA basketball championships.

But just reaching this level is a huge achievement for a golf program at a school in the middle of the biggest city in the country, where the nearest course, Van Cortlandt, is located 14 stops away on the 1 line. (Believe me, a crowded subway car is no place for a golf bag.)

Major League Rip-off

I guess since Tiger and Phil have emerged from their post-Masters slumber, so should I. I'm not sure what they did during their layoffs, but I have been trying to decide whether I still want to be a baseball fan. I haven't watched a single game during the first month of the season since being put off by the sport's distasteful display of greed.

It has nothing to do with player salaries. After years of hearing about nine-figure contracts, I hardly look up when a pitcher signs a seven-year, $161-million deal.

Nor is it with the owners, although for years, I used to buy Yankees tickets a couple of times a season. They were always in the same place, pretty good seats on the field level. Over the years, the price gradually went up from $90 to $120. Then last year, the final one at the old Yankee Stadium, I requested the same seats for a game and gave my credit card number. 

I didn't give the matter much thought until I checked my statement a few days later. I was sure that a mistake had been made, but after a few calls, I realized there was no error: The price had gone up to $180—a 50 percent increase from the year before.

And the Yankees' Web site shows that similar seats in the new Yankee Stadium cost $375.