Super Phil

The Super Bowl will most assuredly overshadow the Waste Management Phoenix Open this weekend. However, Phil Mickelson is putting on as good of a show as Ray Lewis, who will win because my grandpa always said defense wins football games. What a remarkable week it has been for Phil at Scottsdale! On Thursday, he had a putt lip out on his final hole for a 59, golf's magic number. He followed it up with a 65 that included a double bogey on eighteen during the second round to establish the new 36 hole scoring record. And yesterday's finish was as pure as any I have ever witnessed. I tuned in while Mickelson's group, which included two of today's top young stars in Bill Haas and Keegan Bradley, was finishing up the thirteenth. The former Arizona State Sun Devil and two-time Phoenix Open champion birdied the benign par five rather easily. He just missed a mid-range putt for birdie on fourteen. Then he turned it up for the loudest closing stretch in golf.

Following his other hometown event last week in San Diego, he met with his coach, Butch Harmon, to work on his driver. He only hit about one third of the fairways at Torrey Pines. He put a more lofted driver in the bag, improved his posture, and started hitting drives that even Louis Oostheisen would be jealous of. So to kick off the par five fifteenth hole Saturday, he bombed his drive past his playing partners into the middle of the fairway. From there, he went for the island green in two and ended up in the difficult left bunker. Ryan Moore in the group ahead, could not get up and down from the same spot just minutes prior. Phil addressed the ball, took a big swing, and stopped it seven feet from the cup. It was a masterful shot. In the previous 50 holes this week, Mickelson had made 38 of 38 putts from seven feet and in, an amazing statistic given Phil's history with short putts. On fifteen, he kept his perfect streak alive and made another birdie.

The sixteenth at Scottsdale is golf's version of chaos. The hole is completely enclosed by jam packed grandstands holding thousands of rowdy and very inebriated fans, not necessarily of golf, but more fans of fun at whatever cost. There is a constant murmur inside this coliseum of sorts. The noise, according to New Englander Keegan Bradley, is akin to Fenway Park in October, perhaps. Upon arrival to the tee box, the crowds demand the players attention. Any other hole on Tour sees the players in full control. At 16, the fans write the show. Players are obligated to pass out free hats, balls, tees, gloves, even footballs in Padraig Harrington's case to the demanding audience. Caddies are encouraged to race from tee to green with luggage in tow. Any golfer who does not hit this par three green in regulation is regularly booed for his efforts. Good shots are rewarded with college football caliber cheers, and a bogey is treated with more disdain than Colin Montgomerie trying to play in America. So Phil, already a unanimous fan favorite in Phoenix, steps into this arena with a huge lead knowing that he is the only one in the field who can probably do no wrong in this situation. With all the ASU chants and crowd noise rumbling in his ears throughout his swing, Mickelson decides to be the man we all love. He doesn't just go for the middle of the green to escape with a simple par. He takes this bull by the horns and goes right for the pin, tucked back left. The ball takes two hops and settles inside of two feet from the hole. The stadium and I, at home, go nuts. Folks in Mesa must have thought all three players in his group holed it the reaction was so tremendous. After watching both Haas and Bradley bogey to much chagrin of them and the spectators, Phil tapped in for yet another birdie to extend his monstrous lead over a charging Brandt Snedeker.

At 337 yards, the next hole is a driveable par four. The star of the week, drove his ball to pin high following two consecutive birdies. He continued to show off his all-around skills by chipping the ball within inches and tapping it in for yet another bird.

His performance on 18 did not disappoint either. His tee shot was hit in the water the previous day with a three wood. Therefore, the driver reappeared, and he did not hold back while driving it past the water way left. From the gallery he hit a beautiful approach leaving a mid-range putt, which he graciously holed for the fans surrounding the 18th green. So far this week, Phil is hitting most fairways, hitting over 88% of his greens in regulation, and making every putt inside of seven feet plus some from farther away. Those numbers are as super as any Colin Kaepernick has ever put up. I predict Sunday will be another spectacular round for this fan favorite and certainly worth a peek before the football begins.

Bloomington over Danville

I must admit that I did not see or hear any of this game to kick off the Big 12 football season. However, from the Pantagraph's recap, I conclude that no one in attendance at Ned Whitesell Field asked for his money back. The Raiders of BHS won in thrilling fashion with a two point conversion in the final minutes to take a one point lead that they narrowly held with time expiring. My question to coworkers this morning was, would you go for two in that situation. Head coach Rigo Schmelzer boldly and, I am sure, confidently went for the win instead of risking overtime on the road against a good team. I probably would have gone for the tie and lost in overtime. Hence my position as a writer on a blog with no readers and his position as long-time head football coach. So what would you do on the road against the Vikings when you are down by one point?

PGA Championship at Kiawah Island

I have never been so captivated by such a boring golf tournament. The anticipation of seeing the links of War on the Shore fame was what peaked my interest in this year's edition of the PGA Championship prior to the start of play. The presence of Woods, McDowell, Singh, Scott, and McIlroy on the leaderboard during the first three days guaranteed I would be glued to the television all Sunday afternoon. I watched Woods and Singh play a couple of holes early Sunday morning on the PGA of America website, and I made it my top priority to check our where the leaders stood after attending church and teaching kids' Sunday school. At that point, Rory had topped the leaderboard. However, we all know the final round of a major can bring even the best golfers to their knees at any point. Adam Scott's painful collapse at Lytham is all too fresh to think otherwise, not to mention McIlroy's 10th hole blow up at Augusta last year. So as CBS's final round coverage commenced, I was amped up to see another showdown for glory's last shot.

I got served a dish I did not order. The last thing any golf fan wants to watch is a blow out. Some hot shot shooting lights out during the final nine of the third round and front nine of the final round then stumbling home with a bogey or two thrown in during the last hours of the stretch is not good for the game. Therefore, I tuned in for twenty minutes here and there throughout the middle of Rory's round thinking Poulter's string of birdies would scare him or memories of the Masters would be called up. However, what we witnessed was a young major champion in the zone smashing big drives and making, seemingly, every putt with zero bogies. Despite his enormous lead and Poulter's fade, I could not help but watch Rory come home playing spectacular golf and capping his victory with an exclamation at 18. Adam Scott and Jim Furyk both proved how extremely difficult holding on to a lead in a big tournament is in the last couple months. As young as he is, McIlroy has multiple major experiences with large leads, and he has gone both ways during those championships. He won the US Open at Congressional by eights shots, and now he has won the PGA Championship by eight shots. 

CBS commentator Jim Natnz said he does not use the word "awesome" very often, but he had no choice but to describe McIlroy's performance today as such. The graphic CBS flashed following the conclusion of Jack Nicklaus', Tiger's, and Rory's ages at the point of winning their second major is quite impressive. The Golden Bear was only one month younger than McIlroy when capturing his second, and Tiger was actually a few months older when taking the US Open at Pebble Beach by a record fifteen strokes. I do not believe the newly minted PGA champ will win nearly as many majors or tournaments as the game's greatest, but the future is sure bright for this talented young man from Hollywood, Northern Ireland.

New SI Golf Rankings

Sports Illustrated has released a new rankings system for the top ten professional golfers in the world. The new ratings are determined by votes from golf writers similar to the AP college football poll. SI's poll will be more contemporary than the current Official World Golf Rankings that Lee Westwood is sitting atop of. However, Westwood has failed to convert a victory worldwide since winning in Memphis last June. He has performed very well in nearly every event he has entered for the past two years, but he has only one win to show for it. Martin Kaymer, on the other hand, is ranked first in SI's poll, and I could not agree more with their opinion. He holds four victories in his last eight appearances, including the PGA Championship. Those numbers do not even include a Kaymer win last January and top ten finishes at the U.S. and British Opens. Westwood is a very strong player currently, but he has as many wins since 2003 as Kaymer has in the past year. Like the BCS computer rankings, few people understand the OWGR formula. Hence SI's new poll gives a more accurate up-to-date and accurate feel of who the hottest golfer is today. Check out the top ten at http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2011/02/sigolf-ranking-martin-kaymer-no-1.html .

Kaymer could overtake Westwood in the OWGR during this week's Qatar Masters. The impressive field includes both Kaymer and Westwood along with Steve Stricker, John Daly, Retief Goosen, Darren Clarke, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Alvaro Quiros. Tune into the Golf Channel to follow the drama.

State-side, the Waste Management Phoenix Open will be staged starring Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Jhonny Vegas, Nick Watney, Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan, Fred Couples, and Tom Lehman. Last year's finish thrilled the Bird's Nest at 16, and this year's competition looks to be just as exciting. Catch all the weekend action on CBS.

Deron Please Teach Us

Is Illinois the same school that produced the Utah Jazz's Deron Williams. Especially early on in the season, the Jazz were becoming known for their astonishing second half double-digit comebacks to win games against quality teams like the Magic and Heat, even on the road. D-Will leads that kind of winning team. The curious part about this situation is, though, that Deron's alma mater, the University of Illinois, is becoming known for not being able to finish ball games. This year's Illini have quite a bit of talent and a healthy mix of young and experienced players. However, the immaturity is all that is shining through, and brightly. Of their seven losses, six could have been W's had the game ended about midway through the second half. In other words, Illinois held the lead during the 2nd half in every game except at Wisconsin. These guys fold when ahead more often than most teams. They are about as reliable as Demetri McCamey. Take a look at each loss.

Texas - Illinois held a two point lead with 2:27 left on the clock. The Illini scored two points for the rest of the game, and it went to overtime. In OT, we surrendered 15 while scoring 9. Granted, Texas is a talented team, but our guys had their opportunities late in the game.

UIC - The Illini were up by six with five minutes to go and looked as if they would blow open a big lead like they should against the Flames. Instead, they were outscored 13-3 for the rest of the way. Included in that stretch were a couple blown chances within the final minute to at least send the game to overtime.

Mizzou - Against another high-quality opponent, Illinois led by three points with 4:05 to play. The Tigers scored 20 in those last four minutes while we garnered seven.

Penn St - Illinois scored two points in the final four minutes of regulation.

Wisconsin - The Badgers hit us up for 49 points in the second half!

Ohio State - Myers Leonard and the gang were looking confident starting off the final twenty minutes. They even held an eight point lead with less than thirteen minutes to play. However, they could not make any type of basket again for five more minutes as they watched the number one team in the land take over the game in Champaign.

Indiana - Bruce Weber's team was up by three with 2:46 remaining, but they did not score the rest of the game.

So taking out the Missouri, Wisconsin, and Buckeyes losses, Illinois scored a combined total of 7 points in 14 minutes of play to close out four different games. Wow! Deron please get to Champaign ASAP and teach your boys how to finish like you did in the Elite Eight.

Great Weekend for Golf

What a spectacular weekend to kickoff the 2011 professional golf season. Believe it or not this is actually the fourth week of the PGA Tour season, and the competition thus far has been extremely entertaining. From Jonathan Byrd edging out Graeme McDowell to get into a playoff where he defeated Robert Garrigus to Mark Wilson's 36-hole Sunday marathon victory in Hawaii to big Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas's playoff win over defending champ Bill Haas in the California desert, many sports fans have missed out on some exciting finishes the past few weekends in golf. The European Tour has produced some fireworks too in this young year. Last week, now world number two (number one in my book) Martin Kaymer lapped a field that included Rory McIlroy, Retief Goosen, Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell, the Molinari brothers, and Charl Schwartzel in Abu Dhabi. All of this thrilling golf went under the radar of most sports fans because Tiger Woods had not ventured onto any of the tracks the pros played. However, Tiger is playing in California this week, and the sports world is now watching.

The Farmers Insurance Open is hosted at Torrey Pines, the site of Woods's 2008 U.S. Open triumph. Tiger has won an unprecedented eight titles at Torry Pines, and he has put himself in position to win a ninth this weekend. Bill Haas currently holds the 36-hole lead at eleven under par, but a whole slew of big name contenders is right behind him. A more mature Anthony Kim is the closest competitor to Haas at nine under, but three back of the leader sit Phil Mickelson, Hunter Mahan, John Daly, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, and Ben Crane. At six under par, CBS will be highlighting Tiger Woods, Jhonny Vegas, and Dustin Johnson. Five strokes back with 36 holes to play is easy ground to cover for Woods. Sports fans and true golf fans alike are anxiously awaiting the outcome of golf's first big week. The scenery from the southern California coast has already been breathtaking during the early rounds. If you do not watch for the incredible golf, you have to check out the amazing views of the cliffs holding up the golf course diving into the Pacific.


The European Tour also has more excitement lined up for golf fans around the globe. Colin Montgomerie is showing off one of his designs in the oil-rich Middle Eastern island nation of Bahrain. With only one round to play, Paul Casey is tied for the lead at sixteen under par with both Molinari brothers, Darren Clarke, Matteo Manessero, and Miguel Angel Jimenez all in striking distance. The Volvo Golf Champions was being billed as Sergio Garcia's first start of 2011. He started off with an impressive 67 on Thursday, but his third round of 73 has put El Niño nine strokes back heading into Sunday. The Golf Channel will have delayed morning coverage of this event.


The final big event of the weekend has yet to start actually. The Champions Skins Game will be played out in Maui on Saturday and Sunday. The defending champs for this team event are none other than Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. The duo is teaming up again this weekend, and anyone who has not seen the great Golden Bear play before better be watching Golf Channel because Jack very rarely plays anymore. Arnold Palmer is easier to catch on the course than Nicklaus. As the greatest player of all time, Jack is a joy to see and learn about. Going up against this formidable pairing are the teams of Fuzzy Zoeller-Ben Crenshaw, Nick Price-Fred Couples, and Bernhard Langer-Mark O'Meara. The players are miked and are a blast to watch play and interact with each other.

Oldest Pro Football Series

I am currently enjoying Joe Ziemba's When Football was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL during my lunch breaks. I have yet to finish, but all the attention the much-anticipated Bears-Packers NFC Championship game is getting has highlighted one little piece of NFL history I learned from this book.

Chicago's and, arguably, the world's first professional team is the Cardinals, now rooted in Arizona. The Morgan Athletic Association played its first official game on October 15, 1899 in a win over the Shermans on Chicago's south side. The club eventually became known as the Chicago Cardinals franchise when the NFL organized in 1920. The Cardinals continued to play, oftentimes lousy, football as apart of the NFL in Chicago until the move to St. Louis in 1960.

While grocery shopping at Wal-Mart and Kroger today, I noticed an alarming number of people proudly sporting every piece of Bears or Packers clothing they have. The build up for this exciting bout is huge. Most of the cashiers at Kroger were wearing Bears jerseys and t-shirts. The TV section at Wal-Mart was broadcasting a December 2007 Bear-Pack game. The local Christian radio station was telling cheesehead jokes on their morning show. I even glanced at the front page of the Chicago Sun-Times only to discover the lions guarding the front doors of the Art Institute on Michigan Avenue donning Bears scarves and earmuffs. I did not even witness this much to do while teaching at a school on the Illinois-Indiana border during the Chicago-Indy Super Bowl. Now, don't get me wrong. I love all the attention the Bears are getting. However, much of the acclaim is touting the showdown as the biggest game in the oldest rivalry of pro football. Mr. Ziemba, the author of the Cardinals history book, has something to say about that assertion, though.

Many Bears fans know "Papa Bear" George Halas got his pro football start in 1920 as the player/coach of the Decatur Staleys and that the Staleys had become the Chicago Bears by 1922. Many Bears fans, inluding myself, also know the NFL's longest running rivalry is between Green Bay and our beloved. The history books say otherwise, though. The Chicago Cardinals, who were a legitimate annual contender for the title in the early '20's, first battled and defeated the Decatur Staleys by a score of 7-6 on November 28, 1920. Therefore, the series between the Bears and the Cardinals is the NFL's oldest because neither the Cards nor the Staleys played against the Packers until November of 1921. The Cards and Pack fought to a draw on the 20th, and the first staging of the "oldest rivalry" was on November 28, 1921 when the Chicago Staleys (Halas agreed to keep the Staley moniker for the '21 season and changed to the Bears in 1922) beat Green Bay 20-0.

Now, the argument becomes that of the definition of "rivalry." I would assert that the Cardinals do not have a rivalry with either the Bears or the Packers. The Cards moved farther from Chicago than Green Bay over fifty years ago, and they are not even in the same division anymore. Chicago has played Arizona only twice since 2003. How can that be termed a rivalry? To me, a rival is not just any team you may play against at some point in time. A rival must be a team you play regularly, a team within reasonable geographic distance, a team in your division, a team you have a long history with, and a team whose fans interact negatively with one another. Hence, the Bears and the Packers do have the NFL's oldest rivalry in my opinion even if the Cardinals played both teams first. Had Chicago retained their south side gridders, we may have an argument. So enjoy Sunday afternoon's game all the more now that you have a little extra background knowledge of the rivalry.

Good to be back: Louisville Slugger

"Nowadays, it’s difficult to think of baseball players without talk of steroids, performance enhancers, or at least strength training. More than a century ago, however, raw skill and equipment formed a power-packed duo that dictated a player’s success.

'Sweet Spot: 125 Years of Baseball and the Louisville Slugger' by David Magee and Philip Shirley is as much about the bat and the company as it is about the rise of the National Pastime and our great nation."

Read the rest of Slammin' Sam's return on Seamheads!

Thanks for stopping by Free Keon, and special thanks to Steve for keeping you company while I was away. See you next Thursday.

Sam Miller/Free Keon

World Number One

The World Golf Rankings were a great idea with the game continuing to break international boundaries and players schedules including stops in East Asia, Australia, the Middle East, South Africa, Europe, and the US. However, the extremely complex rankings system can prove to out think itself at times. Experts predict that this Fall will serve as an excellent example of one of those times. With Lee Westwood's announcement yesterday that he plans to not play until late November, experts predict he will overtake Tiger Woods, who is not playing until early next month, as the world number one on October 31. How can Westwood improve in the rankings by not playing? And how can a player with merely one mediocre win worldwide in the past year suddenly be called the best? There is no arguing that Westwood has played magnificent, outstanding golf in the past two years. He has four top three finishes in his last five major championships, and he won the European Tour's Race to Dubai in 2009. However, do these fine accomplishments make him the hottest, most dominating player in the world? I would say if anyone is to push Woods off his perch in the next month it would have to be Martin Kaymer. Now, I believe the current rankings system takes into account players' performances worldwide over the past two years. Germany's Kaymer has six victories since October 2008 including the most recent major and three events (four if you count his solid showing on the winning European Ryder Cup team) in a row since mid-August. Some of those trophies on his mantle are from European Tour events, but most of those tournaments boasted strong fields even with Tiger and Phil. Considering Westwood's strong showing in major championships, Kaymer has not been as consistent on the biggest stages. However, Martin has proven he has what it takes to hoist the Wannamaker Trophy, and he has multiple top five finishes in majors over the past three years as well. Tiger did not win in 2010. Lee Westwood won one time, back in June. Martin Kaymer won the PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, and two other events in the past two months to top off his solid play over the last two years. If I had to pick a winner of a golf tournament right now, I would choose Kaymer over Woods or Westwood.

Ugly Win

I do not understand how the Chicago Bears pulled that win out against the Detroit Lions today, but I guess the most important thing is that they did get the W. The Bears offense certainly did not appear to want this game at all. The way the Lions stripped the ball and the way our boys dropped the ball made this game extremely frustrating to watch. Especially towards the end of the second quarter, I got sick the two times we turned the ball over as we were getting into the red zone with some momentum. I also disagreed with Martz's decision to go for it on 4th and goal in the fourth quarter after Lance Briggs took the ball from Shaun Hill inside the Lions' one yard line. How embarrassing was that series! The Bears could not move the ball two feet in four tries against Detroit's defense. That is pathetic, but I would take the much higher percentage play of a field goal attempt in order to take the lead during the final quarter of the game. Instead we were stuffed again and remained down by one point with six minutes left on the clock. We will get stomped next week in Dallas if we put on that level of poor quality performance again. Lovie's staff have a lot to work on in the next seven days, and I hope they can get it together.

American Team

Earlier this week American Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin selected his four Ryder Cup captain’s picks. The wild cards for this edition’s team from the U.S. are Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, and Rickie Fowler. These men will join the eight who qualified by points following the PGA Championship who are Phil Mickelson, Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Jeff Overton, and Matt Kuchar.

Golf in Illinois: PrairieView Golf Club

Byron, Illinois will not register in the minds of many golfers. However, once you play PrairieView, Byron becomes a place you want to visit often. Situated about 20 minutes southwest of Rockford, the course meanders through both its namesake as well as a forest preserve on the bluffs overlooking the Rock River. I have wanted to play PrairieView since I first read about them ten years ago. I had yet to meet anyone who had played there, but the website and course reviews attracted me. I finally took the opportunity to play two weeks ago, and I do not regret it. When first arriving, the club seems to be virtually in the middle of nowhere, and I was skeptical as to how a public course in this vicinity could afford to keep their course in as nice of shape as I had seen in the pictures. However, the final comments of the starter in the pro shop rang true throughout my round, “This is the best kept secret in the state.”

This Week in Golf

Front Nine

Hole #1 – Hunter Mahan come roaring to the front of the pack last weekend to take the WGC Bridgestone Invitational by two strokes over Ryan Palmer. He shot 64 on Sunday and 66 on Saturday at Firestone Country Club to shoot twelve under par for the week. Many big names including Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson were near the top of the leaderboard heading into the final round. However, no one could keep pace with Hunter’s outstanding putting.

This Week in Golf

Front Nine
Hole #1 – Stuart Appleby won the inaugural Greenbrier Classic with a sensational final round score of 59! The golfer from Down Under is only the fifth professional in PGA Tour history to record a sub-60 score in regulation play. The first was shot in 1979, and the most recent was three weeks ago by Paul Goydos in the John Deere Classic. However, the first ever known 59 was also scored at the Greenbrier by Sam Snead in 1959, but it was during an unofficial event. Appleby’s 59 comes on the Great White Course at the Greenbrier, which played as a par 70 last week. His final round 59 is only the second final round 59 in history. The first was recorded in Las Vegas in 1999 by David Duval, who also won.

This Week in Golf

Front Nine

Hole #1 – Bernhard Langer won the Senior Open Championship at Carnoustie last week by one stroke over Corey Pavin. Those two were the frontrunners most of the tournament. Langer shot a one under par 70 on Sunday finishing with a bogie five. He shot five under par for the week.

Thank you

Hello Free Keon and Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Readers,

I have not written in a little while because I have been in transition to a new job. From time to time, I will continue to post on Free Keon. However, at this point, I cannot continue my Tuesday-Thursday blogging. So for now, I just want to say thanks for reading my posts. I am grateful! Until next time, I will officially turn over the Free Keon blogging to Steve and friends. I am eager to continue to follow the posts here, and I encourage you to do the same!

Sam Miller/Free Keon

This Week in Golf

Front Nine

Hole #1 – Louis Oosthuizen won the 150th Open Championship at the Old Course on Sunday by a whopping seven shots! The 27-year-old South African held the lead alone from Friday afternoon all the way to Sunday evening. He was a long shot to win from the beginning. Even going into the final round holding a substantial lead, many experts and gamblers alike predicted a colossal collapse. But the wee little golfer stood up under the pressure with a swing that produced impeccable consistency and incessant praise from past major champions (Watson, Weiskopf, Strange, Azinger, Goosen). Oosthuizen played an extremely impressive round with what appeared to be nerves of steel. He finished the 72nd hole at sixteen under par for his first major victory.

This Week in Golf

While scoping out other sports and golf blogs online, I discovered a format I would like to steal. It is called Front Nine-Back Nine. I will try it out beginning this week for the Open Championship. So basically, each week I will select eighteen different topics and write a few sentences about each. The Front Nine will only deal with topics from the previous week’s golf happenings. The Back Nine will look ahead to the coming golf events of the current week. Hopefully, readers will enjoy the shake-up of “This Week in Golf.”


Front Nine
Hole #1 – Paula Creamer won the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open at Oakmont shooting three under par for 72 holes. She was the only competitor under par for the week. Creamer is having some major wrist and thumb issues, and I did not expect her to be the American to step up to the plate for our second women’s major victory in a row. Congrats to Paula on her first major!

Hammering Away with Henry

"For much of his life, Henry Aaron has felt marginalized. Hank Aaron arguably sits atop the baseball pyramid as its home run king. But what about Henry? Blessed with baseball talent that landed him among the best all-around players ever, Hank Aaron assumed a public persona. Meanwhile, “The Hammer” effectively subjugated his private side, Henry."

Read the rest of the Slammin' Sam take on "The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron" on Seamheads!

Thanks for stopping by Free Keon.

Sam Miller/Free Keon

This Week in Golf

PGA Tour – The Quad Cities is home to this week’s Tour stop at the TPC Deere Run. The John Deere Classic is a fun-filled week for both the players and fans. It is also the pros’ last opportunity to get into the field at St. Andrews.