TPC Scottsdale & Peyton Manning

A busy weekend here in the Valley. The Waste Management Open golf tournament was held in Scottsdale with over 618,000 screaming fans over the four days.

The sixteenth hole with its 20,000 rowdy spectators is becoming the modern equivalent of the Roman Colosseum with thumbs up or down for good or bad tee shots. The Course was beautiful, the weather was grand, and the outcome was dramatic with Rickie Fowler running afoul of the short par-4 seventeenth hole, finding water both times he played it. He was leading Matsuyama by two when he hit his drive through the green and into the water, leading to a bogey to Matsuyama’s birdie. And there went his two-stroke lead. Both of them birdied 18 and then went back to the 18th tee for a sudden-death playoff. Both birdied it again. Back to 18. Both birdied again. Then on to number 10 where they tied with pars. And on to the short seventeenth where Fowler again found water off the tee and lost the hole and the tournament. Lots of drama. It ended just after the beginning of the Super Bowl game between the Broncos and Panthers. More drama with the underdog Broncos pulling it out 24-10. And now Peyton Manning must decide if he’s going to come back next season. He’d be foolish to return. He should retire with this final Super Bowl win and go on to a career in broadcasting.

He’s funny, charming, articulate, and he’s more football-smart than most of the commentators now on the air. He doesn’t need more football money or passing records, and he shouldn’t risk having his brains rattled by another season of hard knocks. Too many old quarterbacks have been concussed into early graves.