By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk
OLD BETHPAGE – The datelines read “FARMINGDALE” but the Bethpage State Park I grew up alongside was in Old Bethpage, New York – one of Long Island’s smaller towns. Old Bethpage was so old …
How old was it?
It was so old that Old Bethpage had a Village Restoration Museum and its records show that the USA Ryder Cup team of 1636 lost to England, 18 1/2 to 9 1/2. We kid, we kid – it was actually England, 11-1 as it wasn’t until 1961 when the number of points available doubled from 12 to 24.
Back in Revolutionary War times, the biggest battle of ‘em all was “The Battle of Long Island” which was fought August 27, 1776, just a little bit more than a month after the USA declared its independence day of July 4, 1776.
Yes, you have to go pretty far back to find a US victory.
Now, why all the gloom and doom. This column is being written after Europe shredded Team USA on Day 1, 5 1/2 to 2 1/2, and then concluded the Saturday morning matches much to the same tune. At publication time, the USA trailed Europe, 8 1/2 to 3 1/2 with the afternoon matches teeing off just as Notre Dame was playing Arkansas (ND 56-13 winners) and a few hours before Cal took on the local Boston College team (Cal won, 28-24).
*Upon further review in the 8 o’clock hour, the European lead over the USA was of record proportions, a la the largest lead going into Sunday singles under the current format that dates to 1979.
ABC sports television commentator Al Michaels once exclaimed, “Do you believe in MIRACLES?” Well, yes we do, but the trouncing Europe has given the USA over the first sets of matches in the 2025 Ryder Cup makes it very difficult to think our man and team captain, Keegan Bradley, can orchestrate a comeback.
It’s not unprecedented, as the 1999 “Battle of Brookline” at The Country Country Club in Massachusetts proved. The USA trailed Europe, 10-6, heading into the Sunday final round of singles. The United States battled back and won the first six matches of the day, then went on to win 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 when American Justin Leonard holed a 45-footer which was followed by Spain’s José María Olazábal miss from 22 feet which halved the hole and gave the USA it’s remarkable win. However, there’s a considerable difference between 10-6 and 11 1/2 to 4 1/2.
If there’s a miracle to be had, think of the day the New England Patriots trailed the Atlanta Falcons by the score of 28-3 in Super Bowl LI (SB-51 in 2017), only to come back and win, 34-28, in overtime, and cement the legacy of QB Tom Brady as the Greatest NFL QB of All-Time.
Although the NBA’s Michael Jordan is roaming the fairways at Bethpage Black, Tom Brady will not, so the USA might need Brady, Bill Belichick and even James White to comeback on Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm.
Some of you will be reading this late Saturday night and others early on Sunday morning. The Ryder Cup singles matches begin at 12:01pm (ET), so we’ll all see if there’s a new “Miracle Mile” to be constructed on Long Island and that is highly unlikely given the 11 1/2 to 4 1/2 whooping the Europeans handed the Amerks over the Friday-Saturday span.
Column contributor, the Marvelous T, looked out his backyard window with Bethpage State Park in sight, and came up with this:
“The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the American Twelve today
The score stood 11.5 to almost nothing with but one more day to play
And when Henley slumped at the First, then Cantlay did the same
A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons at Bethpage
Then from eighty thousand throats and more there rose a raucous yell;
It rumbled through the Island breeze, it rattled in Farmingdale;
It knocked upon Garden City, and recoiled upon Cliffs of Sea,
For Scottie, mighty Scottie, was advancing to Bethpage’s tee
“Fore” cried the maddened thousands, and Echo answered Rough;
But one scornful look from Scottie and the audience was Fluff,
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Mighty Scottie couldn’t let a match go down again.
Oh, somewhere in this favored island, the sun is shining bright;
The Band is playing somewhere, and in Montauk hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there’s no joy in thee Island Trees, as Mighty Rory just holed out.”
– Apologies to Ernest Thayer
HERE NOW, THE NOTES: All of the scuttlebutt about Bethpage Black and Bethpage State Park, in general, brings back a lot of memories, mostly from the 1960s and ‘70s when we were growing up on Long Island.
The State Park was a bicycle ride away, even with a set of golf clubs draped over your shoulders. Bethpage Black was – pretty much – forbidden territory. It was just too difficult and would cost an amateur golfer about 36 lost golf balls, at the least. But the great thing about Bethpage was the fact the public golf courses numbered – FIVE! Yes, five golf courses, all color coded, almost like the seats at Madison Square Garden. Without looking it up, I’ll review:
- Yellow – The Yellow Course was the easiest of the five and one we played often.
- Green – I enjoyed playing the “Green” the most as it was medium-easy but played to a lefty’s slice. The greens and aprons were well kept and a short chip-in with a 7-iron was my specialty.
- Blue – The “Blue” was a bit longer and more difficult as it include a ton of trees and some hills. The course could east up lost balls, many under pine cones and needles.
- Red – The “Red” was long and pretty tough. Hit a chipmunk and you won! There were chipmunks and squirrels everywhere you looked.
- “The Black” – It was only with neighbor, we’ll call him, Ernie, when we were allowed to accompany the scratch golfer and friend of the starter for a late afternoon round, often just nine holes. It was Ernie who taught us, “The Ernie Explosive,” a technique to easily remove a golf ball from one of the zillions of sand traps (bunkers) protecting every green in Bethpage like a Doberman would protect his family.
The “Ernie Explosive” combined with the “best golf tip I’ve ever heard,” made escaping from sand traps as easy as baking a cake in an “Easy Bake Oven.” Ernie’s advice was to choke up a bit on your sand wedge, with a very firm grip. Then to take some sand and follow through completely. Pretty simple.
Part two – the best tip ever (from Golf Magazine) – was to use Ernie’s exact philosophy but to picture taking a slice out of the sand – the width and shape of a $1 bill – slicing it out directly under the ball in the sand. That vision along with “Ernie’s Explosive” made for the perfect mental and physical combination to hit highly successful and very accurate wedge shots from the sand – worry free – not matter how big or deep the trap might be.
Good old Ernie.
TIDBITS & NUGGETS: An hour or so after watching Cal defeat BC in person at a highly entertaining, yet disappointing game for hometown BC fans, the television was turned on to the Alabama at Georgia SEC game. … The reaction? … It’s two different sports. The same goes for Ohio State, Penn State and “The “U” of Miami, Florida, amongst a handful of others. … The size of the players alone put the SEC, the BIG TEN and the upper echelon of the ACC in another category.
THE GREATEST RUSHING OF THE FIELD: “Without regard to human life!”
Says NBA broadcaster Kevin Harlan, quoting his Dad, “If you wake up every morning and your feet hit the ground and you’re excited about your day, that’s what – I found out what it was!”
September 28: Today marks 25 years since the Quarterfinals of the men’s basketball tournament at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The USA defeated Russia 85-70 in that round. Lithuania knocked off the former Yugoslavian Republic, 76-63, to set up the epic Semifinal match of September 29th. Click for the complete bracket: HERE
Reminder: Your NFL Sunday kicks-off early (9:30am ET) as Minnesota will face Pittsburgh at Croke Field in Dublin, Ireland.
THIS JEST IN: The WNBA suspended Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve for Game 4 of the semifinal series against the Phoenix Mercury. Reeve was ejected during the final minute of Minny’s 84-76 loss to the Mercury in Game 3 on Friday night and she then unloaded on the game officials in a post game press conference.
“Her conduct and comments included aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing a game official on the court, failure to leave the court in a timely manner upon her ejection with 21.8 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, inappropriate comments made to fans when exiting the court and remarks made in a post-game press conference,” said the WNBA’s statement.