The FGR 2024 Year in Review

After years of being the guy who would literally interrupt strangers at a bar to engage in some "friendly" impromptu discourse, I've been trying to follow a less combative path lately. Part of the motivation stems from sheer exhaustion but it really has more to do with accepting how fruitless it is to debate anything with almost anyone because facts have become such relics of a bygone era. Really what chance does recorded history have when confronted with a well-edited Instagram reel? I still have my occasional dust-ups but more often I now heed the advice of Mark Twain to "never argue with stupid people as they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”

This change of life approach has done wonders for my mental health and overall well-being. Less nights are spent dousing my frustration with red wine which means less mornings spent dousing my hangovers with angst and Alka-Seltzer. It would be a total win-win scenario if not for that voice from the recesses of my brain that keeps yelling, "BOOOORRRING . . . what in the hell are we supposed to write about now dickhead?" 

It's a good question that I've spent the better part of the last week trying to answer as I grind away on what I thought would be an easy year end review post broken down into topics that each warrant nothing more than a couple quick digs. It is, however, proving to be tougher than I thought to summon my bitter spirit but we'll give it a shot and maybe add a little red wine to bolster the incantations.

What follows is a somewhat random review of the FGR's 2024 including a few entertainment recommendations (note: these are based on the year I watched them so please no guff). There was a certain balance to the year as the successes achieved on this website were countered and often surpassed by failures on the actual golf course.   

Best FGR Pick: Davis Thompson at the John Deere Classic

Runner Up: Xander Schauffele at the PGA Championship

Both were victorious but anyone can pick a top five player in the world to win a major. The reason you put your faith in the FGR is for picks like Thompson who had never won before and looks like the dorky kid from an 80's movie but we recognized him for what he was about to become. A champion.  

Worst Pick: Brooks Koepka at the U.S. Open

Runner Up: Max Homa at The Players

Barf

You want to ruin Fathers' Day? Narrow your U.S. Open picks down to the two players you hate the most and then go with the wrong one as the other swipes the title in dramatic fashion. Oh yeah, have an epic meltdown by your favorite player open the door for it to happen. That was arguably the most agonizing FGR Sunday since Tom Watson let the British Open slip away. 

I have no explanation for the Max Homa pick. Trying to recall if I had a hallucinatory seafood experience in March that would've impaired my decision making skills. 

Best FGR Round: Senior Team Championship at Mount Pleasant

With no forewarning based on my shoddy play leading-up to it, I pulled a 75 out of my ass on a course I hadn't played in 20 years with two birdies. This despite the greens running at about 3 on the Stimpmeter. On the par three 17th, I made a 30 foot uphill birdie putt that I had to hit so hard that I almost dislocated my shoulder. Suffice it to say that we lost the match anyway . . . . womp womp.   

Worst FGR Round: Senior Club Championship First Round

I shot 88 and this debacle was going to be a whole separate post but frankly I didn't want to remember it enough to write about it. Eddie Pepperell, stands by the theory that the best thing you can do to ease pressure on your golf game is to be fundamentally sound. That makes more sense to me now than ever after a round where, to paraphrase the principal from Billy Madison, "at no point during my awkward, out of balance and arrhythmic movements was I even close to anything that could be considered a viable golf swing." 

It was over by the 4th hole. After playing the first three in a very shaky two over par, I hit a bad drive on the reachable par 5 but then played a reasonably intelligent shot to get myself back into position - 145 yards out with a flat lie to a front left pin. Of course I decided to attack it and, to the surprise of no one, I failed to control a punch draw 8-iron and hit it left of the greenside bunker. Dumpsville . . . Population: Me.

I reconciled myself to the fact that this was going to be at best another bogey and dedicated my fourth shot to the fat part of the green until about halfway through my downswing when my brain said "BUT JUST MAYBE WITH THE PERFECT TOUCH" at which point I decelerated and planted my ball waist deep in the bunker. From there it was an angry splash-out which flew over the green followed by an uninspired pitch, three putts and voila . . . a quadruple bogey. 

Sitting in the bar after the round, one of my playing partners commended me on how well I handled the situation. That moment was the highlight of my weekend.

Best Shot of the Year: N/A

I can't remember a shot I hit worthy of mentioning. 

Worst Shot of the Year: 70th Hole - Senior Club Championship 

After sixty-nine grueling holes where every swing continued to feel like the first thing I tried to do after waking-up from a coma, I came to the 16th hole which is a straightforward par four that requires maybe C+ tee shot. Apparently my swing got a little steep because I popped it straight-up so high that no one saw where it went. Despite the fact that it traveled further vertically than it did horizontally, we never found it. 

Best T.V. Show of the Year: Slow Horses - Season 4

Runner Up (Tie): Reacher - Season 2 and Jack Ryan - Season 4

Some shows are just capable of pulling-off multiple seasons while others . . . not so much (see below). It helps when the writers understand why their show is good and having actors like Gary Oldman, Alan Ritchson, Wendell Pierce and Michael Kelly in your lineup doesn't hurt. Apparently, I have a preferred genre.  

Worst T.V. Show of the Year: A Man in Full 

You may have needed to read the book to understand how truly awful this show was but take my word for it. Maybe Tom Wolfe books are just that tough to adapt as we learned the hard way with Bonfire of the Vanities but good god, what they did to this story is almost criminal. It also may be the most over the top performance of Jeff Daniels' career and that includes Dumb & Dumber.  

Runner Up (Tie): Shrinking - Season 2 and Yellowstone - Season 5

I give a slight edge to Shrinking here but only because I came into it with some expectations which is more than the zero I had for Yellowstone. On the other hand, Yellowstone should maybe get the nod for somehow being worse than I could've ever imagined. Let's stick with the tie. 

I did not see Stan Gable 
evolving into a great dude.

Season 1 of Shrinking is actually borderline brilliant as it manages to comedically deal with the struggles of a father who's wife was killed by a drunk driver, a military veteran with anger management issues and other more standard life challenges. Jason Segel, Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams play therapists and they actually succeed in making therapy shit funny which isn't easy. Add Ted McGinley as Derek in what may be the greatest comeback role since John Travolta in Pulp Fiction and you had a very smart, clever and original show. 

Unfortunately, they overplayed their hand in season 2. It wasn't enough to have six main characters simultaneously in crisis so they decided to add multiple new relatives and even the drunk driver himself (played as somberly as possible by Brett Goldstein a/k/a Roy Kent). What you ended-up with was a crockpot of sadness that even dragged Derek down. They shouldn't have fucked with Derek.     

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