Sunday evening provided excellence of all shapes and sizes. Beautiful outdoor venues and empty arena seats. Pine needle-based approaches and game-saving three-pointers. Leader boards and lottery balls. Consonants and vowels.

Bubba Watson battled Louis Oosthuizen in a sudden-death playoff at Augusta National; both golfers held off a charging Phil Mickelson who — if not for a complete debacle on the fourth hole — would have been right there with them if not a stroke ahead. Jose Bautista, baseball’s best hitter over the last two seasons, had a chance to provide additional heroics, down one run with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning. And there was Lester Hudson, locked into a duel with the world-beating Sundiata Gaines, late in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.

It may not have been in the same historical context as Oosthuizen’s 4-iron stroke from 253 yards out on the second hole — a well-hit Titlest ball that split bunkers and fell at the front edge of the green, only to gradually and gracefully decend toward the hole until it fell into the bottom of the cup for double eagle (or “albatross” as the kids call it) — but Hudson’s 18-point fourth quarter drew equal jubilation. Instead of the misguided high-fives from the collars, straw hats and seersucker in attendance at Augusta, Hudson’s supporters from the dark corners of the world where niche Cavalier fans reside. Those still cheering on as their team limps, literally, toward the finish line.  [Read more...]