A NEW TIGER IS ON THE PROWL

Jeff Koterba had the perfect cartoon today:

Hawaii, of course, has had the ideal hand sign for ages:

Thus, if I walk around without a mask at a shopping mall, when someone gives me a stink eye, I flash this shaka sign indicating I've taken my vaccine shot and am safe.

The CDC did it again.  Last week they announced everyone associated with future cruises should get vaccinated as soon as they can.  Today, they now say, however, this is not a requirement.  They got pressured from the Florida cruise industry to back off...and they did.  Incredible.  At least the Trump CDC was consistent and only lied.

From the New York Times this morning;

• Online disinformation is sowing vaccine distrust among evangelicals. Nearly half of white evangelical adults in the U.S. say they will not be vaccinated.

• The Republican governors of Florida and Mississippi voiced opposition to “vaccine passports,” credentials that would show a person’s vaccination status.

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  “Godzilla vs. Kong” earned about $48.5 million in the U.S. last week, the strongest box-office performance of the pandemic by far and a sign that Americans are eager to return to movie theaters.  Rotten Tomatoes reviewers gave a 76 score, but audiences loved it with a 93.

• Myanmar’s security forces have killed hundreds of civilians since a February military coup. At least 40 were children.
• Stanford claimed the N.C.A.A. women’s basketball championship with a win over Arizona, 54-53. It’s the team’s first title since 1992.

Stanford's coach is Tara VanDerveer:

• She is 67 and has been their coach since 1986.
• She was doing well at Ohio State when she was asked to take over a poor Stanford team.
• Her friends told her don't, for Stanford was too brainy to be good in sports.
• Her dad told her don't, for you'll soon be unemployed and come home to live with us.
• Her first two-years were mediocre.
• But she made the NCAA tournament in 1988, and has gotten an invitation every year since then, winning the national championship in 1990 and 1992...and 2021.
• While there was a championship drought, by 2019 they did reach the final four 12 times under her.
• Last year she surpassed the record held by Pat Summitt of Tennessee for the most number of coaching wins.
• 
  Save for the year she coached the U.S. team in 1996 which went on to win the Summer Olympics gold in Atlanta, she has now been at Stanford for 35 years.
• Eleven of her players went on to coach college teams.
• VanDerveer's assistant at Stanford, Amy Tucker (right), is her life partner.

There is, of course, another Stanford guy, the old Tiger, born Eldrick Tont Woods in 1975 of a Black American Army officer and part Thai, Dutch and Chinese mother.  They met when he was stationed in Thailand.  Earl was previously married with three children, one being Cheyenne Woods who is also a professional golfer.  Tiger is today apparently recovering well from his auto accident.  

In his prime, he averaged around 300 yards on his drives.  Notice that the PGA tour leader never reached 325 yards.

The new Tiger also has roots in Thailand.  This weekend at the ANA Inspiration tournament, which she won as a rookie, her average drive was 326 yards.  The tigress is Patty Tavatanakit who is only 5'5" tall.  Tiger is 6'1".  She led this women's major continuously from Day One.  As this photo shows, she played for UCLA.

From the LPGA:

When LPGA Tour rookie Patty Tavatanakit first set foot on American soil, she was a wide-eyed 10-year-old, two years into a game she took up because Tiger Woods played in her homeland of Thailand. Tavatanakit, whose parents had her in dance and drama but not sports, showed no interest in golf prior to seeing Woods. It was January 2008. She had turned eight the previous October. “I saw Tiger on television, and how he played, how he carried himself, everything he did and I said, ‘Dad, I want to be like that,’” Patty said. “It changed my perspective. It really changed my life.”   

Patty has a long ways to go, for Tiger has had 82 PGA wins, including five in the Masters Tournament, which begins on Thursday.  And to be officially accurate, the longest driver on the LPGA is Anne van Dam at 283 yards, with Patty only #9 at 268.  But if "something amazing happened," and she now actually drives the ball more than 300 yards, she could well dominate into the future.  There are four more women's majors and I would be surprised if she does not win at least one more this year.

Tonight at 9:20 PM EDT:  Gonzaga and Baylor on CBS:

Few more from my desktop:

It  takes medical science to let you know that a pint (16 ounces---a can is typically 11 or 12 ounces) of beer a day, should improve your health:

• Contains more protein and B vitamins, phosphorous, folate, silicon and prebiotics than wine, with at least equal antioxidant quality.
• Lowers risk of diabetes.

• 
  Makes your heart healthier.  You are 42% less likely to die of heart disease, which is the overwhelmingly dominant killer, almost double the rate of cancer.
• Build stronger bones.
• Boosts brain power.
• Cleans your teeth.
• Reduces inflammation.
• Increases your longevity.

“Getting old,” actress Bette Davis once remarked, “isn’t for sissies.” Physical disabilities, waning energy levels, mental fog… It’s not a pretty picture.  If you look closely, that is a Jim Beam commercial.  And she's smoking.

Again, but the Dow Jones Industrials broke its all-time high, reaching 33,527.

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