Ed Icionsub

The news has been covering the World Cup underway in South Africa. There have been some unusual stories this year, increased violence and bad sportsmanship on the field and problems with some fans. The biggest issues so far has been the noise from people in the stand who brought a particular kind of horn to make noise during the game. It is causing problems for fans, players and officials. I look for the international council to pass some new rules about crowd noise after all of this is over.

The finals will end the uproar and I predict a lot of craziness and partying in the major cities of whichever country ends up winning tonight.

The May issue of Golf Digest listed 7 Myrtle Beach area golf courses in their “America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses” list for 2009-2010.

Myrtle Beach placed more public golf courses on the new Golf Digest’s list than any other golf destination in the country, followed by the Pinehurst and Pebble Beach areas.

I’m happy to say that I have played in all three areas and Myrtle Beach is still my favorite area for both quality and variety, hands down.

Back in the 1980′s, I took at job at a consulting company who did a lot of business with the Federal Government and the U. S. military. A big part of doing business in those days was getting your connections to join you for a round of golf. So I learned how to play golf and I have been playing ever since.

Maybe it was the 80′s or maybe it was the DC area, but I never had a problem getting tee times smack on the time frame I wanted or very close to it. I could even get a quick pick up game if I had the chance to cut out of the office a couple hours and play 9 holes before dark.

But then I started going to Myrtle Beach every year and that is the one place in America known for their golf courses. Everyone goes there and everyone needs to know about www.48hourteetimes.com so their golf time can be based around convention schedules and family time at the beach. So setting up the right schedule ahead of time is very important.

The smartest thing to do about scheduling plus saving a little money on the course fees is to log in to the 48 hour tee times web site and set up everything right there.  You have to admit that 48 hours is pretty quick when the courses are in such demand. But trust me, they are worth it!

As I was putting my gear back into my locker at the country club this morning, it occurred to me that I’ve been hanging clothes, shoes and equipment into lockers for about 80% of my life. How interesting that I’ve been completely assimilated and trained to put everything into a small rectangular container and walk away for several, with the full expectation that when I return, all my belongings will still be there, waiting for me.

It all started with School Lockers, as early as 5 years old for most children. Of course, when I was a small child, we used hooks in a closet for the first few years of grade school. We didn’t get actual lockers until middle school.

When I got back to the office, I decided to search online for Lockers for sale. It was interesting to me to see how many different kinds of lockers are used in every day life. The only thing that has changed is that you can no longer rent lockers in an airport. One of the effects of anti-terrorism and modern life.

Planning for a camp out next month, I’ve been looking for a natural mosquito repellent to ward off both mosquitoes and the nasty side effects of DEET, which is the chemical in most commercial mosquito repellents.

Here is a list of health food store types of products that are supposed to work well:

Rub any of the following oils directly on the skin:

• Citronella: use only pure essential oil of citronella, NOT the fragrance oil. Oils purchased in bulk for burning are not adequate for applying topically to your skin. For skin get high quality citronella essential oil from a natural food store.
• Soy oil
• Catnip oil
• NEEM seed oil: or “neem oil” is extracted from a plant that grows in India and is rubbed on the skin
• Lavender essential oil

Or, you can eat lots of Fresh Garlic, as mosquitoes don’t like the smell of garlic and will stay clear.

Here is a picture the my daughter sent of her husband and my grandson, Patrick. I am so happy that he is playing baseball. My son, Patrick, who is my grandson’s namesake, loved to play baseball. He played Little League all 7 years, then played Babe Ruth for 4 years and then he worked as an umpire for two years. I hope my grandson enjoys “America’s Sport” as much as my son enjoyed it before he passed away.

From yesterday’s Derby, I picked three of the four winners. How about that? I never seem to pick the first place horse, but I sure can pick the second, third and fourth place winners. This makes ot four years straight.

For each of the past three years I have picked the Kentucky Derby horse that comes in second place. So I’m not promising anyone that I can pick this winner of this year’s race. But I will say that when I saw “Make Music for Me” I had to go with that horse.

Pick your own from this list. The post time is 5:24 pm today at Churchill Downs.

1 Lookin At Lucky

2 Ice Box

3 Noble’s Promise

4 Super Saver

5 Line of David

6 Stately Victor

7 American Lion

8 Dean’s Kitten

9 Make Music for Me

10 Paddy O’Prado

11 Devil May Care

12 Conveyance

13 Jackson Bend

14 Mission Impazible

15 Discreetly Mine

16 Awesome Act

17 Dublin

18 Backtalk

19 Homeboykris

20 Sidney’s Candy

Next month we will be spending a weekend in one of my favorite family-friendly resorts: Myrtle Beach. We have been going for years and always have a wonderful time. I was searching for resorts for golf in Myrtle Beach and have it all planned out.

Although the rest of the family wants to go for the beach and the ocean, I am going to enjoy 3 days of golf on the best courses in South Carolina. I found golf packages in Myrtle Beach that save me money and are strategically located near the beach as well as the best golf courses.

My boss told me about a web site that he likes to use to arrange for tee times: http://www.ttimesonly.com/ so that is the next step in planning my mini-vacation in Myrtle Beach. After I set up my gold games, then I will let the family plan around the times I’ll be golfing and we’ll all have plenty of time to enjoy ourselves.

Well folks, for the first time ever, the University of Tennessee has a basketball team that has made it to the Elite 8 round of March Madness.

It is very exciting to see these young men come together as a team and have a strong leadership in the senior teammates. I hope they go all the way to the finals.

A lot of people in Tennessee will be watching CBS to cheer on our team.