And the Lord said, “…these Ballz are good…” and he held them up high.

It’s been a fun year.  Corey and I have learned a great deal about our own interests, skills (and sometimes a lack thereof) in writing, humor and golf. 

But more than anything else we’ve enjoyed the chance we’ve had to interact with you.  The thousands hundreds many fans, frequent readers and even the trolls who have bothered to read stuff that we come up with.

You’re the bestest.

We never started the blog with any intent other than writing what we we found amusing, annoying, interesting and most importantly, unique.  We think we’ve usually hit the mark in that regard, and plan to continue doing so for as long as it remains fun.

Look for a contest or two in the coming weeks to celebrate our first birthday, until then here’s a big ole NiceBallz hug & kiss. 

Now we’ve got to go blow out some candles.

Rumors of book and movie rights for the bloggers stories are circulating as well with a working title in place of:  “Good Wood(s): The untold story of how Tiger Woods was betrayed by pasty white bloggers.”

Corey had a chance to see Tiger in what may have been his last bright shining moment for some time, the 2009 Presidents Cup.  That memory may need to sustain all of his fans (existing and former) until he wins again on the PGA…or even better, captures another major championship. 

Doing both in 2010 may be what it takes to really help Woods, the media and the entire golf community move on from the current scandal surrounding him.

Here’s an excerpt and a link to the whole article:

“I’m just glad to have seen him in person at his best, before this scandal was revealed. It was a great day. A memorable moment. For a few seconds, as the golf ball hung in the chilly air, I was captivated by someone seemingly superhuman. He could do something most people (including his professional peers) cannot, even if only momentarily.”

Read the rest here.

Oh don’t worry, we’re fine we’re fine.  Thanks for asking by the way.

In fact I’ve been traveling the road, above is a portrait I took of some of my fellow vagabonds during a recent stop.

Meanwhile Corey is busy networking and making various connections that are sure to payoff in the future.

But don’t fret. We’re just using this as a means to recharge our batteries during the Silly Season Fall Series and we’ll be back bigger and badder than ever.

You can count on it.  Unless something better comes along.

Until then, look for more sporadic updates from NiceBallz.

It looks like they’re um…well, just what the hell are they doing?

We imagine the photographer on this shoot saying something like this: 

“Ok, give me…’I'm professional, but I still like to have fun! Look at me splashy splashy’…wheeee!” 

Insert your perfect caption in comments (along with an email contact for you) and we’ll pick a winner by the end of the week to receive a NiceBallz t-shirt.  Want to see other winners in their garb (and proof that we pay up) check ‘em here.

Sometimes bloggers make posts to create comments.

Sometimes bloggers make posts to create traffic.

Sometimes bloggers make posts to create a laugh.

And sometimes…only sometimes…bloggers make posts to pay respect to what’s already been created.

Happy birthday Mr. Palmer.

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Baldry (who regardless of what you may think of her as a writer, impressed me by possibly being the only traditional media reporter who readily was on the course viewing play) had this to say about Hur’s win and subsequent press conference.

Give a look and listen and see if you agree with Baldry’s take.

Photo & video credit: NiceBallz

Pettersen misses.  Hur makes & wins.

Hur post round press conference

Tomorrow is shaping up to potentially be a fun final day here at Pumpkin Ridge.  You can pretty much forget any chance of Wie making history with her first win given she is (as of the writing of this article) +2 on the day.

But it’s still a pretty compelling leaderboard with the likes of Miyazato, Nordqvist, Gulbis and others all within range of making a run for the lead. 

Christina Kim

First up, a quick clip from @TheChristinaKim and a mea culpa on my part – due to user error technical difficulties I only got a portion of my interview with her captured. Yes…I know…and trust me, you can’t say anything about me on this subject that I haven’t already said at myself, thank you.

In the clip I salvaged Christina speaks about some of the criticism she got for her reactions during the Solheim Cup:

What was screwed up by me lost on the editing room floor, was her comment/request to fans to please ‘don’t tweet me’ about their criticisms of her behavior. 

On one hand I get it. For her (and likely other players), Twitter is a fun venue to get some interaction and, let’s be honest, fan adoration. So unwanted criticism can put a damper on that mood.

Practically though, it is not realistic.  As we’ve said before, people are people and social media services like Twitter are about interaction.  All kinds of interaction - good/bad/indifferent. And in doing searches of @TheChristinaKim messages an overwhelming number of them are incredibly supportive and positive. 

So is it just a matter of an athlete with thin skin?  Maybe. Or it could arguably be more naïveté around what is to be expected from the general public interaction that happens via social media.  One thing is for sure, Kim gets a lot of attention, and not just on Twitter. Fans were regularly stopping her asking for a hug, a photo and complimenting her on her performance at the Solheim. If (and that is likely a big ‘if’) she’s suffered any loss of fan support from her actions at the Solheim Cup it isn’t reflected at Portland this week.

Junior Looper

Junior Seau has a future as an LPGA caddy if he decides to (finally) hang up his football cleats.  Thursday, Seau caddied for Natalie Gulbis during a ProAm at The Safeway Classic and here is a clip of him talking about what it’s like to carry the bag for Gulbis (note - the ‘Greg’ Seau calls out is Gulbis’ caddy and he said “They’ve (other caddies) been after my job for six years.”:

Seau only carried the bag for 9 holes (such a candy-ass) and afterwards some EMT’s were kind enough to give him the medical treatment he needed by rushing oxygen onto the 9th green – in jest, I think…at least I’m pretty sure it was a joke.

Look for photos from the Safeway in our Gallery and further updates over the next several days.