Golf in Belgium

So I had my first European golf experience today. A co-worker of Paty's boyfriend, Bernard, took my golfing today at the Chateau de la Tournette. It was a really nice course, lots of hills. The place seems to be somewhat unique in Belgium as it has 2 18 hole championship courses. Bernard had some sort of pass so the greens fees were 38 Euros. Pretty reasonable for the quality of the course. I would definitely play there again if given the chance.


As you can see from these pictures I have already embarked on my European weight loss plan.
So the course was really crowded today as one of the two courses were closed for a tournament. We get to our tee time at 11:30 and are paired with two Belgium guys. They proceed to tee off from the back tees. One guy crushes the ball, while the other guy plays what would charitably be called a duck hook left. Think of my tee shots at their worst. Then it is my turn, we now have 11 Belgium people watching me. I am by far the youngest guy in all the groups. Apparently golf is still an elitist sport in Belgium; you have to qualify for a handicap before you can play at most courses. You do this by taking a written and playing test.
Bernard only recently got his handicap card by spending a week at a golf school in France. He chose the French route because it was "easier". No joke, French being easy.
I could have proven the elitist aspect by taking pictures of the parking lot, I saw a Meseratti, Ferrari and countless other nice cars. The only time in my life I have seen these cars was in my garage in the Project Gotham Racing video game.
Anyway, back to my tee shot. As there is quite the queue at the tee box, I have 11 old Belgium guys watching me tee it up. I had already introduced myself to my partners and Bernard was happy to inform them all of his 'American' playing partner. These guys are all talking behind me and all I hear is 'American'. So I know they are watching me. I am thinking great thoughts in my head as I address the ball 'don't mess this up, this is for all of American golfers everywhere, do NOT mess up.' Then I proceed to absolutely smack the ball down the middle and as the hole was a 380 meter sever dog leg left, I actually hit the ball through the fairway but still in a great spot. As I walked off the tee box one of the Frenchies asked to look at my driver, apparently the Sasquatch has not made it across the pond.
On a side note, I know they are all Belgium but since they were all speaking French it seemed to help with my motivation by thinking of them as 'Frenchies'.
So no matter what happened the rest of the day that one tee shot made my golf experience in Belgium worthwhile.
I am going to try to play Royal Anderlecht on Monday. Maybe there I will be able to dial in my meter versus yard conversion ratio with a golf club. CHEERS

Seahawks GAME #2 vs giants

Home game #2 for the undefeated Seattle Seahawks was a LOUD affair. The Hawk's fans really came out to cheer. We eventually shut it down with the Hawks up 42-3. Yes, a 39 point lead. This was not Nebraska versus West Layafeyette directional University. But the Seahawks versus a hot Giants team. IT WAS an AWESOME display by the Hawks early.
Pre game at the Pyramid Beer Garden, I am the fat guy in the middle:

Our Standing Room Only 'seats'

Good view though:

Happy Birthday Steve:

Nice sentiment from Dawn, it would be cool if Paty could do this at the Galway United FC game.....
But I don't know if they actually have a reader board.

Family Pictures

For those of you who know these people, these are a few good pictures to share. For everyone else, we will resume our normally scheduled pictures of me and most likely Paty in exotic locales hopefully with extremely attractive local residents participating.
But I wanted to share these, most likely a unique photo opportunity.



Back to our regularly scheduled programming:
I just wanted to comment on the irony that Tiger is all riled up that the newpaper from my new homeland would post fake links to his wife naked. The posted pictures looked more like me then Elin. But in case you forgot who we were discussing and her past, here you go:

Game Day!

Opening Day at Qwest field for the Hawks as they try to defend their NFC title and return to the Super Bowl.

I went to the game with Dave, Billy and Joe:

Before the game was pretty cool as Cortez Kennedy raised the 12th man flag. They also put 'the Tez' into the Ring of Honor at halftime. It was a nice tribute for a GREAT player.

One new innovation at Qwest is that they seemed to have upgraded the SeaGals outfits:


Billy was happy to see Shaun score the first of his myriad of TDs this year and score the Missing Links some points:

Yes, we are THAT guy:

Cougs in Seattle

The Cougs played the mighty Baylor X, insert mascot here. Tough when NO ONE in the stadium knows who the Cougs are playing. But at least Baylor is better than last year's opponent at QWest field, the Grambling band players.
With that being said, it was actually a really good game, the Cougs kicked a field goal with 5 seconds left to win by 2. Pretty good performance, they even recovered after they tried to 'Coug it' at the end by letting the Baylor X's return an interception with five minutes left to take their first lead.
Some pictues:
Cougars at the Pyramid drinking before the game. Shocking:

Anyone know the girl pictured? Hint, it is an OLD family friend. Mike and I have known her and her older sister since they were born.

Halftime with the Cougar band, not Grambling but they made the requisite noise and marched around.

Thanks to Joe Hinton for procuring the tickets. As you can see, the Cougs are a really tough ticket in Seattle. Joe pictured with his MUCH better half, Gina. Also known as the life raft.


Going to see the Hawks raise the NFC championship banner tomorrow.
See you all in Ireland, more pictures as soon as I get there.