SPORTS

The baton for PGA television coverage will be handed off to ABC this weekend for the Booz Allen Classic. Actually, I'm more excited to watch the ABC broadcast team than the tournament itself. In my opinion, ABC Sports' coverage of the PGA has improved tremendously over the last year.

It seems to me that ABC has integrated some of the elements that have been successful for CBS' golf coverage. First, they have added life to their broadcast through wit and banter a la CBS' Gary McCord and David Feherty. This was achieved largely through the addition of former space smuggler turned golf commentator, Nick "Han" Faldo. Nothing against Curtis Strange, but Faldo is far more entertaining than his predecessor while exhibiting a similar genius-level golf IQ. Faldo manages to call it as he sees it with a healthy dose of dry British wit. Be sure to look out for his Bernhard Langer impressions. They are classic!

Second, ABC acknowledged the coolness of CBS' SwingVision with a copycat feature that they have dubbed "X-Mo." It is a super slow-motion feature like SwingVision. Unfortunately, it does nothing to one-up SwingVision. Why? X-Mo utilizes only one slow motion camera whereas SwingVision utilizes two - one to capture the full swing and one to capture a close-up of the club striking the ball. No doubt about it, SwingVision is still the king of slo-mo.

Anyway, here's a sample of X-Mo capturing the proper ball-striking with a sand wedge. Again, notice that the club strikes the ball first, then the ground.

You may have noticed that some golfers draw a straight line on their golf balls to help them line up the ball to putt. It's even a common practice on the professional golf tours. If you saw Tiger Woods' miraculous chip shot at the 16th hole of the 2005 Masters on TV, you got a good close-up of his lined Nike One Platinum ball as it hung momentarily on the lip of the cup.

The most common device to draw such a line on a golf ball is a product called the "Line-M-up." It's essentially a piece of plastic that you snap on a golf ball. It has a slot where you can draw a straight line on the golf ball with a permanent marker such as a Sharpie pen.

You can buy the Line-M-up at most golf stores. At Golfsmith, it costs $8.99. Yes, $8.99!

While that may not sound like much to some, it's quite a lot for something that looks like it cost about 5 cents to manufacture. Sure, it comes with a Sharpie, but what does that cost, another 20 cents? Assuming a standard 100% retail markup, I estimate that the Line-M-up wholesales for about $4.50. To be generous, I'll assume that the Line-M-up costs a total of $.50 to manufacture and package. That means for each Line-M-up sold, the manufacturer makes $4.00 in profit, or a 800% profit margin!

I'm not against anyone making a buck, but to me this is grossly excessive. As a businessperson, I refuse to buy this thing based on business principle alone. But that doesn't mean I don't draw a line on my ball. For the price of a bottle of Gatorade, I have a ball line-drawing device.

When I wrote, "a bottle of Gatorade" I literally meant a bottle of Gatorade. I just use the plastic safety ring that detaches from the cap of a 20 oz. bottle of Gatorade as a straight-edge for golf balls. Amazingly, it fits on a golf ball almost perfectly! Not only do you have something to line your golf balls, but you also have a tasty beverage to wash down that crusty old hot dog at the turn. To ensure a straight and balanced line, use the Technasonic Check-Go to pre-draw the line. Just take a look at these pics to see how easy it is to "Line-M-up" ghetto style: