Marc Pozzo
The year was 2008.
Justin Bieber was only a YouTube sensation and Twitter was barely two years old. It was also the last year that Chez Reavie had won a PGA TOUR event. That was the case until this past Sunday.
Reavie, whose only previous TOUR win came at the 2008 RBC Canadian Open, earned his second career victory at the Travelers Championship by four shots after holding off a charge from local favorite Keegan Bradley at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Reavie, who had a six-shot cushion entering Sunday, saw Bradley get within one shot, but held it together and never buckled. He went 3,983 days (10 years, 10 months, 27 days) between wins, the 11th-longest span between a player’s first and second career wins on TOUR since 1900. And it didn’t come out of nowhere. He finished T3 at the US Open last week, paired with Brooks Koepka in the final round. Reavie earned 500 FedEx Cup points, moved to 12th in the standings, and also jumped to 13th in the Presidents Cup standings.
What a start to the new week. Monday saw the formalisation of the Zimbabwe dollar and the banning of the use of foreign currency in local transactions, in a bid to curb black market demand.
I am no economist, but surely this will just spiral hyperinflation. Watch the shops empty quickly. Welcome back to 2008. Another question I have is are they printing more money?
The mind boggles as we all sit back and watch with interest.
My business which is an industry-based manufacturing unit, is already in “dire straits” due to lack of forex for imports . How do we get the foreign currency to buy our raw materials? The banks have no money, so what do we do? I just see this as the straw that might break the camel’s back.
Was this all thought through with key members of industry and commerce ? Did the powers that be consult any one of substance in the business sector to know if this was a wise move for the country?
While I think we do need our own currency, but in time…maybe two years from now, when all is in order and the country is not crying foul, we are broke!
Another gripe I have are these power cuts. Man oh man – 18 hours a day is not fun at all. And some areas just don’t get them. Why? Or is that a silly question that will come with a silly answer. I am fed up with this no power nonsense . In my job, I already go to work in the dark, and come home in the dark. Now it’s just darker!
The Cricket World Cup is in full swing and really it’s been a “top billing” thus far . We saw hosts England lose to Pakistan, then the unpredictable Sri Lanka rocked up and Lasith Malinga handed the Poms demise with an emphatic win.
The spice boys India, also nearly suffered a humiliation, when Afghanistan just could not get over the line in a low scoring match on Saturday evening.
On Tuesday was the much anticipated match at the home of cricket – Lords- where host nation England played the reigning World Cup holders Australia and they were outplayed leaving their semifinal hopes in tatters.
The permutation for them now is to win the remaining two matches and those are both tough assignments. India and New Zealand are both unbeaten thus far in the tournament.
One player I have always admired is the Bangladesh all — rounder Shakib Al Hasan. He is a rare talent. He could command a place in the Bangladesh team as either a batsman or a bowler in an age of increasing specialisation in cricket. The 32-year-old has others for company at the World Cup, including West Indies captain Jason Holder and England’s Ben Stokes.
But today’s all-rounders do not have the same profile as they did during a golden era in the 1980s when England’s Ian Botham, Pakistan’s Imran Khan, Kapil Dev of India and New Zealander Richard Hadlee vied for top-dog status in the global game.
Shakib, the world’s top-rated all-rounder in one-day internationals, inspired Bangladesh to a convincing win over Afghanistan with his five wickets and 51 runs on Monday, matching Yuvraj Singh’s feat for India at the 2011 World Cup. Shakib has scored 476 runs with two centuries and three fifties in six games in England and Wales and has also picked up 10 wickets.
Stokes and New Zealand’s Colin de Grandhomme ( born in Zimbabwe and educated at St Georges College) have also caught the eye during the round-robin phase but Shakib, a left-arm spinner and left-handed batsman, has been the standout all-rounder.
England have a number of guys who are specialist bowlers but they can also bat and that is what makes them such a strong unit but they are just not firing at the moment.
India have unearthed Hardik Pandya as a genuine all-rounder to follow in Kapil’s footsteps but he is yet to fire fully at the World Cup.
England star Stokes made his presence felt in a losing cause against Sri Lanka when he hit an unbeaten 82 and bowled five overs for just 16 runs. I would really like to Bangladesh fight for a semifinal berth as I am sure there is more to come from Shakib Al Hasan .
