Weekend was full of sports

Until then, this past week was a golf historian’s dream as both ESPN and CBS re-broadcast some of the best final rounds in Masters history and it culminated this past weekend with three of the most memorable Masters finishes of all time. It started Friday with the final round of the 2005 Masters, the one forever remembered for Tiger Woods’ chip shot from the collar on the 16th hole, that appeared to stop agonizingly shy of the cup, only to take one more slow-motion half turn and falling into the hole, inducing one of Woods’ most exuberant celebrations.

What I couldn’t get over was that was 15 years ago. Seems like yesterday.

Saturday was the final round of the 2004 tournament that saw Phil Mickelson, finally, winning his first-ever major championship, and mocked for the rest of eternity for what is perceived to be the lowest celebration jump in sports history.

It wasn’t that bad. He got a more air than most give him credit for, but again, that was 16 years ago. Man, I’m getting old.

The weekend was capped with a replay from last year’s final round, which might have been the most dramatic that I can ever remember. It will go down as Tiger winning his first Masters since 2005 and completing a comeback — both personal and professional — from arguably one of the most polarizing figures in sports.

What may not be remembered was how much of a roller-coaster ride it really was. The top names in the game were taking aim at each other, with a dozen players within two shots and several lead changes over the final five holes. Let’s hope for more fireworks in the fall.

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Saturday night, NBC Bay Area broadcast a one-hour documentary about surfing in the Bay Area — from Santa Cruz to Mavericks to Ocean Beach, interviewing those who have influenced the Bay Area surf scene.

Naturally, there were a number of local surfing personalities. Mavericks pioneer Jeff Clark was a major presence in the doc. But the producers also highlighted the newest generation to hold it down at the infamous big-wave spot just north of Half Moon Bay. “The Mavs Mafia” is a local crew of young adults who cut their teeth at Mavericks and are now considered some of the best to ride the break, including Luca Padua and Thomas Lungard, who were both interviewed.

San Francisco’s Bianca Valenti talked about her efforts to bring prize-money equality to professional surfing as she continues to be one of the best big-wave riders on the planet — male or female. She and another big-wave master, Grant Washburn, talked about the challenges and dangers of going out at Ocean Beach, one of the most treacherous breaks on the coast.

If you’re into surfing and want to see how much of an influence the Bay Area has had on the sport, it’s worthwhile to seek it out online.

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The NBA and ESPN finally brought the long-hyped H-O-R-S-E game that had been much talked about. Essentially it was two players at a time, both current and retired, playing the shot-matching game at their own homes while streaming the game to each other and around the world.

My main takeaway? We still have a long way to go to developing good, high-quality streaming services and webcams because the glitching, start-stop, overall crappy presentation had me watching only a couple minutes. When they cut to some ESPN “analyst” it was time to change the channel.

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Staying in the NBA, ESPN aired the final day of NBA 2K video-game tournament. Again, didn’t stick with this one very long. I’m just not of that generation that can sit and watch others play video games.

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And finally, the weekend wrapped up with NASCAR controversy when driver Kyle Larson dropped the “N-word” on his radio for the world to hear. Of course he immediately apologized afterward and has since been suspended by NASCAR and without pay by his team, Chip Ganassi Racing.

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Just think: the NFL draft is coming in a couple weeks!

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117.