The End of Interim Term

Interim Term was awesome. I liked it because not only did I have fun classes, but I also met a lot of new teachers. Kinkaid is pretty unique for having an Interim Term. One of my favorite parts of Interim Term was the break in between classes. Instead of a five minute break in between class, we had a ten minute break. This was great because we could go to the cafeteria in between class and get a snack.  I thought I was going to get bad classes since juniors and sophomores get to pick their classes before the freshmen. It turns out I was one of the few people in the grade who got good classes. During first and second period I have American Top Films with Ms. Offenhauser. That is probably my favorite class because we watch a lot of classic and historical movies. The first movie we watched was Gone With the Wind, which was made in 1939. Most of the kids in our class didn't like it including me because it was very long and boring. Recently we watched Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope. Everyone liked it because it was more modern and there was a lot of action in it. I liked this class a lot because we watched a lot of movies that I had not seen and a lot of them were pretty good. After class I would go get a snack and head over to third period, Experimental Psychology with Dr. Bowe. In this class we looked at illusions, studied how the brain works, tested how different spots on our body have a better or worse sense of feel, and watched videos of how people respond to activities under pressure. For our last week we have been doing group projects. Our group is doing it on the Placebo Effect. Last period I have Read for the Fun of It. I like this because it is a good way to end the school day and relax. Also, over these three weeks I have been doing drivers education which starts at 7:15am and then after school around 3:30. It's way too early in the morning. Interim term is a great way to comeback from winter break.

Are You Kidding Me? By: Rocco Mediate and John Feinstein

Are You Kidding Me? was a really good book. When I bought it I thought it was just going to talk about the 2008 U.S. Open. Instead it talks about Rocco's life through high school, college, going through Q-School, and being on the PGA Tour. As a kid Rocco didn't fall in love with the game of golf. He was interested in skateboarding and baseball. His dad would take him out to the golf course only to ride in the golf cart every now and then. As he grew older, Rocco started playing a few holes with his father, Tony Mediate, but would go home after nine holes. It hit him when he was in high school. He had fallen in love with the game. Rocco wasn't that good of player through high school but he was the hardest worker. A good day for him was shooting in the mid-80s. As a high school student, Rocco wasn't really anything special. He wasn't being looked at by college scouts for his golf game and his grades were mediocre. Rocco ended up going to California University, a small college in California, Pennsylvania. As Rocco kept up with his game, he wanted to have a trainer. Bob Toski recommended a man named Jim Ferree to Tony Mediate. Rocco immediately started going to him. A bad incident occurred in the first year of college. During the winter of his first year at college, four of his teammates burst into Rocco's room at two in the morning. One of the teammates was Rocco's childhood friend, Todd Silvis. They tied Rocco up, blind folded him, and put him in a car. They drove for thirty minutes and dropped Rocco off in the middle of nowhere in twenty degree weather. He didn't even know the direction of the school. Rocco started walking in the directions of some lights he had seen. As he was walking, he came to a farmhouse with a light on. As he approached it a huge dog came running and chased him. Rocco had to hop a fence, cutting his hand and losing the necklace his mom had given him when he graduated from high school. He made it back to campus at around seven thirty and went straight to Coach Schuler's office. Rocco was so angry and told Coach if he didn't do something about those boys he would call his Uncle Joe and his dad and bad things would go down. All the boys did was apologize and that wasn't good enough for Rocco. He was done with those boys and definitely done with that school. His new start was at the NCAA Division 2 national championships. Rocco was very impressed with Florida Southern's golf team and wanted to play for them. After he finished his first year of college at California University, Rocco applied at Florida Southern and got in. Coach Matlock, the golf coach at Florida Southern, wasn't just going to let Rocco walk onto the golf team. He had to work for it. Rocco worked and worked, barely keeping his grades at the expectations by Coach Matlock. That summer he gave PGA Tour Qualifying School a shot and played alright the first day shooting 75. He was thinking about going home after that but Tom Gleaton convinced him to stay for the second day. He played great. On the last hole he chipped in and got his PGA Tour Card. Rocco Mediate was on the PGA Tour. His first year on tour, he made $20,174, not making the top 125 on the money list. He had to go back to Q-School. Rocco stayed on the tour for a while until he started experiencing some major back problems. At one time he collapsed in the parking lot when getting out of his car for a tournament. Rocco had surgery on his back on July 12, 1994, lasting four hours. Later in his career his back still hurt until he met a woman named Cindi, who knew the problem. It wasn't his back, it was his pelvis. She massaged him before every tournament in the fitness trailer. Rocco had a few good years and a few bad years on tour. In 2008, he went head to head with Tiger Woods, the number one player in the world. Rocco and Tiger had tied after four days of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and went into a eighteen hole playoff on monday. After that they were still tied and went into a sudden death playoff. It started on the seventh hole at Torrey Pines, a tough par four. Tiger made a par beating Rocco who made a bogey. This tournament will be remembered in golf history forever. If you are a golf fan, Are You Kidding Me? is a great book for you to read.






- Are You Kidding Me? By: Rocco Mediate and John Feinstein
-http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1902502,00.html- This book review helped me expand my detail in this summary.

Inside The Book Are You Kidding Me?

Are You Kidding Me? has been a great book so far. It tells the story of how Rocco Mediate made it onto the PGA Tour and went head to head against Tiger Woods in a playoff at the U.S. Open. This book has two subjects in a way, how Rocco Mediate met John Feinstein, and Rocco and Tiger's amazing match at the U.S. Open. John Feinstein met Rocco by accident sort of. Feinstein wrote a book called A Good Walk Spoiled while working with PGA Tour golfer Lee Janzen. One night when Janzen and Feinstein were going to dinner, Janzen brought Rocco to dinner with them. Feinstein was trying to have a personal interview with Lee Janzen so he didn't really like the idea of bringing a third person but it turned out Rocco helped out a lot. He reminded Janzen of a lot of little details during Lee Janzen's Open victory. After that night at dinner, John Feinstein and Rocco Mediate became great friends. John Feinstein is a big sports writer so he traveled to a lot of the golf tournaments. Rocco and John would talk in the locker room or out on the driving range. Now to the main part of the story, the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. The U.S. Open is a four round tournament, Thursday through Sunday. Torrey Pines is a very difficult golf course and is a par 71. On the first day Rocco Mediate had a three shot lead over Woods. By the fourth day, Tiger and Rocco were tied up at one under par. Woods and Mediate became the first ever golfers to finish the U.S. Open under par since 2004. Tiger and Rocco would go into an eighteen hole playoff Monday. Woods and Rocco played amazing in the playoff, each winning and losing a certain times in the round. By the end of the playoff, Rocco and Tiger had tied again at an even 71. This meant they would go into a sudden death playoff. The sudden death playoff started on number seven at Torrey Pines, a tough par four. It turned out Woods made a par beating Rocco's bogey ending the playoff on the first hole. Tiger won the 2008 U.S. Open and one million three hundred fifty thousand dollars. Rocco had won eight hundred ten thousand dollars. Rocco was forty six years old while Tiger was thirty three. Rocco had suffered back injuries over the years but still put up a tremendous fight. The 2008 U.S. Open was one of the most famous tournaments of all time and will always be remembered.

Sources:
Are You Kidding Me? By: Rocco Mediate and John Feinstein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Woods
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_U.S._Open_(golf)

John Feinstein

John Feinstein was born in New York City on July 28, 1956. I have read his book called Vanishing Act and it is one of my favorite books to this day. He has also written the two top best-selling non-fiction sports books in history, A Good Walk Spoiled and A Season on the Brink. Feinstein's father had been very involved in the arts, having been the General Manager of the Washington National Opera for fifteen years. I found a website called Feinstein On The Brink and it is a cool blog involving John Feinstein. He is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writer's Association, U.S. Tennis Writer's Association as Vice President, National Sportscasters, and Sportswriters Association. Feinstein achieved honors awards in U.S. Basketball Writer's Association for five straight years. For my book, Are You Kidding Me John met Rocco in the locker room at a tournament and became great friends with him ever since. John Feinstein has visiited with a lot of different players from different sports and has written stories about them.








http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Feinstein
http://www.feinsteinonthebrink.com/
http://biography.jrank.org/pages/1792/Feinstein-John-1956.html

Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach #7 Par 3

This summer I went to Pebble Beach in Monterrey, California. I'll say it right now, I had the time of my life. My dad, my uncle, and I stayed at the Inn at Spanish Bay, only about ten minutes away from Pebble Beach Golf Course. It was right on the ocean and the room was amazing. I woke up the next morning thinking wow, I'm going to get to play Pebble Beach, one of the most historic courses in the world. The U.S. Open was held there in 2010 and has been held there many other times. After we left the hotel, we went to the practice range to warm up. We got there and I was already amazed and we weren't even at the course yet. Around 9:00 a.m. a man came onto the range calling our names and he took our bags and drove us over to the course. I hit a couple of practice putts and then I was ready and so were my Dad and Uncle. I walked up on the first tee and I suddenly got the chills for a second. I was standing on a tee box where the worlds greatest golfers have stood. I got up to my ball and just hit it. It went out to the left. I was nervous but when I found my ball and saw the distance I pulled out my four hybrid, my favorite club in the bag. I hit it clean out of the rough and onto the green. I ended up making a par. After that I calmed down a little and just pictured it as playing a regular golf course. The weather was perfect, around 75 degrees and the sun was out. The smell of fresh cut grass was in the air. I started hitting the ball really well and my Dad knew how much fun I was having. The course was amazing and had so many views. My Dad probably took over two hundred pictures. The course played tough but I managed to shoot 79 beating my Dad by three. It was fun to spend time with my Uncle because he lives in Beaumont so I don't get to see him much. I know he had a great time.  It is by far my favorite golf course and I hope I will get to play it again. The employees there couldn't have been any nicer and they keep the course in tip top shape. Pebble Beach was everything I expected and more.