From Scotland to Italy and everywhere in between

Notes on the British Open:
For everyone who isn't Stewart Cink or a member of his immediate family, Sunday's ending at the British Open was a downer, as 59-year-old Tom Watson came this close to winning the Open championship, only to fall agonizingly short. Golf obviously is not a physical sport like football or hockey (many pro golfers look like accountants - no offence to accountants), but for a guy pushing 60 to contend like he did in a pro golf event, it's a very rare occurrence. I wonder how many guys on the wrong side of 40 watched that unfold and thought, "maybe it's not too late for me."
If you did, calm down big fella and get ahold of yourself. I can't really blame you for dreaming, however; they're free.
All I could think was, "how does Tom Watson keep his hair looking so youthful, so lustrous?"
Golf fans in Great Britain are different than fans on this side of the pond. For starters, they don't roar and get besides themselves over an ordinary shot; more obvious, however, is that they either don't drink as much at golf events (highly doubtful, the British Open was held in Scotland this year and, well... that says it all); or they know how to handle their intake. You don't hear yells of "Get in the Hole!!!" or "You Da Man" after a golf shot, as over-served North American golf fans try desperately to get their obnoxious voices heard 'round the world. Such class.
On the more positive side, the scenery at the seaside links of Turnberry, Scotland, was absolutely breathtaking, even on TV. Stunning vistas, you'd almost wonder why someone would rather watch somebody else chase a little white ball around a field.
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Summer and baseball - they go hand in hand like mustard on a hot dog, or like beer and a hot dog, or baseball and beer. Plenty of those will be served up when the Pictou County (Beer Name Sponsor Goes Here) Albions host their ninth Homecoming Tournament, with the Albions taking the field Friday night at 8 p.m.
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Canadian diver Alexandre Despatie will attempt to win fourth world title today at the world aquatics championships in Italy when the Quebec native competes in the finals this morning. I probably won't watch it and probably won't give it another thought after I've finished typing this paragraph. I simply wanted to give springboard diving some well-deserved props after years and years of ignoring it.
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Pictou County's Carmen MacDonald will look to open eyes, when the teenaged puck-stopper attends the Under-18 national women's training camp in Calgary, beginning today. MacDonald is one of just three Maritimers to be invited to the camp.


Kevin Adshade is a columnist for The News.