Help! I Need Someone to Soothe My Economic Fears

Oil was back up on Monday, Sept. 22. Way up. Oil prices jumped more than $25 a barrel — the biggest dollar jump ever — before dropping a tad. It closed at $120.92 a barrel, up $16.37 from Friday's close. I just read a story on www.cnn.com where oil expert Matt Simmons says a barrel will hit $500 before we know it. That number is not a typo.

I must say that oil prices and the current happenings on Wall Street have me more than concerned for my and my family's future. It's all pretty scary. How are you dealing with all of this crazy financial news? HELP!

— Larry Aylward, Editor in Chief

So, Who's Going To Bail Me Out?

If you’re like many Americans voicing their disdain over the government’s proposed bailout of the banking sector, you might be wondering why fiscal irresponsibility is being rewarded with huge chunks of cash.

I couldn’t be angrier about spending hard-earned taxpayer money to bail out corporations that gambled greedily and failed. I pay my mortgage, and private mortgage insurance, I might add. Where is all the PMI for these high-risk loans?

However, the alternative seems bleak. Without the bailout, economists say we very well could slump into the worst economic depression since the 1930s. They called that one The Great Depression, and this one could be greater when you consider the global repercussions.

But there is a bright spot for superintendents: access to dandelions. Dandelions were the most-consumed vegetable in the 1930s. They are very nutritious and plentiful. So go easy on the 2,4-D.

— David Frabotta

Somebody Explain It To Me, Please

Perhaps I was just raised differently or possibly in a better environment than others, but I simply do not understand what type of perverse pleasure or sense of satisfaction a person gets from vandalizing a putting green.

No matter how many times I get that phone call describing the scarring damage that someone has inflicted on one of my nineteen “other children,” my mind always leaps to the same unanswered question: Why? What is at the root of one of the most vicious acts that strike at the heart of any well-manicured golf course?

Is it frustration? I have missed my fair share of gut-wrenching putts while golfing, but none that would ever make me take out my car keys and cut around the cup to make it larger. Nor have I ever felt so compelled to take the flag stick and repeatedly poke multiple holes across the green making it resemble Swiss cheese.

Normally I am a guy who can understand most rationales in this confusing world, but vandalism never has, and probably never will, make one ounce of sense to me in any way, shape or form. It’s simply a sad reality that we all must deal with from time to time.

What's the most senseless crime you've experience on your course, and have you ever been able to ascertain why?

— Christopher S. Gray Sr.