The Morning Line Newsletter

3 weeks ago | themorningline.substack.com | Paul Daugherty

*Please welcome our Friday Hemingway, Matthew Cox. He’s a frequent contributor to The Morning Line and a longtime reader of the “original” TML in physical printed form in free Enquirer copies provided by the Wilmington College library. When he’s not schlepping free content, Matt enjoys walking, fishing and community outreach work in his hometown of Muncie, Ind. Without further ado. . . These Pacers, man. These Pacers are hell on your pulse rate with their whip-it-around speed of play.

3 weeks ago | themorningline.substack.com | Paul Daugherty

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3 weeks ago | themorningline.substack.com | Paul Daugherty

The writing comes more easily every day. That could be because I’m not trying as hard. For better or worse, the synapses crackle freely with ideas now, unburdened by editors or newspaper convention or the self-conscious need to make every essay better than the last one. I was guilty of that last crime for only 40 or so years. Trying too hard is the enemy of sports and sports writers. Try making short putts when you agonize over them.

3 weeks ago | themorningline.substack.com | Paul Daugherty

Whatever it takes. *Injuries have derailed them, underachievement has gouged them. The organization’s seemingly endless ability to overestimate its major-league talent has blind-sided them, again. The lack of funds remains front and center. With all due respect, a team that signs Garrett Hampson isn’t exactly aiming for the stars. And here we are. Schools are barely out, summer’s barely arrived. One of summer’s reasons to exist is already falling to the fringes of our Republic’s consciousness.

3 weeks ago | themorningline.substack.com | Paul Daugherty

Golf magazine*Michael Jordan was like that. When he wanted to beat you, he did. And he wanted to beat you all the time. Tiger Woods, ditto. Mike Tyson in his prime? You’d have better luck knocking out a steel wall. And now, Scottie Scheffler. Greatness is making the difficult seem routine. Routine greatness is what Scheffler does now. He won for the third time in his last four golf tournaments Sunday, dispatching a notable field in a prestigious tournament, the Memorial.