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BlogCharles Schwab Preview and Picks
June 11th – 14th, 2020
Colonial C.C.
Kevin Na
The field includes 69 of the top 100 and 36 of the top 50 in the latest Official World Rankings, with seven players from the top-ten #1 Rory McIlroy, #2 Jon Rahm, #3 Brooks Koepka, #5 Dustin Johnson, #7 Patrick Reed and #9 Webb Simpson and #10 Rickie Fowler. The other top 50 players are #12 Xander Schauffele, #13 Bryson DeChambeau, #14 Justin Rose, #15 Marc Leishman, #16 Tony Finau, #17 Matt Kuchar, #18 Gary Woodland, #19 Louis Oosthuizen, #20 Steve Lowry, #23 Sungjae Im, #25 Matthew Fitzpatrick, #27 Rickie Fowler, #29 Abraham Ancer, #30 Kevin Na, #33 Danny Willett, #34 Billy Horschel, #35 Cameron Smith, #36 Kevin Kisner, #37 Chez Reavie, #38 Sergio Garcia, #39 Jazz Janewattananond, #40 Victor Perez, #43 Matt Wallace, #44 Collin Morikawa, #45 Scottie Scheffler, #46 Rafael Cabrera-Bello, #47 Christian Bezuidenhout, #49 Graeme McDowell and #50 Byeong Hun-An.
Those in the top-25 that are not in the field: #6 Adam Scott, #7 Patrick Cantlay, #10 Tommy Fleetwood, #11 Tiger Woods, #21 Hideki Matsuyama and #24 Paul Casey.
Last year there were 18 top-50 players in the field
The field includes 22 of the top 25 on the FedEx point standings for 2020. Those players are #1 Sungjae Im, # 2 Justin Thomas, # 3 Rory McIlroy, #4 Brendon Todd, #5 Webb Simpson, #6 Patrick Reed, #7 Marc Leishman, #8 Lanto Griffin, #9 Sebastian Munoz, #11 Kevin Na, #12 Xander Schauffele, #13 Cameron Smith, #15 Cameron Champ, #16 Bryson DeChambeau, #17 Joaquin Niemann, #18 Nick Taylor, #19 Scottie Scheffler, #21 Jon Rahm, #22 Tom Hoge, #23 Byeong Hun An, #24 Harris English and #25 Abraham Ancer.
The top 25 players not in the field are: #10 Hideki Matsuyama, #14 Tyrrell Hatton, and #20 Adam Scott.
The field includes 14 past champions: Kevin Na (2019), Justin Rose (2018), Kevin Kisner (2017),Jordan Spieth (2016), Chris Kirk (2015), Zach Johnson (2010, '12), Steve Stricker (2009), Phil Mickelson (2008 & '00), Rory Sabbatini (2007), Sergio Garcia (2001), Olin Browne (1999), David Frost (1997), Tom Lehman (1995) and Keith Clearwater (1987).
A perfect way for fantasy golfers to check on the past performance of all the players in the Charles Schwab field is our performance chart listed by the average finish. Another way to check who is the best is through a special formula worked out in Golfstats that gives us the best average performances at the Charles Schwab in the last five years or check out our sortable 8-year glance at Charles Schwab.
Who's Hot in the field for the Charles Schwab Challenge
Honda Classic
WGC Mexico
Genesis Open
AT&T Pebble Beach
Phoenix Open
Saudi International
Dubai Desert Classic
Sungjae Im
(114.17 pts) 3
(30) Win
(-3.33) DNP T34
(13.33) DNP T21
(26.67) DNP 2
(0) DNP DNP T8
(16.67) DNP CUT
(-3.33) DNP
(111.67 pts) T5
(23.33) DNP DNP DNP T3
(30) DNP DNP DNP DNP
(104.33 pts) DNP DNP T3
(11.67) DNP Win
(0) DNP DNP CUT
(-3.33) T6
Marc Leishman
(91 pts) 2
(2.33) DNP DNP DNP Win
Max Homa
(79.67 pts) T24
(8.67) DNP DNP DNP T5
(23.33) T14
Abraham Ancer
(2.33) DNP DNP T6
(20) DNP DNP 2
Daniel Berger
(76 pts) DNP T4
(23.33) T9
Webb Simpson
(74 pts) DNP DNP T61
(0) DNP DNP DNP Win
(44) DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP 3
Tom Hoge
(11.67) CUT
(-3.33) DNP DNP DNP T60
(8.33) DNP 5
(23.33) DNP T6
(-3.33) DNP Win
(-3.33) DNP DNP T4
Joel Dahmen
(69.67 pts) T5
(12) WD
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
(10.5) DNP DNP DNP DNP T21
(0) DNP
Matthew Fitzpatrick
(6.67) T60
(1.67) DNP T2
(33.33) DNP
(62 pts) CUT
(0) DNP 2
(12) DNP DNP
Matt Kuchar
(59.33 pts) DNP DNP T22
(11.33) DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT
(59.33 pts) CUT
(-3.33) DNP T3
Matthew NeSmith
(-3.33) T38
(4) DNP T6
Patrick Rodgers
(6.67) CUT
Maverick McNealy
(23.33) DNP DNP 15
(56.5 pts) DNP DNP T37
Cameron Davis
(9.67) DNP DNP DNP T21
(33.33) DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Scottie Scheffler
(6.67) DNP CUT
(-3.33) DNP 3
(53.33 pts) DNP DNP T6
(30) DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT
(15) DNP 71
(11.33) DNP DNP DNP CUT
Brendan Steele
(26.67) DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT
Erik Van Rooyen
(52 pts) DNP CUT
(-3.33) DNP DNP CUT
Cameron Smith
(-3.33) DNP DNP T23
(9) DNP CUT
Byeong Hun An
(0) T4
(10.5) DNP DNP DNP T9
(-3.33) DNP DNP DNP CUT
(-3.33) 3
(30) CUT
Who's Not Hot in the field for the Charles Schwab Challenge
Jim Herman
(-16.67 pts) CUT
(-3.33) CUT
Tyler Duncan
(-15.67 pts) T47
C.T. Pan
(-3.33) DNP DNP DNP DNP
Chris Kirk
(-13.33 pts) DNP CUT
(-3.33) DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT
Brian Gay
Si Woo Kim
(-3.33) DNP DNP DNP WD
Patton Kizzire
(-10 pts) DNP 68
(-10 pts) CUT
(0) DNP DNP DNP CUT
(-10 pts) DNP CUT
(-3.33) DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
So golf is back and we are looking forward to it. If everything goes ok we will have 14 events over the next 13 weeks. After the Tour Championship ends the 2020 season, the 2021 season begins the next week in Napa, California for the Safeway Open. The week after is the U.S. Open still planned to be played at Winged Foot and the week after is the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. There will be 13 events over the 12 weeks and the last event will be the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico ending on December 6th. Before that on November 12th – 15th will be the Masters.
Hard to believe:
In just 67 days we'll have the start of the first major of the year, the PGA Championship being played at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. In 81 days the FedEx Playoffs will begin. So after a three-month break we will have a lot of golf action.
Things you need to know about The Charles Schwab Challenge and Colonial:
This is the 74th year of Charles Schwab Challenge. Commonly referred to as the Colonial National, it's not the oldest event on the PGA Tour in longevity several events have been played longer. As for the same course, Augusta National, and the Masters can claim to have been played on the same course longer on the PGA Tour, with Colonial being the second longest length of a course for a tournament. Colonial does have one distinction it's the only course in America that has hosted the U.S. Open (1941), the Players Championship (1975), and the U.S. Women's Open (1991).
The tournament got started in 1946 when it was apparent that the USGA wasn't going to make Colonial an annual stop. The event was the inspiration of John Marvin Leonard, who operated a store in downtown Fort Worth and wanted to see the best golfers in the world play on his course. Having Ben Hogan win its first two events, gave the event and the course the recognition that it needed.
Hogan went on to win five times at Colonial, and the course got the name "Hogan's Alley." At one time, Hogan practically held every record of the tournament. In the 21 times Hogan played at Colonial, his highest finish was a T-56th in his last appearance in 1970 at the age of 58. Over Hogan's career, he won 54 tournaments, with the last victory coming in the 1959 Colonial. One of Hogan's most enduring records at Colonial was the 65 he shot in the 3rd round in 1948. It took seven years for someone to tie the record when Chandler Harper did it in 1955, and it took 22 years for someone to beat the record when Dale Douglass did it with his 63 in 1970. Hogan loved Colonial and became a due paying member of the club. So it's no surprise that the greatest of Ben Hogan's life and golf career is celebrated in the Hogan Room with an audio-visual presentation of his career and some memories of his career including clubs and replicas of all the trophies and medals.
Now the history of Ben Hogan and Colonial didn't start with his win in 1946. It was started in the early 1930s when a young Ben Hogan decided to play on the PGA Tour. He received financial backing from Marvin Leonard, the man who built Colonial. Hogan wasn't a big success; many times he was forced to drop off tour and take a job to earn enough money to rejoin the tour. However, as soon as Hogan began making money on tour he offered to settle his account with Leonard, who told him to forget about the money. However, in the 1950s Hogan was able to pay back Leonard in an even bigger way. After Hogan launched the Ben Hogan golf equipment company, he offered Leonard the opportunity to purchase 50 percent of the company. Leonard seized the opportunity and along with Hogan made a handsome profit when the company was sold to AMF in 1960.
The Colonial Country Club was the vision of Leonard, a native of Fort Worth. He was considered a "workaholic" in the 1920s when his doctor told him he needed to slow down his pace. Leonard turned to golf and joined Glen Garden Golf Club and Rivercrest Country Club, the best courses of the time in Fort Worth. As Leonards's interest in golf grew, he became more interested in all aspects of the course, including the types of grass. In the south, Bentgrass was thought to be impossible to grow, so all of the courses in Texas were Bermuda, which tended to be bumpy. Leonard thought it would be a good idea to have bent grass and in trying to get Rivercrest to change the club president got tired of the requests and told him, Marvin, if you're so sold on bentgrass, why don't you go build your own golf course and put it on that course?" So in 1934, Leonard did just that.
He acquired 157 acres in Southwest Fort Worth and hired golf architect John Bredemus to build him a championship course. On January 29, 1936, the course was opened, and many thought it could be one of the most magnificent courses in the world. In the late 30s, Leonard also felt that Colonial was the best and lobbied the USGA to hold the U.S. Open at Colonial. Even though the Open was never played in the South, when Leonard offered $25,000 to hold the event at Colonial it was given the 1941 Open. To make sure that the course withstood the challenge of the best players in the world in 1940 he called in Perry Maxwell to redo holes 3, 4 & 5.
Even with the rain that hampered the Open it was a big success and plans to start a yearly tournament at Colonial were talked about but plans were put on hold because of World War II. When the war ended, the club decided to hold the Colonial National Invitational and to add some prestige offered a purse of $15,000, the third-largest sum on the PGA Tour. With a first-place check of $3,000 awaiting the winner, a field of 32 players teed off with Ben Hogan winning. Since then 74 Colonial's have been held with the course pretty much the same as it was in 1941, with some minor revisions that were implemented in 1969 when several holes along the Trinity River were damaged by flooding.
Now, this event almost was lost when tournament host Dean & Deluca begged out of their sponsorship a few years early. Frankly, when I heard that Dean & Deluca was sponsoring a tournament in Texas, it made no sense. You see Dean & Deluca is a bunch of high-end stores like Whole Foods or Wegmans, but they are mostly in the New York area. They were planning on putting one in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but when those plans went away, so did Dean & Deluca on the PGA Tour. As we can see with tournaments like Houston, you could be rolling along in great shape, but then your sponsor decides it's not worth the $10 million a year investment, that event is in trouble. The good news, the Colonial found a new sponsor in time for 2018 and with Charles Schwab will continue on the PGA Tour.
Colonial Country Club
7,209 yards Par 35-35–70
The Colonial has a 75.1 rating and slope rating of 138 from the championship tees. The course is very private. The tees, Fairways and rough are BermudaGrass while the greens are Bent.
It was designed and built by John Bredemus, with Perry Maxwell doing some touch-up work and opened in 1936. There were some minor revisions in 1969 to some of the holes to prevent flooding from the nearby Trinity River.
In 2000, the club completed a two-year course renovation, which started in November of 1998 when they installed a new irrigation system. The primary work was done in rebuilding all 18 greens with new A-4 bentgrass. They also redesigned and rebuilt all the 84 bunkers, giving them a new definition so that they will be seen from tees and fairways.
All of the green and bunker work was done three weeks after the 1999 tournament ended with the membership not having the full course reopen until April 1st of 2000. Club has also planted close to hundred trees that won't be in play but in years to come will help define the holes.
We usually don't talk about technology in golf but when we talk about Colonial one of the reasons for it losing its fear factor is technology. Colonial is one of golf's treasured layouts that can't keep up with technology. The course sits next to the Trinty River on the north and houses on the East, South, and West of it, so there is no way to add any yardage. So the course is at the mercy of mother nature, if it gets windy the course will play tough, but if not it's easy. We go more into detail on this later.
This course for years was feared by all the touring pros; if you look at the winning score pre-1996, you saw years in which the winner was 7, 8, 9, and 10 under. However, starting in 1997 every year but two (8 under in 1999 and 9 under in 2014) saw scores in the double digits for the winners showing how easy the course got.
One advantage the course has being short, most of the holes at Colonial are doglegs so the driver is taken out of the hands of players which means most of the holes you have to lay up meaning more players hit more fairways. Many players are balking about playing Colonial, two past champions Steve Stricker and Phil Mickelson have played sparsely in past years because they don't like the driver taken out of their hands. We have seen bits and pieces of the proud history of this event crumbling.
Let's take a look at vital stats that are important for those playing at Colonial.
This is based on the most important stats for Colonial, based on data from last year's Charles Schwab Challenge, and using data from all the players in the field with stats from 2020. What we do is take their rank for each stat and then add up the four categories. One thing to be careful about, it's been 94 days or three months since an official PGA Tour event was played, so those that had a great first part of 2020 may not be sharp now, while those that played terrible may benefit from the time off, so bury beware on any stats.
The scoring average of the field at Colonial in 2019 was 70.86 making it the 7th hardest course last year. In 2018 with favorable wind conditions and a soft course it played to a 69.83 average, T-20th in course rankings. In 2017 Colonial was 71.15 (lots of wind every day) making it the 7th hardest course on Tour that year as the course played over a shot a round over par. In 2016 Colonial was 70.20 making it the 18th hardest course on the PGA Tour, a quarter of a shot over par and almost a half a shot harder than the course played in 2015 when it was 69.78 and the 21st hardest course to score on in 2015. So why the difference? Rain and wind, in 2015 they had flooding conditions the week before the tournament and the course was very wet. On top of that winds averaged between 10-15 mph. In 2016 the course didn't have as much rain and winds blew up to 20 mph the first three days and calmed a bit for the final round. But in 2017 winds blew each day at around 20 mph which made the course play very tough, a matter of fact the hardest it's played since 2002 when the course played to a 71.21 average and ranked 6th on tour.
Colonial Country Club is a relic to a bygone era in which accuracy off the tee, precision shotmaking to the greens is important. On top of that when the course is dry and runs, put in some wind and it can play really tough. But with no wind, wet conditions you will see a lot of birdies and eagles and that's what has happened over the years. You can't overpower this course, that's why in past years you didn't see long ball hitters like Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson, Gary Woodland, Luke List and J.B. Holmes here.
Every great shotmaker from the last 74 years has won at Colonial (with the exception of Tiger Woods) as Justin Rose was added to the list in 2018 which includes Hogan, Nicklaus, Snead, Boros, Littler, Wadkins, Price, Trevino, Casper, Watson, Scott and Mickelson to name a few. In looking at the key to playing well at Colonial, the most important stat is Ball Striking (which the PGA Tour doesn't include in course stats), looking at the list for 2020 the odds are a player in the top-30 of that list will come out this week. Just look at the list, some of the players on it are Gary Woodland (who leads the list), Webb Simpson, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Ollin Morikawa, and Scottie Scheffler to name a few.
So who will win this week? Tell you this, it will be a guy with a lot of fitness and a sharp iron player. So why is this so important in a time when overpowering courses is the norm? There is no room to add yardage to Colonial. Since the course opened in 1946, only 169 yards have been added. With 12 of the 14 par 4s and 5s being doglegs, players have to throttle back and hit fairway woods and irons to keep it in play, especially when the course is dry with a lot of run. So hitting it long gives you no advantage because length means nothing when you have to lay up, so short drivers will be in the same part of the fairway as long hitters. That is the reason why players like Corey Pavin, Rory Sabbatini, Steve Stricker, David Toms, Zach Johnson, and last year Kevin Na have won this event.
In looking at our four categories, Fairway Accuracy is important, last year Colonial was the 3rd hardest course to get into the fairway, while last year's winner Kevin Na was T-17th in fairway hit. Our second stat is greens in regulation, last year Colonial ranked 8th while Rose rank 1st in this stat hitting 56 of 72 greens. To show the importance of this stat since 2001, five of the winners have led this stat and in the last three years Na and Justin Rose led the stat and in 2017 Kevin Kisner was 2nd.
Our third stat is Par Breakers, last year Colonial ranked 3rd overall while Na was 2nd in this stat. Our last stat is Strokes-Gained Putting as Na was 2nd in this stat. As for Colonial, they don't keep track of that stat tournament wise, but I can tell you this, six of the last 18 winners have led in a total number of strokes so putting is very important.
Now another important element for this year is the weather, last year it was good, but for this week coming up will see temperatures in the 90s with mild winds blowing between 10 and 13 mph. There is zero chance of rain for the whole week and we have a perfect storm brewing in which the area hasn't had any rain since Tuesday, May 26th. So that will mean very fast, dry conditions and with some wind, the course will play super tough.
With conditions like this, you won't have any "non-marquee" type of winner, the man that wins on Sunday will be a player that has won before and many times on the PGA Tour.
*Fairway Accuracy: Percentage of times a drive is in the fairway.
*Greens in Regulation: Tells us which players hit the most greens during the week
*Par Breakers: The course allows a lot of birdies and eagles to be made, so Parbreakers is the percent of time scores are under par.
*Strokes Gained Putting: The number of putts a player takes from a specific distance is measured against a statistical baseline to determine the player's strokes gained or lost on a hole.
The 136 of the 148 players from this year's field with stats from 2020:
Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.
*Fairway Accuracy
*Greens in Regulation
*Par Breakers
*Strokes Gained Putting
Total Rank
1 Webb Simpson (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 40 7 1 13 61 9800
2 Jon Rahm (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 66 27 7 4 104 11000
3 Matthew NeSmith (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 38 16 55 45 154 6900
4 Daniel Berger (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 41 75 19 26 161 7700
5 Adam Hadwin (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 33 39 64 27 163 7300
6 Gary Woodland (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 51 6 25 81 163 8800
7 Denny McCarthy (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 117 43 11 2 173 6400
8 Matt Kuchar (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 13 104 44 14 175 8500
9 Harris English (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 82 5 53 39 179 7500
10 Sungjae Im (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 79 61 13 36 189 9300
11 Bryson DeChambeau (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 122 52 13 22 209 10100
12 Jim Furyk (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 1 1 81 148 231 7100
13 Justin Thomas (Plyr/Tnmt/YTD) 144 12 2 76 234 10600
Here is a link to the other 123 player stats from the Charles Schwab
DraftKings tips
Of the 148 in the field, 108 have played at least once at Colonial in the Charles Schwab since 2015.
Jordan Spieth is 47 under in 20 rounds, playing 5 years
Kevin Na is 36 under in 16 rounds, playing 4 years
Kevin Kisner is 27 under in 18 rounds, playing 5 years
Brian Harman is 24 under in 20 rounds, playing 5 years
Danny Lee is 24 under in 20 rounds, playing 5 years
Harris English is 20 under in 12 rounds, playing 3 years
Chris Kirk is 18 under in 16 rounds, playing 4 years
Webb Simpson is 18 under in 10 rounds, playing 3 years
Brooks Koepka is 17 under in 4 rounds, playing 1 years
Charley Hoffman is 17 under in 20 rounds, playing 5 years
Emiliano Grillo is 17 under in 16 rounds, playing 4 years
Matt Kuchar is 17 under in 12 rounds, playing 3 years
Russell Knox is 17 under in 12 rounds, playing 3 years
Tony Finau is 17 under in 16 rounds, playing 4 years
Rory Sabbatini is 16 under in 14 rounds, playing 4 years
Justin Rose is 15 under in 8 rounds, playing 2 years
Steve Stricker is 15 under in 16 rounds, playing 4 years
Andrew Putnam is 14 under in 8 rounds, playing 2 years
Kevin Tway is 14 under in 12 rounds, playing 3 years
Adam Hadwin is 13 under in 16 rounds, playing 4 years
Jon Rahm is 13 under in 10 rounds, playing 3 years
Marc Leishman is 11 under in 12 rounds, playing 3 years
Patrick Reed is 10 under in 8 rounds, playing 2 years
*Here are the ones with the best under par totals averaging it per years played (2 or more starts)
Jordan Spieth is 47 under playing 5 years (-9.4)
Kevin Na is 36 under playing 4 years (-9.0)
Justin Rose is 15 under playing 2 years (-7.5)
Andrew Putnam is 14 under playing 2 years (-7.0)
Harris English is 20 under playing 3 years (-6.7)
Webb Simpson is 18 under playing 3 years (-6.0)
Matt Kuchar is 17 under playing 3 years (-5.7)
Russell Knox is 17 under playing 3 years (-5.7)
Kevin Kisner is 27 under playing 5 years (-5.4)
Patrick Reed is 10 under playing 2 years (-5.0)
Brian Harman is 24 under playing 5 years (-4.8)
Danny Lee is 24 under playing 5 years (-4.8)
Kevin Tway is 14 under playing 3 years (-4.7)
Chris Kirk is 18 under playing 4 years (-4.5)
Emiliano Grillo is 17 under playing 4 years (-4.3)
Tony Finau is 17 under playing 4 years (-4.3)
Jon Rahm is 13 under playing 3 years (-4.3)
Rory Sabbatini is 16 under playing 4 years (-4.0)
Corey Conners is 8 under playing 2 years (-4.0)
Joaquin Niemann is 8 under playing 2 years (-4.0)
Steve Stricker is 15 under playing 4 years (-3.8)
Marc Leishman is 11 under playing 3 years (-3.7)
Charley Hoffman is 17 under playing 5 years (-3.4)
Adam Hadwin is 13 under playing 4 years (-3.3)
Historical ParBreakers
Here is a look at those playing this week and who has made the most eagles and birdies at Colonial since 2015:
*Here are the guys that cost the most on DraftKings this week:
Rory McIlroy – $11,800
Jon Rahm – $11,000
Justin Thomas – $10,600
Bryson DeChambeau – $10,100
Webb Simpson – $9,800
Brooks Koepka – $9,700
Xander Schauffele – $9,600
Dustin Johnson – $9,500
Rickie Fowler – $9,400
Sungjae Im – $9,300
Patrick Reed – $9,200
Collin Morikawa – $9,100
Justin Rose – $9,000
Ok, it's back to Draftkings after three months off. In skimming through the list and prices of the players, some very interesting picks and bargains out there. Here are those on top of the list:
Rory McIlroy at $11,800 is the right price for the number one player in golf. The only problem I have, the course isn't one for long hitters and if Rory isn't smart off the tee, he could get himself in trouble. As I say the price is fair, but since I am not 100% sure that he can play this course, I am passing on him. I won't pass on Jon Rahm at $11,000. Yes, he missed the cut last year but was T-5th in 2018 and T-2nd in 2017. That and the fact that he was one of the better players before the break makes you think his good play will continue. Justin Thomas at $10,600 is a fair price, going into the break he was playing great but again like McIlroy, Thomas is playing at Colonial for the first time. Since Thomas does it the ball long he will have to throttle back and that is the question, will Thomas pick this up and play well. Next up is Bryson DeChambeau at $10,100, he is one to pass on. DeChambeau has struggled a lot at Colonial, mostly due to poor driving, in four starts has missed the cut three times so yes you don't want him. Webb Simpson at $9,800 is a very good pick. Was having a great 2020, won at Phoenix, was 2nd at the RSM Classic and 3rd at the Sony Open, plays well on ball-striker type of courses. Has had mixed results at Colonial but in five starts was 5th in 2017 and T-3rd in 2016. Now Brooks Koepka at $9,700 is a question mark. Normally when Koepka's name comes up on a ball-striker type of course, you say he is worth the cost. But after he suffered a knee injury which took five months to heal, when he returned to golf in January his game wasn't very. Things got so bad before the Players Championship Koepka flew out to Las Vegas to work on his game with Butch Harman. The legendary coach took about ten minutes to see the flaws Koepka was dealing with and were able to straighten him out. Now Koepka was ready and able teeing it up at the Players Championship, but we know what happened and Brooks had more time off. Honestly, he needed the time and I would think he is ready to go, so disregard what he did in January, February, and March and pick him this week. Can't say the same for Xander Schauffele at $9,600 or even Dustin Johnson at $9,500. For Schauffele he has not played well at Colonial, missing the cut in 2019 and '18. As for Johnson, he didn't look very sharp in the Skins game and I just think he may need some competitive rounds to get it back. Check with me before the WGC-St. Jude on Johnson. As for Rickie Fowler at $9,400, I liked what he did at the Skins Game and despite missing the cut at Colonial last year, was T-5th in 2012 so he can play the course. Sungjae Im at $9,300 is another good buy, he was playing well before the break and says he has played hard during the break, so look for him to do well. Patrick Reed at $9,200 is also ok, his game should be good for Colonial. Collin Morikawa is at $9,100 and I think despite him being a good player, he has never played at Colonial and despite finishing T-9th in his last start at the Arnold Palmer I am not putting this much money into Morikawa. Last we have Justin Rose at $9,000, now he has played terribly for the last year but he has since switched clubs returning to his TaylorMade clubs. But at $9,000 he is a no for me.
*Players in that $7,500 to $8,900 price range, which ones are worth the money?:
Right off the bat, I see that Gary Woodland is at $8,900. This is a steal, I think he will play well this week. Yes, he only has played Colonial once and was T-73rd in that start in 2012, but Woodland has been working hard on his game in the break, and in his last two starts his game was coming around, so look for him to bust out. Tony Finau at $8,700 is a toss-up, yes he was T-2nd last year but we really don't know what he has been doing in the break, so to me he is a toss-up. Shane Lowry is at $8,600 and I know he hasn't played before at Colonial, but this is a course he can play well. So yes, he is worth the money. The same with Matt Kuchar at $8,500, solid record at Colonial, and his game showed promise before the break. Another good pick and it seems that most of the good pick is in this 8,000 range is Matthew Fitzpatrick at $8,200. If you look at his year he has been very consistent finishing T-2nd at Abu Dhabi and his last start before the break he was T-9th at the Arnold Palmer. Another good pick could be Jordan Spieth at $8,000, yes he has regressed with his game since winning his three majors, as he made too many changes with his swing and didn't play well. But forget all that, I honestly think with the break-off it has done wonders to his mind and will play well this week. I like him a lot with his record at Colonial, he won in 2016, was T-2nd in 2015 & '17 and has been under par 21 of the 28 rounds. Lastly, I like defending champion Kevin Na at $7,600. The price is right and Na showed a lot last year.
Any bargains out there?
Looking for those diamonds in the rough? Harris English is $7,500 and has played at Colonial five times, he was 2nd in 2016 and T-5th in 2012. In the fall of the 2020 season, he played well, think after the break he will continue the good play. Another good bargain is Ryan Palmer at $7,400, he is a dues-paying member of Colonial and has a good record in his 16 Charles Schwab starts. He was T-4th in January at the Sony Open in Hawaii, that course is a lot like Colonial so he will be a great pick for you. Now if you are looking for some good player that will make the cut and get some birdies at a cheap price? Jim Furyk at $7,100 is your man, he should do great with the dry conditions at Colonial He hits it straight, hits lots of greens, and always does well at Colonial. Going down the list is another great senior that should make the cut, Steve Stricker is a great bargain at $6,200 and one you should pick all the time.
Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at the Charles Schwab Challenge
The key stat for the winner:
Experience at Colonial seems to be an essential part of winning. Since 1996, 21 players have won at Colonial and have a total of 254 victories, so that means an average of 12.1 wins for each of the champions. Last year's winner Kevin Na won for the 3rd time and won again later in the year at the Shriners Hospitals. 2018 winner Justin Rose won two other times after winning the Colonial, 2016 champion Jordan Spieth won for the 8th time while 2014 champion Adam Scott won for the 11th time. In 2012 Zach Johnson won for the 8th time in his career as winners range from Tom Watson with 34 wins and Nick Price with 18 to Sergio Garcia who made Colonial his first PGA Tour win in 2001. The fact is rookies don't win at Colonial. Yes, Sergio Garcia got his first PGA Tour win at Colonial but he had won in Europe. The same with the next first-time winner Ian Baker-Finch in 1989, he had won in Australia. In looking at the 74-year history of the Charles Schwab, only eight first winners have done the deed, that tells us to look for an experienced person to win.
Another key:
Look at all of the champions; you will see one thing in common, they are accurate drivers of the ball, which historically has been very important in winning at Colonial. The bottom line is wild drivers don't win here. Now, of course, there is always an exception to the rule, in 2016 Jordan Spieth only hit 38 fairways and ranked T-54th. The previous year Chris Kirk only hit 28 fairways and ranked T-60th while in 2007 Rory Sabbatini only hit 29 fairways and ranked T60th. However, last year Kevin Na was T-17th while in 2018 Justin Rose was 6th in driving accuracy, in 2017 Kevin Kisner hit 40 fairways and ranked 1st getting us back to the era of between 1998 and 2005 when all the winners didn't rank higher than 9th in fairway accuracy, with seven of them being in the top-five. Driving accuracy is still critical in winning this event.
An important stat to look at to gauge the champion this week is strokes gained tee-to-green.
Look at this list of players for 2020 in strokes gained tee-to-green, I feel that one of those in the top-30 of this list will probably be the winner this week. 2nd on the list is Rory McIlroy, 5th on the list is Justin Thomas, and 7th on the list is Tony Finau.
Shot-making is almost a lost art, and if you look at all of the champions in this millennium, all of them were great shotmakers.
Hitting greens will be at a premium, just like in a U.S. Open hitting lots of greens goes a long way in this event. Look for the winner to hit globs of greens this week. Now there is another way, if you don't hit greens, that is scrambling. Last year Jordan Spieth may not have been among the leaders in greens hit, but he led in scrambling. Look at the chart below of the last ten winners, in looking at the two stats hitting greens or scrambling, and you will see a key for winning.
Winner Greens hit Rank Scrambling Rank
2019-Kevin Na 56 of 72 1st 11 of 16 T-15th
2018-Justin Rose 57 of 72 1st 10 of 15 T-30th
2017-Kevin Kisner 53 of 72 2nd 15 of 19 2nd
2016-Jordan Spieth 51 of 72 T-17th 18 of 21 1st
2015-Chris Kirk 46 of 72 T-62nd 17 of 26 39th
2014-Adam Scott 52 of 72 T10th 14 of 20 16th
2013-Boo Weekely 54 of 72 T5th 11 of 18 40th
2012-Zach Johnson 45 of 72 T37th 21 of 27 1st
2011-David Toms 52 of 72 T4th 14 of 20 12th
2010-Zach Johnson 61 of 72 1st 10 of 11 1st
2009-Steve Stricker 56 of 72 T-6th 12 of 16 T14th
2008-Phil Mickelson 52 of 72 T5th 14 of 20 T16th
Now I don't want to jinx the tournament, but the weather in Texas can sometimes be iffy in May. But this week is going to be one of the most consistent weeks in the tournament history. First the town of Ft. Worth hasn't seen rain since May 26th so the course will be bone dry. But during the week of the tournament, each day will be the same, in the mid-90s with no rain and winds between 19 and 13 mph. So look for high scores this week as the course will be tough.
Who to watch for at the Charles Schwab Challenge
CUT 5 T3 CUT CUT
Full Charles Schwab Challenge RecordFull 8 year glance at his record
Was having a great 2020 before the break, is 3rd in ball striking, and was playing great before the break. Colonial is a perfect course for his game, was 5th in 2017, and T-3rd in 2018.
The best player when the break came in March, his game looked good at Skins Game. Yes he has never played before at Colonial, but he knows when to throttle back and he should be fine.
CUT T5 T2
Another that was playing well before the break, yes he missed the cut last year at Colonial but was T-5th in 2018 and runner-up in 2017.
Has not played much at Colonial, his only start was T-73rd in 2012. I like that he was playing well before the break and decided to move from Florida to Kansas so that he could work on his game.
A first-timer at Colonial, he is smart and will know how to throttle back off the tee. Has won twice in 2020 at CJ Cup and Sentry Tournament of Championship, in last start T-6th at WGC-Mexico
T32 T12 T6 CUT 2 T26 T16 T56 T27 9
A solid record at Colonial, three top-tens in 11 starts including a 2nd in 2013 and T-6th in 2016. His game showed promise before the break as he was T-2nd at Genesis Open.
CUT T14 CUT T54 T5 T16 T38
Yes, he missed the cut last year at Colonial but he was T-5th in 2012 so knows how to play here. He showed something at the Skins Game a couple of weeks ago that showed he is ready to play well again.
Solid contenders:
Another great player that did well before the break, in his last two weeks he won the Honda and finished 3rd at the Arnold Palmer. Missed the cut last year at Colonial, still, that doesn't worry me because he will be refresh and ready to go after spending the three months off in Tampa working on his game.
T15 T33 T46
Has played at Colonial three times, the last in 2016 he was T-15th. Still have to remember he won the WGC-Mexico Championship before the break.
Win 4 T42 T10 CUT T13 T40 T22 T9 T59
Defending champion, he was 4th at Colonial in 2018. 15th in Strokes Gained tee-to-Green, 7th in Strokes Gained Putting, plays well in wind.
Players that have benefited the most from the break-off and could sparkle this week:
Two important items for him, first he has had lots of rest to heal his wounded knee and in his only start at Colonial was 2nd in 2018. Also, think that the trip to Las Vegas before the Players was important as coach Butch Harmon gave him a lot of confidence.
Ryan Palmer
T6 CUT T70 T3 CUT T5 T14 T5 T31 CUT T34 T15
Is a dues playing member of Colonial, in 16 starts has four top-tens including a T-3rd in 2016 and T-6th last year. Was T-4th at the Sony Open of Hawaii, the course is a lot like Colonial in require one to hit drives in the fairway.
T8 T32 T2 Win T2 T14 T7
Has a great record at Colonial, won in 2016, was T-2nd in 2015 & '17, in 28 rounds worst score is 73 as he has been under par 21 of the 28 rounds. The thinking is the break may help Spieth who needs to get back to the way he swung the club in 2015.
T58 Win T71 T34
After playing great in his career, he took big dollars last year to switch away from TaylorMade who he played with for 20 years and played with Honma clubs. Despite winning the 2019 Farmers, the move was terrible and he has since switched back to his TaylorMade clubs.
Those that could surprise us this week by not playing well:
T14 T74
Has had mixed results in two tries at Colonial, T-14th in 2014, and T-74th in 2008. Just don't think Colonial is one of his favorite courses. He hasn't had an impressive year, plus he didn't play well a couple of weeks ago at Skins Game.
CUT CUT T48
Has had a tough time at Colonial, missed the cut in 2019 and '18. Had mixed results since he was runner-up at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, his best finish is T-14th at Mexico.
CUT T42 CUT CUT
He also has struggled a lot at Colonial mostly due to poor driving, in four starts has missed the cut three times so I think this isn't the right event for him.
Chad S says
Thanks Sal. Great to have your information packed previews and golf back. Looking forward to watching Colonial this weekend.


text:
The Imagined East: An Unexpected Revival
While much of the art world and the art market continues to be endlessly enthralled by the excretions of Contemporary Art, which for the most part say nothing new and display little actual "art" in their execution, a forgotten corner of art history has slowly been gaining in popularity among both collectors and the public.
The reemergence of interest in "Orientalism", which I've written about before, is difficult to explain outside of pure aesthetics. Take Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), whose beautiful "Rider and His Steed in the Desert" (1872), shown below, is about to be the star prize for collectors bidding at Sotheby's annual Orientalist art sale. What are collectors attracted to in these realistic works, that have nothing to do with trends in things like graffiti art or objects strewn across a floor? (Incidentally, if a major auction house has a separate sale and department dedicated to objects from a particular branch of art history, that is usually a good indicator that the branch in question is popular enough among collectors to be singled out for specialty marketing purposes.)
In this painting, Gérôme shows a man in North African dress in a barren desert landscape surrounded by high mountains; he is seated on the ground and is holding his horse's head in his lap. We don't know exactly what happened here, but man and horse are clearly looking at each other with a note of sadness. Something has happened to the horse, who is either in pain or dying, perhaps from a broken leg, and the man is powerless to do anything about it. The less obvious part of the story is the implication of what will happen later: this is likely the prelude to the man's own death, since it's unlikely that he'll be able to make his way out of the prison of stone and sand on his own.
The image here is touching, even heart-wrenching, but of course it's a fantasy. Gérôme isn't depicting something that he himself witnessed, or a scene described in history or literature, but rather an entirely imagined scenario of his own creation. Having traveled extensively throughout North Africa and the Middle East, he was able to use his studies of the people, places, and objects he observed when he returned to Paris, in order to create complex, well-executed images such as these. Much of his art doesn't depict scenes from real life, but rather creates something more akin to a painted short story.
Yet although this is a classic example of what is commonly referred to as "Orientalist" art, it should be pointed out that Western artists imagined things like Moroccan battles, Persian soothsayers, or Arabian harems long before the rise of the 19th century art academies. And in fact, although not strictly speaking of the "Orientalist" school, this earlier blending of fact and fiction in Western art sometimes produced really off-kilter results, when you dig down more deeply into what they depict. Many examples of this can be found in portraiture, where painters such as Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) and Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) relished the opportunity to dress their subjects in clothes that were either Eastern in origin, or influenced by Eastern design, even if the individuals wearing them were from somewhere else entirely.
Take Reynolds' magnificent "Portrait of Omai" (c.1776) for example, one of his most famous works and currently in the midst of a tit-for-tat between its current owner and the British government. Here we see a full-length portrait of a young man, dressed in white robes and sporting a turban, standing before a palm tree in a landscape. His hands and forearms are covered in tattoos, and we may even see a bit of tattooing on the left leg as well. If you were to guess the national origin of the subject based on how Reynolds has presented him, you would probably say that he was from somewhere in North Africa, the Persian Gulf, or even possibly the Indian Subcontinent.
The problem here is that Omai was a warrior from French Polynesia, not from anywhere in the Islamic world; he met up with Captain Cook during the latter's exploration of Polynesia, and returned with Cook to London for a time, where he became something of a celebrity. [N.B. There is a screenplay waiting to be written about this, I reckon.] Turbans were not worn on the islands, and the overall outfit has more to do with the fashions of the Ottoman Empire than with traditional dress on Tahiti. The image captures a sort of cosplay that Reynolds has asked his model to engage in, rather than a careful ethnographic study: what we see is costume, not custom. It succeeded in its day, as indeed it still does, because Western collectors have always had a taste for objects and images that seem exotic or strangely foreign, long before the rise of the Orientalist school of art.
Why Orientalism is particularly hot at the moment after many years of disinterest or indifference is difficult to pin down. Prices for Orientalist works are (comparatively) low, inventory is good, and many of these paintings are magnificently well-executed eye candy. And of course, the more museums that hold exhibitions looking back at this school of art, the more potential collectors become aware of it. We shall see whether this is just another trend, or whether Orientalist works continue to hold and rise in value.
Category: art Tags: art, art history, auction, Jean-Leon Gerome, market, Orientalism, painting, portrait, Sir Joshua Reynolds, trend
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2 Comments on "The Imagined East: An Unexpected Revival"
Caroline Niesley
What in the world is the matter with art historians, they use to be problematic and now many are impossible! Caroline
What indeed? Thank you for reading and commenting!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Temples are certainly the best British band that exists today. Greetings from Chile, we look forward to your visit.
A more 60's Tame Impala?
Love this song guys! Excellent work. You are a huge inspiration for me. My music reflects it.
This band has a bright future. Superb.
Their is no band like them!!!
This song at Coachella, yes?
good sounds,very 60s evocative feel I like it..


Take the junk out of your trunk and put this gear in instead.
Summer road trip season is that liberating time when we actually leave the HOV lane and drive farther than Costco. It's also a time when you need to be ready for emergencies on the road in unfamiliar or remote places. Instead of using your car's trunk as a free storage unit, clear out the junk and replace it with this comprehensive list of gear that will prep you for almost anything. Watch the video, and then use our checklist below to gather the gear.
Jumper cables or a portable battery pack made for cars: The former never needs charging, but the latter frees you of having to find a Good Samaritan.
A quart of oil and bottle of coolant: Honestly, if you drive a late model car you'll probably never need these on the road but if your car is 10 or more years old, pack them.
A fire extinguisher: Get the dry type, rated A-B-C, to cover almost any kind of fire in or around your car.
Roadside indicators: This used to mean smoky, sulfur-smelling flares but today you should look into folding reflective triangles or flashing LED light pucks.
A radio: An FRS family radios, like the ones you may already own, should be packed away with a fresh set of batteries stored outside the radio. Bonus points: Get your ham radio license and handheld dual-band radio and really be able to reach someone.
Flashlight: Ideally, one with no batteries. Get a rechargeable LED flashlight that lives in a charging mount. Bonus points: A headlight for your head, which is real handy when both hands are busy fixing something in the dark.
A tool kit: Even if you don't know what to do with it, a kindly stranger might.
Duct tape: Everything you've heard about it, short of neurosurgery, is true.
A ready spare tire: If your car has a spare, make sure it's not flat. If your car uses a slime & inflator kit instead, make sure the slime hasn't expired. And if your car has run-flat tires, you're all set.
First aid kit: Spend the $25 to get a good one, not the silly one you got for free at the office CPR training fair. And carry a tourniquet made from the rubber tube of that exercise band you never use. You may never need it, but when you do, you really do.
Towels and gloves: A box of nitrile gloves make every roadside problem more palatable, and those blue-paper shop towels are second only to duct tape in usefulness.
High-vis windbreaker: Takes up almost no room, and you'll thank me when you're replacing a tire on the driver's side in the rain at night.
A thermal blanket: Do not count on running your car for heat.
Pen and paper: Keep a set separate from the ones in your glove box, which always get lost.
Energy bars and bottled water: Both will be gross after living in your trunk for years, but if you're stranded for a long time you'll devour them with relish.


text:
Born-again Steel
David Houck worked for Big Steel all his life -- until the mill shut down. . .
By Craig R. Waters
From the end of Ohio Avenue, on a rise overlooking the old steel mills, the village of McDonald, Ohio, looks quiet. Not deserted: The homes of the steelworkers in this industrial suburb of Youngstown are still pristine, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church still draws housewives to its 8 a.m. Mass. But signs of economic vitality are rare. Down the street, Austin's and the Starlight Lounge no longer fill with thirsty workers at the end of each shift. The union hall -- Local 1307, United Steelworkers of America -- is empty. "USS Industrial Park . . . Now Leasing" announces a billboard at the entrance to the former McDonald Works of United States Steel Corp. " 1,100,000 Sq. Ft. Buildings on 172 Acres." Beyond the sign sprawl the hulking structures of dark brick with corrugated steel roofs, surrounded by endless parking lots that, even on a weekday morning, remain virtually empty.
The Youngstown region's quietude--the shut-down factories, the area's 40,000 or 50,000 unemployed steelworkers -- has, in the past several years, become a sign of the times, a national symbol for the decline of American heavy industry. It has also become the focus for flurries of rhetoric and political activity. Candidates for the Presidency speak stirringly of the neglected responsibilities of big business and big government, of the need to protect and revitalize the domestic steel industry. Civic groups petition corporations and public leaders; unions decry the inaction. All demand that steel be returned to its position of preeminence -- and that Youngstown, rooted in the steel industry, flourish with steel once more.
David Houck is a symbol of a different sort. A steel man for 29 years, a witness to the closing of the Campbell, Struthers, and Brier Hill works of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., and the Ohio and McDonald works of U.S. Steel, Houck is going about what is now an unusual business in Youngstown: making steel. The company he conceived of and more or less willed into existence, McDonald Steel Corp., has been in operation for close to three years now. In that time it has expanded from one mill to two, put well over 100 people back to work, and this year should do some $28 million in sales.
But if McDonald is a symbol of Youngstown's potential for the future, it is a future that will look quite different from the recent past. For one thing, the modest achievements of Houck and other Youngstown residents in recent years have not been the product of placards, or community groups, or campaigning politicians, or federal funds. Houck and two local venture capitalists, a handful of investors, and a host of enterprising steelworkers willing to live with concessions created McDonald Steel through a kind of hands-on cooperation that has been rare in this embittered economic no-man's-land. For another, no one involved in the venture -- least of all Houck, who probably knows the difficulties best of all -- proposes reviving the old mills in all their overbearing glory. The vision of a revitalized Youngstown that is emerging from the work of people like Houck and his backers rests on a hundred small ventures taking the economic place of every silent giant.
"What we're talking about is going back to the free enterprise system," observes Houck. "For 200 years, it worked pretty damn well."
Seated in his office, a framed sampler reading "Ain't it fun to be in business for yourself" hanging on a nearby wall, Houck is explaining his provenance. He hails, it seems, from a Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. town called Aliquippa, in western Pennsylvania. It further seems that the town is named after an Indian queen for whom George Washington is said to have felt a certain fondness. "Now," he concludes with a smile, "you'll never forget Aliquippa."
You are also, thanks to the offbeat story, less likely to forget David Houck. At 55, he shows the wear and tear of the battle to reopen McDonald: He is overweight, with silver-white hair, an aging executive. His voice and enthusiasm, however, take a good 10 years off his age. When the steam whistle sounds in the plant adjacent to his office, signaling that 2,000 degree F steel is about to move on the 14" mill, his flesh and soul somehow seem revived. He listens, and sits up a bit straighter. Then he resumes the story of how, reluctantly, he became not only an entrepreneur, but a symbol of hope for Youngstown.
In 1947, when he was 17, Houck went to work in a Jones & Laughlin pipe mill. Later, after earning an industrial engineering degree, he joined U.S. Steel in Youngstown. "I never questioned what I should go into, he recalls. everybody in my town had worked in steel." His other reasons were eaually conventional: The industry offered an excellent training program, good money, and job security.
At the time, of course, steel was an unchallenged giant. U.S. mills were churning out metal for skyscrapers and automobile assembly lines and were contributing to the rebuilding of Germany and Japan. Growth continued right up to 1973, when the industry hit its peak of 151 million net tons of raw steel a year. Back then, better than half a million people worked in steel, and the industry earned a 4.5% net return on sales of $40 billion. Imported steel accounted for only 12% of the market.
Since mid- 1974, the numbers have been all downhill, with nearly 500 steel facilities closed in the interim. Last year, production dropped to 85 million net tons, employment sank to under a quarter of a million, and the industry suffered losses of 7.4% on sales of $48 billion. Imports--from Europe, Japan, Canada, Korea, Brazil, Mexico -- accounted for 21% of the market, and were growing. A few domestic minimills, producing steel from scrap metal with electric furnaces and continuous casters, have kept the news from being entirely bleak; these mills now account for some 20% of all U.S. steel production. But the era of the large, integrated steel mill has, for a decade, been coming to an end.
In 1955, when Houck arrived in Youngstown to work at the Ohio and McDonald works, the barroom talk was upbeat, the atmosphere one of invincibility. Youngstown and the other towns that lined the Mahoning Valley -- McDonald, Girard, Campliell, Struthers -- were 20 miles of huge mills, mountains of coke, thundering blast furnaces, tangles of railroad track flanking the meandering river. Some individual buildings were a mile long. If there was any indication of hard times to come, it was betrayed only by the age of the buildings: The Ohio Works, which produced raw steel, dated from 1895, and the McDonald Works, which milled steel into special shapes, from 1917. "My impression," recalls Houck, "was that they were marginal operations, but that we'd spend some money and modernize them. We never did. Still, I never imagined that I'd see them shut down."
As the years passed, declining output led to layoffs and partial shutdowns. Republic Steel Corp. closed its doors piecemeal, unobtrusively, but rumors flew. Then, on September 19, 1977 -- "Black Monday" in Youngstown -- the fragments of foreboding finally coalesced into an awful reality: Youngstown Sheet & Tube announced that it was suspending its operations, throwing some 5,500 people out of work. At U.S. Steel, the mood grew significantly more somber. Already the work force at McDonald Works, where Houck was then a superintendent, had shrunk by half, to 1,750. Only 5 of the original 11 mills on the 372-acre site were still operating.
William H. Kirwan, general superintendent of the Youngstown district for U.S. Steel asked Houck to draft a plan giving the region a reprieve. For four months, as chairman of a Save the District" committee, Houck studied the company's strengths, weaknesses, and prospects. Then he offered his report. The Ohio Works should be shut down, he recommended. An electric furnace and caster should be installed at McDonald to feed its mills. The cost would be some $208 million. But it was an investment that would, he believed, ensure the district's survival and ongoing profitability.
His report went up to corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh in mid-November 1979. About a week later, November 19 -- a second Black Monday -- U.S. Steel revealed that it, too, was abandoning Youngstown. Kirwan and Houck's valiant attempt had not swayed the company from its foregone conclusion: It could no longer justify mounting losses or additional capital outlays. "What bothered us most," says Raymond Fowler, then an acting foreman with 14 years' experience, "was the way it was announced; it came over the radio at noon, and circulated through the plant." Fowler, married, the father of three young children, would soon be out of work.
"It was a devastating period of time," Houck remembers. Rallies, workers occupying U.S. Steel's local headquarters, suicide counseling programs, the Ecumenical Coalition of the Mahoning Valley, a group rnade up of steelworkers, clergymen, and concerned citizens -- it was a swirling maelstrom of activity. Houck, given eight months to produce heavy backup inventories for customers and then to mothball the mills, found himself torn between alternatives. He followed the emotion-laden maneuverings of the coalition, which incorporated as Community Steel Corp. and announced that it would seek up to the legal maximum of $100 million in federally guaranteed loans to reopen the facilities. He entertained the opportunity of a transfer to another plant. And he began to wonder whether he, himself, could resurrect the McDonald Works. "I would never, voluntarily, have said, 'I've had it, I'm going to quit this company and start my own,' " he notes. "After all, I'd come to U.S. Steel for the security -- give me my security blanket, my benefits, and protect me for the rest of my life."
Still, Houck had spent four months demonstrating that, with cutbacks in labor, increased productivity, and a focusing of its product line, the mill could be saved. He went back to his numbers and played with them. Imagine, he thought, a start-up work force of 75. No new furnace and caster. Not five mills -- that was too ambitious -- just one to begin with, the 14" mill the most profitable. A leasing arrangement rather than an outright purchase. And he came up with a brand-new number. It could happen, he figured, for $3 million. Within a few weeks, he had transformed elements of the "Save the District" report into a business plan.
As his men prepared for the final closing of the mills -- draining water lines, greasing bearings, turning heaters on massive electric motors to keep them dry--Houck encouraged them. "I told them, 'Don't break the windows, don't smash up the place; we're going to start it back up again.' " Before the last crew left, in July of 1980, he says, "They swept the floor . . . and it stayed that way for a year and a half." Houck, who stayed on to ensure that remaining orders were shipped, felt very much alone. "When you walk through that warehouse," he says, "and all you hear is the shutters swinging in the breeze and the pigeons cooing, it's very desolate."
Houck took his plan to a U.S. congressman from Ohio. That got him nowhere: "He practically threw me out of his office. He was mad at U.S. Steel for pulling the pins out from under the public." Then he visited the realty division of U.S. Steel, also without success. The corporation's managers had no qualms about someone else using its property; they had sold or leased other shuttered sites. But they were leery of dealing with someone who was still an employee. "They said, 'We don't want to talk to you, a superintendent, any more than we want to talk to those union guys in Community Steel. Climb into bed with somebody that can negotiate as a businessman.' " The itinerary of disappointment led eventually to The Bedroom Cocktail Lounge, Houck's favorite watering hole in Youngstown. "A friend came in, we got to talking, and I asked him, 'How do I go about raising $3 million?' "
That simple question yielded an introduction to David Tod, a scion of one of the oldest and most affluent steel families in the valley. The Tods, who started Brier Hill Iron & Steel Co., which merged into Youngstown Sheet & Tube, had become major stockholders in that company. David Tod, a business and mechanical engineering graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, worked for several steel companies before becoming an investment banker. Eventually, almost inadvertently, he created Torent Inc., Youngstown's only venture capital firm, with attorney Daniel B. Roth.
It was not love at first sight. "I really wasn't too interested," Tod recalls of his first meeting with Houck. "Politely cool, is how Houck describes his reception.
The coolness, however, didn't last long. When they studied the proposal, both Tod and Roth were impressed by Houck's solid numbers, and by his projections for the 14" mill. The McDonald Works was unusual in that it made specialty shapes--everything from simple "rounds" used in construction to intricately filigreed forms used in the manufacture of truck-wheel rims. The 14" mill (the dimension, roughly speaking, sets a limit on the thickness of the steel it can process) could itself produce 108 different shapes. Only one other mill in the United States -- the Bar, Rod & Wire Division of Bethlehem Steel Corp, headquartered in Johnstown, Pa. -- was equally adept. When it was part of U.S. Steel, the 14" mill had supplied 30 customers, many of them unable to get what they needed anywhere else.
What impressed the two investors most, however, was Houck's willingness to stay in lieu of a transfer. "I figured that if he was willing to bet his career, then we should be willing to bet some money," Roth says.
Tod and Roth presented Houck's plan for McDonald Steel Corp. to Torent's board. "They thought we were crazy," notes Roth. "Everyone in Youngstown was so depressed and down on steel that the idea of opening up a mill didn't seem to make sense." Even when the board acquiesced, potential investors were wary. "It was a very hard sell," admits Tod. While Roth and Tod were busy finding investors, another problem arose. When Community Steel learned what was going on, they filed suit in U.S. District Court to stop the transaction. "It was more heart than heads," explains Houck. "They really wanted to reopen everything. "
Community Steel, which as the Ecumenical Coalition had once discussed resurrecting the Campbell Works of Youngstown Sheet & Tube, was in fact hoping to implement all the basic components of Kirwan and Houck's "Save the District' proposal. "We wanted to carry out the entire plan " recalls Staughton Lynd, a legal services attorney who represented Community Steel. The mills would be reopened and supplied with steel from Ohio Works until a new electric furnace and a continuous caster could be installed at McDonald. Then Ohio Works would lie closed. Community Steel, in essence, certified the soundness of Houck's approach, but was disappointed by his limited aspirations. "There was no doubt," explains Lynd, "that the 14" mill was the gem of the McDonald collection, and we felt that if it was withdrawn from the package, it might make any larger reopening impossible." During the ensuing months of tense confrontation, Houck mailed newspaper clips to old customers, keeping them informed of developments.
The dispute was resolved when Community Steel learned that its request for a $100-million loan guarantee hadn't been approved by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) of the Commerce Department. "The EDA was very close to the steel industry," says Lynd, "and they may have been less than enthusiastic about another competitor in a poor market -- we really don't know." Realizing that 75 jobs were better than none, Community Steel then sided with Houck, demanding more concessions from U.S. Steel, among them the right of first refusal on additional mills. The lease that was signed incorporated the group's suggestions; it also gave U.S. Steel 30% of any profits in addition to a flat fee.
While the legal difficulties were unfolding and being resolved, Torent's search for backers finally paid off. Commercial Shearing Inc., a local manufacturer, made a major investment. That got things rolling, and The Tamarkin Co., the owner of Valu King supermarkets, soon followed. "They said that if someone didn't soon begin creating jobs in the Mahoning Valley, there'd be nobody left to buy groceries," recalls Houck.
"Look," explains Tamarkin vice-president Nathan H. Monus, "when you get involved in any business venture, it's bound to be a gamble. But we were trying to keep this community alive, and we were impressed by the quality of the people involved. They knew enough about steel to convince us that it could work." Now, adds Monus, Tamarkin is "very pleased" with McDonald, both as an investment and as a generator of jobs.
Thanks to such backers, Torent raised $1.5 million in equity and arranged a $1.5-million line of credit. Then negotiations with U.S. Steel began in earnest.
"This was my office when I was superintendent," says Houck, "same desk, same chair. One day, I was U.S. Steel, the next day, on September 1, 1980, I was McDonald Steel." Although he owns only 2% of McDonald's stock, Houck isn't complaining. "I didn't do this for the salary, or for the investment," he says simply. "I did it because I wanted to see a dream happen."
Still, other obstacles remained. When Houck went out to solicit business, he found abandoned clients unreceptive. "Their attitude was, 'U.S. Steel shut it down, and you were part of that. You screwed me up. Why should I give you a break?' " Another response, equally unhelpful, was, "When you start up, I'll come by, watch you run, and then I'll give you an order." Specialty steel mills, Houck explains, do not roll without orders in hand. Houck countered with condolences and high-powered visits from a group of people -- himself, his metallurgist, and his product designer. "We won people over with our team effort," he says. The fact that customers were eager to have another dependable supplier also helped. Slowly, an order book materialized.
"I was impressed by the fact that here was a guy who was going into business for himself, trying to do something that a larger company had failed at," recalls Gary L. Bell, divisional purchasing agent for Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.'s Steel Products Division. The division had purchased special shapes of steel for truck-tire rims from McDonald Works in the past; when McDonald closed, it bought these items from three offshore suppliers. Bell, new to his position, harbored no animosity. "From a quality and cost standpoint, it was the best thing for Firestone," he avers.
The only major hurdle left was the mill itself, mothballed with care but desperately in need of renovation. As part of its agreement with McDonald, U.S. Steel committed close to $3 million to the project: new paint, new pipes, and one undertaking that at times seemed comparable to relocating the Cheops pyramid. McDonald Works had operated on special, 25-cycle power generated at Ohio Works, which had already been demolished. To get the mill back on line, Houck had to transplant a huge 15,000-kilowatt generator and an even larger 25,000-horsepower motor to the mill. To support them, he had to buttress the floor of the plant with 800 cubic yards of concrete.
Workers, all formerly with the McDonald Works (about one-third were collecting U.S. Steel pensions), were recalled, and, on December 1, 1981, the 14" mill rolled steel once more. Two weeks later, Houck, Tod, Roth, local officials, mill workers and a gaggle of press gathered for the official opening. That morning, as he took reporters through the mill, Houck was unable to show them glistening billets being crunched into shape by 1,200-pound rollers; his crew couldn't get the generator going. At the reopening ceremony, standing in front of a huge sign that read " 14" Shape Mill Rolls Again," Houck confided the awful truth. Then, as though providence had graciously relented, the steam whistle sounded, signaling that the mill was about to start up.
It was a day of promise for Youngstown, the television commentators reported: Steel with a capital "S" had returned to the Mahoning Valley. Houck, as proud and hopeful as anyone present, knew better. Big Steel had departed forever. "The industry had retrenched, and was going to continue to do so," he explains, and the attempts to save small pieces of the giant faced an uncertain future. That future, moreover, shouldn't look like the past--not unless the Mahoning Valley wanted to be as dependent on one industry as it had been before. "If you see that parking lot full," observes Houck, "you'll know that I've failed." Huge plants and huge work forces have no place in scaled-back times; fewer bodies, more productivity, and a carefully culled product line are the orders of the day. "Skinny-down," says Houck "Skinny-down."
Today, Houck's favorite phrase--"skinny-down" -- is the rule at McDonald Steel. When he was drawing up his "Save the District" report, it quickly became apparent that only drastic cuts and radical new efficiencies would enable him to hold on to this piece of history. "Productivity used to be a dirty word here," he concedes.
Then, he presided over 32 managers, who oversaw a work force of 800; those 800 men and women operated four mills, three shifts a day, while another 600 or 700 staffed the offices. "Then there was the corporate structure," Houck explains. "A division manager here at the plant, a general superintendent at Ohio Works, a manager of steel operations in Pittsburgh, an administrative vice-president . . . all of that corporate overhead and confusion.
"When you wanted $10,000 to buy a widget," he continues, "they'd want an engineering study, then a review by accounting. . . . It was an atmosphere that was conducive to not doing things." There was also the burden of a Sears-catalog-size collection of work rules that had evolved over the years, the result of management's acquiescence to union demands. "Each man knew all of the things that he didn't have to do," says Houck. And there was the ordeal of labor negotiations every three years -- all of this transpiring in a context of growing apprehension about the future of the steel industry itself.
Today, when he talks about structure, Houck refers to himself as "a president without a vice-president." It is a phrase that says much about the new company. His office staff numbers a lean eight; there are four superintendents. Now that a second mill, the 8" mill, has been reactivated, the work force totals 126, running one shift a day. "In the old days, we had a department for everything," Houck notes with a slight grimace, "production scheduling, order entry, advertising, sales. We had an entire floor of billing girls who worked round the clock." Now there are individuals, innovation, and involvement. Houck does most of the selling himself, and relies on outside vendors whenever he can. "We've created a helluva lot of spinoff jobs -- maybe 300," he beams.
That, in fact, is one of the accomplishments of which he is most proud: job creation in the new small companies that he, Tod, Roth, and the others believe must ultimately replace Big Steel in Youngstown's economy.
"Jerry [Sturdevant], a retired bricklayer from U.S. Steel, came to me and said, 'Would you be interested in hiring us if we formed a little bricklaying company?" Houck explains. "It's a beautiful service for us. I don't have a bricklaying crew standing around stacking bricks, waiting for work, and Jerry's willing to come in on weekends to reline the furnaces when they're not in use." S&R Contractors Co. is already a viable entity, picking up some outside jobs in addition to its work for McDonald.
McDonald also makes use of outside help for environmental testing and diesel repairs. "Before, we had an entire diesel shop staffed with people," Houck points out. "Now, we have one ex-diesel mechanic who works on an as-needed basis Contracting out -- for everything from preventive maintenance to marketing -- is a tremendous advantage I have over U.S. Steel."
But McDonald's biggest advantage may be the men and women who work there. "When we hired people," explains Houck, "we said, 'You'll be expected to do whatever's necessary to get the product made and shipped.' " Unemployed steelworkers, many of whom had grown uneasy with the increasingly bureaucratic style of U.S. Steel and their own union, were ready to give new ways a chance. Work rules that had accumulated like dust over decades were whisked away "Then, crane operations were handled by the crane department, and you might have to have one operator in each crane. Now, when you need to move something, anybody -- maybe a guy from packaging -- just goes up and runs that crane." Eager to get back to work, some workers voluntarily accepted steps down in status and pay, a virtual impossibility in the old regime.
"Improvements just didn't happen during my 14 years with U.S. Steel," says Raymond Fowler, one of the first rehired. "You knew that you could do things better, by combining two jobs, or by bringing in a machine, but you also knew it wouldn't be done. We've introduced major efficiencies." Fowler, whose father had headed a steel union local for more than 15 years, is unfazed by McDonald's non-union status. "In many ways," Fowler observes, "the union had become like the work rules -- self-serving and political."
Nonunion labor represents a significant saving for the company. While USWA steelworkers average around $23 an hour in salary and benefits, Houck's crew earns only about $8.50 an hour in direct wages, with fringes adding less than $3 more. And while union contracts called for 13-week vacations every fifth year, 4 weeks is the most a McDonald worker will enjoy. On the other side, however, Houck has instituted a profit-sharing plan, and has attempted to make his employees a part of what is happening. In the plant's early days he presided over beer-and-bullshit get-togethers at Austin's Lounge, today, he posts reports on every sales call he makes. When customers visit the plant, they are introduced to mill hands. "If I know the client has been having a problem with packaging, I'll leave him to rap with someone in the warehouse. Now my guy feels important. He knows that he's not just wrapping this stuff for the hell of it."
"We're building better product," says Fowler, "and the attitude is great -- it's a feeling of, yeah, we can do it."
There is apparently little his employees won't do for Houck. For 19 months, they worked a night shift to take advantage of lower electric rates; the $17,000-a-month savings made the difference, during the company's first year of operation, between a loss and a marginal profit. They are also ready to improvise or make do with what is available to help pull McDonald through. "Now, when they tell me they need $10,000 for a new widget, I tell them, 'Ah, come on, can't you do it for $5,000? Go beg, borrow, or steal an old part,' " says Houck.,And sometimes, under the cover of darkness, they do, slipping under the fence that technically separates their property from U.S. Steel's to scrounge a necessary part from an idle mill. "They get it done for $5,000," Houck says with a wink.
For its part, U.S. Steel has proven an understanding and supportive landlord. Possibly looking toward the day when it may lease or sell additional mills to Houck, it has itself done some bartering. "They had two diesel locomotives that they were going to scrap," says Houck. "1 told them, 'Let me have them. I'll use one to provide parts to rebuild the other. Then, when you need cars moved around, I'll do it for you.' " Now McDonald's Number 777, a handsome antique engine whose workaday gray is emblazoned with bright yellow, orange, and red stripes, sits in the warehouse; when he has a spare moment, Houck, long a model railroader, takes it out for a short spin. "It's one of the better perks," he admits.
The commitment and trust between Houck and his employees flow both ways. "I think Houck's a fair guy," says Paul Casey, who had put in 17 years as a bar shearman before U.S. Steel shut McDonald Works down. "I liked it before, but right now, there's a much closer feeling than there's ever been. We're all working for the same goals."
"It's changed," notes his co-worker, Josh Hooks, another recalled veteran. "Now what's best for the company is best for us, too."
When Houck walks the floor, the relationship between employer and employee shows; he gives them a thumbs-up sign of encouragement as he strides between stacks of cooling steel, and no one hesitates to stop him to ask about a pending order or some personal matter. One worker explains the problems he is having in financing a new car, and asks if the company can help. Not now, Houck explains, but he begins to mull the notion of a credit union.
The cooperation has paid off handsomely. Three years ago, McDonald Steel had no customers, no earnings, and, in the minds of many, no future. Today, Houck has managed to recover all of the 14" mill's 30 original customers, has started up the 8" mill, and, last fiscal year, shipped 33,000 tons of steel, earning profits of around $1 million on sales of $20 million. "That 5%," he observes, "is about as good as anybody ever gets in steel." With a lot of other mills operating at a loss, McDonald's margin looks even better by comparison. Houck has also invested in capital improvements -- the rebuilding of a furnace, a new IBM 36 computer for the office--and is now toying with the notion of opening more mills. He even has commissioned a study to determine the right time to buy the property from U.S. Steel. "My consultant thinks we ought to do it right now," he confides, his smile betraying both his pleasure and his disinclination to move so quickly. Big plans, like big steel, are best approached with caution in skinny-down times. "It may happen one-and-a-half years from now," he adds.
Beyond that year and a half? Houck leans back in his old U.S. Steel chair, and indulges what, for him, is a purely rhetorical question. "A full-blown minimill," he finally says. "An electric furnace and caster so that we could start from scrap and go to finished product." It is an expensive option, but one that would end his reliance on the seven outside steel suppliers he currently deals with. "It might be difficult to justify economically, but there's also a psychological significance, a certain romance about molten metal."
The skinny-down executive is, however, uncomfortable with grandiose possibilities. He keeps returning to the stark reality of the huge black-and-white photographs on the wall behind his desk, aerial views of two steel mills near Youngstown. They are his touchstones, his reminder of what is important and of what he hopes to achieve, and he points out detail after detail for his listener.
Two photographs: one of the Ohio Works -- which no longer exists -- and one of the McDonald Works -- which does.


RowdMap, Inc., wins 2015 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year(R) for using open data to help health plans and providers transition to pay-for-value arrangements.
July 22, 2015 08:02 ET | Source: RowdMap, Inc.
LOUISVILLE, Ky., July 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® is one of the most prestigious business awards. Now in its 29th year, the global award recognizes high-growth, market-leading businesses. The award celebrates those visionaries who are leading their companies to push boundaries and even disrupt their industries.
Founders Melanie Rosenthal, Joshua Rosenthal, PhD, and Burak Suzan, have had several successful businesses in the healthcare world, but saw the true opportunity in healthcare with intelligently moving to new economic arrangements informed by open data. Spurred in part by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the government is releasing data like never before. In an industry with little transparency, this is one of the first steps in controlling healthcare costs and determining the winners, and how to go about succeeding, in the new value-based economic arrangements.
RowdMap, Inc. used public data to determine which providers will succeed in these arrangements by analyzing their practice patterns and the associated unnecessary spend and no-value care. One out of every five dollars spent in the United States is spent on healthcare. It is one of the largest parts of the U.S. economy that has been left unchecked for decades as healthcare spending has consumed and strained other resources. To be able to understand spending allocations and how care is being delivered is crucial to curbing healthcare spending in the U.S. With the released information, companies like RowdMap, Inc. can harvest the information to gain insight into the healthcare ecosystem.
With access to open data, RowdMap, Inc. identifies no-value care and the hospitals, practices, and providers contributing to it then matches providers and networks with the right economic models and risk arrangements. Not only is this important for the obvious reason of controlling overall costs, but it is also powerful for those providers and hospitals operating in the new ACA world where payments are moving from fee-for-service to pay-for-value. Providers will have to operate and manage patients with little to no unnecessary care to remain profitable and succeed in these new economic arrangements. The fee-for-service payment model incentivized no-value care as it paid providers for doing more procedures and tests. Now in pay-for-value models, those providers most adept at avoiding no-value care will best succeed in bundled payments, ACOs and capitated risk arrangements.
And we cannot forget about the center of care, the patient. Publishing data will allow patients to move to true consumers. With increased transparency, people will be able to shop for the hospital and providers providing the best care for the most value. This will drive healthcare to be more like a market economy with supply and demand. A misconception in healthcare is there is little supply of providers. This may appear to be so in the in the current fee-for-service arrangement. However, with reduction of unnecessary care, providers practicing a large amount of no-value care will have more time to spend on more patients, a core mission of RowdMap, Inc.
RowdMap, Inc. is one of the companies to use the data to help healthcare stakeholders make better, informed decisions to deliver the best and cost effective care. Having leaders and visionaries like RowdMap, Inc. is important to move the healthcare industry forward. RowdMap, Inc. is honored to have Ernst and Young recognize the value of our work, its economic impact and the potential to transform how care is delivered.
RowdMap helps health plans, government payers, providers, and hospital systems develop Risk-Readiness strategies to excel as they transition from fee-for- service to pay-for value. As CMS sunsets fee-for-service payments, RowdMap's Risk-Readiness Platform helps payers and providers identify and manage unwarranted and unexpected variation. RowdMap identifies ideal provider arrangements based on provider practice patterns and population characteristics within a geography. Payers and providers then use RowdMap to build strategies around these new risk relationships. RowdMap helps them enter new markets, segment populations, identify waste, design products, and understand referral patterns. RowdMap's platform comes preloaded with government benchmarks out of the box no IT integration required. RowdMap's Risk-Readiness Platform works across all market segments and has significantly larger returns than traditional, medical economic approaches.
More articles issued by RowdMap, Inc.


We take down videos when a content owner informs us that the video infringes their copyright. If the content owner is using our automated Content ID system, when uploads that match the content owner's content are detected, YouTube acts upon the videos as to the content owner's own policy — either monetizing, tracking, or blocking.
The Derivative Work Concern Group in Hong Kong recently issued a statement condemning YouTube for the deletion of an authorized derivative song for commemorating the victims of recent ship crash.
The song, Hong Kong with Love,《大愛香港》, was a derivative work of an original song, with lyrics composed and music directed by Adrian Chow. With authorization from Chow, the famous derivative song writer, San Kala (山卡啦)composed the new song which was sung by G Major (G大調). However the song was taken down soon after uploaded onto YouTube.
The song was uploaded by G Major. According to G Major the warning letter issued by YouTube was written in threatening tone. It says [zh]: "If we receive another infringement notice, we will delete your account and all the videos that you've uploaded…. Please delete all the videos that you don't have all-rights-reserved and please don't upload any video that infringe others' copyrights".
The concern group's statement on October 8 states that such warning has deprived G Major, San Kala and other derivative work creators' rights to expression.
The concern group has cross-checked with Universal Musical Group (UMG), the company copyrights holder on the matter. The company claimed that they did not issue any complaint letter to YouTube and explained that the take-down was done by YouTube's automatic detection.
In the warning letter, YouTube said the take-down practice was according to U.S. copyright law. If this is true, claims the concern group, derivative work should be under the protection of fair use and the first amendment of the U.S Constitution.
1. To restore the video "Hong Kong, with Love".
2. To correct YouTube's previous statement that San Kala and G Major have infringed the rights of original copyrights holder.
3. To apologize to San Kala and G Major.
4. Instead of using the auto-detection and delete the works without asking if authorization has been granted or if the work is a fair use case, YouTube should end the assumption of a derivative work as guilty of copyright infringement.
5. Explain to the public how is the decision of the take down of "Hong Kong, with Love' is made.


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Digital Marketing Agency San Diego | Parallel Interactive
A digital marketing agency that specializes in B2B digital marketing, website development, search engine optimization and content marketing.
11/21/17 Social Media Predictions for 2018
03/14/17 Image Recognition Technology
01/17/17 Changes to Facebook Search in 2017
Social Media Predictions for 2018 11/21/17
Image Recognition Technology 03/14/17
Changes to Facebook Search in 2017 01/17/17
Insights : Social Media Today
Social Media Predictions for 2018
The past few years have seen advancements in digital marketing technology far beyond many expectations. The next steps, according to leading social media managers, are to refine, integrate, and regulate how we use these platforms. Social Media Today Contributor and Advanced Energy Global Leader for Social and Digital Media Stacey Sayer interviewed industry leaders on…
Image Recognition Technology
Facebook's image recognition technology capabilities have become significantly more powerful in the last few years. Andrew Hutchinson, writer and moderator for Social Media Today, explains the evolving image recognition technology and the potential opportunities for marketers. Last April, Facebook released automatic alternative text, a feature that uses image recognition technology to generate a description of…
Changes to Facebook Search in 2017
Most users don't pay much attention to the Facebook search function. While may seem like an afterthought, it actually holds a land of opportunity. Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today reveals why Facebook search will be important to marketers in 2017. In 2015, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook was indexing over 1.5 billion searches per…
Springtime Social Media News
Keeping up with every ounce of news can be very time consuming. We realize that not everyone has the time to read the paper and keep up with the latest social media news. Here at Parallel Interactive, we are dedicated to keeping our readers up to date with the latest industry and social media news.…


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More Info →Hokowhitu Lagoon, Palmerston North
Hokowhitu Lagoon is the only one of the original 5 lagoons, present when Europeans first settled Palmerston North, remaining. As part of the Hokowhitu Reserve the lagoon remained in Maori ownership until 1892-1893, becoming part of what is now known as the Caccia Birch estate and used privately. In 1940 the lagoon was acquired by the Palmerston North City Council as a public reserve, and, as part of the Centennial celebrations of New Zealand in 1970 a road was built on the eastern side of the lagoon, named Centennial Drive. In the 1960s the area was developed and the footbridge constructed across the lagoon. This photograph was published in the Manawatu Evening Standard, 15 November 1980.
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Hokowhitu Lagoon, Palmerston North
B&W print
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Centennial Lagoon, Hokowhitu, Palmerston North
hokowhitu lagoon,
historic places trust,
hokowhitu,
reserves,


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Jaylen Tairique Adams (born May 4, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Qingdao Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, earning co-Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year honors as a senior in 2018.

High school and college career
Adams played high school ball for Mount St. Joseph where he was a three-time MIAA A Conference champion. He committed to play in college for St. Bonaventure, averaging 17.9 points, 5.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore and was named a first-team All-Atlantic 10 player. In his junior season, Adams finished second in the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring (20.6 points per game), first in assists (6.5 per game) and second in steals (2.1 per game). He was named to the First Team All-Atlantic 10 for the second straight year.

Adams missed the first six games of his senior season. In February 2018, Adams scored 40- and 44-point games against Duquesne and St. Louis. As a senior, Adams was the fourth leading scorer in the Atlantic 10 with 19.1  points per game to go with 5.2 assists per game. He led St. Bonaventure to a 26–8 record and upset of UCLA in the NCAA Tournament. He was named conference co-Player of the Year with Peyton Aldridge. After the season, Adams was invited to the Reese's College All-Star Game but missed it with an ankle injury and instead played in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.

Professional career

Atlanta Hawks (2018–2019)
After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, Adams was signed by the Atlanta Hawks to a two-way contract. Under the terms of the deal he will split time between the Hawks and their NBA G League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks. Adams made his NBA debut on October 17, 2018, recording 1 rebound and 1 assist in 4 minutes of action in a blowout 127–106 loss to the New York Knicks. He scored 23 points in his G League debut in a win over the Grand Rapids Drive. On February 20, 2019, the Atlanta Hawks announced they had re-signed Adams to a multi-year contract. On July 13, 2019, Adams was waived by the Hawks.

Wisconsin Herd (2019–2020)
On August 20, 2019, Adams signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. He was cut in training camp and assigned to the Bucks' G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd. Adams scored a season-high 39 points including 6 3-pointers in a 122–115 win over the Grand Rapids Drive. On March 4, 2020, Adams dished out a career-high 14 assists to go along with his 19 points in a 106–108 loss to the Canton Charge. He averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game for the Herd.

Portland Trail Blazers (2020)
After the G League season, Adams was signed by the Portland Trail Blazers during the COVID-19 NBA restart to replace veteran forward Trevor Ariza, who opted out of returning to the NBA in Orlando due to child custody reasons. Adams missed several games with a lower back injury.

Milwaukee Bucks (2020–2021)
On November 24, 2020, the Milwaukee Bucks announced that they had signed Adams to two-way contract. On March 4, 2021, Adams was reported to have been waived by the Milwaukee Bucks after he appeared in seven games.

Sydney Kings (2021–2022)
On August 22, 2021, Adams signed with the Sydney Kings for the 2021–22 NBL season. He was named league MVP and helped lead the Kings to the NBL championship.

Crvena zvezda (2022)
On July 29, 2022, Adams signed with Crvena zvezda of the ABA League. He parted ways with the team on November 3, 2022.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta
| 34 || 1 || 12.6 || .345 || .338 || .778 || 1.8 || 1.9 || .4 || .1 || 3.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee
| 7 || 0 || 2.6 || .125 || .000 || – || .4 || .3 || .0 || .0 || .3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 41 || 1 || 10.9 || .331 || .329 || .778 || 1.5 || 1.6 || .3 || .1 || 2.7

Playoffs

|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2020
| style="text-align:left;"| Portland
| 3 || 0 || 7.0 || .333 || .000 || .000 || 1.0 || .7 || .3 || .0 || 2.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 3 || 0 || 7.0 || .333 || .000 || .000 || 1.0 || .7 || .3 || .0 || 2.0

NBL

|-
| align="left" | 2021–22
| align="left" | Sydney
| 21 || 21 || 31.7 || .430 || .401 || .815 || 5.1 || 6.1 || 1.2 || .3 || 20.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 21 || 21 || 31.7 || .430 || .401 || .815 || 5.1 || 6.1 || 1.2 || .3 || 20.1

College

|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2014–15
| style="text-align:left;"| St. Bonaventure
| 22 || 22 || 32.5 || .386 || .324 || .783 || 2.5 || 4.5 || 1.1 || .0 || 10.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2015–16
| style="text-align:left;"| St. Bonaventure
| 30 || 30 || 37.5 || .445 || .438 || .874 || 3.7 || 5.0 || 1.3 || .3 || 17.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2016–17
| style="text-align:left;"| St. Bonaventure
| 30 || 29 || 37.4 || .419 || .356 || .821 || 3.7 || 6.5 || 2.1 || .2 || 20.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18
| style="text-align:left;"| St. Bonaventure
| 28 || 27 || 37.0 || .437 || .436 || .851 || 3.4 || 5.2 || 1.5 || .3 || 19.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 110 || 108 || 36.3 || .427 || .394 || .838 || 3.4 || 5.4 || 1.5 || .2 || 17.4

References

External links

St. Bonaventure Bonnies bio

1996 births
Living people
21st-century African-American sportspeople
ABA League players
African-American basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Australia
American expatriate basketball people in Serbia
American men's basketball players
Atlanta Hawks players
Basketball players from Baltimore
Erie BayHawks (2017–2019) players
KK Crvena zvezda players
Milwaukee Bucks players
Point guards
St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball players
Sydney Kings players
Undrafted National Basketball Association players
Wisconsin Herd players

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Say good-bye to the hustle and bustle of city life in this unique double A-frame home that has just been remodeled! Relax in this amazing home with such character and tasteful cottage decor. Beautiful views of pristine Lake Charlevoix and 100 ft of lake frontage. This property comes with a boat hoist and 2 jet ski hoist. Ready for the water toys! Bring your boat and jet skis or rent them. Situated between Boyne City and Charlevoix you can take your boat for a short cruise to explore the south arm, lake Michigan or just have lunch or dinner at one of the nearby towns. Fish right off your dock or just relax in a lounge chair by the water. End your day with a fire by the beach. This side of the lake does have a rocky shoreline but is sandy at the end of the dock and swim platform. The kids have their sandy area for beach toys. Located on peaceful Cedar Lane. Follow the lake shore around for 6 miles to beautiful downtown Boyne City. Only a few minutes to Boyne Mountain which offers golf, skiing, tubing, skating, water park, zip line, and spa. Very close to Ironton ferry, Boyne City, Charlevoix and East Jordan. Great place to stay for family weddings in the spring and fall. Have fun looking for morels in the spring or enjoying the fall colors around the lake and area in October. Great hiking, bike paths and snowmobile trails nearby. So much to do in this area you'll never be bored.
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