OK it looks like I spoke too soon this weekend. Not only did the US fail in Ryder team competition at St. Kildaire, they stunk up the joint in Davis Cup tennis in Moscow. Oh you gloating Europeans must be having a field day, probably even considering nominating Russia for EU status for the day as "your boys" kicked our behinds not only in golf but in tennis too.

Andy Roddick did a great Tiger impression by choking in team competition after "restoring" his career at the US Open (granted Tiger did win a couple matches in the Ryder to dispel the notion that he cannot "play" in team competitions, unfortunately team competition requires more than just great play, it requires leadership and inspiration, something Tiger has never had to learn in his beat-down-everyone-in-sight career).

Roddick, on the other hand, failed to provide leadership in a much more tangible arena - the field of play. In his two Davis cup matches, he managed to lose to the 70-something ranked player in the world (Marat Safin), and then to a substitute (I am striking against writing anymore unfamiliar Russian names) for a guy who just broke back into the top 50 (Alexander Youzhny, who achieved familiarity by reaching the semi-finals of the US Open), by the fifth set score of 17-15 (?!). The score is accurate, I have just never heard of such a thing. Maradona at a tennis match? Argentinian fans allowing an unpopular athlete to escape unscathed? The US losing in international competition twice in the same weekend? This is too much. I'm going to exchange my rubles for Euros before I lose my marbles (fill in your own punch line here).

In the meantime, apropos the Ryder Cup, gleefully harassing "expert opinions" (re: rankings) and "moving scenes" (the apocryphal competition-ending concession by the European Ryder team of a 15-foot putt to the American team in order to avoid the worst losing margin ever in Ryder Cup history) from my publisher have generously poured salt in my patriot wounds by talking about the overemphasis on tour points given to the PGA events.

However, it's not the PGA tour that's overemphasized. It's Tiger Woods, the shadow that his aura casts over golf has for too long disproportionately enhanced perceptions of the American game and concealed the inaccuracy of the PGA ranking system, which the Ryder results have exposed on a scale that makes those alleged pix of his wife look like an Eskimo fashion show (has anyone actually seen them)? And by the way, if anyone cares to explain the Ryder scoring system to me, I'll be the one hiding my head in the sand trap.

I would list the scores but they are not worth looking up, let alone publishing!