Liebe, Lust und Leben » so were probably in a good spot," Whan sa

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Stacy Lewis brings more value to the LPGA Tour that just her golf. Along with becoming the first American in 18 years to win LPGA player of the year, and then rising to No. 1 in the world for four weeks, Lewis had a direct hand in bringing two tournaments to the LPGA Tour. One of them is this week, the Bahamas LPGA Classic, which grew out of her partnership with Ohio-based title sponsor Pure Silk. She also aced what amounted to a pop quiz by the chief executive of Marathon Oil, which now sponsors a tournament in July. Thats what led LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan to jokingly say Wednesday, "Shes better at sales than me." "Your stars drive your sport," Whan said. "Your athletes generate the momentum, and your job is to turn that momentum into business." Lewis, however, is not good enough to dictate weather. A storm the locals havent seen in some 20 years pounded Paradise Island through the night, dumping about a foot of rain in an eight-hour span that flooded the Ocean Club. There was so much water on the course -- the entire 18th fairway was covered -- that the tournament was reduced to 54 holes. The first round is to start Friday with a Sunday finish, leaving some flexibility in case more showers cause problems. "Im happy I got 18 holes of practice in yesterday," Suzann Pettersen said. "Well play whenever we can." The rain wiped out the pro-am, so the LPGA Tour hastily arranged for players to meet at a restaurant at The Atlantis for a question-and-answer sessions with the amateurs. The group of players included the top three in the world ranking -- Inbee Park, Lewis and Pettersen, along with Brittany Lincicome and Natalie Gulbis. It was an example of how the LPGA players try to do a little more, and it goes back to pop quiz for Lewis. She had a marketing sponsorship with Marathon, and the company was thinking about sponsoring a tournament. Lewis was playing in a pro-am with the CEO when he turned to her and said, "Why should I sponsor an LPGA event?" "It caught me off guard," Lewis said. "I said it was a different experience than the PGA Tour and your customers will love it. I think thats more why they did. They do a big customer outing. You get your name out there, but mostly they take care of their customers. And our pro-ams are better than any out there." The LPGA stars all turned out for a pro-am party Tuesday night at The Atlantis, with its massive aquarium as the backdrop. As for the golf? No chance. The rain fell so hard and for so long that on Wednesday morning, the tip of a red hazard stake down the right side of the 18th fairway was barely visible. The entire hole was a water hazard except for the tee and the green. On the adjacent ninth hole, water covered a deep bunker on the left side of the green -- two turtles were swimming in what had been a bunker -- and it was nearly coming onto the green. Whan asked some officials from The Bahamas if they should have considered an earlier date. The advance staff had not seen much of a cloud of the last week. "They said they had never seen a storm like this, so were probably in a good spot," Whan said. Lewis is trying to get back to top spot after winning the LPGA Founders Cup in Phoenix in March to reach No. 1 in the world. Not since Beth Daniel in 1994 had an American won LPGA player of the year, and Lewis was on an upward trend by winning the HSBC Champions in Singapore and the following week in Phoenix. Park won the Kraft Nabisco Championship and replaced Lewis at No. 1. There now is a three-way battle -- and it could grow -- as the LPGA Tour heads into the heart of its major championship season, including a return to St. Andrews. Lewis is concerned with the careless mistakes leading to bogeys, though the real struggle is finding a balance with her recent star power. She is one of the more remarkable stories in womens golf, having spent most of her childhood in a back brace because of scoliosis, and then having to go through surgery after high school to install a rod and metal screws. None of that kept her from reaching the top. As for the attention? She is getting recognized more often. She gets some of the largest galleries, even when playing early in the morning. "The hardest for me is the extra stuff, being the only American up there," she said. "That adds to the media requirements, sponsor requirements, doing extra things at tournaments. Managing my schedule has been the hardest thing." In her first tournament after going to No. 1, Lewis had interviews in the morning, went to practice, another session of interviews in the afternoon, followed by a video interview, a photo shoot and the pro-am party. "It was exhausting," she said After a morning practice Tuesday this week, she headed over to Atlantis for a promotional spot -- she swam with dolphins. That was fun. And after getting out of the water, it started to rain. If nothing else, Wednesday brought a day of rest. Wholesale Red Wings Jerseys . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Cheap Adidas Red Wings Jerseys . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. http://www.cheapredwingsjerseys.com/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Cheap Detroit Red Wings Jerseys .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Cheap Red Wings Jerseys . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Josh Hamilton had worn out his welcome elsewhere, but the Texas Rangers promised him a fresh start last season. Based on Hamiltons natural talent, it was possible to squint and see the upside, and in Hamiltons first at-bat back in Texas, he ripped a double and received a standing ovation. Things didnt stay quite so terrific -- he was recently released.Which brings us to Carlos Gomez. He had worn out his welcome elsewhere, but the Rangers promised him a fresh start on Aug. 20. Based on Gomezs natural talent, it was possible to squint and see the upside, and in Gomezs first at-bat in Texas, he ripped a home run. He hasnt recorded a hit since (0-for-11, 6 strikeouts).Every player is different. Hamilton requires his own special considerations, and to be fair, the Rangers arent the only team in baseball that had an interest in giving Gomez a shot once the Houston Astros dumped him. If theres one thing Carlos Gomez isnt short on, its energy, which a roster can lack around this time in the year. Yet its hard to see Gomezs promise. Every single indicator is down on his skills.On the simplest possible level, Gomez does fit.ddddddddddddThe Rangers lost Shin-Soo Choo to injury, and just a few years ago, Gomez was genuinely one of the best all-around players in the game. Hes still just 30, so its reasonable to believe hes not washed up. The Rangers paid virtually no acquisition price, and theres also no long-term commitment. Theyre taking a shot on a player who seems to be liked by his teammates.But its impossible to get around the numbers. In fact, those numbers almost couldnt be any more negative.To whatever extent you want to believe in the upside -- the Rangers had to see something -- its balanced out by the fact that the Astros, a division rival fighting for a playoff spot, gave up on Gomez. Whatever the Rangers see, the Astros didnt. And given what they had paid in trading for Gomez, the Astros had something to lose. They were invested in getting Gomez right. They couldnt, and the plot below is fairly damning. Lets dig in. ' ' '