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Golf’s crazy week, and the curse

While watching some of the Ryder Cup matches over the weekend, I had to wonder whatever happened to the once-gentile sport of golf.

The spectators at the matches in Paris, France (not Texas), appeared like they came straight of the set of the movie, “Happy Gilmore.”

The unruly crowd cheered the homestanding European team with all the enthusiasm found at a large college football game.

On the other hand, they jeered heartily whenever the Tiger Woods-led American squad messed up.

And Woods and his teammates played plenty of screwed-up golf to help the cause. Tiger, himself, dropped four of the five matches he played. He looked nothing like the guy who had resurrected his game this summer.

You half expected to see Adam Sandler (who portrayed Happy in the movie) to show up to fire up the crowd.

Things were more predictable in Dallas where the Detroit Lions were out to exorcise the demons of the long-standing curse of Bobby Layne.

As you’ll remember, Layne put a hex on the Lions after being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers after he helped lead the team to their last world championship in 1957.

His curse has survived all these years, with hardly a bump in the road.

But here were the Lions in Dallas with a one-point lead late in the game — apparently ready to dispatch the hated Cowboys.

A high snap from center sailed off the hands of Dallas QB Dak Prescott and bounced 10 yards backwards.

In most cases, the result would have been a large loss, or maybe even a recovered fumble for Detroit.

Perish the thought.

The ball bounced right back into the hands of Prescott, who avoided a loss by getting the ball downfield. On the very next play, he completed a long pass to Ezekiel Elliot to set up the winning field goal.

Instead of a big victory, the Lions dropped to 1-3 on the year with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers coming up next.

Whatever mojo Layne had, it continues unabated for beleaguered Motowners ….

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