Kyle Porter, ever thoughtful proprietor of the wonderful golf newsletter Normal Sport, stops by to answer my DUMB golf questions. Topics include but aren’t limited to…

* Is golf the most alien of major sports?

* Why do Euros CRUSH Americans in the Ryder Cup?

* It’s not about wanting it more. It’s that those who want it more prepare more

* Are American golf fans…bad?

* Is there a political component to recent American fan bad behavior?

* Why do pro golfers trend conservative?

* What’s with country clubs being SO expensive?

* Why isn’t Scottie Scheffler getting sold to us better?

* Do we want athletes as ambivalent about success as Scheffler?

Audio version of this post is up.

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Congrats to Mr. ZigZag for winning our NFL Week 4 contest on sportspredict.com. What’s his prize? Well, should he choose to accept it, it’s a 30 minute phone conversation with yours truly. That’s right. You win a week, we talk on the phone, about whatever you’d like. So ZigZag and future Week winners: Email me at houseofstrauss@substack.com if this prize is appealing, though I completely understand if it is not.

This week’s pod with Steve was a fascinating look at how this season’s NFL kickoff change has turbocharged the value of a select few kickers. Are these unsung peripheral performers actually now among the sport’s most valuable players? Could such a thing be true? We get into that, plus secrets behind my unsustainably high SMART score, the “Death of Expertise,” and whether the ability to predict truly equals expertise. Enjoy!

Oh and I should mention that we’ll be discussing some of these topics and more on the BCC Chat.

House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.