Football, Thanksgiving and a little golf on U.S. minds

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Photo courtesy of www.owc08.com

NFL golfer Ben Curtis didn't have an answer ready when asked what he and Brandt Snedeker plan to wear this week, but he does have plenty of red-white-and-blue Buffalo Bills gear in his suitcase.

SHENZHEN, China -- The look on Ben Curtis' face was one of either confusion or bemusement -- or both. The earnest question directed to him during his press conference Tuesday afternoon at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup was a simple one: "Can you give us an insight into what the American uniform is going to be on Thursday morning?"

He hesitated for a second or two, seemingly processing what he'd just been asked. Curtis looked at his questioner, glanced to his left at his playing partner on the dais, Brandt Snedeker, they both started laughing and Curtis finally offered, "We haven't even discussed it actually."

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Brandt Snedeker can always be relied upon to wear a smile, even if he and Ben Curtis don't know what else they'll be wearing.

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Snedeker then chimed in with, "I don't even know if we're going to have uniforms."

OK, OK. Viewers of "Project Runway" these guys are definitely not.

But it should be noted they both looked resplendent in their colors of choice Tuesday. Curtis was sporting a dark brown shirt with orange-and-white trim in honor of the Cleveland Browns, while Snedeker was decked out in a green shirt, probably No. 376 on the Pantone Color Chart.

Naturally, nothing screams "U-S-A" like green and ... brown?

Curtis, who wears NFL team logos and colors on his shirt and visor, did admit later that he brought mostly Buffalo Bills gear with him because -- relax, America -- the Bills' primary colors are red, white and blue.

With Snedeker and Curtis making their World Cup debut this week, they may not be the favorites entering the tournament. But they very well could be the most relaxed team of the bunch.

After the press conference, with answers translated into Mandarin Chinese ("I need to give shorter answers," Snedeker decided as the briefing approached 45 minutes), both players started talking football -- not exactly a topic on the consciousness of 1.3 billion Chinese but seriously on the mind of Team USA.

The football season is winding down, after all, and the two golfers have a lot to discuss. Snedeker admitted his disappointment in his alma mater's flameout this season after Vanderbilt's encouraging 5-0 start. All Curtis could say about "his" team was "We stink" when the topic of Kent State football came up. He was heartened, though, that Lou Holtz is also miffed about Kent State's 3-8 record. With Curtis and the former NFL and college head coach both former Golden Flashes and both members at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Windermere, Fla., Holtz told Curtis recently that he'd written a letter to Laing Kennedy, Kent State's athletic director, not so kindly telling the AD that if Ball State, Western Michigan and Central Michigan, all Mid-American Conference schools like Kent State, could field winners, there was no reason Kent State couldn't, as well.

"He was fired up," Curtis said. "Lou said he mailed the letter."

Meanwhile, Snedeker has no such angst. Although the Commodores are losers of five of their last six, this season has still been an enjoyable one for Snedeker. And he wasn't afraid to admit why: The current state of University of Tennessee football.

"I'm having a great time sitting back and watching what's going on at Tennessee. I'm not going to lie to you. It's about time they get to feel what Vandy has been going through for years," Snedeker cracked. "This year has been great. I've loved watching them lose every week. The only thing that would have made the year complete is if Vandy could have beaten them. But no excuses; we should have beaten Tennessee and didn't. Luckily, everybody else has been beating up on them."

After going back and forth on how a college football playoff should go down -- and both Curtis and Snedeker are in agreement that a playoff system is needed -- Curtis predicted Oklahoma would emerge as the national champion, while Snedeker said, "I gotta go with the SEC. I won't root for Tennessee ever, but I will root for the SEC. I'll go with Florida getting to the national championship game over Alabama and then winning it all."

As the two golfers bantered back and forth about bowl games and different Bowl Championship Series scenarios, trying to get them to talk about golf was like trying to get a couple of middle-schoolers to finish their algebra. When someone asked them to handicap the field of 28 teams gathered at the Mission Hills Golf Club's Olazabal Course, site of this week's tournament, they finally turned their attention back to golf.

"Well, let's look at it," Snedeker said. "England, with Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher, looks tough. And Scotland, with Monty (Colin Montgomerie) and Alastair Forsyth will be good. And Sweden has the guys with the highest ranking, (Henrik) Stenson and (Robert) Karlsson. I think Germany, with Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka will be good, and don't forget about Japan with Ryuji (Imada) and (Toru) Taniguchi. And I'm sure there are some teams I'm overlooking. There are a lot of good teams.

"But," he continued, "I guess I'll have to go with "

He momentarily stopped for effect and said, "The USA. I'll go with the U.S. Those guys are good."

"Yeah, I like the U.S." chimed in Curtis.

The two players did talk a little strategy, but Curtis kept his analysis both simple and laconic. "Just tee the ball up and hit it. I don't think it's going to be anything extraordinary with the planning." So much for golf's version of X's and O's.

While Curtis has been competitively idle for more than a month, Snedeker has been a world traveler. Curtis' last official start was at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, where he tied for second. "I'm sure I'm going to hit some great shots, and I'm sure I'm going to hit some bad ones," Curtis added. "Hopefully my partner, he's been playing quite a bit lately, he'll keep me in there."

Snedeker indeed has been a little busier. He played in the Kiwi Challenge -- a PGA TOUR Challenge Season event in New Zealand with Adam Scott, Anthony Kim and Hunter Mahan, he tied for eighth at last week's Dunlop Phoenix in Miyazaki, Japan, and, oh, by the way, got married a couple of weeks ago and honeymooned in Fiji.

With the players' two wives remaining in America this week, Snedeker and Curtis will be hanging out on Thanksgiving together. They both wonder what the traditional feast with all the trimmings will be like in a country that doesn't exactly recognize Myles Standish, the Detroit Lions and 18-pound tom turkeys as cultural icons. Snedeker, with an I've-been-there-before glance didn't seem too concerned about it, admitting he spent last year's holiday in Japan eating a plateful of sushi.

"I don't think my wife was too happy when I first said I was going to go [to the World Cup on Thanksgiving]," Curtis said. He reached over and patted Snedeker on the back. "I've got Brandt here. He's part of my family now, so it will be fun."

As the two walked down the Mission Hills clubhouse's long corridor headed toward the locker room, they were relaxed and happy. They didn't necessarily know what they would be eating for Thanksgiving dinner, football is still a big deal -- even 9,000 miles from home, they liked their chances against the 27 other teams this week and they didn't have a clue what they would be wearing come Thursday.

Other than smiles, of course.