Porch Talks with Joel Schmieg

The King is gone.
No, not LeBron James. Not even Pete Rose.

I am talking about Arnold Palmer. The king of golf.

Palmer passed away at age 87 in Pittsburgh where he was awaiting cardiac surgery, according to CNN.

Arnie was a legend. He made golf cool long before guys like Tiger Woods. And he was a family man.

He met his first wife early in his career at a tournament and was married to her for 45 years before losing her to cancer in 1999.

Everything about Palmer was cool. He was the kind of golfer that a simple man could enjoy. He was not fancy, and he did not adhere to typical country club rules.

If I could be any golfer, it would be Palmer. Not because he was the greatest — that title be- longs to Jack Nicklaus or Woods, depending on who you ask — but because he had the most fun. Palmer loved his life, and he lived it to the fullest.

When he was on the golf course, he took risks, and sometimes they did not pay off.

But who wants to be the boring golfer that just plays for the next shot and two-putts every hole? I want to go for the green on every shot, and I don’t want to putt to get close, I want to make it every time.

That is the way Palmer played. The way most casual golfers dream of playing.

Palmer was also a very quotable man. He was famous for many things he said, but one line in particular stands out to me.

“I have a tip that will take ve strokes off anyone’s golf game,” Palmer said. “It’s called an eraser.”

That quotes epitomizes why Palmer was such a likeable man. He didn’t take things too seriously. Palmer believed in going big or going broke, and he was much bigger than just a game.

Palmer’s memory will live on thanks to his family and his brand, which he grew well beyond the sports world.

But perhaps his simplest contribution to society, yet one that many will remember for the longest, and one that non-sports lovers will remember exclusively, is his drink.

Everyone loves the classic tall metal cans containing the perfectly mixed sweet tea and lemonade.

One thing on my bucket list was to witness the man himself mix the famous but simple drink with his namesake.

It would have gone exactly like the SportsCenter commercial. The two anchors watching in awe as Palmer mixed the drink in front of them.

Today, we raise our Arnie Palmy-filled glass in remembrance of the king.

I can only hope they serve the delicious concoction in heaven.

Schmieg is the sports editor