Florida Middle School Teacher Ran Fight Club

Quote of the Week:

“Get busy living, or get busy dying.” –Andy Dufresne in Stephen King's Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption

Fact of the Week:

The straightest drive in golf belonged to Moe Norman. Never heard of him? That’s not surprising, considering Norman quit the PGA Tour after receiving criticism for “unconventional behavior” and spent the rest of his time playing on the Canadian tour.

But though Norman was rather shy and avoided the public eye, he could drive like no other. In his life, he only ever hit out of bounds once. As reference for those of you who don’t play golf, I hit out of bounds about twice per hole. Although I am a pretty terrible golfer.

Tiger Woods once said, “Only two players have ever truly owned their swings: Moe Norman and Ben Hogan.”

Vijay Singh, a three-time major champion, was asked who was the best golfer he’d ever seen. His reply was immediate: “Moe Norman.”

Norman won 54 tournaments and set 33 course records. He shot three 59s and made 17 holes-in-one. According to Golf Monthly, “He was obsessive with practice and had hit some 5 million balls by the end of his career. After receiving a lesson from Sam Snead at the 1956 Masters, Moe proceeded to hit 800 balls until his hands blistered. He was forced to withdraw from the tournament.”

Perhaps some of Norman’s obsession with perfection can be attributed to the fact that he may have been autistic. “He spoke with a high, singsong voice and often repeated himself. He had an amazing memory for numbers and was able to recall the exact hole yardages at 375 of the 434 courses he played,” Golf Monthly reports.

In the 1963 Saskatchewan Open, Norman led by three strokes entering the final hole. He got on the green with a birdie putt for the win but decided to putt into a bunker to see if he could handle the added pressure. He got up and down, securing a bogey on the hole and a two-stroke win. From someone else, this behavior may be seen as one of the greatest acts of showboating in history. For Norman, it was simple curiosity to see if he could do it.

Norman “didn’t see a doctor until he was 68, never owned a telephone, only went on three ‘dates’ in his life and received three tickets for driving his Cadillac too slowly,” says Golf Monthly. Because of his decision to play on the Canadian Tour, he made little prize money and didn’t open a bank account until he was 67 years old. And that only happened because the CEO of Titleist met Norman in Orlando and found out Norman had been playing with their ball for 40 years and had never received a sponsorship. On the spot, the CEO offered Norman $5,000 a month for the rest of his life.

Norman died in 2004, but his legacy lives on as one of the most interesting golfers and the straightest driver to ever hit the course.

Golf Monthly contributed to this article.

News Update:

Angel Footman. Via The New York Post

A Florida middle school teacher allegedly ran a fight club in her classroom. Angel Drew Footman, 23, called students out of other classes to come to her room and fight, as long as they abided by the rules of “30 seconds, no screaming, no yelling, no phones." She also offered the students the option to “run it back” during sixth period.

According to Law & Crime, “a partially redacted probable cause affidavit [stated that] the school resource deputy got a report on March 24 of Footman letting students fight each other in her classroom ‘during school hours on several occasions.’ School officials, including the principal, learned of this after several parents discovered videos of these brawls.

“Deputies claimed to find four different videos of three separate fights. The first video showed a fight on March 22 between two girls. The second showed another fight involving kids whose identities were completely redacted. Two other videos showed a fight on March 23 between two girls.”

A voice identified as Footman’s can allegedly be heard saying “no screaming, no nothing,” and “stop pulling hair.”

Deputies interviewed Footman, who “allegedly admitted the fights happened in her classroom but denied having any part in planning them. She denied calling students out of classes to fight, and suggested one of her students must have called the other classes. Asked why she did not step in, she said the fights happened too fast for her to do anything.”

“When I asked her why she didn’t call anyone for help, she initially claimed her desk phone wasn’t working (she later corrected this and told me it was) but admitted she should have used her cellphone to call someone,” the affidavit stated. “At one point in our interview, Footman stated outright that she knows she has poor classroom management skills.”

Footman was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and was released from jail and ordered to avoid contact with any of the alleged victims. She is scheduled to appear in court on May 4th.

Law & Crime contributed to this article.

Sports Update:

Via Quinnipiac University. Credit: QU Athletic Communications

It took only ten seconds of overtime for Quinnipiac Men’s Hockey to score a winner in the NCAA title game, securing its first national championship in the process. The Bobcats had twice previously been to the finals (2013, 2016), losing both.

The No. 1-seeded Minnesota Gophers, who were hoping to end a 20-year title drought, got off to a hot start, scoring just five minutes into the first period. They built a 2-0 lead in the second period before Quinnipiac got one back. Then, on a power play with under four minutes remaining, the Bobcats got another, tying the game at 2-2.

Quinnipiac had the momentum going into overtime, having outshot Minnesota 26-7 in the third period. They kept it up in OT. After winning the faceoff, the Bobcats perfectly executed a set play they’d practiced all season, culminating in a tidy finish from sophomore Jacob Quillan. It was the first time a national championship had gone to overtime since 2011.

While the future is bright for both teams, a number of players are expected to head to the NHL. Minnesota in particular will likely lose the bulk of its stars, meaning it has work to do if it wants another shot at ending its title drought next year.

ESPN contributed to this article.

Want to win 50% off Last Cup Scaries’ Fire Island t-shirt? DM the correct answer of this riddle to lastcupclothing on Instagram, and if you’re the first person to respond correctly, we’ll send you a code! Previous winners are excluded.

Open me, and you can't see me without a mirror. Close me and you can't see me at all. What am I?