Cue Up the Piano

Every year on a Thursday in April, the piano begins in earnest. Not familiar with the reference? Well, it's simply speaking to the unmistakable piano background that accompanies coverage of The Masters on CBS. As a music nerd, maybe I'm out of touch and take this into higher esteem than most, but the combination of the visually stunning scenes of Augusta National Golf Club and the sweet sounds of that piano get me ready for the biggest golf tournament in the world. Let's get it going!

• First things first, let me recommend downloading The Masters App, and making full use of Masters.org. Both are powered by the same system, and they stream live video of a "featured group", live video of the famous Amen Corner, and the most up-to-date leaderboard out there. A must-use.
• If you can get to an HD television, do it. In my opinion, there is nothing better to watch in HD than The Masters. I repeat. Nothing. Golf is a great HD sport anyway, but when you throw in the perfection of Augusta, it's out of this world. 
• Jim Nantz is great. Nobody seems to understand how flawless Nantz is, and because he's not a raucous personality, I feel like he slips through the cracks. For the media nerds (aka me), it's always an exhibition on how to do your job, and I enjoy it.
• Tianlang Guan. You probably have no idea who that is, but he is a 14-year-old 8th grader from China who is playing in the tournament this week. 14! What a story that is, and he's teeing it up with Ben Crenshaw in his 40th Masters appearance. Awesome stuff.
• The pick? I'm taking Tiger. For all of the nonsense, he's back to being the best golfer in the world, and if you are really asked to give a 1-man prediction, there's not a better answer than Woods. We are long past the day where Tiger vs. The Field was a discussion, but with a gun to your head, don't you want Tiger over any other individual player?

Enjoy!