With the NBA Lockout approaching two weeks, Michael Jordan certainly will find himself busy in the upcoming weeks and months. As the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, Jordan, along with the other NBA owners, will be busy trying to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the players association before the 2011-2012 season is potentially affected.
↵For the immediate future though, it's off to Lake Tahoe for some golf (and gambling most likely). MJ is one of 85 celebrities in the field in this year's American Century Championship, an annual celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe that's been held for the past 21 years.
↵Jordan may not be quite the golfer he thinks he is, but there's no denying that he's got game. His handicap is right around or just below 5 (3.0 according to Golf Digest's 2009 figures), and he's ranked somewhere near the top 40 amongst celebrity golfers depending on what source you cite.
↵He faces long odds though to win the ACC title this year, as there's a handful of participants that are simply a leg above the competition in these events (Billy Joe Tolliver, Rick Rhoden, Tony Romo for example). Jordan is listed as a 40:1 favorite to win this year, tied for the best odds with Ray Allen and Vinny Del Negro amongst the 10 past and present NBA players in the field. Jordan's best showing at the tournament is a 9th place finish. In 2010, MJ finished 22nd. I'm not sure who MJ will be paired up with, but for fans in attendance, the hope has to be that he's in a group with Charles Barkley, who along with Lou Holtz, is the biggest long-shot to win at 500:1.
↵Other Chicago athletes and celebrities include Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould, former Bears legend Jim McMahon, and former Notre Dame coach and current ESPN analyst Digger Phelps.
↵For more information on the tournament, including the television schedule for the week, check out the tournament's website.
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