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The Ryder Cup is, hands down, my favorite event in golf.The Solheim Cup was my favorite event to play during my 17-year career on the LPGA Tour, but as a spectator -- I cashed in all of my frequent flyer and hotel miles to go slog through the mud at Oak Hill in 1995, covered four Ryder Cups as a commentator for ESPN and NBC, and witnessed another as a PGA of America board member -- there is no bigger event for me.So after watching nearly every hour of last weeks matches from the comfort of my home, Ill share a few of my observed highs and lows.The Highs1. Team USAs play in the final moments of the last two sessionsIn the Saturday afternoon four-balls and Sunday singles sessions, seven matches went to the 18th hole. The USA was 5-1-1, fighting through the finish instead of wobbling to the finish as they had in the past. Crucial putts were holed where they had not been previously. That fighters mentality was the difference, not a task force or a committee.2. Point productionEvery American contributed to the teams point total, with even Rickie Fowler, still looking for his first full point win coming into his third Ryder Cup, getting two victories at Hazeltine. The Euros had four players go through the week without contributing even a half-point.3. Overall quality of playGranted, the weather was ideal, but I cannot remember a Ryder Cup with a higher standard of play and fewer holes won with pars or worse. The most extreme example: Sundays single matchup between Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia, in which they made 19 birdies combined. Mickelson would have shot a 63 in medal play, and yet they battled to a halve.4. Putting surfacesThey were more smooth than fast, creating opportunities for the players to be aggressive and hole putts as well as shots from off the greens. As a result, the excitement, noise and drama came right through the TV.It was exactly the opposite of the drudgery of the 2004 matches at Oakland Hills, where the greens were so fast and so severe that there was little excitement and where it was not uncommon for holes to be won with pars. Ho-hum, and no thanks.5. Ryder Cup Task ForceThis was not a total win, simply because this could have been done with much less fanfare and perhaps would not have even been necessary if past captains, vice-captains and select players had been debriefed in previous years. Some of the best things to come out of it: more efficient use of time as it pertained to the players day-to-day scheduling, less transit time to/from hotels and fewer social functions.This created more opportunities for necessary bonding, communication, rest and practice. That was a necessary win.6. Playing ThroughSpeaking of TV, the playing through technology, where the split screen is used to enable ads to still run with full audio but alongside uninterrupted live action, was an enormous addition to the telecasts. I found myself actually listening to the audio of commercials because I wasnt annoyed at having to lose the live action and then play catch-up with so many taped shots. It has been used well in auto racing, so lets hope it sees more action in golf as well as other sports that dont have natural breaks in live action.7. The build-outs and infrastructure at Hazeltine NationalAfter seeing the wall-to-wall blue at Gleneagles create a distinctive home-field feel two years ago, the PGA of America made a concerted effort to bathe Hazeltine in red, making that advantage more visible and palpable. And wow, did they do it and do it right. From the first tee to the final green, it was indeed Americas home turf. If it wasnt green grass, it was red structures surrounding it.8. Thomas PietersThe American-educated rookie pick looked like he needed CPR on the first tee Friday morning, but by Sunday he had amassed a 4-1 record, showing passion, composure and reliability that will bode well for the Euros for decades to come. Hello, future.9. Junior Ryder CupPlayed at nearby Interlachen Country Club earlier in the week, the Ryder Cup continues to invest in its future by supporting this competition, which officially began in 1997. The USA won again this year and holds a 6-4 lead overall, but the dividends are already paying off with players on both sides of the Atlantic, such as?Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, seeing action in the matches proper.10. Closing ceremonyNeat, tidy, speedy and right to the point, with only the host, players, captains, vice-captains and those speaking in an official capacity on stage. What do we do to bring this simplicity back to the opening ceremonies that have become so much pomp and pageantry with so little circumstance?The Lows1. Vanishing senses of humorDanny Willetts brothers blog about American fans sent venom and an embarrassing amount of highly personal and hateful taunting through the crowd at Hazeltine, albeit a very vocal super-minority.If you do nothing else in your life, please take a bit of time to understand pithy humor. Youll be better for it. Danny Willett was right to say on Monday that most of his brothers humor about Americans had actually played out to be true. I made the remark a couple of decades ago after a Solheim Cup match that without the LPGA, the Euros, their tour struggling mightily at the time, would be bagging groceries.A firestorm erupted for about 48 hours (yes, it was before social media or I am sure it would have lived longer). But to this day, Helen Alfredsson, a longtime member of the European team and past Solheim Cup captain, and I still laugh about it.Speaking of social media, I tweeted about the American spectator who was heckling Justin Rose about not being able to make a putt in the practice round and offering up a $100 challenge. Well, the spectator delivered by making the putt, the Euro players and caddies celebrated with him and signed that $100 bill. I thought it was terrific. What better time for that sort of fun than in a practice round?Some guy tweeted back to me that the spectator never should have been heckling him to begin with. Seriously, come on, people. Its a practice round! I spent part of Saturday morning walking in a Susan G. Komen fundraiser in Albany, New York, supporting a friend who has been cancer-free for five years. Now that is something to take seriously.2. Phil Mickelsons trashing of Hal SuttonEarlier in the week, Mickelson criticized the 2004 U.S. Ryder Cup captain. What good did that do? Yes, Mickelson realized he had gone too far and reached out to Sutton -- thank goodness -- but how did he go through all of the details of the pairing with Tiger Woods, the difficulty of making a golf ball change with super short notice, but also fail to mention he himself had made major club changes right before the matches began?Mickelson is going to be a captain someday, and rightly so. Maybe then hell realize just how many decisions have to be made and the short periods of time in which you have to make them.Laundry of that sort needs to be cleaned in house and with an order for express pickup, not 12 years later.3. Roses commentsThe Englishmans comments in the Sunday evening European Team news conference caught me completely by surprise. Rose is one of the most pleasant and thoughtful people youll ever want to be around, so for him to whine about the incredibly weak course setup at Hazeltine was a real shocker. Given 24 hours to cool off, he might not have said the same.While not personally a fan of the architecture of the course, I thought the setup was brilliant. It encouraged and rewarded aggressive play without the players being handcuffed by lightning fast green speeds. It made for exciting theatre, drama, noise and thrilling sport.4. Team USAs white pants on Saturday.See-through specials. Wow, what a fashion felony that would have taken only a top-quality lining to rectify. Enough said.5. No Russell KnoxTwo PGA Tour wins in the past year, and he wasnt a captains pick for Europe. You can debate all day on whom he could/should have replaced, but between veterans Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, they produced only one point.Yes, Europe had six rookies, but at what point do you abandon form for experience? Only European captain Darren Clarke has that answer.6. Stay on messageCan we keep the administrator/leadership spots on news programming or in dedicated ad space instead of taking up valuable live air time? This doesnt go for just the Ryder Cup, but all sports. Now that we have options such as Playing Through, lets blend those messages that way. It would amp up the viewing experience for everyone while still relaying that important social and corporate message.High, low or anywhere in between, the Ryder Cup is still the pinnacle of sports events for me, and like in life, if were not moving forward, we are in retreat. Just my two cents on how to take a few leaps in the forward direction.Larry Johnson Youth Jersey . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. 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The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday.PHILADELPHIA -- Carson Wentz owes some of his success to Sam Bradford.Bradford certainly wasnt thrilled when the Eagles drafted Wentz with the No. 2 overall pick, but he served as a mentor to the rookie throughout the summer until he was traded to Minnesota on Sept. 3.When I first got here, it was good to have Sam and Chase (Daniel), Wentz said Wednesday. I talked to Sam quite a bit and really wanted to dive deeper into this offense. Sam had some good insight on our offense, and he was in a number of other systems as well. We had good conversations. I really built a good relationship with him and I look forward to playing against him.Wentz leads the Eagles (3-2) against Bradford and the unbeaten Vikings (5-0) on Sunday in Philadelphia. While much of the focus centers on the quarterbacks, Wentz isnt getting caught up in the hype.The Vikings are the next game on the schedule. Were excited for it, Wentz said. We have had two tough losses where we didnt execute the way we wanted to. We dont put pressure on ourselves, but at the same time, we play with a sense of urgency that we have to be better. We know that, and we will.Bradford, a former No. 1 overall pick by the Rams, set franchise records in his only season in Philadelphia wwith 346 completions and a 65 percent completion rate.dddddddddddd His 3,725 yards passing in 14 games was the fourth-most in Eagles history. Bradford passed up free agency and signed a two-year, $36 million contract with $22 million guaranteed in March.Then Philadelphia moved up to get the second pick and selected Wentz. Bradford figured his days with the Eagles were numbered. Still, he thought hed get one more season.I was really excited about the year there, Bradford said. I felt like I had a really good spring. I felt like I played well in the preseason. I felt like things were really coming together on offense for us. I looked forward to playing this year there and continuing the chemistry we had built last year.But the Vikings were desperate for a quarterback after losing Teddy Bridgewater to a serious knee injury and they moved quickly to acquire Bradford for a first-round draft pick and a conditional fourth-round.Its turned out to be a win-win trade for both teams.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP-RobMaaddi ' ' '