Them on Us: Celebrity Snake mishap; JH golf

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

By Jake Nichols

Hollywood actor all washed up… in the Snake
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The Times-Call newspaper (Longmont, Colo.) recapped river mishaps so far this season, claiming that heavy runoff this spring and early summer have made for treacherous conditions for inexperienced users. Highlighted were the apparent suicide in the Yellowstone River and a woman in Rocky Mountain NP who fell in a swollen creek. Then we reread the story of Byron Thames and his ordeal in the Snake River.

Readers may recall the 40-year-old man and his teenage son who set sail July 10 in a crummy inflatable kiddy raft and were soon hung up when the toy was punctured by a logjam. JH Weekly editors didn’t know it then, but the victim is a man of some notoriety in the television world.

A typo in the initial press release from GTNP was later corrected and suddenly California area papers were taking notice in the story. Thames, who was eventually cited by park officials for not having life jackets and failing to obtain a park boat permit, is a veteran TV actor. As a youngster he was cast in the NBC television network dramatic television series Father Murphy in the early ‘80s. He has also appeared on E.R., 21 Jump Street and Family Ties.

Where was this photo taken?
CNET’s “Road Trip Pic of the Day” on July 19 was an easy one; a slam dunk for JHolers. Take a good look. Hint: Picture deep snow all around. Anyone? Anyone? Buehler?

Teeing off in Jackson Hole
When Congress handed out all that TARP money, they poo-poo’d CEOs with their lavish lifestyles and golf memberships. Blogger Tom Lindmark has discovered Congress doesn’t really hate golf, it seems.

Web site www.ButThenWhat.com uncovered no less than 18 summer golf outings disguised as fundraisers. Or fundraisers disguised as golf outings. One of our own made the list. Sen. John Barrasso will tee-up at Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club in August. Republican golfers will cough up $1,000 a round to hit the links with the senator. That’s only slightly higher than standard greens fees, by the way.
Only the Ski Channel celebrated Stewart Cink’s victory in the British Open last weekend. Cink derailed the Cinderella story that would have been a Tom Watson victory. At 59, Watson could have become the oldest golfer to win the major, making him the sentimental favorite. But he’s no skier.

Cink, on the other hand, is an avid skier. “Cink has skied all the major resorts in Colorado and Utah as well as Jackson Hole and Sun Valley,” Ski Channel reported.
Still on the subject of golf, Brad Benjamin, 22, of Rockford, Ill. defeated Nick Taylor, 21, of Canada in the U.S. Amateur Public Links Final last Saturday. And if it’s not too far a stretch to link the event to Jackson Hole, allow us to drop this: Benjamin became only the second left-hander to win the amateur contest since Ralph Howe III did it, in 1988 at Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis.
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All in the family
Jackson Hole high school graduate Jake Mangis will be attending the University of Wyoming this fall on a rodeo scholarship. There is a good chance Mangis may one day end up roping in Las Vegas for National Finals fame and fortune. For now, the 18-year-old continues to turn heads and steers in team roping events at the National High School Finals Rodeo in New Mexico.

 The local Farmington paper, Daily Times, ran a nice piece on the tradition of rodeo in the Mangis family. Jake’s dad, Clay, told reporters that Jake’s grandfather and great-grandfather both rodeo’d. Then he pulled out a picture of Jake’s great-great-grandfather riding a bucking horse. JHW

CNET Pic of the Day

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Them on Us: Celebrity Snake mishap; JH golf | Planet JH News Article: General News

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