GREENSTAR

you get what you give

[Mitch Benn @MitchBenn]

Don’t know who made this:

[🔴⚪️ dan @danxafc]

Rishi Sunak when he finally got Sky TV

[Toby Earle 🇺🇦 @tobyontv.bsky.social @TobyonTV]

if this is real, it’s a campaign killer

[Adam Bienkov @AdamBienkov]

How has he managed to mess up something as straightforward as 'attending D Day anniversary commemorations'?

Just utterly incredible

[David @Zero_4]

Tory commentator, Tim Montgomerie on Rishi Sunak leaving the 80th D-Day anniversary: “I want to put my head in my hands. If he came back for a political interview from the D-Day commemorations that is indefensible. It’s political malpractice of the highest order”

#newsnight

[Roberto @robert0wfc]

Greatest video I’ve ever seen, roll on the Euros 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[GREENSTAR @jgreen1995]

@sonnyhuntley “SH”?

[GREENSTAR @jgreen1995]

@RHSWisley I was at your garden yesterday. Can you let me know which variety this rhododendron is please

[GREENSTAR @jgreen1995]

@markusc__ Why do you think this? Because of the terrible atmosphere ?

[GREENSTAR @jgreen1995]

@SW_Help

[NUCLR GOLF @NUCLRGOLF]

This moment will live on forever..

Thank you, Verne 🐐

[Joe Pompliano @JoePompliano]

The Masters is one of my favorite sporting events, and its 88-year history brings some great traditions.

Here's a running list of the most interesting facts:

1. Media tickets (badges) have RFID tags inside them so the club knows where each person is at all times.

2. Even players who miss the cut at the Masters still walk away with a $10,000 check.

3. A 5-bedroom home near Augusta will rent for $30,000+ during Masters week, and brands often pay six figures for larger homes where they can host events.

4. The IRS has a special exemption in the tax code called the "Augusta Rule," allowing homeowners to rent out their homes for 14 days per year without paying taxes on the income.

This rule was initially implemented for Augusta residents only but is now available to everyone in the United States.

5. The Masters will do $70 million in merchandise sales this week.

That's...
• $10 million per day
• $1 million per hour
• $16,000 per minute
• $277 per second

The merchandise is so popular because you can only buy it at Augusta (aka no online sales).

6. In 1931, Augusta National was purchased for $70,000— or an inflation-adjusted $1.4 million. However, the property is now valued at over $200 million.

7. Augusta National has quietly been expanding over the years, spending more than $200 million (through an array of LLCs) to buy 100+ properties.

Augusta has purchased strip malls, restaurants, apartment complexes, and homes, adding 270+ acres to the property and often paying 3-4x their value.

8. Augusta National is debuting "Map & Flag" at this year's tournament. The premium hospitality offering isn't even on the property — it was built in a strip mall down the street that Augusta acquired for $26 million in 2020 — yet they were able to charge $17,000 per ticket (+ week-long badges) and have completely sold out.

9. The concession stand food is wrapped in green packaging, so it can't be seen on TV if someone litters.

10. Someone once found a green jacket in a Canadian thrift store. They purchased the jacket for $5, and it later sold at auction for $140,000.

11. Magnolia Lane is exactly 330 yards long, with 61 trees on each side.

12. Augusta's clubhouse has a wine cellar with 30+ pages of the world's most exclusive wines.

13. Previous Masters champions gather every year for dinner on the Tuesday before the tournament. The previous year's winner gets to pick the menu, but he must also pay for the meal.

14. The Masters leaves millions on the table by giving away the broadcasting rights to ESPN and CBS for free.

They do this to maintain complete control, handpicking advertisers, eliminating on-course signage, and only playing 3 to 4 minutes of commercials each hour.

15. Unlike most golf clubs, which are registered as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation.

This requires them to pay more taxes, but they do it anyway because it means they don't have to share their member list, income, holdings, or expansion plans.

16. More than 1,500 private jets will land in Augusta this week, paying about $3,000 in landing and parking fees.

17. Augusta has SubAir Systems under each green. This enables them to keep the greens consistent, sucking up water when it rains and adding moisture when it's hot.

Also, when someone slipped a few years back, Augusta added SubAir systems under all the walkways.

18. Dwight D. Eisenhower is the only U.S. President to become a member at Augusta National. He never actually attended the Masters, but Eisenhower made 29 trips to the property, playing 210 rounds of golf, during his eight-year term as President.

Even crazier, Augusta worked with the Secret Service to build him a safe place to stay, called Eisenhower Cabin, which is still used on the property today.

That's it for today! Enjoy the tournament, and if you learned something from this post, follow me for more sports business content.

[GREENSTAR @jgreen1995]

@rory_fans @ChrisTosetti @jackgeorgelumb

[Brian Cox @ProfBrianCox]

This is interesting because the basic arguement matches a recent Telegraph opinion piece - and it’s both correct and naive. It’s correct because the only way Brexit could have worked economically speaking was to use it to deregulate, lower business taxes, shrink the state etc. It’s naive because the majority of U.K. voters - especially those who voted for Brexit - don’t want that. They actually want a European social model - high spending on health, education, defence, etc. And the only way you can have that in today’s difficult geopolitical world (given our geographical position on the European continent) is to be part of the vast, pan-continental single market and customs union that exists to deliver the European social model as far as is possible. This is why the Labour Party, in government, will eventually begin the process of joining the European single market and customs union. The only other option is to follow the Brexiteer vision of a much smaller state - and a large majority do not want that. As the recent Telegraph piece pointed out, these are the only two choices that do not lead to inevitable economic decline.

[GREENSTAR @jgreen1995]

@MicktheMove_ Have fun uncle M

[GREENSTAR @jgreen1995]

@Matt_Hutson Legend

[Moz Perkins⚓️🇨🇶🇬🇧 Author 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @MozPerkins]

On November 7th, 1920, in strictest secrecy, four unidentified British bodies were exhumed from temporary battlefield cemeteries at Ypres, Arras, the Asine and the Somme.

None of the soldiers who did the digging were told why.

The bodies were taken by field ambulance to GHQ at St-Pol-Sur-Ter Noise. Once there, the bodies were draped with the union flag.

Sentries were posted and Brigadier-General Wyatt and a Colonel Gell selected one body at random. The other three were reburied.

A French Honour Guard was selected and stood by the coffin overnight of the chosen soldier overnight.

On the morning of the 8th November, a specially designed coffin made of oak from the grounds of Hampton Court arrived and the Unknown Warrior was placed inside.

On top was placed a crusaders sword and a shield on which was inscribed:

"A British Warrior who fell in the GREAT WAR 1914-1918 for King and Country".

On the 9th of November, the Unknown Warrior was taken by horse-drawn carriage through Guards of Honour and the sound of tolling bells and bugle calls to the quayside.

There, he was saluted by Marechal Foche and loaded onto HMS Vernon bound for Dover. The coffin stood on the deck covered in wreaths, surrounded by the French Honour Guard.

Upon arrival at Dover, the Unknown Warrior was met with a nineteen gun salute - something that was normally only reserved for Field Marshals.

A special train had been arranged and he was then conveyed to Victoria Station, London.

He remained there overnight, and, on the morning of the 11th of November, he was finally taken to Westminster Abbey.

The idea of the unknown warrior was thought of by a Padre called David Railton who had served on the front line during the Great War the union flag he had used as an altar cloth whilst at the front, was the one that had been draped over the coffin.

It was his intention that all of the relatives of the 517,773 combatants whose bodies had not been identified could believe that the Unknown Warrior could very well be their lost husband, father, brother or son...

THIS is the reason we wear poppies.

We do not glorify war.

We remember - with humility - the great and the ultimate sacrifices that were made, not just in this war, but in every war and conflict where our service personnel have fought - to ensure the liberty and freedoms that we now take for granted.

Every year, on the 11th of November, we remember the Unknown Warrior.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.

[GREENSTAR @jgreen1995]

@carlyjohnson123 @HenryBeal1