Sept. 24, 2008 -- First off, there are some things you can't understand about the Ryder Cup unless you've been to one in person. Like how quickly the novelty of a guy dressed up like Colonel Sanders wears off the longer you wait behind him in the bathroom line.

But here's something you probably already knew that was reinforced Sunday: no matter which side you're on, winning is always more fun than losing. Way more.

Here's what else I either learned or rediscovered at Valhalla:

1. Blowouts are only boring if you're on the wrong end.

Leading up to the start of the matches Friday, I heard lots of talk about how this Ryder Cup needed to be more competitive to keep the casual sports fan interested. Those people had one thing in common: their American media badges. Having covered both kinds, I can vouch for the fact that reporting from a lopsided Cup isn't as much fun as the alternative. But you don't need no stinkin' badges to appreciate how special this event has become, regardless of the final tally.

If anything, the fact that Europe had lapped the U.S. in the last two Cups and won five of the last six made Sunday's victory all the sweeter for the American team and fans. As a beleaguered University of Tennessee fan -- yes, there are still a few of us out there -- I can promise the Florida rivalry (if you can still call it that after the latest "most embarrassing loss to the Gators ever" on Saturday) is anything but boring. Hopeless, maybe, but not boring.

2. Those who doubted Weekley don't know Boo.

Here's something I never thought I'd ask: "Would the U.S. have won this Ryder Cup if Tiger Woods wasn't injured?"

If I had ever thought to ask that question, here's an answer I never thought I'd give: "I'm not sure."

Woods' leg injuries shortened his season but lengthened the number of players who would automatically qualify for the U.S. team. Once Woods was taken off the points list, everyone moved up a notch, including Boo Weekley, who earned the eighth and final automatic spot instead of finishing on the outside looking in from the ninth position.

Had Woods been healthy, it's possible that Paul Azinger would have used one of his four captain's picks on Weekley. He did, after all, successfully defend this year at Harbour Town. But having never played in a Ryder Cup, Weekley wouldn't have been a lock to get a free pass.

Neither am I convinced the U.S. would've won this weekend without him. Weekley didn't just bring the American team 2 ½ huge points, he turned the matches into the Rider Cup, putting a city that knows its horses on his back for three days while helping saddle the Europeans with their first loss this millennium.

The indelible image from the 2006 Ryder Cup was both teams tearfully embracing Darren Clarke, who just a month before had lost his wife to cancer, after he'd closed out his match on Sunday at the K Club. The scene I'll never forget from Valhalla was on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. It's the one of Weekley straddling his driver and dashing off the first tee box Sunday in full gallop, slapping his own backside like a jockey down the stretch and whipping an already giddy gallery into yet another chorus of "Boooooooooo."

Besides going 2-0-1 on the course, Weekley was also unbeaten in the media center. Saturday, he said the crowds made him feel "a dawg that somebody done stuck a needle to and then juiced me up. Like I been a-runnin' around the greyhound track chasing one of them bunnies." When asked Sunday night how that bunny tasted, Weekley, without missing a beat, answered, "Chicken."

Woods is the best player in the world by the same mile and a quarter that measures the track at Churchill Downs, and no one has his will to win in whatever he does. The U.S. may have won by twice as much had he played. But for sure, Weekley kept his own team loose, the Europeans on their heels, and the fans in full throat.

He didn't just give the partisan gallery a reason to cheer; he gave them a reason to Boo.

3. It's better to be the Hunter than the hunted.

En route to the closing festivities Sunday night, I bumped into Hunter Mahan's agent, whom I hadn't seen in a few years. I reintroduced myself only to have him say, "I know who you are. I read what you wrote about Hunter." He was referring to the September 5th edition of Grant Me This (click here to read) in which I suggested Mahan would be under pressure to play well at Valhalla because of his critical remarks about the PGA of America's operation of the Ryder Cup in a recent interview.

Mahan's agent made it clear he didn't care much for my musings and pointed to the scoreboard which showed his client's team-leading 3 ½ points. But beyond the numbers, Mahan's spirit was infectious. Partnering with fellow Dallas resident Justin Leonard in the first three matches and with Phil Mickelson Saturday afternoon, Mahan went 2-0-2 before draining a Leonard-like putt Sunday at 17 in a match he halved with Paul Casey.

As someone who's often regretted something he's written or said, I told Mahan's agent I'd read my column again and make good if I messed up. And I will. In the meantime, no one can argue that this Ryder Cup rookie was Mahan of the Match.

4. The Louisville Lips were a knockout.

Amidst the popping corks and champagne showers up by the clubhouse afterward, I spotted former PGA Tour player and native Kentuckian Russ Cochran. He said the Ryder Cup was the biggest sporting event in the history of his home state, which is saying something for a commonwealth that boasts Muhammad Ali, the Kentucky Derby, and such a rich tradition of college hoops from Louisville to Lexington.

Ali, the original Louisville Lip, met and inspired both teams Wednesday night and even made a surprise appearance at Valhalla the next day. The entire weekend of golf felt like a heavyweight title bout, and the crowd was decidedly in the American team's corner.

These are people who know how to cheer, and the ones who didn't got a crash course at an impromptu downtown pep rally Thursday night. Paul Azinger not only excused but encouraged the locals to express their approval when something good happened to the Americans, even if the "something good" was a result of the Europeans doing something bad.

A few fans hit below the belt, but not enough to give the entire crowd bad marks. In fact, Justin Rose's caddy, Mark Fulcher, told me afterward that the gallery was great. "Spirited," he called them, adding that no one from Europe should have any complaints.

"They did exactly what they were supposed to," he said, "and they definitely helped."

Fulcher wasn't the only one who handled defeat with grace. Europe's best player at Valhalla, one of Nick Faldo's captain's picks Ian Poulter, turned as he walked into the clubhouse to applaud the fans who'd rooted so energetically against him.

Sportsmanship isn't dead, but the U.S. Ryder Cup drought is. There's no place like home.

Grant Boone is a husband, father, broadcaster, and journalist born in Tennessee and living in Texas. During his nearly 20 years in sports journalism, he's been heard on tape delay in pizza joints half-filled with fully-drunk beer league softball teams and around the world covering major sporting events for ESPN, Turner Sports, Golf Channel, and CBS Radio. To read past installments of Grant Me This, click here. You can contact Grant at pgagrant@hotmail.com.