GOLF

As I begin composing my thoughts here on Sunday, March 4th (I've always liked the idea of some big thing happening in my world on this date - a day I can march forth!), Rory McIlroy is beginning his final round of a tournament in Florida.  He has the lead by two strokes and if he can win today, he will be named the #1 player in the world of men's golf.  Now this does NOT give me any thing to march forth about, but this definitely IS a big thing in my world.  Why?  Simply because I love the game.

The above information and admissions of my personal tastes in sports mean absolutely nothing, nada, zero to many folks.  In fact, I have heard there are quite a few people out there who do not even consider golf a sport!  These would be people who, if they ever were willing to try it, would find it frustratingly difficult to play the game.  I've also heard it repeated that about 80% of those who play the game, even on some kind of regular basis, never post lower than a 100 score in an eighteen-hole round.  I often wonder whether I would have continued an interest in golf beyond a year or so had I not managed to do better than that statistic.  Now that I've enjoyed forty-four years and a small amount of success in the game, I can speak about it both physically and philosophically.

To those folks who have never tried to play golf but are sure they would never want to play it, I simply say, To bad!  I think you're missing out on something great in life.  To those who denigrate the game, allow me to blatantly praise it and state my reasons for the praise.  I'll start by hitting back! 

We've all heard it said that it takes all kinds to make a world, and that appears to be the case.  Would I enjoy living in a world where golf was respected above all other games and where various other sports such as pugilism and auto racing were either unheard of or had been banned from societies when they first broke out, in the way cock-fighting and dog-fighting have now been banned?  Probably so.  You see, my personal opinion is that boxing is not a sport!  Are men (and many women as well) who get into a boxing ring, far better examples of physical conditioning than I am - or ever was in my stronger days?  And could they kick my ass with ease?  Absolutely.  But why?  How did an activity that involves a basic aim of seeing one person beat another to senselessness (a knock-out being the highest hope and goal, as I understand the event), ever gain acceptance in a civilized society?

Now auto racing is obviously not in the same class of the vulgar violence that pugilists inhabit.  But seriously, calling it sport to drive around a track at ever greater speeds?  Calling a driver an athlete because he is crazy enough to push down on the accelerator after surpassing speeds most of us find frightening?  What athleticism does that require? 

Now correct me if you can, but I strongly suspect that practically 100% of the folks who enjoy watching a fight, expecting (hoping!) to see a sudden crushing blow that causes an opponent to fall unconscious, will also find it exciting to watch bright cars flashing around a track, knowing that within a tiny particle of a second, a mistake or obstruction (even a tiny pebble) can bring on a fiery or other spectacular crash.  Then, of course, because these fans are civilized(!), they must go through the nail-biting wait to see whether their driving hero emerges unharmed from the wreckage.  Does this even make sense - seriously?  I don't know whether any similar (nail-biting) concern is ever shown for the losing boxer who lies lifeless for a while with a concussion.  After all, he IS a loser! 

Those who are prone to get into these activities, either as participants or spectators, are a mystery to me.  I've always been something of an athlete (minimally capable) and an adventurer (hands-on as much as possible and always in my imagination), but it seems to me that so many less dangerous and destructive opportunities present themselves to us that we need not go to great extremes in order to be exhilarated.  Yet I see there are television shows about extreme sports, and there would be no market for that kind of show if there weren't lots of people crazy enough to think these are fun.  But I do realize, under the above heading of ...all kinds to make a world, that each of us has a vast menu of potentially pleasing activities from which to choose.  I've tried a few things that were beyond my natural skill level.  I've gone down some tough intermediate ski runs; the wrecking of a knee on one of those prevented me from moving on up to the black diamond runs.  (Probably a case of my knee saving my neck!)  I've enjoyed some fairly high-speed water ski outings, never quite mastering the slalom but feeling a little pain from some of the tumbles while trying.  I've suffered the spills from bikes and once from a mid-sized motor cycle.  Hell, I even felt some pain and sudden fear of a permanent crippling injury while challenging myself with ever-higher jumps and flips on a trampoline!  And still today, I haven't given up hope on one day jumping from a mountain top with a hang glider strapped to my body.

So it's not as though I don't have a small grasp on the desire for the thrill of physically demanding and dangerous activities available to us humans.  We all must draw the line for ourselves - the line between fun and disaster.  Many folks are simply willing to push farther toward the disaster potential than I am.  Fine!  It's their decision.  And they will apparently always have a ready audience when they go to the brink of death.  I might watch a little, but often I prefer to even stop watching others who take more chances than I am willing to take.  To me, there is no fun or thrill in seeing someone fall, get hit, defy death but just barely.  It's all part of my make-up, the derivation of which I cannot explain, that causes me to reside in the Neutral Zone.  I have always been quite practical and conservative in my actions but generally very liberal of mind.

So, back to GOLF.  This game is not only sport, it is the ultimate sport, in my opinion.  The perfect way to compete for money, fame - or whatever one gets by winning.  But it is also, as I said to someone just yesterday, a game in which winning can even be defined as one pleases.  To me, as a senior citizen, I consider it a WIN when I manage to play an eighteen-hole round without limping home under severe joint pain.  Scores?  Not important - well, not AS important.  I still like winning the little matches within matches we play as a men's club in my neighborhood.  But my point is, I never ever consider that I have LOST anything if some other fellow picks up two bucks for low net or closest to the pin or any other little prizes we play for.  My life enjoys rather frequent wins because I choose to see it that way.

But look at the wonderful specifics of the game of golf.  For one (huge!) item, there is no one playing defense!  The course is your real opponent and every player has the equal chance to manage the course using his own strengths, ending with a score that indicates how well he did that management.  This allows men to be very competitive while still being gentlemen.  They often compliment or high-five one another for good shots within the playing of a match.  In fact, in golf it's good for everyone to see others hit some great shots. 

For another major point, perhaps my favorite, the sport is completely an individual effort.  Sure, some team sports are fun and I've enjoyed both playing and watching some of those immensely.  But for a professional who makes a living at a sport, just think of what it means to never need to depend on someone else or several others for your own success.  Of course, one must be able to take the lack of success with a cool head because he cannot blame anyone else for any failure.  You may point out that Tennis also offers this individual component, but the difference here is that the tennis court is not the opponent for you as a player; the other player is a direct obstacle, playing defense to your best shots.

I've heard people (non-golfers) say how simple it must be to hit that little ball just lying there still, or even set up on a tee, while real athletes like baseball players, have to hit a ball being hurled at 90 miles-per-hour or faster at times.  And you'd be right in saying most of us cannot do that!  But here's a challenge: I submit that if you could put the best six hitters in the major leagues out on a championship golf course, then afterward selecting the best three holes each of them played over the eighteen, that their combined score will not best almost any pro golfer playing alone!  I would love it of some crazy match like this could be set up, but I won't hold my breath.  Admittedly, I cannot hit a baseball.  Failed in Little League!  But I would not hesitate to walk onto a golf course with most any good-hitting 25-yr-old baseball player today, and at 67, half crippled with various old joint and back problems, I could still give the young man a run for his money!

And right there's another major point.  We can watch professional golfers today, earning money in a senior league, some of them even labeled "Super Seniors" such as Arnie Palmer.  Those fortunate enough to maintain some good health can go on competing at an amazingly capable level even into advanced years.  Golf invites the use of natural ability and practiced skill as well as a cunning adapting of that skill as we age.  How about that senior NFL?  Scary to think of 80-yr-old former football players, most of whom had to give up the gridiron by their early thirties, suiting up and running(!) out there to slam into each other again.  Same with basketball, of course, and most sports.  You probably don't want to witness aging boxers get into the ring to finish the job of brain destruction begun in their youth.  Even you racing fans would probably not want to see Mario and A.J. head back out onto the track - although I can't assume that.  If you're hoping to see spectacular crashes, old farts behind the wheel can do those with class!  Typically only one crash each. 

That's it for now; you're invited to come to my place and try a round of my favorite game!

Well, Rory did it!  It's Monday now and he is probably walking around pinching himself to realize he is the world's top golfer.  Good show, young Mr. McIlroy!  This 22-yr old from Northern Ireland ascends to his position by passing in the rankings (among others), two Englishmen and a German who have recently held the #1 title.  This foreign fact will be addressed in a future post.

**Added for your entertainment:  If you like the humor of Robin Williams and are not tender of ear for the raw language, here's his take on the Old Game.