Golf has emerged as the favorite sport to watch on television.That’s right, golf!
I don’t play golf.
WhenI was a kid, I spent one afternoon listening to my grandfatherrepeatedly scream at me to “Keep your damn eyes on the damn ball!”That was my first and last golf lesson. Thankfully, my best friend atthe time proved to be an eager and obedient student. I was sparedfrom further screaming sessions and my grandfather avoided a certainmassive heart attack.
Given my traumatic experience with the sport, one would think thatI would avoid it at all costs. In high school, watching golf was akinto watching bowling or marathon races. Actually, bowling was moreexciting. Most of my friends have taken up the sport recently, but Irefuse to play. I still have visions of jerking my head when I swing,causing mass hysteria on the golf course. Despite my continuedaversion to playing golf, I am a recent convert to watching thesport.
Golf is the best sport on TV.
How could this happen? Did golf change? Is it now a full-contactsport in which the players can wield their clubs like weapons? Doscantily-clad cheerleaders greet the players and the crowd at eachhole?
Hardly.
Golf is the easiest sport to watch on TV these days because it isthe only major sport that hasn’t changed. Golf has become the lonelybastion of good sportsmanship and is one of the few sports whereathletes actually earn their money.
In other sports, escalating salaries, coupled with the fact thatgifted athletes are excessively coddled from an early age and toldthey are different (meaning they are exempt from the rules ofsociety) has created a new breed of athletes. These ‘new school’athletes are selfish; teamwork is a foreign concept that isconsciously avoided. What they lack in self-effacement, they morethan make up in self-promotion.
How can you expect athletes today to play as a team if it meansthey have to subvert their natural ability?
Slam dunks, home runs and touchdowns mean money, and it is allabout the money.
Contracts are disregarded the moment a multi-millionaire playerfinds out that another player makes more money than he does. Then itbecomes an issue of respect. The player respects his contract if hehad a poor year, but demands more money if he actually excelled.Athletes’ contracts are different than any other sort of contracts orwhat you learn about them in school.
Welcome to the new school. It is enough to make any of us whoremember the old school cry.
Walter Payton, the all-time rusher in NFL history, not only ranpast defenses, he ran over them. When he scored a touchdown, hedidn’t do the Icky Shuffle or the Lambeau Leap or even the Mile HighSalute. He simply handed the ball to the referee. Mike Schmidt hitmore home runs than any other third baseman in MLB history and is No.8 all-time. He didn’t participate in any forearm bashes or chestbumps or admire his bombs at home plate until they cleared the fence.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the all-time scoring leader for the NBA andthe only six-time MVP. He didn’t shove referees or try to choke hiscoach or even record controversial rap songs while he was playing.
Athletes in the major sports today have changed. It is more aboutglorification and their earning potential than it is about winningand displaying good sportsmanship. Trash talking, taunting andindifference to the fans and the game have replaced respect. Oh sure,there are some throwbacks like Payton Manning and Pedro Martinez, butthey are quickly becoming as rare as Charger victories.
Golf, on the other hand, does not suffer from the decline incompetitiveness and sportsmanship that has plagued the other sports.The players are not signed to contracts. Their earnings are based onhow well they play against their fellow golfers. One would think thiswould cause players to seek any sort of advantage by stooping totrash-talking and some of the nonsense you see going on in othersports.
Far from it; golfers are very cordial to one another. They speakrespectfully of their opponents during interviews. They don’t tauntfellow players or force other players in their group to wait so theycan admire their tee shots. They don’t refer to a tournament’swinning purse as an “insult” even if a different tournament offersmore money. They are genuinely thankful to be playing in the PGA andthey all realize that they must continually work on improving theirgame if they are to have a successful career as a professionalgolfer.
They play to win, but they also respect their adversaries. Thatthey continue to be considerate in an age of increasing selfishnessis remarkable.
Golfers demonstrate that character counts, and as an avid sportsfan, I agree.
–Michael Graffman is a graduate student in the historydepartment. Send e-mail to daletter2000@hotmail.com
–This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of TheDaily Aztec.
