For the longest time I have been on the fence about whether or not golf is truly a sport- until today. Today I have ultimately decided that it is not after listening to Gary Carter (former MLB and Hall of Fame catcher) speak on Mike and Mike this morning. Yes, a former ballplayer convinced me today that golf is not a sport, but merely a game of leisure. It is now no different in my mind than a game of shuffleboard, croquet, or horseshoes. All because of one insignificant but striking comment I will attempt to paraphrase:
"On Sunday there is a Hall of Fame golf game that only the members of the Hall of Fame are allowed to play in."
My first thought: Why is it that these retired players want to play golf? Why don't they have a game of tackle football, or five on five basketball, or hockey, or soccer, or (and call me crazy) baseball? It's always golf. But why?
Because golf is merely a game, not a sport. It's something that old fogies can compete in without the physical stresses of a real sport. You can be fat as all hell (see Phil Mickelson) and win major championships. You can be 75 years old and if you can move your arms, you can play golf. There's no time limit, so there's not hurrying, running, or chasing after your ball to finish a hole. There's no physicality between you and your competition, so you only have to worry about yourself and where exactly in the foliage you sliced your ball. In short, it's a game where you can drink a 12-pack of beer, take a nap after the 9th hole, and order from a snack cart that comes by every few holes.
You want to know why Hall of Famers have an annual golf game? Because they can't play the real sports anymore. They can only play games. They can throw their darts, shoot their guns, and swing their clubs.
I can already hear the naysayers now. "Just because old people can play it doesn't mean it's not a sport". You're right! I know plenty of older folks that are avid tennis players! Jesus Christ, how old was Gordie Howe when he tried making his comeback in hockey a few years ago. I understand what you're saying. What I'm trying to say is that there's a reason why golf is chosen as the game to play at events. Not because more people want to play it, but because more people CAN play it.
"But Mike, maybe they actually want to play golf. Just because people have a preference of what to play doesn't mean it's not a sport." But why do they prefer it? If they love golf so much, why did they choose to pursue careers in baseball, basketball, hockey, etc.? I don't understand. What about kids today? Survey a thousand kids, and ask them to rank their top 5 sports (we'll allow golf...this time...) and see how many say golf. If it makes the top 5, I'll be surprised. So where does this love for golf come from as people get older?
It leads me to this basic assumption: People who play sports are competitive by nature. Competition is in their blood. Whether it's on the field or at a game of checkers, sportsman want to win. But what happens when their bodies and skills erode over time and they are no longer able to compete in the sports they love? They pick up the games and activities that are not as stressful to the mind and body. They pick up the games like golf. This is why golf is not a sport. It is treated and viewed like a game, mostly of leisure, to the majority of people outside the PGA and LPGA who are trying to make a living.
So thank you Mr. Carter, for unintentionally opening my eyes.
Golf is not a sport.
~Mikey D
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9 comments:
I agree with you that golf is not a sport. But I would argue that to play it profesionally you need to be in good physical condition. The reason that the Senior tour exists is because although the golfer's mind is as sharp as ever, his body has deteriorated to the point that he can no longer compete with the younger golfers.
And before you throw Phil Mickleson and John Daly at me, let me remind you that there are some players in traditional sports who are fat as hell too. Centers in the NBA, lineman in the NFL, DH's in the MLB etc.
As far as mental stress, I think golf is just as stressful, if not more so.
What is your definition of a sport? You say that golf doesn't meet the requirements of being a sport, but the only requirement you seem to have is that it requires athletic ability.
After I wrote this post I realized you would come back with a comment like this. How could I write a whole post about golf not being a sport when I hadn't even defined what a sport was (to me)to begin with?
I don't know if I can come up with a true definition of what a sport is, but I know I can omit golf from being one of the possibilities now.
How? Well, let me give you one of my terrible analogies. Let's say the search for the true definition of a sport is like searching for a mysterious "national treasure". You've searched you're entire life for the treasure, and you know that it is somewhere in the continental U.S. (probably in some underground tunnel). Does that mean you know exactly where the treasure is? No. Does that mean you know that it is not in Japan or Mali (to name a couple random countries)? Yes.
I'm ruling golf out for a few main reasons, and a couple are purely speculation, but hey, I can choose what I think is sport and what is not. My opinion. I don't know the true definition of a sport, but I know golfing won't be considered one in my opinion.
1) People who play golf mostly play because they can't play other sports at the level they used to. Golf is a game they can be good at, and because they are competitive, they play. If they could still play football, baseball, etc., they'd play. But they can't, so they choose an activity that only uses their mind essentially.
2) If golf is a sport, how come the kids aren't playing it? Too expensive? Croquet sets are cheap, how come kids aren't getting into that? It's because kids want to play sports, not games.
3) I would wager money that most of the athletes in todays sports world could make it as big time professional golfers if they spent their days focusing on the craft. If Kobe Bryant played golf all his life, he'd make that put Sergio missed. Why? Because he's mentally strong. He's more athletic. He's more competitive. And it's not just Kobe, it's a plethora of others. Brady. Manning. Ortiz. Making a four foot put in front of a quiet crowd to win a championship, with only you counting on you to win? Please. Brady, in front of thousands, millions on TV, and a team of 52 on the sidelines counting on him as he leads a two-minute drive in the Superbowl. That's pressure. That's mental toughness. I'm convinced that these athletes could have made it in the world of golf had they chose to do so.
4) But they chose otherwise, and now John Daley can make the tour and hit golf balls off his beer can some more. Yeah, I will throw Daley at you because he's a joke. Your local Joe-Schmo can hit the ball 300 yards now. Even the fat fuck in basketball has great foot work, soft hands, and basketball instincts. In baseball the fat fuck still has to do, in my opinion, the hardest think in sports, which is to hit a baseball. And those linemen? They are running 5 second 40's and have more agility than most. Phil Mickelson? He wins the Master's and he can't jump two inches off the ground. Golf doesn't have athletes, it has skinny dweebs and fat guys nicknamed "Hefty Bag". The one guy who's cut and athletic? Tiger. My oh my, look who's at the top of the game? Not shocked.
Because of these four statements is why I'm ruling out golf as a sport, even though I haven't come up with an official "Mike Definition" of what a sport actually is.
Kids want to play both sports and games. Kids LOVE to play games. Which is more popular, Nintendo or football? Tough call. Either way, the semantics doesn't matter at all to a kid. NO kid is interested in golf because it is/isn't a sport. Kids (U.S. kids anyway) aren't playing handball, hockey, or water polo, and those are DEFINITELY sports.
I don't see how you can say that Kobe/Brady/Ortiz are mentally tougher and more competitve than Tiger Woods. To me, they all seem equal. I guess we just disagree.
And yes, that is a pretty terrible analogy, but I'll run with it.
You say you know the treasure is in the continental US, so therefore you can eliminate the other countries. So my question is, what represents the continental US in light of your definition of sport? In otherwords, give me a list of characteristics that are common to all activities that you define as sports.
(And I thought the treasure was easy to find? Just go in the back door...)
In response...
Again, I don't have a definition of what a sport is, so I can't give you the list of characteristics that I would give a sport. In my mind that would be essentially defining what a sport is.
I never said Brady/Ortiz/Kobe were mentally tougher than Tiger. I said they COULD be mentally tougher than the REST of golf had they focused their time and energy golf instead of their current endeavors. I said the one guy who's mentally strong and a true athlete is Tiger Woods, and suprise-suprise, he's at the top of golf.
As far as kids choosing games...their are different types of games, I'll give you that. When a mom tells her child, "Go outside and be active," or "What sport would you like to play?" What games do children go and play? Handball? Croquet? Golf??? The answer is a resounding NO. They want to play basketball, football, baseball, and soccer. My arguement is the popularity of sports and games, it's the fact that when choosing a SPORT kids don't choose golf because they don't consider it a SPORT but rather a game.
Fun debating by the way.
If you can't define sport, and can't list any charteristics of sport, then how can you claim to know what is/is not a sport?
To use your analogy, you say you can rule out Japan and Mali. But if you don't know that Japan and Mali are foreign countries in other continents (and not for example, cities in the U.S.A) then you cannot rule them out. You can only exclude items if you have some knowledge about them.
And of course Kobe/Brady/Ortiz COULD be mentally tougher. But for every Mr. Clutch in basketball there is a Ben Wallace who can't even make a free throw without pressure. My point is that the top guys in all proffesional sports/games are mentally tough. Bowlers, NASCAR drivers, gymnasts, etc. etc. When the skill level is basically the same, it comes down to who works harder and who has the mental toughness. But you have to compare apples to apples.
Compare Kobe to Tiger, compare Sergio to Joey Harrington.
And this is a fun debate.
Like I said in my first comment, I knew you would comment about me not defining what a sport is.
And like I said, I'm not sure on the full definition. (you've taken my analogy farther than I've ever wanted it to go with Mali and Japan...haha, it's getting too much for me). I know it's not golf because I've ruled that golf is a game/activity, not a sport.
I will try to start the possible definition of a sport...
A game/activity is one that requires skill (sports require this as well), but little to no athletic ability. I will take away from Websters, which defines a sport as "an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature." The difference is that games/activities don't require the athletic activity or physical prowess that sports do. Since you are basically forcing me to define a sport in this debate, I will begin by saying that it must be an athletic activity. And back to my original post, golf does not fall into this category.
If todays modern athletes in SPORTS focused their time and energy on golf, the LeBrons, Kobes, and Ortizs would be at the top of the golf world with Tiger, while Sergio would be a caddy for their nutsacks. Golf is an individual game, not a team game. The Joey Harringtons of the world wouldn't make it in the professional golf world. The reason Joey makes it in the NFL is the pure volume of players. 1500+ players is a lot. But he's just a Sergio in his sport.
Basically what it boils down to is that there a plethora of athletes in each sport that can be considered elite individual athletes with mental toughness, while golf provides merely one- Tiger. One golfer could probably make it in the world of sports, while a multitude of athletes could make it in golf.
Sergio is considered at the top of his respective "sport", while Joey is not. Apples to apples? I don't think so.
Thank you for finally telling me why you ruled out golf. That's all I wanted.
I disagree with your assumption that Kobe/Lebron/Ortiz could automatically "make it" in golf. Yes they have the mental toughness, yes they have the physical ability, but there is a certain amount of natural skill involved. If every player in the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc had concentrated all of their energy on golf instead of their respective sports, I would say maybe 10% would be able to play proffesionally, and maybe two or three would crack the top the ten.
A lot of athletes play a lot of golf in the offseason, and they get pretty good. But I'm willing to bet that almost all of them plateau after a certain point.
And I'm almost certain that if Tiger had concentrated on baseball, football, or basketball instead of golf, we would have never heard of him. There are thousands of mentally tough, extremely athletic players who couldn't even make the practice squads of proffesional teams.
But I told you already!!! I said because it was a game/activity, it wasn't a sport!!!!! Oye.
I'm not saying Kobe/LeBron/Ortiz would make in particular, I'm saying guys like them would make it in golf. If guys in sports started in golf, golf today would be comprised of very few of the current guys on the tour. Just how I feel.
Also, just 10% would make it? Of the 3,000+ athletes in professional sports, only 10% would be better than the fat fuck at the 84 Lumber Classic? Hard for me to imagine if they both started out young playing golf that more than 80% of those athletes would make it in golf. Remember, we're talking about 3000+ athletes compared to 100 or so golfers.
And 2 or 3 in the top 10? Again, I compare Sergio to Joey. Sergio is in the top 10 of his sport. So is Phil. Both are WEAK. Joey is weak as well, and he's at the bottom. The strong survive, and I believe more than 2 or 3 of these athletes, had they started at a young age, would be in the top 10.
Tiger wouldn't make it? I think he would. He's got the work ethic, athletic ability, and just raw talent. Agree to disagree I suppose.
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