Posted on 09/03/2002 5:29:42 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
The movement to pressure all-male Augusta National Golf Club, site of The Masters, into admitting a woman as a member has taken an unexpected turn that prompts the question: Where will it all end?
Augusta chairman Hootie Johnson fired the latest salvo when he announced in a statement the 2003 Masters would be telecast by CBS without sponsors to keep those sponsors free from pressure. Citigroup, Coca-Cola and IBM had one-year contracts for 2002.
Johnson says the move was in response to what he calls a corporate campaign against The Masters and Augusta National by the National Council of Women's Organizations, headed by Martha Burk, to force the Georgia club to immediately invite women to join.
''It's an astounding statement about how much Augusta National is willing to pay to continue to discriminate against women,'' Burk says. ''But we are not out of bullets. There are many options open to us.''
Burk, whose letter to Johnson ignited the issue this year, says her organization plans to pressure CBS, the players and members of Augusta National who maintain high corporate profiles. Picketing the tournament is another possibility.
''I hate to see a major network come down on the side of bigotry,'' Burk says. ''Players are a possibility. They've all got corporate sponsors. What about the Nikes of the world that sponsor these players?''
Two-time defending champ Tiger Woods, a Nike endorser, has said he's in favor of female members but doesn't expect the club to buckle to outside pressure.
The confrontation between Johnson and Burk is triggering previously unthinkable scenarios. What if they cancel the 2003 Masters?
''This guy (Johnson) seems hardheaded enough and misguided enough that it's a possibility,'' Burk says. ''I don't think it's all that far-fetched.''
Says two-time U.S. Open ( news - web sites) champion Lee Janzen, ''It's more of a consideration than it was a year ago.''
A spokesman for the club says Johnson doesn't feel any further comment is necessary at this time.
The action is expected to cost Augusta National more than $7 million in 2003. The club probably will assume CBS production costs, about $1.5 million, more than $5 million in prize money and other costs.
Augusta National will pay the 2003 bills with at least $10 million in Masters income from ticket sales, lucrative sales of merchandise and about $3.5 million from international TV rights that are not affected by the decision to drop sponsors for one year.
''Not having any commercials will be outstanding for the coverage,'' PGA Tour player Scott Hoch says.
No one wants to see players boycott the event. No one wants a closed event with no fans, no TV and no media. No one wants to see The Masters canceled.
Says NBC broadcaster Johnny Miller: ''That would be brutal. The Masters is a piece of America, like the World Series and the Super Bowl. If everybody would talk it out rationally, we wouldn't have this issue.''
Seems to me that Hootie is the only one being rational here.
That goodness for foam bricks.
Even my wife was tossing them.
Won't these people just go away and leave us alone.
So what if 300 men want to have a private club.
Hottie Johnston aught to apply at Wellesley, and when he is accepted, let the ladies join his club.
I live the length of a good par 5 from the course and can tell you that the club has been aggressively acquiring property beyond the confines of the National grounds. They have been buying private houses and businesses in the immediate vicinity of the course, in an effort to ensure that not only the course itself, but also the immediate neighborhood remains of a suitable standard.
An acquaintance whom I often see in the local barber's shop had an offer made to him by the National. He didn't want to sell as he'd lived in the area for many years and liked the neighborhood. The National came back and made him a second offer. He said to them "Will you guys quit bugging me? I told you, I aint selling. You can buy it off my kids when I die." About 3 months later I saw him again and he told me he'd moved. I said to him "I thought you didn't want to sell." He replied, " I didn't, but I'd have been stupid to refuse that offer."
Financial pressure won't work with the National. In my opinion, the weak link is prominent but probably politically liberal golfers like Woods, who could start making noise when the sound of Burk's fascist jackboots gets louder.
I can provide insight as to why NOW chooses to attempt to wield dwindling relevance by attacking the Augusta.THE MONEY.
Just as the NAACP is no longer a "real" movement or the lone "voice" of a once stifled minority, so is NOW exibiting its death throes. A great many people of these once vital organizations no longer enjoy wide popularity nor can they generate enough financial contributions to contribute to their mini bureacracies.They do not have the power to tax.
But how will they live? What happens to people who fight for a just cause, win, and then are expected to re-join the rest of society? Mundane reality and regular jobs are not exciting enough to idealists.Surely there must be other things that need to be "fixed".
NOW was once part of a long and proud history of brave American women who demanded respect and equality.They accomplished their noble goals, but some of them refuse to end the "war".
Had they taken up the guantlet of the horrors of existance suffered by thirdworld women, they may have been able to maintain their relevancy and paychecks.Instead they have become an embarassment to womens rights, and a target for backlash.
I would offer myself up to the private golf club as a token female member who would never play there, never pay there and ignore them totally, but I think it is important to stop PC BS.
NOW, and many such organizations need to learn the definition of disband.They have forsaken the moral high ground.They are now the enemy of the people.
All they are appearing to be, IMV, is small minded pettiness, priggishness, greed, envy and jealousy combined to capitalize on the hard work and success of others while contributing nothing on their own behalf.
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