Posted on 08/29/2003 10:42:38 AM PDT by robjna
The following is forwarded not to offend tennis, basketball, football or soccer fans. It is, rather, an attempt to put everything in its proper perspective.
Ever wonder why golf is growing in popularity and people who don't even play, go to tournaments or watch it on TV?
These truisms may shed some light.
Golf is an honorable game, with the overwhelming majority of players being honorable people who don't need referees.
Golfers don't have some of their players in jail every week.
Golfers don't scratch their privates on the golf course.
Golfers don't kick dirt on, or throw bottles at, other people.
Professional golfers are compensated in direct proportion to how well they play.
Golfers don't get per diem and two seats on a charter flight when they travel between tournaments.
Golfers don't hold out for more money, or demand new contracts, because of another player's deal.
Professional golfers don't demand that the taxpayers pay for the courses on which they play.
When golfers make a mistake, nobody is there to cover for them or back them up.
The PGA Tour raises more money for charity in one year than the National Football League does in two.
You can watch the best golfers in the world up close, at any tournament, including the majors, all day, every day for $25 or $30.
The cost for a seat in the nosebleed section at the Super Bowl will cost around $300 U.S. or more.
You can bring a picnic lunch to the tournament golf course, watch the best in the world and not spend a small fortune on food and drink. Try that at one of the taxpayer funded baseball or football stadiums. I brought a Coke into Oriole Park at Camden Yard last year, and an usher came to my seat and told me I had to dispose of it, or I would not be allowed to stay in the stadium.
In golf you cannot fail 70% of the time and make $9 million a season, like the best baseball hitters(.300 batting average) do.
Golf doesn't change its rules to attract Fans.
Golfers have to adapt to an entirely new playing area each week.
Golfers keep their clothes on while they are being interviewed.
Golf doesn't have free agency.
In their prime, Greg Norman, Arnold Palmer and other stars, would shake your hand and say they were happy to meet you. In his prime, Jose Canseco wore T-shirts that read 'Leave Me Alone'.
You can hear birds chirping on the golf course during a tournament.
Ladies are welcome players.
At a golf tournament, (unlike at taxpayer-funded sports stadiums and arenas) you won't hear a steady stream of four letter words and nasty name calling while you're hoping that no one spills beer on you.
Tiger Woods can hit a golf ball almost three times as far as Barry Bonds can hit a baseball.
Golf Courses don't ruin the neighborhood.
Finally, here's a slice of golf history I thought
Why do full-length golf courses have 18 holes, and not 20, or 10 or an even dozen?
During a discussion among the club's membership board at the venerable St. Andrews in 1858, one of the members pointed out that it takes exactly 18 shots to polish off a fifth of Scotch. By limiting himself to only one shot of Scotch per hole, the Scot figured a round of golf was finished when the Scotch ran out.
Now you know!
We used to play a three player version that was OK, but the 2 handed euchre I know is not any fun.
SD
Jim Goodnight, owner of SAS bought it, the surrounding land, and built 3 championship courses, thousands of homes and a dozen very large shopping centers. The total value of all the real estate is probably approaching, if not over, a billion dollars now.
It was fun for me until I found out it was a sport if I played alone, then I didn't like it because I'm not into sports, just games. :^}
Daly seemed real long to the golfing world because the avg drive on the PGA Tour back in 1991 was a short drive of about 265 and he was bombing them 300 to 320, some times up to 340. No one else was doing it. No though, that is to be expected from most of the players, mostly due to technology changes in both the drivers and the balls.
Yeah, it sounds to me like baseball wouldn't exactly be a "sport," either. Especially when you consider how non-athletic many of those players are in the first place (especially pitchers).
There are plenty of public golf courses that don't turn a profit and are propped up by the City that operates them.
Does David Wells come to mind? And he threw a perfect game!
I'm trying to get a grip on how much property tax revenue a private golf course generates. Maybe your example isn't a good one, because there may be one "owner" of all the property around the golf course. I'm talking specifically about a stand-alone golf course (Upper Montclair in New Jersey, for example -- where they have a Senior PGA Tour event every June) without any adjacent homes on the same property.
He was here in Pittsburgh earlier this summer, driving balls across the Mon river.
SD
Babe Ruth
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.