How ironic is it that the league with the largest amount of "testicular fortitude" is lacking in the literal possesion of said physcial trait?
I applaud the LPGA Tour for coming out recently with plans for a new policy requiring all memebers with at least 2 years seniority on Tour to be able to speak enough English to conduct post tournament interviews, interact with playing partners at Pro-Am tours, etc. It's an American based tour and they have a right to set a standard of performance to be able to participate.
It's not politically correct from many angles. . . and it's really about money. If the sponsors hadn't complained about the lack of communication ability from players this would never be an issue. Money talks. . and in this case it speaks English. . . or enough to answer a few questions from Bob Costas and the golf channel. The lack of PC'ness, if you will, is one reason I like the move so much. I wish the gates leading into California echoed the same sentiment as past Presidents of the United States when they talked about integrating into American society and learning the language.
Three cheers for the LPGA for setting a policy they think will be good for their league without bowing to outside pressures. . . for now.
Agreed?
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So this is a tangent, why does the PGA tour allow Michelle Wie to compete? It has nothing to do with being female and everything to do with the fact that her performance has only been mediocre thus far. Of course as you said, it's all about the money... The PGA must be desperate for viewership (no offense Nartker).
With regards to the English thing, I give it a month for the first lawsuit to be filed.
You're right Jason. ..follow the money.
One of the perks of putting on a PGA event is that you get a number (not sure how many) "sponsors exemptions". Basically the main sponsors can put their uncle Sid with a 24 handicap in the tournament with no questions asked. If your a sponsor the whole point is publicity/advertising and overall exposure for your business. You use those "exemptions" to put butts in the seats. This is why Wie and John Daly keep getting invites to play. No desperation, just businessmen doing their thing.
I think it will take more than a month for the first suit. . . I think it will take penalties being inforced before they get mad enough to sue. .. could be wrong if Jesse Jackson and the squad gets involved.
Re: John Daly: Who wouldn't watch a 300lb alcoholic smash the ball 700 yards?
Things don't always have to be politically correct in this world. I see a lawsuit coming, however, sometime near the 2 year deadline. If someone sues now, it shows they weren't even willing to make the effort to learn English, and that just shows laziness. If someone finds they won't "make it" when the 2 years is approaching, they might resort to legal action.
Does this hurt the LPGA if some phenom comes along that would draw sponsors, and they don't speak English? I'm just coming up with hypotheticals here.
I think that women's golf isn't big enough to have a phenom change the "need" for foreign players to speak English. The exposure a great woman's golfer has is still not worth the big numbers that other athletes get, so the sponsors would still want them to speak English in my opinion.
Read here
I think I was right :) Well this is enough although it isn't a lawsuit, but similar in that its a legal proceeding to get it nullified...
I concede Jay. . .
I should have known that the first legal action was going to come from some third party that has no affiliation with an LPGA player. . . and it coming from CA was not a shocker either, especially the Bay area.
REVISED. . .
The LPGA doesn't really have the Balls that I thought.
See here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3570957
before they made this decision, they must have known that there would be almost immediate resistance to this. if they were going to back down right away, why even bother enacting it in the first place?
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