Last week I read an article by Rick Reilly on ESPN.com about how slow baseball is despite the rules that are supposed to be in place to keep it moving along. The article is funny, but true. Sometimes, with all of the stoppages in play, it’s just tough to sit through an entire baseball game. But what it reminded me of most was…golf. In particular, going to a golf tournament and watching the pros.
Now we’re not the only ones to put some blame on the pros for the reason slow play makes it’s way onto your local course – this topic has been debated plenty of times before, so you already should know what I mean. But the similarities between the two when it comes to slow play are pretty funny.
Watch the pro golfers wander around the green for as long as they do before a putt. Now compare that to watching an at-bat for a major-leaguer. The golfer looks at the green from every angle. Sometimes twice, as if the green is going to move. Then look at the baseball player and his at-bat. Take a pitch, step out of the batters box to “adjust”, back into the box for another pitch. Repeat a few times. By the time it’s all over, we could have seen six or seven scoring plays in a basketball game.
At least on TV they can switch from golfer to golfer, so we don’t have to sit through the painful green-wandering, the conversations between the golfers and their caddies, the endless practice swings…you get the idea. We’re stuck with all of the nonsense that Mr. Reilly so accurately describes. It’s no wonder I don’t pay full attention to baseball until basketball season is over. And my attention span is cut short once the NFL starts up. Kind of makes that stroke clock idea look better and better all the time!
But seriously, how can you tell everyone to play their round in four hours when we all watch the pros take their sweet time? I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be on a clock. The pros, they should be. But not us. As long as we’re being considerate to other golfers and following the rules of etiquette, then screw your four hour time limit. I’ll let people play through before I’m rushed. Hey, they’re the professionals. They set the example, right?
Swing ’til you’re happy!
