GolfStinks

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Tough Mother Golfer.

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If you are into fitness,  I’m sure you are well aware of the obstacle course races that are gaining popularity by the day. Even if the extent of your daily exercise routine is getting out of bed, you might have heard of these obstacle course races as well. There’s the Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash, Spartan Sprint, Spartan Beast – the list goes on. What’s great about these races is that along with getting you in shape they are also associated with great causes such as the Wounded Warrior Project.

GolfStinks is very thankful and proud of all the men and woman who serve or have served. We are also advocates of staying healthy (although some of our physical appearances might lead you to believe otherwise) and obviously we love golf. So, what if we were to incorporate golf with some sort of an obstacle course and do it for a great cause? Instead of holding a normal golf tournament, let’s put a spin on things and get our heart rates above dead!

Here’s the basic idea:
  1. We use the Texas Scramble method.
  2. No carts. We give them a day off and use good old fashioned man-power to cart our stuff.
  3. Dump and chase. We take this ice hockey principle and use it on the course. Hit the ball and then run after it like it owes us money.
  4. On the way to your ball there’s a few obstacles that need to be conquered first. Hurdles, a wall to climb and maybe an “Arctic Enema” (an actual Tough Mudder obstacle) for good measure. That gives me the chills just thinking about it, no pun intended.
  5. Everything is based on teamwork. Not so much as who finishes first but making sure your foursome completes the course together.
  6. Oh yeah, skipping obstacles costs you strokes so don’t be cheatin’!
 I think I have a good thing going. It’s in the beginning stages but with a little help and some planning this could fly. Now I’m asking you, the golf community, for some input. If you have any ideas or comments let’s hear them.

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

Super Bowl Hype For Golf?

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So, much like 100+ million other people, I watched the Super Bowl this past Sunday. Another good game for America’s favorite sport as, once again, the big game lived up to it’s hype.

It kind of makes you wonder why the Super Bowl is as revered as it is. What does the Super Bowl have that the World Series doesn’t? Why are we all excited to tune into the Super Bowl, but not as much the NBA Finals, or the Stanley Cup Finals? And where does golf rank in this question?

Well, to get it out of the way quickly, my short answer to why the Super Bowl is so much more popular than the championships of other sports is…there’s only one championship game. The whole season and everything a team has played for, comes down to one game. That right there is part of the popularity for two different reasons.

Reason 1 – The sporting reason – There simply is no second chance. The team has one chance to win. It’s not a series. There is no game 2 (or 3,4,5,6 or 7 for that matter). You lose, you’re done. It’s exciting! What if there was no series in the World Series or NBA Finals. Would it have made Rangers-Giants or Lakers-Celtics even more exciting? My guess is yes!

Reason 2 – The entertainment/get-together reason – It’s just so much easier to gather friends and family for one game than it is for, somewhere between, four and seven games. Who gets together for the entire World Series? Maybe a game or two…and a game 7 if there is one. But unless there is a game 7, then who knows when the last game (the actual championship game) will really be? See, the logistics of it are just too tough to figure out.

Now take golf…it’s just a mess. The Maters, The PGA Championship, The Opens, The FedEx Cup, the money list, the rankings…what the hell?! Who’s #1 and why? I mean, I can see who’s ranked #1…but how did they get there? Especially if they haven’t actually won any tournaments! Drawing on stinky golfer Pete’s idea – there should be one single tournament to determine the season’s champion!

But since it seems highly unlikely that the PGA would completely rearrange its entire structure to accommodate a complaint that a couple of hacks at a place called golfstinks have made, it seems the next logical step to add some hype to the boredom of the golf season is…halftime shows!!

Look, the Super Bowl is a huge draw every year. But ever since 1993, when Michael Jackson performed, it’s obvious the NFL changed it’s perspective on halftime and has made every effort to bring in big names rather than the college band theme they had been doing previously. And the result? One could argue that a significant part of the reason some people watch the game at all is for the halftime show! I would rank it with the commercials, but they seem to fall flatter and flatter every year. (On a side note, beer commercials used to be funny. Now, they are just awful).

So what better way to draw more viewers (and fans at the gate), whether fans of golf or not, than to book a kick-ass rock group for the Friday (halftime of a golf tournament) night festivities? It’s working for the NFL, isn’t it? MLB and the NBA are beginning to work it in at their all-star games. Why not give it a shot?

OK, so I’m really reaching again. But hey…I’m just trying to help. A little music and entertainment never hurt anyone. Just one request…if anyone involved in the PGA halftime entertainment division is reading this…please don’t book the Black Eyed Peas. Was the halftime show a spectacle? Yes. But it was likely the worst music to ever make it to the Super Bowl.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

3-D Golf Swing System Helps Wounded Warriors

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Back in March, I posted about how one man was able to help troops cope with life on the battle front by donating used golf balls and clubs. These service men and women use this equipment on make-shift driving ranges in Iraq and Afghanistan to help relieve stress and unwind. I’m happy to report that recently, the organization donated its one millionth club!

But what about the troops that have come home? Well there’s a grassroots movement from a small group called “Wounded Warrior Golf” that is working with Taylor Made to help wounded vets make rehabilitation more fun…by swinging a golf club.

The group is using 3-D motion capture swing analysis to help service men and women get back their full range of motion:

Using the high resolution system that helps Tour players and amateurs alike see their swing with 1/10 degree accuracy, we can show disabled Veterans how they are moving. The built-in biofeedback capability can then be used to help them move more efficiently.

Wounded Warrior Golf is donating a portion of the proceeds from this 3-D golf project to Quality Life Plus (QL+), an organization that “fosters and generates innovations to aid and improve the quality of life for those injured in the line of duty.”

Now the guys over at Wounded Warrior Golf are looking for a little publicity to help with their first charity golf tournament. The tourney (which is being held at the Harmon Golf and Fitness Club near Boston) is taking place on October 4th, with 100% of the profits going to QL+.

They still need a few golfers, but if you don’t live in the New England area, they could use donations too. Check out the golf tournament page on their site to help. It just feels right anytime you can use golf to help others…and helping our returning vets seems pretty right to me.

*This Post is on a Three-Second Delay

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I’ve had it. It’s been how long now? Am I really still hearing conversation about Tiger’s most recent outburst at the PGA Championship? Was it really that big a deal? Did a professional athlete’s cursing have that big an affect on you? Has it caused you a permanent emotional scar? If so, then here, let me offer you some advice if it’s still bothering you that much……SHUT THE (bleep) UP!! I mean for (bleep) sake already! A pro athlete said a (bleep) swear! Well holy (bleep) (bleep)!! I never thought I’d see the (bleep) day!

Seriously now, have you never sat near the sidelines at a football game? Ever been anywhere near the field at a baseball game? And how about a basketball game? Even watching an NBA game on TV, there’s so much (bleep) swearing you would think you were watching an episode of The Sopranos! Oh…but this is golf. I know, I know…golfers are better people. Golfers are above that. Etiquette, etiquette, etiquette….. (bleep) you! The guy got angry and he said (bleep). So the (bleep) what?!

Look, this is a professional athlete. And like most professional athletes, he takes his game and his performance seriously. He’s angry at himself when he makes a mistake. He’s not out there to (bleep) around. He’s out there to win the (bleep) game. So he gets angry at himself when he (bleep) up. Big (bleep) deal. I realize many people have rehashed this issue due to the Serena Williams blow-up (another over-blown incident in my opinion). But there’s no real comparison and therefore, no reason to even bring it up again. He swore at himself, not at another golfer. Not at a spectator. Not at an official. Not anyone. He swore at himself. You know what that is? That’s fire, passion and a desire to win and to be the best at what he does getting the better of him. He’s not going to tone it down and he shouldn’t. You can’t ask a professional athlete to “tone it down a bit.” Especially for a television camera! The best athletes feed off of a desire inside. They use it as a fuel for their fire. It’s happened to Tiger several times, and it’s going to continue to happen not just to him, but to many other athletes as well. Don’t blame Tiger when a microphone catches an F-bomb for millions to hear. If you want to blame someone, blame the TV networks!

That’s right. Blame the (bleep) networks for not having a delay – God knows there have been enough incidents and “malfunctions” that they should have learned their lessons by now. As a matter of fact, blame the networks for having a stupid (bleep) microphone on the (bleep) tee to begin with! Why the (bleep) is it there anyway? It’s only silence on the tee! We need a mic there to listen to how (bleep) quiet it is? “Oh, well we can hear the club hit the ball.” Well whoop-dee-(bleep)-doo! Put it on a (bleep) delay then! Problem solved! These networks know what the microphone is going to pick up, not just from the athletes, but from the spectators as well. It’s their fault if they don’t take the proper precautions. This is a competitive sport. It’s not a (bleep) television interview where it’s a nice, peaceful, serene setting where the interviewer and interviewee are five feet apart, sitting in comfy chairs and dressed in suits. It’s the middle of a (bleep) competition! It’s the field of battle!

Even worse than the people who don’t understand this are the idiots who talk and write about how classless Tiger is because of this. Yeah! Let’s just forget about the Tiger Woods Foundation. Let’s pretend the Tiger Woods Learning Center never existed. Let’s not pay any attention to the numerous causes he supports such as education, family/parents, human rights and environmental issues. As a matter of fact, according to The Giving Back Fund (www.givingback.org) he, along with Lance Armstrong and Michael Jordan, are the top three “celebrity givers” among all athletes. He does more for complete strangers in six months than most people will do for their own friends and family in their entire (bleep) lives! But he cursed during a golf tournament, so he’s classless? Shut the (bleep) up!

Look, as long as there are sports on TV, microphones will be around to pick up the occasional F-word. PGA golfers are competitive athletes, just like athletes in any other sport. In addition to that, they are human – just like you and I. They’re not perfect – just like you an I. They swear – just like you and I.

Now get over it.

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