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tm4tj

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Are you confusing sport with athletics Charles?

Er... no! Are you confusing athletics with sports which require athleticism?

By that I mean the likes of football, rugby, basketball and yes, athletics as well. Others which do not include darts, snooker and golf. I make no relative value judgement. Interestingly enough though, curling has moved from the latter category into the former, in Scotland at any rate, since these guys now undergo extensive fitness programmes through the Scottish Institute etc and the transformation in performance has been quite dramatic over the last 10 years (hence the number of major medals Scottish curlers have won in that time.)

Unfortunately the term "athletic" or more specifically "athlete" has tended to be used overgenerously, especially by our cousins across the pond, to mean anyone who takes part in any sport - even a non athletic one. Some years ago I heard an American commentator make the statement (after a putt had been holed) that "Colin Mongomerie is a great athlete!" After I picked myself up off the floor and dried my trousers, I found myself from that moment onwards adopting a rather more critical viewpoint of the man and that is where my fundamentally negative take on him began.

Edited by Charles Bannerman
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So you dont like Monty because an American commentator called him an athlete ? Unbelievable .

Another rather sweeping extrapolation! Let's just say that I'd never really thought too much about it before that remark which, as a result, did prompt some rather more critical thinking about the individiual in particular and to a lesser extent about the sport of golf in general.

Edited by Charles Bannerman
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Of course, Geoff Capes was an athlete, or was he just large............

It's a bit like discriminating against black athletes because they are too fast.

Trust me, there is a lot more skill in golf than there is running as fast as you can for 100 metres. During the Open, those that made the cut had to walk for approximately 16 miles, whilst hitting a ball and controlling it sufficiently in different conditions and knocking down a wee hole in the least strokes possible. Some starting times were 06:30 in the morning and off for a four mile stroll, which meant rising at 04:45 to be on the tee for start time.

Now let me think.......on yer marks, get set, go...........10 seconds later, thanks a lot mate, that'll be 100 grand. I'll stick with my judgement that those that are good enough to earn the money at what they do deserve it, regardless of size.

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That's got me thinking, "speed golf" would make it more to Charles's liking. The winner would be the person who completes the course quickest rather than with the fewest strokes.

Now there's a wonderful idea!!! The guy who gets the ball into all 18 holes the quickest is the winner and it's each player's strategic decision as to how many clubs he encumbers himself with, but no caddies. Maybe not all that well suited to a mass start but could be arranged like a cycling time trial with players off at minute intervals or whatever. The more I think about this, the more I like it and for the big competitions you could have an Open All Mics reporter exclaiming "HOOOOLE at the 15th" or whatever. :lol:

I mean, they've dramatically livened up cricket with the excellent Twenty20 format ... so why not this?

Can't see the Culcabock Committee volunteering to run an inaugural competition though. :D

Edited by Charles Bannerman
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What about motor sports Charles? I'd be interested to know your thoughts on a "football" match I saw as a boy in the harbour at St Martins in Guernsey. They drove bagers about when the tide was out using a massive buoy as the ball, highly entertaining when the tide comes in and one of thecars has to be abandoned. :lol:

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