Valuev vs Holyfield wtf? - Page 2

Reading your post I understand that you never played the game. One of the beautiful things of golf, and a part which I like, is that it is this "stuffed shirt" sport. There are dress codes, and there is a code of conduct.. Does this make the sport any less? Living in a country where soccer supporters tear down stadiums when their teams loses, and the teams virtually go into hand to hand combat at times, its good to be able to play a sport where a code of conduct is still in place and appreciated.

Tiger can let his "hiar" down but only in a manner which is regarded as proper conduct. I for one like it when a champion thanks his opponent and congratulates him on his play, instead of thrash talking the field when he wins. The crowd John Daly attracts is because of his style of play, EXTREMELY aggressive and as such interesting to watch, which gives him his exemptions not because of the controversy in his life.. Daly, apart from his drinking on course, is in fact a player like many others that will allways try to keep the original spirit of the game intact..

Furthermore I cannot imagine Tiger talking like those players because, like I do, Tiger loves the game and likes to keep the spirit and integrity of the game intact. Everything he does on and offcourse is a testament of that , not because he would be run out of town, actually right now because of his status he probably could say anything he wants.. Look into the two players who's records he wants to beat, Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus, their prime ages where a lot different and so was the game, but their conduct was not... Neither will Tigers be..

Golf is changing, along with the times..... But I do think that good gamesmanship is of all times, and I sincerely hope that it will stay that way..

That would be a very poor, and incorrect, assumption. My folks live right on the edge of a country club, and are members, in fact. Draw further conclusions from there. And I do think the sport can be fun and mannerly, without being quite so overpoweringly corporate, old, and yes, 'stuffed shirt', as it traditionally has been and still is to quite a large extent. Finally, if you honestly think Tiger can say absolutely anything he wants, I believe you're mistaken. Check out the Golf Channel sometime... the tiniest things are blown up to overwhelming controversies. Tiger would get the benefit of the doubt for awhile, but eventually, the powers that be would turn on him. Remember Hootie Johnson's (guy who runs the Masters) reaction when Tiger said Augusta should let women play? Basically told him to take a long walk on a short pier. The old rich white men who still control the sport don't really give a damn what anybody else thinks. Even Tiger.

fair enough, a bad assumption on my part. Allthough i must say in my defense that this kind of conversation usually comes up when the other party has never even seen a golfcourse other than from a neighboring highway.

Your remark about the golfchannel is correct, from what little I remember of it(they dont broadcast it here) they do blow things way out of proportion. Little mannerisms that a player might have, and usually regrets right after, tend to make them a mad person/rolmodel in the media. They are not, however, the authority in golf. If a players conduct is way out of line the tournament management would fine them, or the uspga would. For the media to crucify them is more of a unfortunate byproduct of the sports popularity these days. Just to be sure, with the former actions I do fully agree.

Tiger, however being what he is, could be a totally different player that would horrify all those old men, but as long as he is the player to beat he would still play every tournament he wants to. For fun, try imagining what a riot it would be if he where a tommy bolt/young sam torrance/ john daly cross character. Still, augusta would have to invite him as their own rules stipulate.
As augusta goes, in the end it is still their golfcourse so they are the ones that get to decide who and what kind of tournament gets played there.. Allthough i certainly do not agree with their no women policy..

to come back to your first post, what i like about the sport is that there is still a lot of the gentlemenssport in it left. Within this space there is still more than enough room for colorfull players to arise, think an arnold palmer years ago or a tommy two gloves these days. Even ian poulter with his clothing choices contributes in this. To preserve this integrity however it would horrify me to see the thrash talking/drug abuse/and random uncivilised behavior that a prevalent in some other sports come to the golfcourse..As such I do not think it has a long way to go in this respect(discrimination against race or gender is different, allthough that is more of a golfcourse than a tournament thing)

And lastly, I think I've derailed a thread about boxing enough by now. If you disagree with me I'd be happy to further this conversation via pm.

Golf -- meh. It's the game I'll start playing once I cannot play any more sports ...

As for boxing's Heavyweight division, one of the big problems is that all the good athletes in America that might have made good boxers are in the NBA or the NFL.