My Yankee blood got riled up today when I read a column in the Sport Section of The Daily Telegraph today by Oliver Brown. He was pissing all over Paul Casey, the Brit golfer who lives in America, which I think Brown views as a cardinal sin, particularly excoriating him for not playing at Gleneagles in Scotland last week but playing an American tournament. I don't mind him criticizing Paul Casey, but in the process he made some disparaging remarks about American golfers not caring about the Ryder Cup and chasing the almighty dollar.
The British sport columnists are frequently real shits, extremely opinionated and given to hyperbole. Oliver Brown just went one step too far, and my answer is below.
Dear Mr. Brown:
As a visiting American married to a Brit who spends and enjoys his summers in U.K., I must comment on your column of 1 September 2010 in The Daily Telegraph on Paul Casey. I can only say that I find your comments tasteless and mean-spirited, to say the least. You, quite obviously, do not like Casey, which is your privilege as a man and journalist, but I think, to use a favourite British phrase, you were a bit “O.T.T.”
You comment on the overemphasis of corporate involvement on the American tour, and I tend to agree to some degree, except for the fact that the corporations do provide economic security for the tournament promoters and a very good living for many golfers. I notice that many regulars on the European tour are quite willing to play some of these events, and I have also noticed that they have not turned down the money prizes. The true amateur spirit of “play up and play the game” is a virtuous sentiment, but a good number of European and American golfers also earn their livelihoods on the course.
I think Casey would have better served to have played Gleneagles to enhance his Ryder cup selection, but he was also in the running for the Fedex Cup, a Hobson’s choice which had to be painful.
I resent your assumption, which makes for colorful journalism but an unfair generalization, that all American golfers agree with Hunter Mahan and his frank but inaccurate comments regarding the Ryder Cup. A host of American golfers eagerly anticipate the opportunity to play for their country, ranging, yesterday, from Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, Watson and Crenshaw to, today, Furyk, Stricker, Crane and Johnson, to name a few. If you could stop dipping your poisonous pen long enough, you might realise that the spirit of clean and pure competition still lives in these mercenary, materialistic, dollar-grubbing Yanks on the right occasion.
Go ahead and take aim with your rifle at Paul Casey, but don’t use a shotgun that scatters ammo pellets on the whole of America golf. It is neither fair nor right.
We haven't fought the British for awhile---maybe it's time again!
Well, now, that's laying it out there plain. I didn't read Mr. Brown's article cause I don't read nor much care about British sports but I do like the way you defended American golf and golfers. As they used to say back down the road a ways, that's telling them how the cow ate the cabbage.
ReplyDeleteIt's not hard to do yet I am somewhat surprised how frequently send me running to the dictionary. That word "excoriating" is what got me. As soon as I learn how to pronounce it, I may try to find a way t use it. Enjoyed thee read.
Actually, we are going to France (Normandy) on a coach for four days Sept. 5-9. Maybe they won't let me back in!
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