I’ve had enough; I’m like Peter Finch in the classic 1976 movie “Network”. In that brilliant movie, Finch played the character Howard Beale and used an on-air rant that ended up coining the phrase “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”Some if not many of you either watched or saw the highlights of the British Open. 59-year old Tom Watson missed a putt on the 72nd hole that would have given him a sixth British Open title and a special place in history. The only other really comparable story I could think of was the Miracle on Ice, however that is a team sport. Watson’s triumph would have been onto itself.
Of course he missed the putt, badly, and never regained rhythm in playoff, as Stewart Cink won his first major going away.
What really angers me (I know it’s my blog, but won’t use preferred words because somebody more important than me might be paying attention) is the rest of the day, people all over the media used the word “choke” to describe Watson’s effort.
I know I ranted on this somewhere earlier this year, but I hate that word in relation to sports. It is thrown out as loosely as “superstar”. Watson for 71 holes was the best golfer at Turnberry, age aside. He admitted he hit the shot he wanted that went over the green, which left him in tenuous situation to save par and win The Open.
Somewhere in his subconscious, Watson realized his age, the moment at which he stood and hit a bad putt. If you’ve played golf, you know the feeling of walking after the ball the moment after you struck it. But CHOKE?
Players of all ages have stood over putts like that for decades, sometimes they go in, and sometimes they don’t. All of the people who criticized Watson for missing that putt should being ashamed at their lack of intelligence. Watson had the courage at his age to show up and believe he could still compete. As Paul Azinger of ABC said, “If we (speaking about himself and other professional golfers past their prime for the regular tour) had the same love of the game as Tom Watson, we would still be out there playing.”
I wonder how many of these people, who maybe interviewed various sports figures have asked silly questions or forgotten their questions and stumbled thru an interview. I wonder if they called themselves out for “choking”. Or possibly in an office setting among their peers for the radio or television station they work for, had their direct boss or general manager of the station say, “Yesterday was a great day, except for (fill in the blank) choking on the interview he did.”
To this day I distinctly remember being 21-years old playing on a highly competitive slow-pitch softball team. We were in a big tournament and we played outstanding and made it to the championship game in a double-elimination tourney. I normally batted either second or fifth, but because I was having a great tournament, I was moved to third slot in the batting order. As it turns out, our opponent played perfectly and me, I was 1 for 9 in the two games in which we lost.
In retrospect, driving home, I realized I was too pumped up; I swung too hard and too soon. Did I choke, I never thought so. In fact to this day, I remember playing in that tournament, which was the closest I ever came to winning the whole thing, playing that sport. I remember the excitement beforehand and during the game. It was the chase, not the outcome that left its strongest impression on me. If someone would have said I choked, I would have punched them in the nose.
I must say, I’m not a Watson fan, he’s been too outspoken about topics that he should keep to himself the last decade. However, at the moment who didn’t want Watson to make that putt outside of Cink, who I can assure you would have been proud to finish second to one of the greatest players in the game.
To all those that called out Watson, I can only hope you to are called out someday for your failings as a human being.
The oldest and most prestigious major golf championship to those golfers around the world commences Thursday, with Tiger Woods commanding the lion’s share of attention, but not all of it. Though Mr. Woods is a decided favorite, several other top golfers are being considered for this weekend’s action, as potential champions in the third major tournament of the year.
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