Friday, July 16, 2010

BloggeRhythms 7/16/2010

I don't know if, as they say, no news is good news, all I do know is, that good or bad, there isn't any real news at all.

So, it's back to the British Open.

The last I looked this afternoon, the guy I thought might be a surprise winner, Rory McIlroy's game is going down the chute. But, so is everyone else's except one, the leader. I don't remember his name, but if you care, you can look it up.

It seems that the high winds and drizzle have arrived in Scotland and are making scoring very difficult for all. Which I think is fine for the Scots themselves, because they believe the game is an ultimate test and the real players are those that can score under the most foul weather conditions imaginable. And, even on the sunniest days, with no wind at all, their golf courses are nothing like ours.

The fairways are peppered with small "pot" bunkers that have high walls, making some of them difficult to get of with a single shot. But, naturally, the most highly skilled players on the planet can easily avoid them...unless swirling winds from over the sea come up. That brings a whole new element into play -plain old dumb luck.

Add dampness and drizzle and it's a totally different game for American pro's who play on fairways manicured to perfection versus a culture that thinks the land is the Lord's to begin with, so leave what's there alone. And if mowing is really needed, we'll send in the sheep this evening, after the rounds are over.

And that leads to a whole 'nother question about sports in general. What's a truer test to determine the best, a football game played in a domed stadium or on a perfect, windless day outdoors, or one played on a snow-covered field with winds whipping sideways at thirty miles an hour, were nobody can see or hold the ball?

Who's the best horse, one that can break every dry-track speed record set at Churchill Downs in the sunlight or a "mudder" plug that can slog through three-foot deep mush in a typhoon to win?

How about a boxer who has no skills whatsoever, but has incredible stamina and a head that can absorb a blow from a mortar? If that guy outlasts a first-rate, light on his feet champ with a jab that can sting like a bee, is the clod a a better fighter because he won on endurance?

I know that these kinds of questions go on in bars for hours, and never, ever, get resolved, but today's gruelling (and by the way boring for me) test of golf made me think of them. Then again , tomorrow's another day and if Mother Nature smiles on St. Andrews in Scotland, maybe they'll get a chance to play some real and exciting golf.

That's it for today folks

Adios

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