Play Ball

I just read that Tiger Woods has won the Master’s Golf tournament in Atlanta once again. Now, I am not a golf aficionado and I have mixed feelings about the game itself, but I do admire those who excel in a sport where their skills have to stand alone as a marker of their success. No one could help Mr. Woods; he had to do it himself. There was no one on the bench to jump in when he was in trouble and no one to pass the club to when the shot was difficult. That is probably why I like track and field events as well. One person, testing themselves. How high can I jump; how fast can I run? To me, the other sports are all muddled with competition within the competition. 1st string and 2nd string. In the worst cases, winning the “internal” team competition becomes as important as winning the game.

But back to golf…A sport? I guess so, if you consider pool, Texas hold-em and NASCAR racing to be sports. I would call any of those, recreation. I guess it’s all a matter of semantics. Sport is what you make of it. And I see golf as a sport because Mr. Woods, or myself, have to play the game against ourselves…we have to battle our own insufficiencies and drag up the skills needed to win.

A little story…I was watching my granddaughter playing baseball the other day. She is the catcher and she’s a good catcher, doing her job with growing skills. And then, during a running situation, she made a decision to throw down to third base instead of to the pitcher and her throw helped to make an out. The look on her face was all joy…she had excelled! And by the way; her team lost the game. But, for one moment, she alone had won it all. And that is true sports…