Anyone else find the "seriousness" of the presidents cup almost comical?

[SNIPERBBB]

Home captain gets to setup the course

[Steele47]

 

I think I may be able to use this quote in the Style and Accessories section sometime in the future so I went ahead and copied it down.

[tiderider]

op's take is comical ... pro golfers are competitors ... when they decide to have a competition and compete, they compete ... so they put some thought into it ... pretty sure they know the fate of the world doesn't hinge on their competition, nor are they acting as though it does ... pretty sure no one thinks it does ... and someone thinks tiger's sunglasses are some kind of statement to the other team? ...

 

 

[Malvern]

I enjoy the talk about the two years of work that go into the captaincy

[2putttom]

Brilliant !

[Wildwing55]

Golf Channel commentators are trying their best to parse words of the captains. It is pretty ridiculous.

[wobgon]

That May be, but in every other team sport, the Us plays each of the other countries even up and certainly do not win all the time......I wonder how many more soccer players the US has than Trinidad and Tobago.

[wobgon]

Not sure where you get this 3 months ago thing.......I don't know many who even wanted him on the team........Only guy who is more of a clown than Reed is Gregg Norman.

[golfortennis]

Wobgon, you're looking at this the wrong way. The guy who said this is a cash grab is on the right track. "US vs ...." is the way they feel they can best separate people from their money. Rest assured, if it was felt having a righties vs lefties competition would bring in more money, the format would be changed.

There is, of course, the added benefit of not having to pay the players, since it has been established that "playing for your country"(whatever the hell that means in this case) means you can't expect remuneration.

Plus, there is a piece on now about the new logo for International, they get to "play under one flag","one shield", so I think your concerns are no longer valid. :-)

[BKN1964]

I find the "seriousness" of any sport comical.

I understand it, and like to win any game I play, but in the end it's still just a game.

[tannyhoban]

That's my blueprint this Christmas. So pure.

[SNIPERBBB]

 

 

For the sake of the USA, hopefully we have less soccer players than any country. Unfortunately due to the cheapness of the sport, theres a lot of youth soccer than dissappears afer getting into high school.

[Sean2]

I think it's great. Love the format. However, instead of "golf playing through", just show fewer commercials.

[Pepperturbo]

Those type exhibition events provide income to the host Club and managing organization and event vendors, but no individuals benefit. I wouldn't call that a money grab. The charitable donations are made in the players name only. That means the player doesn't claim the donation as income and pay taxes on it nor can he deduct the donation, personally.

 

[Hawkeye77]

In that very strict sense, kind of - the Euro Tour relies on the Ryder Cup for its survival and increasing purses, so I'd say quite a bit of benefit to those players.

 

I agree, not really a money grab. PC started out for other reasons than purely $$$, but I'm sure the Tour gets some dough that is a benefit one way or another before the "net" gets paid out to charities - which by the way for the PC is millions and millions, so great deal for them and good on the Tour.

[Titleist99]

The PGATOUR runs the President Cup, and they only do events for Profit because they understand that tournament golf is nothing but entertainment.

 

Television money goes to the pgatour.

 

Sponsor money goes to the pgatour.

 

Merchandise money goes to the pgatour.

 

The PGATOUR pays the players nothing.

 

Sometimes the course pays the tour to host the cup at their venue.

 

If the course has a hotel they let the players stay there free.

 

The PGATOUR has worldwide broadcasting rights...who know how many countries, probably rival the Masters.

 

If the PGATOUR donated $34M to charity in the last ten years of the PC.... How much are they making?

 

Tidy profit Wouldn't you say...=money grab

[cardoustie]

It's a hard event to love because it is a wannabe Ryder Cup event .. and it will never be that

Plus, like the old RC's when it was only GB & I ... the USA wins pretty much every time out

[BeerPerHole]

That one commentator in the booth (the former tour pro...I'm blanking on the name) really was annoying. Lighten up, Francis...

[DaveGoodrich]

Of course "it's only a game," but I like the drama that team competitions bring. You can just see that winning means more, and in a different way, when they are playing for the team, not just themselves.

I think they should have a tour event where two captains pick teams, playground style, then have a match with sponsor's somehow "betting" on their players for charity $.

[nikeblades00]

i agree. ill watch any golf on tv, heck i would probably watch high school state finals matches if they aired it. as far as any patriotic value of the Presidents cup, I don't feel it. could care less who wins.

[MattyO1984]

I have gone back and forth on the Presidents Cup. When I was younger, I thought that it was a big deal, I was young and didn’t know that much and thought it was near to being on par with the Ryder Cup. Clearly, I was mistaken on that front. It doesn’t have anywhere near the history or the passion that the Ryder Cup has and it’s a poorer event as a result of that. That said, in the last couple of playing, I have been more interested in watching it than I have been in the past.

I would agree that the broadcasters were pushing it way too much but then I get the impression that their deals with the PGA Tour make that absolutely essential. The broadcasters now push the Players Championship as being on the same level as the majors (it’s not) and just as they were talking about the Season of Championships (placing the FedEx Cup finale in alongside the Players and the majors) and that comes directly from the Tour. The thing that the Tour should realise is that they more they force it down our throats, the less likely we are to take them seriously.

[Pepperturbo]

I am a P&L business man that sat in the board of a tax-exempt equity club. The PGA tour which has six world-wide tours, is like private tax-exempt equity golf clubs, and other sports tours in the US. They are IRS tax-exempt which allows corporate tax-deduction support. What ever profit that comes from events after costs is typically donated to charity, goes back into operations, short and long-term projects plus support of professional athletes.. Accumulating a profit or money grab can't happen.

[bscinstnct]

"I understand it, and like to win any game I play, but in the end it's still just a game."

 

 

Don't ever say this to Joe Theisman.

 

Yeah, LT definitely missed the "it's just a game" memo ; )

 

 

 

[the bishop]

"Don't ever say this to Joe Theisman". One of the worst things I've ever seen - and I was watching it live - and I don't care if I ever see that replay again. LT had his demons for sure but playing the game the right way, hard but fair, he was right on. He never intended or wanted something like that for Joe and I'll always remember he was the first one out of that pile calling for the Redskins medical team to come out and help. That was awful.

[bscinstnct]

I was as well! Gruesome.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18074038/lawrence-taylor-remembers-joe-theismann-injury-seen-lot-worse-hits-nfl

 

""The pain was unbelievable, it snapped like a breadstick. It sounded like two muzzled gunshots off my left shoulder. Pow, pow! It was at that point, I also found out what a magnificent machine the human body is. Almost immediately, from the knee down, all the feeling was gone in my right leg. The endorphins had kicked in, and I was not in pain."-Joe Theisman

 

When he got on the phone, he told me that I had broken both the bones in his leg. I kidded him by telling him that I didn't do anything half-assed. I told him, "If I'm going to break them, I'm going to break them both."-Lawrence Taylor"

 

And, since it's the week before the holiday, let's look at the greatest gift the NFL has ever had. Best LT vid I have see, music is good too ; )

 

 

 

[tkwilliamson22]

You can't be serious right? The average World Golf Rank for team USA was 12. How does that not include some of the best players in the world. Who was left out that would have made this list of players more interesting to you??

[BMC]

Rory McIlroy, John Rahm, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood...al the best Euro Players. Does there need to be two World vs. USA Exhititions?

 

[gvogel]

Charity? I think the money goes into their retirement fund.

[tiderider]

They (the players) give money from the RC to their desired charities ... this was a point of contention back in the late 90s/early 2000s ... i'd be surprised if the president's cup doesn't do the same thing ...

[tkwilliamson22]

Technically there is only one WORLD vs USA! And are you complaining about more team competitions? I guess I don't understand why this is bad, the more exposure the game gets is better so to be on the worlds stage every year is an awesome marketing play by the governing bodies of the game. Everyone loves proving they are the best so why not prove it once a year (From a USA perspective)