I went today for the Playoff. Fantastic.

I was lucky to have a great week: Lakers Game3 Finals game+ Big Bear Porsche Run + Father's Day in Laguna Beach + Playoff at Torrey Pine.

I feel blessed. Only thing better is to get a F1 race back to Socal and we are done!

Golf courses are one of the biggest enviromental wastes. Too much water , little or no local enviroental plantings etc. Tiger plays the " good guy " card well, his opinions he keeps to himself. Ask hockey fans. Boring as hell, could care less. Fat boy nascar drivers after 4 hours in the car are in better shape. Look at some of the golfers, jeez. Smoking is banned from the spectators, but specifically alllowed for competitors. makes paint drying look exciting.

How far from plate to mound in softball? Chick lived across the street played softball, had this rising fastball that was tough to get a bat on, but if you choke up right, you hit it over the first baseman's head for an easy double, and that is a long ass throw to third from the right field corner.

I have not followed MLB since they cancelled the World Series due to pettiness.
I blame Canada.

it is a lot closer in softball.

Baseball is right around 60 feet (I think it's 60.5 feet). Those college gals bring the heat, and I think they are doing it from right around the same distance as 8-9 year old Little League distance (around 42 feet). So baseball is around 50% further than softball - a significant difference.

I was at the cages this weekend with my son. some of the coaches got a cage with an 80 mph ball. Pretty fast, not all that hard to hit when the machine is putting it in the same spot every time, but would be pretty scary with a person throwing that hard at you!

You have faced all star (let alone hall of fame) caliber big league pitching before?

I'd like to see you stand in the box for a few Randy Johnson sliders... :-p

Now imagine a 100+ MPH fastball with some movement that runs in at you at the last second. DUCK!!!

LOL, i realized at the high school level that hitting was not a skill i was ever going to make a living on. Hehehe.

BTW, YES, HITTING BIG LEAGUE PITCHING IS THE HARDEST SKILL IN SPORTS :)
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ten-hardest-splash.htm

No aspect of golf even made the top 10.

According to ESPN, the hardest sport in general is boxing.
They rank baseball (in general) the 9th most difficult, and golf 54th.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

So anyway, that's who "They" are. ;)

Greatest sports movie of all time. Even though golf isn't a sport. :)

Major league was funny as hell too.

Funny how golf is such a polarizing sport. You either love it, or hate it with a passion. You either understand it, or are completely clueless about it.

What the pros do is not really comprehensible to someone that hasn't ever played competetive golf. Playing a few times a week and hitting a few buckets of balls in between just isn't the same thing. You don't swing like they do. If you did, 100 range balls and 18 holes would be all you wanted in a day and you wouldn't be all that excited about doing it again the next day.

I thought that this year's Open was one of the best of all time. Rocco played some great golf. It was hard to watch him fold on the last hole.

You can't blame the golfers for the spin the announcers put on their commentary. None of the media (print, electronic) is worth listening to, because they cater to the average guy, who isn't all that impressive. Face it, we are a living in a world full of idiots and the media caters to the average dude, while worrying more about ratings, the stock price and the end of year bonuses than content. You need to hear a good sound bite daily! SportCenter! ESPN360! SportsNation! It's on now, turn the box on and turn it up!

By the way, it is getting worse.

JR

Number 4 is considered part of the top 10.

You can't expect sniper to know how to count to ten. ;)

I think most of the posters here that dislike golf so much can't even play the game, they may have had a bad time with the windmill at the local mini golf and that set their mind for them.
Also, I would guess Tiger Woods is in better shape than all of them. Probably in better shape than most baseball players. Probably in better shape than most football players.

I heard Johnny Miller say the Tiger could bench 350 lbs. Is that true?? I mean the guy is yoked, but he does have long arms and can't weigh much over about 180.

2 times body weight is a lot to be benching.

It wouldn't surprise me that he could, but I doubt he uses that much weight. He works out a lot but is more interested in things that could help his swing. Bench pressing isn't one of them.

I grew up with a guy that was on the wrestling team in high school. We used to work out together and were essentially comparable, except for bench presses. He could easily do 350, I couldn't. He had worked for years on his chest and it showed. We both weighed 150 or so.

JR

Some guys are built for benching. They're just strong naturally and then if they work at it...

My best is 295 strict - no bouncing. But I weighed 205 when I did it and was using Andro (back when Mark McGuire said it was OK).

I just can't see Tiger using that much weight and the risk of injury that goes along with it.

Yeah, my friend was built like a chimpanzee. An odd physique. The only drugs he used were smoked in this funny looking cigarette and I doubt that helped his strength much, or improved his concentration.

I'd bet Tiger usually doesn't do much bench press weight in his workouts. There are no reasons for him to do so and a lot of reasons for him to not do so.

JR

I saw Tiger at the Buick at Torrey Pines in January.

He is much bigger/more ripped in person than he is in pictures or TV, IMO. He spends some serious time in the gym, and is pushing up some heavy weight to get that kind of size.

Today's news has Tiger out for the rest of the season. He's getting the knee redone. Also, he has a couple stress fractures of the tibia on that leg.

There went my Sunday afternoons.

JR

You can bet your ass they won't be scoping that knee this time around

ACL reconstruction.

JR

How high on the top ten list does "Winning the US Open in sudden death on a knee that won't support my full weight because it needs full open reduction surgery" rank?

You could tell monday there was something wrong. Rocco is not a long ball hitter and he and Tiger were pretty even off the T. Tiger couldn't hit.

That list is a crock, how many people are there that can hit a 95 mph fastball and how many are there that can hit a quad skating? Also, a marathon is not that big a deal, a marathon in a good time is another thing entirely.

Tiger at 50% is still better than the rest of the world. Which is okay if he plays, but when he doesn't, tv golf basically sucks. Hell, it sucks when he plays too. At least he isn't winning by 20 shots lately. Maybe the PGA should make him play with one leg in a cast.

I miss the competitive golfers of the past and their personalities.

They are still around, look at Sergio spitting in the cup when he picked up his ball, Woody is a character, Rocco, Daley, Phil, Sabatinni, lots of people to watch.
I think when Tiger came on it woke the other players up, it seemed like they were in a trance, weren't working as hard as they are now.

Haven't read the whole thread, (will go back and do that). But there is going to be some serious crow eating... torn ACL, two, countem' two stress fractures??????? His father didn't tell him he'd be the strongest mentally. He told him he'd never meet anyone mentally stronger. I for one believe him. Tiger didn't beat Rocco, (fantastic tourney and a piece of rasin pie for him), with his game. Tiger beat him with his mind. Rocco was beat on the 90th whole, he had nothing left.
Personally I am glad to watch history.

Overlooked by me because it doesn't fit into my point! :D

LOL, seriously, i missed #4. Of course, #4 is not #1. ;)

Compared to say, Winning a heavyweight fight in the 12th round after being pounded on by a huge brother (who if he were to hit a normal person would probably break them in half) for the first 11 rounds?

EXTREMELY LOW.

Compared to say, standing and blocking the plate with a 220lb fast as lightning Dominican man lowering his shoulder to barrel into you in the bottom of the 9th inning in a world series with 25 million people watching.

EXTREMELY LOW.

Compared to say, "going over the top" on 4th and inches from the 1 foot line in the 4th quarter of a close NFL game and getting hit mid-air by someone of Ronnie Lott or Steve Atwater's ilk.

EXTREMELY LOW.

Compared to say, driving the lane in a tie NBA basketball game as the clock ticks down to zero and simultaneously getting nailed by a 7' tall African's elbow as you slam dunk into a basket over 10 feet tall.

EXTREMELY LOW.

Compared to crossing the blue line and getting ANNIHILATED by the likes of Scott Stevens as you hang in there to make that game winning assist?

EXTREMELY LOW.

Need i continue? (We won't even get into MMA)

You want to talk Heroic? Emmit Smith playing an entire NFL playoff game and carrying his team to victory in the Meadowlands on frozen concrete despite having a separated shoulder. THAT is heroic. And i don't even like Emmit Smith.

Golf is the biggest panzy ass sport of all time. It makes soccer look tough. And this is coming from a Scotsman.

You apparently do nothing with your mind Sniper.
Wasn't it you who talked about POW's & cancer victims? That is what's called 'mental strength, lets say it together, "mental strength". Now I'm not comparing POW's with golfers but you obviously don't understand that term. It takes more mental strength to play golf at that level than any other sport IMHO. Most games especially team sports is reactionary, which athletes prefer. In golf, you just have your own demons. All you have are your own thoughts running through your head. To be able to stay that focused is nothing short of phenomenal.

I didn't realize having mental strengh meant one was a pansy.

m21sniper,

Nobody ever said golf was a physically tougher sport than boxing, or professional football. It does take a wee bit of skill, though.

Tell you what. Take a three iron and a bucket of balls to your favorite course on a breezy day. Stand 250 yards from the pin on your favorite hole and hit balls till you knock one within 10 feet of the pin. Be sure and count how many you hit before that, that are outside of ten feet. Report back to us when you're done.

Cheers,
JR

nobody here is going to hit a three iron 250 yds!!

Why not? Golf is easy, right?

JR

Yeah, why not? It's no sweat to hit a low hook and let it run out.

lol, that didn't take long.

I never said it was easy. I said it's a mamby pamby pussy sport that, compared to any real sport, requires no athleticism at all.

It is not easy, by any stretch, but neither are lots of other non-sports related skills. ;)

Old men play it. What more do you need to say?

m21sniper - Is auto racing a "pussy" sport as well?

Yes, clearly Golf requires more focus and concentration than fighting against the likes of a Mohammed Ali, Marvin Hagler, Mike Tyson, etc, etc, who will bust your skull wide open if you make even the slightest mistake in judgement or lose focus for even a split second..

Boxing is not called the sweet science for nothing.

Frankly, the things that you're saying make golfing unique can be found in any bar game like Darts, Shuffleboard, or Pool. Which is what i consider golfing to be basically. An outdoors bar game.

Heroic? A Heroic performance is that game a few years back when McNabb broke his leg and not only stayed in the game, but threw 5 touch down passes while barely able to walk to lead the Eagles to victory. THAT is mental toughness my friend.

You forgot bacci ball :D

Isn't boxing reactionary?
In golf here's the difference in a player with mental toughness and not...
Phil Mickelson.. a 9 on 13, (loved it).
Tiger Woods... a birdie on the 18 to force a playoff.

I don't even play golf and I can do that easily, I hit a 5 iron better than 200 yards last time I picked one up

If you don't think golf requires any physical ability, you don't know what you are talking about, simple as that

BuckTerrier: Boxing is only reactionary if you're ceding the initiative.

For the aggressor, it is obviously pro-active.

I'm not saying golf isn't hard. I'm saying you don't have to be an athlete to play it (seriously, little old men play this game), and that it's not a sport in the same vien as say hockey or football.
Darts is extremely, extremely difficult too. The top players are ******* amazing, but it's still not comparable to a safety filling the hole to try and stop someone like Earl Campbell (30 times a game!).

You are confusing physically demanding with physically punishing.

Golf is neither. Little old men play it. Fat, fat sloppy men play it too. I've seen both on Golf Courses. Not that i frequent them often. But i have played. Fat out of shape women play it too.

My main problem with it on a personal participation level, is that it's as boring to play as it is to watch.

Everything except titties and ******* is boring when you suck at it.