President's Cup Ramblings

Watching the President's Cup this weekend (think of it as the Ryder Cup's less-famous sibling) was really enjoyable. There is something that makes sports that much more enjoyable when you have athletes competing for their countries. And sure, you can say that it's doesn't have the intensity that would usually come with something like the Olympics, but that is simply because the event is only 15 years old. Just give it time. If anything it proved that they should definitely use this format for the 2016 Olympics, because it's a lot more fun than a straight 72 hole tournament. Anyway, here are a few more thoughts collected while watching the matches:

• If this thing is ever going to really take off, the International team needs to win one occasionally. One team dominating another is never a good thing in a new rivalry. If this is just seen as a way for the U.S. to exert golf dominance every other year it'll kill the tournament before it has a chance to get going.
  
• I don't care how much he tries to justify it, Fred Couples will never be able to explain to me why Michael Jordan was a Captain's Assistant. I've seen Jordan play before and I don't think he should be giving anyone tips.
  
• At least the team uniforms were equal this year. It always feels like Europeans have the edge in that department when it comes time for the Ryder Cup. Of course, shirts like this do not help the U.S.'s cause.
  
• Whenever I see putts that are conceded, I can not get over how easily the pros can do that little "flip the ball to myself with the back of my putter" move. I've spent hours trying to do that and all I've accomplished is almost breaking a window.
  
• One thing that I do better than pro golfers? High five other people. You will not see a less coordinated celebration anywhere in the world than you do when golfers are forced to team up. These guys are not used to anything more than a handshake with each other and it shows. The whole weekend was a mess of one guy going in for a high five and his partner countering with an attempted fist-bump.
  

-The announcers were telling a story about the course in San Francisco, where the tournament was being held this year. Apparently the trees around the course have a reputation of catching any golf balls that hit the limbs and never giving them back. Following the earthquake of 1989 the groundskeeper came out the next day to find hundreds of golf balls on the course. You know what that tells me? You need to plant a different kind of tree around the place. No need to make golf more difficult.

-While we're on the subject of retrieving golf balls, I bring you the story a man in South Carolina who went to the water's edge to get a ball back and had his arm bitten off by an alligator. This is why, even in Massachusetts, I have a standing policy: if a ball goes in the water, it should remain there. Really, even the balls that are considered 'great' are still not worth having to be called "Lefty" for the rest of my life.