Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Tiger and his Followers?
Tiger Tiger Tiger. Maybe the most dominate athlete of our generation. No one has even come close to him. On the course he makes everyone else look dumb because he is that good. But there is one problem. He is the only African American in the sport. So yes he might be dominate and amazing but for the sport he has brought no African Americans, no diversity. Why is it that Lebron can dunk and dunk and dunk and kids love him but when Tiger hits a 20 foot put during The Masters all those kids could care less. Earlier this year abcnews.com (http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=3013246) did an article about diversity in golf. They interviewed Martavius Adams, a 13 year student in Atlanta who quit football to play golf. When he made his decision all of his friends went to him and said "golf isn't a sport," they all believe that it's only a white mans sport. Lauren Braswell, an African American golfer at Rutgers, said that when she goes to tournaments she sees maybe one or two other Africa Americans. One problem is that a lot of the young African American kids can not afford to play golf. It’s so expensive just to go to a course a play. But you also have to buy clubs and get lessons to really learn how to play. As for basketball all you need is a cheap pair of shoes and a court to play on. Another problem is that many golf courses around the country don't let African Americans in to their club, which is a complete joke and obviously don't understand the American way. As much as Tiger Woods has done for the sport, professionally he has not done a lot with diversity. I think Tiger needs to advertise to African Americans more then just saying; hey I own half the world and can do whatever I want. I understand that kids love Kobe, Lebron, Mcnabb and so many other African Americans in other sports but Tiger is more dominate then these guys will ever be. If I were younger again I would love to play golf and do what Tiger does. I know people just say it’s a stick and ball but they don't understand how much fun golf is. You also would not have the pressure that these other guys have because people scrutinize the other athletes much more then they do in golf. It's sad that there is only one African American in golf and that the gold world can't do more to try and change that.
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3 comments:
I believe that you are right when you said that one of the reasons that there are not as many african americans in golf is due to the restrictions that many clubs have/had placed on their ability to enter and play. I believe that it may be THE most important reason that it may take many more years and many more african american golfers to change the way they view the sport.
I totally agree with you on this one. I have always loved golf for as long I can remember but it took me until I was a teenager to see that there is no diversity. I think that it is this way for the same reason you do, the price. Playing on an average course will cost you a minimum of $15 so can you imagine how much it will cost to get good at the sport? You have to practice everyday and that can get expensive. The reason more kids play basketball is because all they need is a ball and a hoop. Also, I hate it when people say golf isn't a sport. Have they even tried hitting a golf ball staight? I played sports my entire life but in high school I played golf, basketball, and baseball mainly and I can say it honestly, golf was by far the hardest. When it comes to having Tiger make the sport appeal to African Americans though, I don't think one man can do it regardless of how good he is. It is going to take a lot more golfers from all different backgrounds to really start to take an effect on the games fan base.
I would also agree with you when you said that the reason that African-American kids aren't able to play is because they are being restricted becaue of their race. I actually saw this happen one time and I thought it was absolutely terrible. I think the reason that no one cares when Tiger sinks a 20 foot put at the masters is because golf is a very hard sport to watch on T.V. for some people just like soccer. I also agree that if we can somehow get more young African American kids to play it will make the game of golf a lot more diverse.
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