Paul Azinger just earned the hero tag. Also, the heh, and obvious tags.
Pro golfer Paul Azinger thinks President Obama might be hitting the links a bit too hard.
The author, businessman and 12-time PGA Tour winner took to Twitter Thursday to zing the commander-in-chief over his frequent golf outings while on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard.
“Facts: Potus has played more golf this month than I have: I have created more jobs this month than he has,” Azinger wrote.
Double eagle.
I have a theory about all this golf the president is playing. I haven’t fully thought it all through and it’s going to be controversial, so bear with me.
Tiger Woods notwithstanding, golf has long been seen as a white man’s game. I’m a white man, really can’t stand to watch golf on TV and can barely play it myself, but that is its public perception. I prefer football, soccer, baseball, really nearly anything to golf as a sport. Tiger Woods did a great deal to change the game’s perception, and then he self-destructed.
Beyond the pro game, there’s the perception of golf as a white man’s game because it’s a game in which business deals get proffered and made. It’s a game during which politicians decide the fate of the world while taking a mulligan on the 8th hole. Those politicians have historically been white men.
So along comes the first black president. In two years in office, he has played more golf in office than his predecessor did in eight, despite the fact that his predecessor was regularly ripped for playing golf. Obama didn’t have a particular reputation for playing golf when he came to office, but he does now. He plays golf, gets ripped for it, and then plays more golf. Mitt Romney has even turned Obama’s penchant for not working into a very effective slogan — “Obama’s Not Working.” And he’s not. He’s playing more golf than a pro golfer.
We know Barack Obama is a narcissistic, vindictive sort. We know that he likes to do all sorts of historic things, and sees everything he does in office as precedent-setting, ground-breaking, first evah, changing the game, etc.
So…is Obama spending so much time on the links as a way of sticking it to The Man, by (in his own mind) taking The Man’s power game away from him?
I give it a firm “maybe.” It’s the kind of thing a suddenly powerful, privately bitter, self-centered grievance-mongerer would do.
Update: ESPN has warned Azinger about getting political. I think they should have him on SportsNation and see what the channel’s polls say.
“suddenly powerful, privately bitter, self-centered grievance-mongerer ” – Accurate.
I dont play golf, and I had never thought much about the game before Chavez started demonizing it and seizing golf courses in Venezuela. I was puzzling over Chavez’s absurdity when an interesting thing happened to me.
I was loading my Kawasaki Mule onto my trailer which was hitched to my Jeep in preparation for a trip to the woods ( yes, I am a redneck ). I was dressed in jeans, boots, and a woods coat. A ‘guy’ came slouching down the street with his pants hanging nearly around his knees and walked right past me. He looked at me, at the mule, and asked ” Gonna hit the links huh? “. Venom was dripping from his voice. I was nearly speechless that he couldnt tell a golf cart from an off-road utility vehicle, and completely clueless why he would show so much disdain for me and for the game of golf. Then it hit me; why he, his culture in general, and the venerable Hugo Chavez felt this way.
I theorize that that the reason golf is popular in Western European culture is the same reason that the game is such a hit with the Japanese. It requires precision, accuracy, mental and physical discipline and attention to detail; traits valued by these cultures. Traits which are of little or no concern to certain other cultures.
Just from my impression of him personally, I am now puzzled as to why Obama has such an interest in the game.
when one has the opportunity to play a golf course (let alone some of the best in the world) with no one rushing from behind or lagging in front the game is a blast
the rest of the time…..
Obama probably enjoys the stimulation and at the same time avoids the mental stress that goes with actual work. Avoidance behavior?
By all accounts he plays very slowly and not well…perhaps it is his way of hanging out with the guys, killing time, and being away from the missus.
An interesting hypothesis. I have always believed he plays golf, takes vacations, and otherwise avoids his duty for a very simple reason – he knows the more he can avoid being at his desk the better off he’ll be. He knows he isn’t a leader, and he has demonstrated a willingness to lead from behind on a multitude of issues (notably the Obamacare debacle) and leave the heavy lifting to others. His advisors have to be telling him he is playing too much golf, but on the other hand they know that a day of golf will get him less grief than a day of making poor decisions on important issues.
Personally I think it has less to do with race and more to do with what he can get away with. Golf is seen as presidential. Even if he was playing golf to join the “white man’s game” nobody could play that much golf if they didn’t have some liking for it. I think he really enjoys the game on its merits, and it helps give him a presidential looking excuse for being away from his office.
I think you’re right about him avoiding having to do more than vote “present” with his current job. It’s a first for him. This is the first job he’s ever had where he was required to do more than just show up.
Personally, I think he does less damage to the country when he’s playing golf than he does when he’s playing president. He can play every day as far as I’m concerned.
It could be that he’s simply addicted to the game. As an avid tennis junkie, I had a disdain for the game of golf. Then, I started playing. Maybe the POTUS – golf link is that element of never achieving perfection. Or, in this case, a scorecard riddled with triple bogeys.
I love sports and golf is no exception.
Golf is a hand/eye coordination game that requires great mental skill to play at a high level. Anyone can play and chop the ball around in the fresh air, but it is a mentally challenging…physical movement of a ball toward a target using a stick.
Stick and ball games (baseball, lacrosse, cricket, “hockey” etc) require reaction time and instinct…golf self-initiates the action and you have to read your surroundings.
It’s very hard for the lazy and unfocused to get good at it. You can’t master it by BS
Or simply dominate it by physical gifts alone.
Mental discipline is a must to be great at it. And…it exposes weaknesses, flaws and frailties of character, strength and determination…no matter how hard you try to cover them up.
The golf course is the greatest personality inventory test ever invented. Malingerers can pay the green’s fee…but they can’t hide there long. They get found out…every time. So do cheaters. Liars. Frauds. Let him play all he wants…just go watch…and learn.
We presume he defines his job along the same lines as previous office holders — which I think is not the case.
If he defines his job as a behind the scenes facilitator of progressive causes (community organizer on a national scale)he’s got plenty of time for golf.
His behavior is consistent with the “leading from behind” organizer perspective, hence:
> Voting present while in congress
> Letting Harry and Nancy run with National Healthcare
> Submitting a perfunctory stab at a budget – not an agitator’s worry
> Adopting Bush policies when convenient
He can golf, vacation, and whatever else he chooses because he defines his responsibility differently.
Every golf course is a rifle range wasted.
Did not read all of the comments heer so someone may already have pointed this out. My theory is that he knows he is in over his head – simply not up to the job and does not really like it – but the fraud has the position so he has no choice but to stay in office till the end. The gold and all of the other leisure activities are a way to while away the hours until he is out – or reelected – and then we will see more of the same. He is a small man who was surprised by his own ability to capture the presidency with a big enough ego to not realize how inadequate he is for a real job like that.
He will go down in history as a loser. We needed the first black president to be a Jackie Robinson or Muhammad Ali figure – a champ, a winner, a dominator of the skills that count in that position and NOT a poverty pimping America hater like Jesse Jackson and Al Charlatan. What a terribel blow to race relations and the cohesion of society.
God help us all.
Reverend out.
Here are more tweets they ignored from commentators, and also one calling conservatives racist ON AIR, without any repercussions! http://bit.ly/ESPNdblspeak
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