Category: Commentary

Change is not Unique

One day while I was home on college break, heading out the door, my mother said to me, “You’re probably more liberal than you think.” I laughed it off, as if being called a liberal or a democrat was a personal attack. (Not that some wouldn’t take it that way.) At the time I would have easily classified myself as a conservative republican, but without justification. Politics was more about the image than the idea.

Only recently have I begun to fight back against my default apathy, which, as I type these words, I am reminded is a much more difficult fight than I ever expected. I refuse to give up, or give in. I want to care very much, and I believe that my vote ultimately does count towards something. Even if that something is ideologically out of reach. Baby steps.

I’ve watched friends get behind a candidate (Ron Paul, mostly), and their passion and conviction is inspiring. I hope to one day feel that connection, but it seems that falling head-over-heals for a candidate is far more complicated than crushing on a cute girl in class. Rarely, in this day and age, am I permitted to observe a candidate from afar and overlook the imperfections that would otherwise dissuade me from supporting him. Instead, the micro attention feeds me an incessant stream of useless information. Never has so much been made of so little.

Further complicating things, information, useless or otherwise, without a personal conviction breeds apathy. It’s all static, and I want to cut through it. Oddly, the Friends episode where Ross tallies the pluses and minuses of Rachel and Emily comes to mind. I wish supporting a candidate were that easy. E.g., McCain has fat ankles – Vote Obama.

The real fight, for me, is realizing that… I don’t know how to put it exactly without falling into patriotic rhetoric too much. I need to realize that this all means something. For eight years now we’ve seen how badly a president can damage the image of the United States. The modern day cliche, “Change,” is what is needed. But, it certainly isn’t reserved solely for Barack Obama. Instead, each one of us, as Americans and as humans needs to look in the mirror and consider what change would mean for us and how we can bring it about ourselves regardless of who our leader is.

Why Golf is the Best of All Games

In a letter written to Owen Fiss by philosopher John Rawls about a conversation he had with Harry Kalven, Rawls highlights six reasons why baseball is the best of all games. Here are the reasons offered and why golf may just be a better game.

First: “The rules of the game are in equilibrium.”

This is a difficult point to dispute in favor of golf because of the increased distance and performance provided by high tech golf equipment. Whereas in baseball, a wooden bat and leather ball are standard year-to-year and decade-to-decade. The advancement of golf equipment is out-pacing many of the courses (for professionals).

Second: “The game does not give unusual preference or advantage to special physical types.”

With the steroid controversy looming over Major League Baseball, there seems to be some concern that “bigger IS better.” Power is becoming a dominating factor in both baseball and golf, however, for golf pure power is less of an advantage than in baseball. Power in golf is only one element of moving the ball from point A to point B. Directional control is equally important, and much harder to master.

Thus, the game of golf gives less of an advantage to special physical types, although it does favor power.

Third: “The game uses all parts of the body.”

I’ve heard people all my life tell me that golf is not a sport. People have their reasons for saying this, including that there isn’t enough movement, no physical contact, and rarely do golfers break a sweat unless the temperature is high.

Golf is the most athletic of games. The ability to strike a golf ball solidly is almost as or as difficult as hitting a baseball thrown by a pitcher at 90 MPH. Only when the golf swing is viewed in slow motion do you realize just how involved every part of the body is. Look at a professional players’ impact position. It’s very athletic looking.

Fourth: “All plays of the game are open to view.”

Baseball is a clear winner in this category. No matter if you are watching golf on TV or live in person, you will not see every shot on the course or even every shot of a single player.

The suspense in golf is built shot by shot over four days until the Sunday roars weigh heavy on the players walking the course. Nothing is in view, and that is part of the excitement.

Fifth: “Baseball is the only game where scoring is not done with the ball, and this has the remarkable effect of concentrating the excitement of plays at different points of the field at the same time.”

Every player’s ball has the potential to change the outcome of the tournament. Unlike basketball or football, the focus isn’t on a single ball. Like baseball, there are multiple points of focus that may or may not be simultaneously altering the outcome of the competition.

Sixth: “There is the factor of time, the use of which is a central part of any game. Baseball shares with tennis the idea that time never runs out, as it does in basketball and football and soccer.”

Like baseball, there is no factor of time in golf. In certain golf formats, E.g., matchplay, time can be a strategic tool. In both baseball and golf the viewer and players know what marks the end, but don’t necessarily know when it will come. The advantage of the lack of time is that more focus is placed on the actual play than on working against time.

Two great games.

Gary Player Loves to Workout

Congratulations to Gary Player for breaking 80 today. He was proud of it and said he would be coming back to play next year because of it. I guess that means we won’t see the trifecta of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary as the honorary starters for at least another year.

Why is Gary able to keep playing after all of these years? Well, he will explain ad nauseum that it’s because he’s been working out for 63 years.

Gary Player never stops talking about working out. For every question he’s asked, his answer somehow ends up relating back to how he loves working out. He never stops talking about it.

Here are some possible questions and Gary’s likely answers:

Q: Gary, what do you think of the economy?
Gary: Well, I’d just like to say that I’ve been working out for 63 years. The economy is in bad shape because not enough young people are working out.

Q: Gary, why is the sky blue?
Gary: Well, I’d just like to say that I love a good work out under a blue sky. Nothing better.

Q: Gary, how is your golf course design business going?
Gary: Well, it’s working out great because I work out.

Why Twitter Is Great for Golfers

I use a micro blogging service called twitter. Twitter prompts you with the question, “What are you doing?” You then respond with a short message of 140 characters or less. (Same limit placed on text messages from your phone.) The typical use of twitter is much broader than this question. People take notes on it, converse with each other and track things.

My username is guyrogers and you can find my profile and posts here. While most people find the service to be completely pointless, I see great value in twitter for golfers.

Five great ways golfers and fans can leverage twitter:

1. Track shots during a practice round
2. Update friends and family about a player
3. Chat with one another about TV tournaments
4. Follow PGA Tour twitter updates
5. Track and create a record for friendly bets on the course*

*No comment on the intelligence of creating a public record of potentially illegal activity.

I’ve only found one other twitterer who will admit to being a golfer. Do you twitter? Do you twitter AND golf? If you do, find me and follow me. Happy twittering!

Mania This and Mania That

Golf Digest’s Jaime Diaz has in interesting proposition: that pre-1997 Tigermania paved the way for the Barack Obamamania we’re experiencing leading up to the 2008 Presidential Election. He writes:

Obamamania really isn’t all that different from Tigermania pre-1997 Masters. Woods was still mostly promise, although there was a certainty and presence and sense of destiny to the young man, the kind Obama increasingly has demonstrated in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Both manias reflect an America willing to trust its gut more than its head. But tellingly, with Woods there was no second-guessing, and the same seems to be true with Obama.

Without getting too political here on Yugflog.com, if Obama is elected President, he will have a lot to live up to. Tiger has far exceeded the pre-1997 hype with his incredible on-course success. On top of that his image and influence reach far beyond the course and affect many reaches of life. By default, Obama will have the reach if he were to take office. The tough part would be backing it up with results.

When Reality Bites

David Brooks writes in an article titled, When Reality Bites, that the Democrats are basically screwed on two major issues.

1. Their proposal for immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
2. Their conflicting proposals of fiscal discipline and new programs.

Removing the troops from Iraq would be a huge mistake. Thomas Barnett’s idea of a large peacekeeping force has always made sense to me.

The only way the Democrat’s domestic spending proposals seems possible is if they take the money that would have been spent on military in Iraq and use it here in the U.S.

Still, good luck bringing home the troops without messing up the world.

(via NYT)

Photography Notes on Film and iPhone

Superior Film Guy

Owning a film camera makes me use the words “exposures” and “shooting” more than I did before. No longer do I “take pictures.” Instead, I “shoot pictures” and “have three of twelve exposures left.” Part of this is because a picture isn’t a picture until you take it. Until then, it’s a potential exposure (an unexposure?).

It’s funny that reverting to old technology would give me a sense of photography superiority.

iPhone for First Impressions

I’ve started to frame shots with my iPhone before shooting them with my Diana+. By taking a picture with my iPhone, I get a sense of whether the picture is worth wasting a film exposure on. Or, more often, I am able to focus in on the most interesting part of the iPhone picture and then take just that with the film.