It’s time to interrupt out your best polos and bone up on the newest inventory market traits as a result of we’re going to the nation clubbing. The Masters are subsequent week, and Wimbledon is in a number of months, however we now have information from each, and I don’t wish to write two separate tales, so we’re going to mix and tie them collectively. No, I’m not speaking about residence invasions within the suburbs. I’m speaking about villains — particularly, who’re we rooting in opposition to extra: LIV golfers at Augusta, or Russian and Belarusian gamers on the All England Club?
The reply appears easy till you take a look at the small print, so let’s try this.
LIV golfers on the Masters
Cameron Smith, the No. 2 golfer on the planet earlier than he defected to the Saudi Tour and his rating plummeted, shall be among the many 18 LIV golfers to tee it up on the Masters subsequent week. There have been tales from PGA golfers and pundits in regards to the Saudi Tour not being actual golf, and so they’re proper.
The upstart league solely has 14 occasions this season, all of that are 54 holes. There’s no reduce in any of them. I do not know what the format is from course to course, and there are groups.
Well, all of that chatter has Smith’s knickers in a bunch and he’s correct mad. Not positive if that’s how Aussies discuss, so simply learn the quote.
“Most of us will get four cracks at it this year [in the majors], and hopefully we get maybe a win out of it. Maybe we just show a really hearty effort,” Smith stated in an interview Thursday. “I think for us, internally, there’s a lot of chatter going around about ‘these guys don’t play real golf anymore.’ And I think it’s B.S. to be honest. And we just want to show people that.”
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Of all the shit that’s been talked about LIV golf and its members, that’s what you’re mad about? People questioning whether a tour with fewer weekends of action than a college football season is “real golf”? I don’t know about you, but I’d be more upset about the people who called me a soulless chum bucket for trading my integrity for blood money.
This just proves how insulated golfers really are, and it’s no surprise considering their life involves going from exclusive golf course to exclusive golf course seeking the approval of a bunch of white guys in their 60s.
Russians and Belarusians at Wimbledon
The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club confirmed Friday that it lifted the ban on Russian and Belarusian players at Wimbledon. The ban originated shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the participation of athletes from the supporting countries remains a controversial topic.
That’s why Wimbledon put some restrictions in place. Players from Russia and Belarus will have to play as neutrals and cannot show support for the invasion. Also, anyone who receives Russian and Belarusian funding, including state-backed sponsorships, will be prohibited.
Alright, cool. Easy enough, right? So the tennis players who show up in early July will be adequately scrubbed of any ties to the countries currently occupying Ukraine or abetting in it. As long as they give the correct responses — ones the All England Club just gave to them — they’re good to go.
Call me naive, but it seems like it’d be pretty easy to just lie to gain entry. “Oh, all I need to do is check the right boxes, and I’ll be allowed back at the biggest Grand Slam of the year? Show me what to do and where to sign.”
However, there is a heavy dollop of ambiguity when it comes to Russian and Belarusian athletes. If every supporter was as overt as the Russian gymnast/zealot who basically heiled Vladmir Putin on the medal stand, it’d be safe to root against any and all repping Mother Russia or its dopey sidekick.
It’s easy to say, “Renounce your government” when your family isn’t within Putin’s reach though. There are likely many Russians and Belarusians horrified by the actions of their countries’ leaders, but to speak out is to risk a relative getting disappeared.
The answer to the article
If the only way to know which tennis player to root against is to know where each individual stands on Ukraine — which we don’t know and won’t be able to find out truthfully — it’s really hard to paint all of them with the same broad brush that we do the LIV golfers.
Is accepting Saudi money worse than supporting the invasion of Ukraine? I’m not playing that game of would you rather. Disappointing as that may be (I’m not sorry) if you’re looking for a villain to root against alongside Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Smith, and Co., look at the tournament organizers themselves.
Augusta was never going to bar LIV golfers from playing because there are too many big names. And even though Wimbledon is trying to do the right thing, your run-of-the-mill cynic can blast loopholes through their stipulations. There’s no way of getting the answers they seek, but that didn’t stop them from finding a way to get the best players in the world on Centre Court.
So, the true villain right here, as all the time, is grasping capitalists.
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