Barkley on racism at Augusta

[Franchise]

Here's the story:
http://sports.yahoo.com/pga/news/ap/20020305/ap-barkley-masters.html

I generally like listening to Charles Barkley speak, but I think he's WAY off base this time. He says that making Augusta National longer to prevent Tiger from winning again is blatant racism. Nicklaus won the thing six times, and they didn't change a thing.

First off, making Augusta longer is just going to make it easier for Tiger to win. They have taken what was already a big hitter's course and made it even longer. The little guys don't stand a chance.

Second, Sir Charles apparently doesn't know his Augusta National history. The bunkers on 18 are there because of Jack Nicklaus. He used to just blow drives through the dogleg into the driving range and then pitch up to the green.

Lots of people forget that when Jack came up, he was the guy who was stronger and longer than everybody else. Nobody hit it as far as he did.

Like I said, I like Charles, but I think he's wrong here.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Maybe he's just joking. Sometimes even reporters are fooled.
I'll check for Charles' t-i-c myself.
Also, he doesn't seem to know what the words "blatant racism" mean.
Lastly, I unsure which race The Masters folk are trying to exclude. I thought is was fat white guys who couldn't qualify like everyone else so they joined the European Tour.
Lately, Hootie is trying to persuade older past winners to not play. Blatant racism against old white folk. (I'd put them in the last groups, off the 10th tee.)

[Ray Finkle]

I totally agree, Franchise. If you want to make it more difficult for Tiger you tighten the fairways, thus making accuracy more important than length. I believe the changes made after 1997 hurt Tiger. But these changes won't. The goal of majors is to have a winning score of about even par. I think that's what they are trying to accomplish. But they aren't doing it at the expense of Tiger, it's at the expense of guys like Loren Roberts.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

They use white balls and slam them all over the place. Blatant, I tells you, blatant.
(Still reading the story. had to get around the site blocker.)

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Upon reading, I conclude that Barkley is an idiot.
I'll wager that he's out of the Tiger circle after these comments. He broke a few unwritten Tiger rules:
1. Don't wave Tiger's name around to get attention. (See Fluff)
2. Don't determine Tiger's race and use it for your own purposes.

The other story was that The Masters folks might be thinking about equipment restrictions. Hootie denies it, but does state that there's hardly any room for more longer holes.
I think that if you provided enough time to equipment manufacturers (two or three years), they'd be able to make equipment to certain specifications.

[The Drunken Actuary]

On 2002-03-05 21:59, Dr T Non-Fan wrote:
Upon reading, I conclude that Barkley is an idiot.

This was not already self evident?

[Dr T Non-Fan]

No. I don't think he's an idiot all the time.

His problem is that he doesn't put little smileys at the end of his comments ('cause he knows it's pass-ay). Or they're edited out of the sound bite. A lot of times he says things just for effect. And he knows (yet he still does it) that some reporters just don't get it.
I searched for hidden smileys and found none. I'll wait a week. After all, the story just quoted him from SI. No additional quotes from the future governor of Alabama.
And he really lost brownie points from the member committee of Augusta National.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Dr T Non-Fan on 2002-03-06 00:33 ]</font>

[Franchise]

He was on the Dan Patrick show yesterday or the day before. Dan was saying some of the things we are.

1. Making the course longer actually helps Tiger.

2. They've changed the course throughout its history, including when Jack Nicklaus was dominant.

Charles agreed with each individual point, but still claimed racism at the end. I agree with DTNF above. You don't wave Tiger's name around like this and stay on his good side.


(Editted for misplaced apostrophe ... dang it!)

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Franchise on 2002-03-07 11:18 ]</font>

[Kid Rock]

If they change equipment, I favor the uniform ball. Every other major sport (not including bowling) has people using a variety of equipment, but a uniform ball or puck.

If they want to equalize the field a bit more at Augusta, change the angles of the tees to create more of a dogleg on some holes. This, along with the rough, is what made Southern Hills tougher for Tiger.

[Hagbard Celine]

Kid,

What difference would a uniform ball make?

Players are free to choice whatever ball works best for them, so it really isn't an advantage for anyone. It's not like professional golfers can't afford to use whatever ball they want, especially when the ball's company is paying them...

Pick the ball that's tailored best to your game...if everyone does it, what advantage is there?

I don't see the advantages to using a uniform ball.

[Franchise]

They've done that with a few of the tee boxes already. #14 now requires a more shaped tee shot, as does #10.

If they were actually going to toughen up Augusta, they'd let the rough grow. I just don't think they care about that. The record score is -18, but they rarely come close to that. Winning scores in the single digits under par are the norm, and it's much more enjoyable television than the hack fest that is a US Open.

[vito]

Can anyone give an example where changing the course would actually hurt Tiger relative to other players? Everyone seems to agree that a longer course helps Tiger. Wouldn't his length also help him on a shorter, tighter course? Say you have a 375 yard, dog-leg par four hole with a narrow fairway. An average tour player would probably hit a fairway wood or 2-iron off the tee. Tiger may be able to hit a 4 or 5-iron. Regardless of the length of the course, Tiger (and other long hitters) will generally be able to use less club off the tee.

BTW, when Tiger is playing very well (such as in 2000), it is because of a hot puttter, not long drives off the tee.

[Franchise]

I agree. Tiger wins tournaments with his putter. However, it certainly is an advantage when he can hit shorter clubs into the greens. The shots get closer, thus giving him more opportunities to make putts.

If you shorten the course, Tiger can hit less club off the tee, but it puts him in the same landing area as everybody else. His length is negated to a degree. He still could hit a slightly shorter club into the green since he's longer with the irons too, but the difference is smaller.

You could argue that he should be more accurate with a 4 iron than other people would be with a fairway wood or driver, but that's probably not as true as you'd think. The shorter guys make a living on hitting fairways with those clubs.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Players have improved to Tiger's level in the past few years. One of Tiger's strengths is knowing when to be aggressive and when not to be. Just like last week with Els (after Saturday), and Tiger in 1997 at The Masters, you wonder why at least one other player out of 160 or so is not keeping up.

Tiger wins with his approach shots. His approach shots are made easier with his strength on that and the preceding shot. The putting at that level is about even, but quite varied for any given day and player.

He also knows at Augusta where he can error. To limit Tiger, you have to make him more accurate and punish him (with strokes) for being too aggressive. Rougher rough will do that.
But what that does is makes it more of a luck game than a skill game. And the game is hard enough to watch when it's not The Masters and its testicle grip on CBS.

[sweaty Cuban]

Best Barkley line ever...

Being interviewed after throwing a drunk fan through a bar window -

Reporter: "Any regrets Charles?"
CB: "Yeah. The fact that we were on the first floor."

[Mick Fan]

Mickelson is also one of the long hitters on the league ...

I'll use Barkley's logic and say that the old fogies at Augusta National are trying to make it tougher for left-handed golfers. :wink:

Actually, I agree ... A longer course could only favor King Eldrick.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

So, Barkley just said it to get publicity for the article in SI. As if not enough people read SI.
As I predicted.
He's still an idiot on this, but for different reasons. He's an idiot for thinking that he needs to advertise for SI in this manner.