Conflicted Values and Steroids

If you've only even glanced once at a sports page in the last month, you're probably aware of the 'steroid issue' in pro baseball. I believe there's a lesson in it for pro golf which is already starting to travel a similar path.

No, I don't mean to tell you that there are pro golfers out there using steroids. But I do believe that those who run the sport have turned a blind eye to something that will ultimately kill the popularity of the pro game. There are those who claim that this is exactly what happened to pro baseball, that the commissioner and managers knew players were on the 'juice', but refused to address it because they decided that the public wanted more home runs rather than integrity.

It appears that those who manage pro golf feel the public wants monster tee shots, rather than watching golfers who have a complete game. Some of the players have even started to complain, even one or two of the young big guns. Has it gotten to the point where it's easier to win a tournament by blasting crooked 350 yard drives as opposed to hitting 6 irons to small greens from the middle of the fairway.

Who knows golf in general and pro golf in particular better than Jack Nicklaus. Those who run the sport ought to put special emphasis on what he says, and he's come out numerous times about the unnatural length that the ball flies these days. But still the illuminati take no action. What are they waiting for. Golf is a game of integrity. The people who run the organizations that control it ought to focus on integrity themselves. There number one responsibility is to protect this most important component of the game. To hell with the greed that comes from TV contracts and the margins on $500 drivers and $4 balls. The goose that laid the golden egg is about to be transformed into a boring repetitive sport. The only differentiator will be the 5 yards difference between 340 and 345.