Silverman’s Idiotic Rant
Have you noticed the new feature that ESPN 1000 rolled out in mornings? Marc Silverman and a few other personalities go on a little rant about current topics in sports during some of the commercial breaks during Mike & Mike. Well, today Marc Silverman (of The Show) went off on a golf rant. He was making fun of the Masters final round and the prodigious amounts of bogeys and apparent “choking” going on amongst the world’s best players.
I’m paraphrasing because, but here is what he concluded:
…if that’s the best the sport has to offer, then golf fans, you can have it!
Well Marc, I guess there’s nothing to complain about in the land of Cubs or Sox, so you might as well pick on golf. It’s clear that you’re ignorant of the intricacies of the game and you should limit your analysis to sports you’re familiar with; football, baseball, and basketball. Why showcase how little you know of the game of golf by even opening your claptrap? But, I guess that’s what you get paid to do.
If you were the least bit knowledgeable of the game, you would have a concept of pressure and what it does to the golf swing for even the most accomplished players. Pressure that is more prevalent because the Masters is the premier event in golf, on one of the greatest golf courses in the world, during a tournament steeped in tradition. This pressure actually makes it nearly impossible for a completely healthy and sane human to perform the complex action of the golf swing without a degradation in performance.
If you’ve ever engaged in a simple money game with your buddies, you would know what it’s like to have a 4 footer to tie the match on the 17th hole. But if you don’t play golf, or have any buddies, this bit of insight will escape you. In fact, I feel sorry for you because you are probably just a spectator for all of your sports. I doubt you can round up a weekend game of football or baseball. Basketball is one sport where you may be able to actually engage in the physical action against an opponent, but dealing with the mental aspects of pressure and choking don’t really enter into that foray.
Participating in sports that you are a fan of is a great way to get a truer understanding of them. That’s one of the beautiful things about golf, anyone can simulate the same type of pressure-packed conditions that our heroes in the PGA play under. It sets golf apart and is one of the reasons why I love it so much. I suggest you try playing it someday because it may save you from sounding like a idiot the next time you talk about it.
So I wonder, why would a guy that is so helpful to me in analyzing the Bears, Bulls, Sox, and Cubs, destroy all that goodwill with an ignorant tirade on a sport that he is so unfamiliar with. I’ve always been a big fan of you Silvy, and still am, so I say this only to help. Keep your piehole shut when it comes to golf and let Mac and Jurko talk about it (Harry doesn’t know jack about it either)!