Did you watch the Oscars the other night ?
Must admit I did not. I would love to blame the time difference but truth is the whole thing leaves me a bit cold.
It's not that I don't love films or love going to the cinema, I just feel the awards are out of step with the general public.
So the following morning it meant Twitter made interesting reading.
Now I won't lie, I like Sam Smiths work but am not keen on him as a person, each to their own I suppose.
Rightly or wrongly, depending on your tastes, Sam won the Oscar for best original song. In his speech he wrongly claimed to be the first openly gay Oscar winner, we all make mistakes and many, and I mean many, corrected him on his mistake, now that I have no issues with, the attacking of someone for being wrong, for being gay I do.
Personally I don't care if you are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. If you are a good person you are a good person, if you are a dick head then you are a dick head regardless.
But it did get me thinking.
Where are the gay male golfers ?
On the LET & LPGA there are many openly lesbian players and unfortunately many not.
But in men's golf ??
So why is that? Are there simply no gay men golfing ? I doubt that!
So what would stop a gay tour player coming out?
Are the fans homophobic ? Let's be honest many are.
Are the media homophobic ? I think many are but would be "seen" to be supportive.
Are Sponsors homophobic ? Now there's the million dollar question for me.
Many tour players rely heavily on equipment, clothing and branding sponsorship.
Yes the rewards for winning at golf may be huge but day to day living and just keeping your card is a highly expensive pursuit!
Do the maths yourself. Accommodation, flights, caddy, coach etc, do you think you would get much change from €3,000 a week ??
If you are a top 20 player, a major contender and a media darling you may, may, just get away with it and be held up as an inspirational figure, maybe.
If you are ranked outside the top 100, a journeyman and an average Joe financially could you take the risk?
You all know how sexist I feel golf can be, well I also think it's pretty homophobic to.
In fact I think sport in general is, in fact life in general is!
So many try to be "cool" and pretend to be understanding about it but aren't.
And to those saying that golf has changed and there is less homophobia, sexism and racism I put this to you.
Tiger Woods turned pro in 1996, 20 years ago. In 1997 Tiger won the Masters, one of 14 majors.
We can argue about Tiger being the best of all time but without question he has been the best over the last 20 years, agreed?
Where is the next player of colour, why has there not been any other player of colour in the last 20 years?
Golf clubs and administrators need dragged into the 20th century before we we even think about them asking to join us in the 21st!
Must admit I did not. I would love to blame the time difference but truth is the whole thing leaves me a bit cold.
It's not that I don't love films or love going to the cinema, I just feel the awards are out of step with the general public.
So the following morning it meant Twitter made interesting reading.
Now I won't lie, I like Sam Smiths work but am not keen on him as a person, each to their own I suppose.
Rightly or wrongly, depending on your tastes, Sam won the Oscar for best original song. In his speech he wrongly claimed to be the first openly gay Oscar winner, we all make mistakes and many, and I mean many, corrected him on his mistake, now that I have no issues with, the attacking of someone for being wrong, for being gay I do.
Personally I don't care if you are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. If you are a good person you are a good person, if you are a dick head then you are a dick head regardless.
But it did get me thinking.
Where are the gay male golfers ?
On the LET & LPGA there are many openly lesbian players and unfortunately many not.
But in men's golf ??
So why is that? Are there simply no gay men golfing ? I doubt that!
So what would stop a gay tour player coming out?
Are the fans homophobic ? Let's be honest many are.
Are the media homophobic ? I think many are but would be "seen" to be supportive.
Are Sponsors homophobic ? Now there's the million dollar question for me.
Many tour players rely heavily on equipment, clothing and branding sponsorship.
Yes the rewards for winning at golf may be huge but day to day living and just keeping your card is a highly expensive pursuit!
Do the maths yourself. Accommodation, flights, caddy, coach etc, do you think you would get much change from €3,000 a week ??
If you are a top 20 player, a major contender and a media darling you may, may, just get away with it and be held up as an inspirational figure, maybe.
If you are ranked outside the top 100, a journeyman and an average Joe financially could you take the risk?
You all know how sexist I feel golf can be, well I also think it's pretty homophobic to.
In fact I think sport in general is, in fact life in general is!
So many try to be "cool" and pretend to be understanding about it but aren't.
And to those saying that golf has changed and there is less homophobia, sexism and racism I put this to you.
Tiger Woods turned pro in 1996, 20 years ago. In 1997 Tiger won the Masters, one of 14 majors.
We can argue about Tiger being the best of all time but without question he has been the best over the last 20 years, agreed?
Where is the next player of colour, why has there not been any other player of colour in the last 20 years?
Golf clubs and administrators need dragged into the 20th century before we we even think about them asking to join us in the 21st!
No comments:
Post a Comment