Sports and Politics

I have mentioned before my love of watching professional golf. I, on occasion, have mentioned my loathing of politics. Here is why.

This week there is a WGC tour event. Only the best players in the world are invited. For years, this tournament was played at the Doral Country Club in Miami, Fl. The course was redesigned by Donald Trump's organization and they now own the club. The old course needed redevelopment and improvement and Trump did a fine job, creating a difficult test for the best players.

Then, he ran for President and said some things that offended some people. Those people put pressure on the WGC and they folded. The tournament, stsrting this year, will be played on a course in Mexico city.

The course is short, poses few real problems for pro golfers and, in the high altitude will play even shorter. What should be a tough test for elite players is likely to be no more difficult that an average players Saturday round with his buddies. These players will tear the course up.

What has traditionally been a fine fascinating test, will likely be a boring, easy shoot out. God knows how low the scores will be. That is not what a top level tournament should be.

This is what happens when Politics and Entertainment (which is all pro sports is) get mixed up and, unfortunately you can see this in all forms of entertainment and all of the Arts. Keep Politics out of all of the rest of life, and keep it minimal even when needed.

Entertainment and Politics

In recent weeks, we have witnessed the complete meltdown of many entertainers over the election of Donald Trump. I normally do not bring up politics in the blog, but I have to say one thing to these spoiled brats. "Get over yourselves."

From Springsteen to Madonna to Merle Streep, from Samuel Jackson to Steven King to Cher, celebrities seem to believe that we have elected the Antichrist. We have not. The American people have chosen a leader who they feel will represent the views and interests of the average folks. Seemingly, this does not correspond to what our celebrity elite think are our best interests and they are aghast, appalled that we dare disagree with them.

They do not understand in the least why we are ignoring their beliefs. They should be asking themselves, why would we listen to them? Just because you can play a decent role in a movie does not mean the you understand foreign affairs. Singing a song, does not mean that you are qualified to enter a scientific discussion of climate change. Telling a few jokes does not entitle you to tell people who actually work for a living how their tax money should be spent.

So, all of you entertainers should remember something. Americans can always find other people to sing and act and tell jokes. We don't need you. But, without us, you have nothing. Why, you might even have to go out and do some honest hard work and, trust me, you couldn't stand up to one day of it. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DiNiro, Whoopie Goldberg, and all the rest of you, need to retreat to a corner, shut up, and just be glad you have made a bunch of money off the rest of us, the folks who work for a living..