Thursday in class we were talking about word
connotations, and that led to a discussion of how over time, words can be born
or change meaning. One example Mr. Bolos
gave was the word “google” and how it is now commonly accepted as a verb that
is synonymous with “online search”.
Similarly, while I was watching the BMW Championship (a
golf tournament that is being played at a golf course in Lake Forest) on TV today,
I heard a man scream out “MASHED POTATOES” just after Tiger Woods hit a shot. In
the golf world, this term has become synonymous with “get in the hole” – don’t
ask me how that translation works, though, because frankly I have no clue. But annoying fans shouting obnoxious phrases like
this have become a huge problem in professional golf.
As Golf Channel’s Jason Sobel explains in his article “Unmasking golf's screamers; can they be stopped?” (http://www.golfchannel.com/news/jason-sobel/unmasking-golfs-infamous-shouters-can-they-be-stopped/),
the whole thing started about two
years ago when Andrew Widmar randomly shouted “MASHED POTATOES” on the 18th
tee-box at Sherwood Country Club. Since
then, more phrases have come about, such as “Light the Candle!” “Yabba Dabba
Doo!” or “Baba Booey!,” and it is becoming more and more common to hear a fan
yell something like this. A video of
Andrew Widmar yelling “mashed potatoes!” can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xMyqTsB3FE.
Almost all the exclamations have come from young people,
and it is really changing a sport that had always prided itself on being known
as a refined, gentlemens’ activity, where manners and graciousness were still
expected. I believe these verbal outbursts illustrate the immaturity, as well
as the lack of respect for manners, common in many young Americans. It is really distracting and very
inconsiderate to the golfers when a person does something like this, and it is
also disrespectful to the other spectators.
Some might argue that it’s just enthusiastic fans
expressing themselves, adding fun and liveliness to an otherwise rather subdued,
stuffy sporting event. Do you agree with
this, or do you think that this behavior compromises the somewhat unique
atmosphere of sophistication that golf has had in the past? What, if anything, do u think these outbursts
say about America?
Although I have immense respect for those that can succeed in this seemingly impossible sport, I cannot foresee myself ever wanting to watch more than one hole's worth of gameplay. If anything, I'll blame this on my relatively short attention span, especially when it comes to sports... and I think that this is the main cause of these outbursts. As I had written about on my own blog post last week, I think that America has somewhat of a decreasing attention span. In our technological age in which anything we could possibly desire can be presented within minutes through the internet, we've become impatient and demand instant gratification. In golf, this impatience is reflected through fans shouting obnoxious phrases during matches. We need things to be constantly going on to hold our attention, and if that means breaking a silence that has gone on for hours, so be it. Since the sport requires so much quietly waiting, these remarks could be fans' objections to the admitted slowness and, at times, dullness of the game.
ReplyDelete