OT: Annika

[cardpa]

I agree with Ed B who cares! If she is good enough to compete against men so be it.
I am a middle school girls soccer coach and the bottom line is these girls are at the bottom of the list when it comes to anything. The high school girls coach wanted to schedule us to play in the stadium before the high school girls however that was nixed by the AD on the basis that since the boys didn't get a chance to do it we couldn't play in the stadium. Pretty stupid reason if you ask me however that is what some females are still up against.
I also am the JV high school coach at another school that doesn't have a girls team so if girls want to play they must play with the boys and we have a couple of girls who are willing to go toe to toe with the boys and more than hold their own. In fact we play against a couple of other schools who have the same situation and I always find it funny when one of the girls on the opposing team school one of our male players. It humbles them a bit.

 

[Ed B]

Originally posted by jw7
I hate that argument. It is not a 2-way street at all. The reason the LPGA, Senior PGA, 6' and under basketball leauges, 8-man football, and heck let's throw in youth sports and the special olympics for that matter, exist, is to allow people who ordinarily can't compete at the highest level enjoy the sport and compete on a level playing field. By your argument, I should sign up for pop-warner football and gain 10,000 yards and be league MVP.

Letting a male on the LPGA tour makes it unlevel.

As usual, I agree with you JW. I think I worded my post poorly.

What I meant was, in principle, I am no more in favor of excluding a man from a "women's only" entity than vice versa. If some male pro golfer decided that he wanted to play on the LPGA and make less money and look like a dick for beating up on competition that is <b>admittedly</b> substandard to that of the PGA, so be it. But why anyone would want to be enough of a jerk to do that is beyond me.

I predict that in the next 6 months, there will be some semi-literate moron from the PGA who is insecure about his penis size because Annika kicked his ass in this event and will sue to join the LPGA.

I also find it really funny that people are just dog-piling on her now about her "bad performance" because she was +1 or whatever. That shows the most juvenile form of insecurity. This person beat literally <b>hundreds</b> of other golfers, even though she didn't finish 1st or anything. not to mention that she is obviously of a higher skill level than the 1000s of men who can't even get on the tour.

 

[ChiCard]

The sad part is the effect this will have on the LPGA as an entity. Once the terrific woman golfers begin competing on the men's tour ity will relegate the LPGA to second class status. Right now it is a viable outlet from woman golfers but it will become a sort of "minor league" once woman seguway into the PGA. But as far as her playing? Full speed ahead. If she can compete then that's where she belongs. PGA stands for the Professional Golf Association if memory serves me, not the MEN'S golf association.

 

[Russ Smith]

Originally posted by Ed B
As usual, I agree with you JW. I think I worded my post poorly.

What I meant was, in principle, I am no more in favor of excluding a man from a "women's only" entity than vice versa. If some male pro golfer decided that he wanted to play on the LPGA and make less money and look like a dick for beating up on competition that is <b>admittedly</b> substandard to that of the PGA, so be it. But why anyone would want to be enough of a jerk to do that is beyond me.

I predict that in the next 6 months, there will be some semi-literate moron from the PGA who is insecure about his penis size because Annika kicked his ass in this event and will sue to join the LPGA.

But you're wrong Ed in a lot of cases a man on the LPGA tour would make MORE money than he does on the PGA because he would consistently finish in the top 3-5 and win a lot more tournaments. Annika won more money on her tour than a lot of men on the men's tour for this very reason.

I don't think any man wants to do this. I just get tired of the feminists with their signs about equal rights when the PGA has no rules against women playing and the LPGA DOES have rules against people not BORN women playing. I did some reading yesterday the reason they worded it that way is two fold, to prevent anybody who had a sexchange from joining the tour, and because of concerns about athletes taking hormones. They didn't want some women on the tour suing them because "so and so isn't really a woman she takes hormones she's a man." So they worded the rule to protect themselves from having to literally determine if someone is still a woman or not.

 

[jf-08]

I have no problem with her playing.

And if she wins I think she deserves the trophy

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Too funny Joel, almost makes up for you taking shots at Star Wars...

The people that are getting on my nerves are those that were bragging on Annika leading up to this tournament (she's far above the rest of the LPGA, etc) that are now "surprised" and "shocked" at how well she is doing...???...If you were really as high on her as you sounded before the tourney, why would you be surprised at her performance. That makes no sense at all.

To me, I don't care if any women want to try and perform with the men as long as they don't get special treatment. Play the same as the men play (same rules, equipment, etc) or shut up.

 

[Lex]

Let's clear up some things here. Annika played very well in her first 18 holes of PGA Tour golf, on the shortest course they play. If it were football...the first quarter would have just ended.

The top 70 scores, plus ties, qualify for the last two rounds, where the money is made. Annka was tied for 73rd after the first round.

Tied for 73rd. This means 72 golfers scored lower than her in round one. She scored the same as 14 golfers, she scored 1 stroke better than 12 golfers, and more than one stroke better than 15 golfers.

I really hope she makes the cut so we can see her play more than 1/2 of a tournament. The REAL tournament starts on saturday, the first two days, are like heat races at Manznita speedway, except you don't get no stinking trophy for leading on thursday.

One more thing, most of the big boy pro's, aren't even there.

Annika would have a hard time making enough money on the PGA Tour, to KEEP her tour card, IF she HAD one.

 

[Ed B]

Originally posted by Russ Smith
But you're wrong Ed in a lot of cases a man on the LPGA tour would make MORE money than he does on the PGA because he would consistently finish in the top 3-5 and win a lot more tournaments.

I disagree with that assumption. Annika has finished ahead of a ton of male golfers so far in this tournament, what makes you assume that any old male golfer could waltz into the LPGA and beat everyone there?

I mean, I understand your logic, and a male golfer would definitely have the advantage, but I wouldn't underestimate the female golfers of the world and just assume that a male competitor would be top 3 in every competition.

 

[Russ Smith]

Originally posted by Ed B
I disagree with that assumption. Annika has finished ahead of a ton of male golfers so far in this tournament, what makes you assume that any old male golfer could waltz into the LPGA and beat everyone there?

I mean, I understand your logic, and a male golfer would definitely have the advantage, but I wouldn't underestimate the female golfers of the world and just assume that a male competitor would be top 3 in every competition.

Well there are 72 men ahead of her now and she's not in a tourney where all the elite are playing.

Then you factor in that SHE dominates the LPGA like nobody since Nancy Lopez early in her career did. I think it's safe to say most of the men on the PGA tour could go into an LPGA event, with much shorter holes, and pretty consistently win.

We'll never know I guess. She' s doing better than I expected and I really do hope she makes the cut I think it's a great story, but she's by far the exception on the LPGA right now, that's the whole reason she's doing this she's bored.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Originally posted by Lex
Tied for 73rd. This means 72 golfers scored lower than her in round one.

Weird, according to the Tribune...she is tied for 73rd place, but it says she finished ahead of 27 male golfers, including Sergio Garcia and Tom Lehman.

 

[Card Trader]

Lower is better in golf

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Originally posted by Card Trader
Lower is better in golf

DOH!



Gotcha, although - it still sounds funny.

 

[Lars the Red]

I don't think that Annika playing in this particular tourney is completely good or bad. Look carefully at facts of the situation.

This years Colonial is:

-one of the shortest courses on tour.
-not being played by several of the top players.
-having almost none of it's notorious windy conditions.
-enjoying very soft greens that help in holding balls from longer irons.

Annika is also having to deal with:

-media pressure the likes of which she has never seen before.
-soft fairways that make the course play longer.
-a course set up to challenge the best shot makers in the world with brutal pin placements. (Not the LPGA's norm)

I thought she played a very smart, conservative round yesterday. Her putting was not great and she did miss opportunities to score better, but she did make some longer par putts and got some very favorable bounces that kept her out of trouble. If the wind comes up more today and things dry out some, she will be tested.

I don't believe she'll make the cut, but won't embarrass herself. Her accomplishment will be average. I believe handling the pressure to be the most impressive portion of it. If we want to see if a woman can truely compete on the tour then one will need to qualify and play the bulk of the tourneys. This really is little more than an exhibition on a course that is tailor made for her game. If people can't see that, then they really don't understand the difficulties of the various courses on the tour.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

New cut line is now at +1...

Mike

 

[Dback Jon]

Annika birdies #2 - even par now.

 

[Lars the Red]

+4 after 12, still a respectable score, but not looking good for Saturday play.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Originally posted by Ed B
I disagree with that assumption. Annika has finished ahead of a ton of male golfers so far in this tournament, what makes you assume that any old male golfer could waltz into the LPGA and beat everyone there?

I mean, I understand your logic, and a male golfer would definitely have the advantage, but I wouldn't underestimate the female golfers of the world and just assume that a male competitor would be top 3 in every competition.

It would be interesting to see. I think a man could dominate the LPGA easily, especially if he was hitting from the closer tees as they do, playing shorter courses, etc. It's a different game.

 

[Card Trader]

94th....excellent showing!

 

[Red Hawk]

Her historic ride at the Colonial golf tournament (search) ended Friday afternoon when she stumbled to five bogeys in a span of eight holes and missed the cut by four shots. After two rounds, she finished tied for 96th, ahead of 11 players.