College Golfers and $$$

Should NCAA golfers get paid for winning a tournament? This question comes up more often than not when talking about college golf. People think that no college athlete should be paid regardless of the situation. On the other hand many people think the opposite and think that college athletes deserve to be paid. I think that college golfers should receive prize money if they win a tournament or place in a tournament. I am not saying that they should receive the amount PGA Tour players receive, but if they win a tournament they deserve some money. If the golfers are dedicating 4 days during the week to play in a tournament, I think they deserve some money. The student athletes are supposed to be "students" before athletes, but if you have a golf tournament every week then I do not see how you can be a student first. The golfers are pretty much employees of the college. Although most of the golfers are going to school for free, I still believe they need an income. There is no way a college golfer can juggle school, golf, and a job all at the same time. So if college golfers were rewarded for their great play, there would be no dispute. A small amount of money for the each golfer who wins a tournament would not be a crazy thought. If you are dedicating many hours to practice and not school work, you should be declared as an employee to make the colleges look better. The least the NCAA could do is come up with a small amount of money for the individual golfer who wins a tournament.
 http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-ncaa-athletes-be-paid
http://www.newhaven.edu/20719.pdf

                               

NCAA and Golf

Every sport in the NCAA always has an illegal scandal almost every year. In 2013 the NCAA golf program was accused for gambling. Golf is the leading sport for all divisions in college sports for gambling. Betting is a large part of country-club culture, and a recent NCAA survey shows that also is the case among college golfers. The total number of athletes both male and female who report wagering on sports has decreased or remained stagnant in all three NCAA divisions since the 2008 study. Men’s golf, however, stands out at every level for high numbers in gambling cases. 1/5 of male D1 golfers reported wagering on sports. Among the men’s golfers surveyed, 56 percent admit to wagering on personal skill, which includes on-course bets. It’s the most frequent betting activity among men’s college golfers, followed by purchasing lottery tickets 45.7 percent, and playing cards for money 43 percent. The Virginia Tech head coach Jay Hardwick does not think on course betting is a violation. “I don’t think it’s a thing that’s out of hand,” Hardwick said. “I've never had guys betting on football, basketball. We’re very adament about that. I think kids going out and playing for a soda, for a dollar, on their own ability, it’s a way to kind of challenge themselves.” He believes that the betting is form of competition. The SMU freshmen were surprised to hear that on course gambling ids prohibited. The SMU team thinks that everyone plays better when money is on the line. To solve all of these problems the college teams are all having compliance meetings every month and the main focus is gambling and wagering. The college teams think the gambling issues are ridiculous, but they are going to follow by the rules.  
http://golfweek.com/news/2013/may/09/ncaa-report-gambling-most-widespread-mens-golf/

                            

Owe it all to the Fans

The fans in Philadelphia are the toughest to please. One minute you can be a hero then the next you are afraid to show your face. Over the years, Philadelphia fans have booed Santa Claus as well as their own star players. They've even booed a guy who just helped the city win a World Series title—while he was getting his ring. Even though Philadelphia fans might be the toughest to satisfy, they have the heart, passion, and determination. 
The Philadelphia Eagles owe the city a Super Bowl. The Eagles have been way too close way too many times and still no Super Bowl. The Eagles have lost and gained many supporters throughout the years. This upcoming year is a big test for the Eagles. The Eagles have brought in many new players and got rid of many a couple valuable players. The Eagles in the 2015/2016 will either gain support or lose support by failing or achieving the ultimate goal. A step short of a Super Bowl will be declared a failed season, and Chip Kelly might be on the move if a Super Bowl is not won. Even when the Eagles had a great season and lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl, so many fans were beyond disappointed. Every Eagle fan is tired of being almost successful. The entire Eagles organization owes a Super Bowl to the fans of Philadelphia. The drought of no Super Bowls for Philadelphia has to end soon! 
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/

                                                

Fan Bill of Rights

There have been many incidents where a fan has crossed the line. A fan might have said something to a player during a game, made racial comments, went streaking on a field, caused violence and disturbance in the stands, or interfering with play during a game. The following rights should be followed by every fan when entering a sporting event.

1. Do not say any comments to a player during game.
- There have been many cases where a fan gets thrown out of a game for saying a comment to a player. Just last year a fan from Texas Tech made a comment to Marcus Smart during the game when a play ended up near the stands. The fan called Smart inappropriate names which offended Smart and led to Smart pushing the fan. "My actions last night were inappropriate and do not reflect myself or Texas Tech -- a university I love dearly. I regret calling Mr. Smart a 'piece of crap' but I want to make it known that I did not use a racial slur of any kind," Orr said in a statement released by Texas. Tech. http://espn.go.com/dallas/story/_/id/10429666/after-marcus-smart-incident-texas-tech-needs-suspend-fan-jeff-orr-rest-season The fan was suspended for the rest of the season from entering the stadium and Smart was suspended 3 games. 

2. Do not run on to a field/course/court while a game is still in progress. 
- Although it is very funny when you see a fan go streaking on a field during a baseball game and get tackled by security guards, it is disrespect to the sport and game being played. It is against the rules to run onto a field during play. In 2012 at Olympic Club the U.S. Open golf tournament took place. The event resulted in Webb Simpson winning the tournament. During his post victory trophy ceremony, a fan came onto the course and interrupted the ceremony. You very rarely hear of a fan misbehaving at a golf event, but this fan did a very odd thing. The fan ran in front of the camera and started making bird noises. The man was quickly arrested, but he now has the reputation of the Birdman. //www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_rR6j4flbw&noredirect=1

3. Do not interfere with play. 
-This rule usually applies to fans at a baseball game. The fan reaches over the fence to catch a home run and interferes with play and the umpires award a home run when the ball was clearly not going over the fence. This happened to Derek Jeter when he hit a ball that seemed to be short of the fence but a fan reached over to touch the ball and the ump awards a home run. That home run tied the game and even Jeter said after the game that it was interference, but Jeter did not care. http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/6479266/v3345251/bb-moments-96-alcs-gm-1-fan-helps-jeters-homer. The most famous case is the Steve Bartman incident. Steve reached over and touched a foul ball that eventually cost his team the playoff series. This case was different than the Jeter case because the fan that touched jeters home run helped out his home team, but the Bartman case was completely different. Steve was tormented and he eventually went into hiding after this incident happened to him. Every Cub fan hates Steve Bartman because he put a curse on the team and the entire organization. http://m.mlb.com/video/v3188917/2003-nlcs-gm-6-bartman-interference

      

Johnny Miller

Many people know Johnny Miller as a professional golfer back in the day. Johnny was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s. He was the first to shoot 63 in a major championship to win the 1973 US Open, and he ranked second in the world on Mark McCormack's world golf rankings in both 1974 and 1975 behind Jack Nicklaus. Miller won 25 PGA Tour events, including two majors. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998. Although Miller was a great golfer, he is still one of the best golf analysts of all time. He is currently the lead golf analyst for NBC Sports, a position he has held since January 1990. Johnny Miller is famous for calling the play by play for the US Open every year. Unfortunately no one will be hearing Miller's voice or anyone's voice from NBC during the US Open, due to FOX sports taking over the US Open starting this year. We may not be hearing Johnny Miller's voice for the US Open, but his broadcasting career is surely not over. NBC will still cover the Ryder Cup and the Players Championship. Many fans will miss hearing Miller talk about his 63 in the 1973 US Open, but we will still hear Miller criticize fashion choices and question USGA pin placements. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/06/johnny-miller-nbc-goodbye-us-open Many people have mixed feelings about Miller. Usually every article about Miller starts off with "love him or hate him". Johnny Miller loves to point out the weaknesses of golfers. When a player makes a mistake on Sunday, Miller is quick to say "That's nerves". Sometimes it may be nerves and sometimes it might of just been a poor golf shot. Johnny Miller is the only guy to be able to criticize a golfer and get away with it because hes Johnny Miller and no one is going to tell him different. The players should have been thanking Johnny all along—he was helping them by illuminating to the viewer the exquisite torture of tournament golf. Johnny wasn’t a critic, he was a serial empathizer. http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/johnny-miller-case-him-golfs-best-announcer. All in all Johnny Miller is the perfect analyst for the game of golf. 
                                 

Golf and the Media

The media is a vital aspect to all sports. The media covers all sports and gives an input on every game or big story. Golf has a major TV contract with the Golf Channel, NBC, and CBS. The golf majors like the Masters, the U.S, the British Open, and the PGA Championship are covered on NBC and CBS. Most of the golf tournaments on Sunday are aired on NBC and CBS too. Recently Fox sports signed a TV contract with the PGA Tour. Fox now gets to broadcast the US Open starting in 2015. "Though financial terms weren't disclosed, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said the Fox bid was in the neighborhood of $100 million a year, more than double the previous contract." "NBC Sports had been televising the U.S. Open since 1995 at Shinnecock Hills, with Miller as its shoot-from-the-hip analyst who became as much of the show as the golf itself." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/07/fox-sports-us-open-golf-nbc_n_3722695.html 
Besides the major TV companies covering important majors, the Golf Channel airs on a daily basis. The Golf Channel was founded in 1995 and was co-founded by Arnold Palmer. The Golf Channel was the first single-sport cable network. Tournaments, TV shows, and analysis on players are all shown on the Golf Channel everyday. The Golf Channel plays one of their most famous shows Big Break, and the viewers sky rocket every time the show plays. The ratings have spiked a tremendous amount the past four years. http://www.golfchannel.com/news/press-releases/golf-channel-posts-four-best-years-network-history-highest-rated-and-second-most-watched-year-ever/   The Golf Channel is a very popular program and important information is covered everyday.
Although TV is the main source of media there are other types of media in golf. The main secondary source of media is the popular magazine, Golf Digest. Golf Digest covers every aspect of golf. The magazine was founded in 1952. Golf Digest is famous for their hot list. The hot list tells you about all the new clubs, and what the ratings are on each new club. Golf Digest also gives out golf lessons in the magazine. There are pictures of the lessons and what to do and not to do. The magazine advertises all the golf equipment, which leads the many companies benefiting from the magazine. Golf Digest is very popular and useful for all the fans of golf.


  
                   

Role Models

In sports, professional athletes are supposed to be the hero and a role model for every kid. All kids look up to the greats of the game. As a kid I looked up to Allen Iverson, Terrell Owens, Chase
Utley, and Tiger Woods. My favorite athlete and role model was Tiger Woods. Although Tiger has had some terrible off field issues, but he is still my favorite athlete. Although many people stopped liking Tiger after what he did to his wife, I stayed with him the entire way. Many people began to drop Tiger as a role model and think of the new young golfers as role models. For example, many people converted to Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler. When Rory was winning all of the tournaments everyone became a Rory fan. Everyone looked up to Rory and there was talk he is the next greatest golfer to ever live. The biggest role model to kids was Rickie Fowler. Rickie Fowler is young golfer who makes the game more exciting. He wears flashy clothes and all the kids want to be Rickie. A lot of kids buy Rickie's famous Puma, bright, flashy clothes. Role models in sports are important for the game and for fans of the game.