Americans and Euros have started the battle! Sports supremacy is the simul-measure for supremacy in other areas. Most American versus Euro sports events are not very representative. Basketball and baseball are primarily North American, while soccer is immensely more popular in Europe than in the U.S.

But golf... now that's a different matter. Equally popular, golf is a fair and balanced test of sports prowess. The U.S. is led by the most accomplished golfer of the day - Tiger Woods.

Who will emerge victorious in the Ryder Cup?

y money is on the Euros.

The damn Euros have won it the past two years. Freaking Americans. You'd think between Woods and Mikkleson (or however you spel his name), we'd be able to, you know, win.

I think the American golfers have not been as practiced at the team game concept, but, they've been working on it, and Tiger's been on a tear, so, we'll see.

It's golf...

Who the hell cares :elfbiggri

It's golf...

Who the hell cares :elfbiggri

No, no... you don't understand. It about pride, honor, patriotism and who is the best. Have you not seen the warriors viciously swinging their weapons? It's a battlefield... it's a war.

... ok... it's Friday afternoon. I always get a bit weird on Friday afternoons. :)

EDIT: And the Euros have jumped out to a 5 - 3 lead after Friday's action. The matches were closer than the score indicates. Only one game was won by more than two strokes. Tiger Woods and Furyk won one and lost one.

EDIT: And the Euros have jumped out to a 5 - 3 lead after Friday's action.

Quite a liberal and generous use of the word Action, IMHO.

Action is never a word I would associate with Golf.

Then you've never seen me golf...its action-adventure all the way. For those poor souls golfing on holes around me.

I've even taken to shouting "Incoming!" instead of Fore!

Don't underestimate the power of golf.

The protestant reformation was spurred by the Catholic church selling mulligans (then known as "indulgences").

The American revolution started in response to the British attempt to impose high green fees.

Isaac Newton developed his theory of gravity after hitting his third consective shot into a lake.

Throughout history, where there has been great progress, there has been... golf.

Don't underestimate the power of golf.

The protestant reformation was spurred by the Catholic church selling mulligans (then known as "indulgences").

The American revolution started in response to the British attempt to impose high green fees.

Isaac Newton developed his theory of gravity after hitting his third consective shot into a lake.

Throughout history, where there has been great progress, there has been... golf.

Personally I go with the theory that the Scots invented golf to exact their revenge on the Brits.


Eri

I've even taken to shouting "Incoming!" instead of Fore!

Play the game with hand grenades and it would be worth watching !!

:texla:

Play the game with hand grenades and it would be worth watching !!:texla:
Sounds like a Monty Python skit!

Euros are up 10 - 6 going in to the one on one matchups. Watching the matches, I'd agree with Minadin's comments. The Euros are better team players than the American golfers and teamplay is critical in the first 16 matchups.

The U.S. consistently does well on individual matchups. We'll see what Sunday brings. The Americans aren't out of it yet, but they need some inspired play for a comeback.

NBC says that there are 2 billion viewers of the Ryder Cup around the world. If true, the event is a pretty big deal.

Edit: Wow... in the end it wasn't close. The U.S. only won 6 of the 28 matches. 3 of the wins involved Tiger Woods. There's always next time. There was some great golf though. The long putts and chips into the hole on the last day were outstanding.

I really don't understand how any of it can do with teamplay, I mean you either make the shots or you don't. If Tiger smacks it into the rough Furyk has to dig it out that's just golf. Tiger didn't put it in the rough on purpose or because him and Furyk aren't super friends he just hit a bad shot.

What I gathered from watching is that the American's don't care and if it wasn't a huge event most wouldn't even be there. Pretty much everyone in my golf group could care less about the ryder cup or match play in general, and I'm pretty sure we're not the only ones that feel that way.

Isn't it supposed to be one of the biggest televised events in the world, behind Olympics and World Cup?

You'd better not enjoy it too much Thicket. I heard talk of the Canadians getting drafted onto the American side to get beaten too ;).

I really don't understand how any of it can do with teamplay, I mean you either make the shots or you don't. If Tiger smacks it into the rough Furyk has to dig it out that's just golf. Tiger didn't put it in the rough on purpose or because him and Furyk aren't super friends he just hit a bad shot.

What I gathered from watching is that the American's don't care and if it wasn't a huge event most wouldn't even be there. Pretty much everyone in my golf group could care less about the ryder cup or match play in general, and I'm pretty sure we're not the only ones that feel that way.

ROFL... Your post is the classic "We lost badly therefore we didn't really care".

Teamplay is about camaraderie and encouragement. It makes a huge difference. Golf and any other sport is a mental game as well as a physical skills game. A good friend of mine had a full golf scholarship at an American college for three of his four years there. He took numerous classes on mental preparation. Poor teamwork in match play golf means poor play.

Isn't it supposed to be one of the biggest televised events in the world, behind Olympics and World Cup?

You'd better not enjoy it too much Thicket. I heard talk of the Canadians getting drafted onto the American side to get beaten too ;).

The Ryder Cup is a huge international sports event.

Heh... I'd cheer for the North American side if Canada was playing. I did wonder if the inclusion of Mike Weir on the American team would've made a difference. I don't know if there are any good Mexican golfers.

Although the Euro wins the last few Ryder Cups indicates golf domination, I think that U.S. and European golfers are pretty well even in ability. This Ryder Cup was the first where Europeans had an advantage in player world rankings and it was a slim advantage.

In my opinion, the Euros won because they were better at the mental side of the game.

ROFL... Your post is the classic "We lost badly therefore we didn't really care".

Teamplay is about camaraderie and encouragement. It makes a huge difference. Golf and any other sport is a mental game as well as a physical skills game. A good friend of mine had a full golf scholarship at an American college for three of his four years there. He took numerous classes on mental preparation. Poor teamwork in match play golf means poor play.

Actually, no, we really tend to not care.

The same thing happens for the Davis Cup in Tennis.

The players don't care about it...the fans don't care about it. These are individual sports...when you try to turn them into team sports, there's a lack of caring that comes with it.

Golf is boring. I don't think making a boring sport international or a team sport does anythign to alter that. The only time I ever enjoyed golf was watching Caddyshack and that had more to with Bill Murry going 'nam over a bunch of gophers.

Of course, actually, I find most professional sports very boring.

These are individual sports...when you try to turn them into team sports, there's a lack of caring that comes with it.

That might be a US view but plenty of other countries disagree. There are plenty of players too who'd rather win for their country than win for their bank account. The crowds certainly make a great atmosphere at these contests.

That might be a US view but plenty of other countries disagree. There are plenty of players too who'd rather win for their country than win for their bank account. The crowds certainly make a great atmosphere at these contests.

We're a country which advocates individualism...

Y'all are a bunch of fags.

See the difference? =D

We're a country which advocates individualism...

Y'all are a bunch of fags.

See the difference? =D

Aidon, for this totally uncalled for verbal assault on Anka I would finally have put you on ignore, if it were possible to ignore a moderator.


Eri

I think Aidon is about as abrasive and occassionally abusive as they come, in a league of his own really, but I thought he was just trying to be humorous in that.

The Ryder Cup is a huge international sports event.

That a race of moving vans?

I think Aidon is about as abrasive and occassionally abusive as they come, in a league of his own really, but I thought he was just trying to be humorous in that.

Indeed.

I don't call people fags as a serious insult.

If I wanted to insult him, I'd call him a donkey punching uncle ****er. <nod>

maybe Aidon is just calling them junior schoolboys who do menial tasks?

I've never heard that definition, Madrone...where's it from?

I was calling him a british cigarette...<nods>

Anka gets burned alot <cackle>

Its from British boarding schools,

Fags were the underclassmen who did lame jobs for the older kids, there was even a fagmaster who kept all the fags safe, administration usually was cool with it because it kept discipline

It was phased out though completly by the 80's and most had gotten rid of it before.

Roahl Dahl has a description of it in his book "Boy" and I've seen it in a few other books that take place in older England

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fagging

Seems to be quite a lot of hazing stuff like that involving British schools. I remember in Blackadder, Prince George says something like, "When I was in school we used to line up his sort, bend them over, and use them as a toast rack". Assuming that they were sticking hot crumpets up their ass. As an American, I have to puzzle these things out.

Now, I think if you really want to call Anka a fag you should say he's a "girl's blouse", if my ears are hearing that right...

Ok... last post on this... I promise (sort of).

There have been comments about the American golfers 'not caring' about the Ryder Cup.

Here are the thoughts of American Jim Furyk, ranked number 2 in world golf standings.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/5385878.stm

Of course they cared!! Athletes are extremely competitive. They hate losing more than they love winning.