THIS is an interesting week for wannabes everywhere. If Casey were at bat,
who runs to first?I have to admit, I used to be one of them and I'm considering filing a suit against the National Basketball Association for taking away my livelihood.
I realize that ever since Bobby Weiss retired as a player, there hasn't been much demand in the league for bald white guys who can't jump very high, but that's beside the point.
I can shoot free throws at a much higher success rate than Shaquille O'Neal. I can still hit the turnaround from the low post more than half the time. On a good day, I can even still dunk.
Of course, that's all provided no one is playing defense.
Where's this all headed, you ask? Well, it seems professional golfer Casey Martin and his newfound supporters are making similar arguments so he will be able to play on the PGA Tour and not have to walk.
Granted, Martin has a rare circulatory disorder in his leg that causes him great pain. I sympathize with that.
But there are basically two huge flaws in his arguments.
First, he maintains, the PGA Tour is denying him his livelihood and violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by not relaxing its rule that requires tournament players to walk during their rounds.
The first part of that argument is complete BS and Martin should know it. He has played golf long enough to know there's more than one way to make a living at his craft. He just won't make lots of cash doing it, nor will he get all of his expenses paid by Phil Knight and his buddies at Nike.
Let's see, he could coach golf. He could teach golf. He could be a club pro. He could run a golf course or a golf school. Shoots, with the money Knight is going to pay him to be in TV ads selling shoes, Martin will be able to buy his own golf course and do with it whatever he pleases.
He just is not allowed to play in PGA Tour events.
WHICH brings up weak argument No. 2:
That golf, and by extension sports in general, is just about making shots.
Make no mistake, Casey Martin can make shots. He's a highly skilled player. He played in college at Stanford and has already won a tournament on the Nike Tour.
But PGA Tour rules state that tournament players must walk.
That's not discrimination, that's sports. In basketball you have to run . . . and play defense
. . . and rebound. It's not a half-court game where one guy takes a shot and then everybody gets in a a little car and goes to the other end for the next shot. But that is essentially what Martin is trying to make golf.
As Arnold Palmer said during a teleconference call before the Senior Skins Game:
"I likened it to a scenario in football where a quarterback might have some physical disability, but he can take the ball from center and throw it, but if you didn't allow anyone to tackle him, then it would be a similar situation."
Armchair Tigers all over will counter-argue that walking is no big deal. But let me tell you, if golf courses everywhere eliminated carts, there'd be no trouble getting a tee time.
Too hot to walk, and way too much work. And you'd have to carry your own beer.
By the time a PGA Tour player finishes four rounds over the duration of a tournament, he has walked about 20 miles.
The PGA Tour isn't saying Martin can't make a living by playing golf, but rather walking is part of their tournaments.
If Casey Martin could hit a baseball as well as Tony Gwynn would someone else run to first base for him?
I guess if people really believe that sports is just about making shots, then maybe Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant should play H-O-R-S-E, best out of seven, and David Stern can give the championship trophy to the winner.