"Golf holes the size of pizzas. Soccer balls on the back nine. A mulligan on every hole."

Apparently, some people think these changes would be a good idea for golf.

Those people would be wrong.

Is this the future of golf? I certainly hope not.

“We’ve got to stop scaring people away from golf by telling them that there is only one way to play the game and it includes these specific guidelines,” said Ted Bishop, the president of the P.G.A. of America, who also owns a large Indiana golf complex. “We’ve got to offer more forms of golf for people to try. We have to do something to get them into the fold, and then maybe they’ll have this idea it’s supposed to be fun.”

As an initial matter, I'm not sure that the decrease of the number of people playing golf is a function of golf's decreased popularity. It may simply be a function of demographics.

Let's face it, golf isn't an easy sport to just pick up and play. It's kind of expensive compared to - say basketball. You can't play it anywhere, like with soccer. And the learning curve is very steep.

For instance, just about anyone can step onto a basketball court and start playing basketball with minimal effort. It won't be very high-level basketball, but you can play it fairly easily. With golf, it's quite the opposite. A first time golfer faces a high degree of failure in learning to play. It's very hard to play golf even moderately well compared to other sports. I'm defining "moderately well" as the ability to go casually play once a month and not be looking for your ball in the woods the whole time.

Golf demands work, patience, and discipline. A lot of it. Young people don't get exposed to golf very much, either. Especially when you compare it to soccer, baseball, basketball. Why?

In general, it's not an easy sport to just pick up. Typically, whom do you see out on a golf course? Older guys - I'd guess an average age of 35-40 or so. That's mostly because older guys have more time to devote to practice, more money to buy the equipment and pay to play, and more patience to go through the learning curve.

So, you've got all the older baby-boomer folks kind of dropping off the radar now, and the golf industry is worried that the twenty-something millennials aren't going to play golf. Well, no. Not right now. Give them a few years. After they go through the phase of seeking their dream job of being an artist in Guatemala or something, they'll settle down, have a family, and grow up. And some of them will start playing golf.

You don't need to change the game to make it more "attractive" to twenty year olds. Changing the hole size is utterly ridiculous. The hardest part of golf for a beginner isn't putting - it's hitting longer shots. I'm not sure who came up with the idea of making the hole larger, but they're a moron.

Also, changing the rules is a stupid idea. The rules of golf are not difficult. You hit the ball and count your strokes in a sequence of increasing, positive, integers. Record your score. That's basically it. Yes, there are more complicated rules for golf. But you learn those as you go. No one ever says "Yeah, I don't play golf because the rules are too complicated."

You want to get young people interested in golf? It's not that hard. Start kids early. Golf already does a good job of this with programs like programs like The First Tee. Could golf do better? Sure. But reaching out to younger folks doesn't have to entail radically changing the game. Kids are smarter than we give them credit for.

If you can make golf a fun and positive experience for younger kids, they'll develop into young adults who love the game and play. You don't need to start introducing soccer balls on the back nine.

Gov. Jindal Proposes End to Birth-Control Politics

Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, has what is going to be a much talked-about op-ed in this morning's Wall Street Journal. He's proposing that birth control simply be available over-the-counter rather than requiring a doctor's visit and a prescription.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists announced its support last month for selling oral contraceptives over the counter without a prescription in the United States. I agree with this opinion, which if embraced by the federal government would take contraception out of the political arena.

I agree with this idea. There's no reason that oral contraceptives should require a prescription, when the morning-after pill does not. Politically, this is a simple move. The Democrats ran around last election cycle and screamed about Republicans who were going to take away everyone's birth control. Making birth control the equivalent of buying aspirin would end that line of attack. So, politically this is a winner.

Practically, it also makes sense. It eliminates needless doctor's visits, and increased competition would probably lead to a price decrease. I'll be interested to see if the social conservatives get heartburn from this proposal. For what it's worth, I'm usually in favor or reducing restrictions and regulations for people buying things. It's time to end the need for a prescription for birth control.

Red Dawn Remake

Hollywood: I'm disappointed in you. The remake of Red Dawn had the opportunity to be really cool. All you had to do was do the exact same story over, set it in the 1980s (again) and then throw in a cameo of one or two of the original cast members (as townspeople) and you would have a hit.

When you're remaking a cult classic, you have to stay close to what made the original movie great. It was gritty, dark, and was semi-believable. Not totally believable, but the Russians invading is more believable than the North Koreans. Yes, the same country that has rolling blackouts and cannot even launch missiles.

This new remake is more fast-action, digital effects than story. Oh, and on the topic of digital effects, I'm not just talking about explosions. The North Korean uniforms and flags are all digitally created, because they were originally Chinese, but were changed at the last minute so as to be able to sell more tickets in the international movie community.

Don't waste your time.

What You Learn as President (Or Kindergarten)

So, our President had a press conference the other day. Among other things, he said this:

“The truth of the matter is you can't just make stuff up. That’s one thing you learn as president of the United States. You get called in to account."

To use a phrase that our President is fond of: let's be clear - he means lying when he says "make stuff up".

Not for nothing, but most of us learn not to lie much earlier in life. Also, not to get to philosophical on this riff, but the fear of getting found out on your lies isn't supposed to be the motivation not to lie. You're not supposed to lie (make stuff up) because...oh yeah...it's morally wrong.

It's like saying: The truth of the matter is that you don't take things that aren't yours. That's one thing you learn as president of the United States. Oh, and washing your hands before you eat, that's a biggie, too".

Not Being on Face Book Is Suspicious?

When did sharing drunk pictures, playing Farm-ville, and being "friends" with people you never see  become so normal that people who don't do that are suspicious?

I'm not on Face Book, but maybe having this blog is an exception.

Oreos Are Gay?

Has anyone else seen this?

 

Apparently, it's caused quite a commotion in the cookie world. In any event, congratulations to the LGBT community are in order! Your demographic can now be successfully marketed/pandered to just like anyone else. That's some serious equality.

Capitalism doesn't discriminate.

McDonalds in Prague

It looks like it was outfitted by Ikea.

New York City Before Air Conditioning

Before air-conditioning, in the South, buildings were designed to circulate air and maximize cooling effects. I don't think this took place to the same degree in the North, but Arthur Miller has a great article about life in NYC before air-conditioning.

People on West 110th Street, where I lived, were a little too bourgeois to sit out on their fire escapes, but around the corner on 111th and farther uptown mattresses were put out as night fell, and whole families lay on those iron balconies in their underwear.

Read the whole thing.

Alleged Rape Victim Admits to Lying

The intrepid Will Vereen brings this story to our attention. It's a classic story: Boy meets girl. Girl accuses boy of rape. He's charged and pleads guilty to avoid what would have been a "he said - she said" rape trial, where if convicted, he would have faced up to 41 years.

So, after the boy spends five years in jail, the girl gets $1.5 Million in a civil suit. THEN the girl admits to making the whole thing up. Pretty good deal for the girl, especially considering that she didn't actually get raped. Not so great for the boy, though. He spent five years in jail, misses out on his college football career, and oh yeah, HE SPENT FIVE YEARS IN JAIL.

Oh, and by the way, there's no charges pending against the lying liar of a girl who started this whole process in motion. Tar and feathers would be too good for her.

New Week: Still Smelling Fresh

It's Monday! Welcome back from the weekend. The week is so new, it still has the classic "new week" smell to it - is smells like a man. Or maybe it's the new candle line from Yankee Candle Company, with new "men" smells.

It may come as a shock to some of y'all, but I'm not really into candles. Apparently, in an effort to break into the demographic of 18-35 (which I still am a member of), the Yankee Candle Company is trying to come up with manly candles. Newsflash to candle manufactures: all candles are kind of girly.

Oh, and if you name your candle "Man Town" I think you're going to get an altogether different demographic. Just sayin'.

Living in the "Full House" House

Postcard Row was made semi-famous in the intro to the early ninety's sitcom "Full House". If you're my age, you know this sitcom pretty well. If you ever wanted to see what it looks like inside of one of the houses on Postcard Row, check out this article. 

My favorite part:

The two things they could happily do away with: the tour buses that go by with megaphones (the neighbors are actively trying to ban the double deckers) and the frequent loud parade of drunk people walking by in the middle of the night, screaming up at the windows for DJ and Uncle Jesse.

I may or may not have done that on my trip to San Francisco.

Porn Store on Devine Street

Brad has the full run-down here, with lots of fun in the comments. I don't really care one way or the other if the store sets up. I would rather it be something else, but part of living in America is tolerating stuff you don't like and being an mature adult about it.

Personally, I would rather it be a firearms store. I hate having to drive all the way out to Shooter's Choice or Palmetto State Armory.

Watch Out for Ultrarealistic Nerf Guns!

Slate writers are silly. All in all, it's one of the most ridiculous articles I've seen. Ever. The deep question it asks is:

Over the past few weeks I’ve been playing with some of the new Nerf guns, and I’ve tied myself in knots thinking about whether ultrarealistic weapons are just harmless fun or whether they reveal something terribly wrong with modern American boyhood. I’ll admit it: As a father of a 1-year-old son, Nerf’s weaponry worries me. And it worries me mainly because these guns seem irresistible.

I guess these are the kind of people who have a heart attack when we discuss concealed carrying of actual firearms. Just as a reminder, these two things are not the same:

H&K MP5 (Real Gun)

Nerf Blaster (Not a real gun)

Why Your Teenager Can't Use a Hammer

There's lots of talk about "rebuilding America" these days, but this article doesn't leave me with much faith in our young workforce.

When I was growing up (heck, still today) I work with my dad taking things apart, fixing them, and putting them back together. When I was little, my part consisted of fetching tools, holding the light, and observing. From this, I can change my own oil, perform basic maintenance around the house, and figure out when a contractor is doing a bad job.

I don't know if technology plays the role that the author makes it out to be, but there's definitely something wrong if you're holding the hammer up at the top. I know I'll be sure to have my son holding the light when it's his turn.