No english no play

[Spanky]

I see this as a little ironic since I would venture to say most American's don't speak proper English, myself included.

[Uisce Beatha]

I'd step just over a little ironic and go right to *goshdarn* retarded.

[MFAWG]

I asked this question in the 'Wie DQed after not signing, but actually signing, just improperly, but we only figured that out 18 hours later' thread:

Who the *fudge* is running that show, because they make Mike Helton and Brian France look like bastions of fair play and intelligent decision making in sports?

[gleek]

Wow!!

Can you imagine if that were reversed and applied to male tour players in Europe.


Uberfookinbleebubble!

What language would be mandatoy in Europe?

I understand what the LPGA is trying to do.  From a marketing perspective they need to develop their brand.  If top tier players cannot speak English it ultimately hurts the overall quality of the product.  It's just Business 101.

Who gives a flying *fudge* if the winner can't give an interview in English in the 15 seconds they usually allot for the post tournament interview? Personally, I'd rather not hear English being spoken AT ALL by those with only a minimal amount of competency. I have a lot of respect for the players that do attempt to speak English in their interviews, but usually it makes me cringe, and I feel bad for them for being pressured into doing something they're not comfortable with. It doesn't help when the dumbass interviewers rarely, if ever, take into consideration the English skills of the interviewee.

[Fuzzy]

Wow!!

Can you imagine if that were reversed and applied to male tour players in Europe.


Uberfookinbleebubble!

What language would be mandatoy in Europe?

I understand what the LPGA is trying to do.  From a marketing perspective they need to develop their brand.  If top tier players cannot speak English it ultimately hurts the overall quality of the product.  It's just Business 101.

Who gives a flying *fudge* if the winner can't give an interview in English in the 15 seconds they usually allot for the post tournament interview? Personally, I'd rather not hear English being spoken AT ALL by those with only a minimal amount of competency. I have a lot of respect for the players that do attempt to speak English in their interviews, but usually it makes me cringe, and I feel bad for them for being pressured into doing something they're not comfortable with. It doesn't help when the dumbass interviewers rarely, if ever, take into consideration the English skills of the interviewee.

Follow the money. It isn't the 15 second post round interview they care about. It's the 4 hour corporate/donor schmooze round of golf in the pro-am and other sponsor interactions.*

Most tournaments on the LPGA Tour -- and the PGA Tour as well -- exist because they are run by local nonprofit organizations that set up the infrastructures for the events. The biggest part of the bottom line comes from the pre-tournament pro-am, which allows amateurs to get inside the ropes the day before the event and play a round of golf with the pros.

For some, it is a harrowing experience, but it also is memorable and enlightening. During 18 holes, you get to not only play on a nice golf course, but also interact with the players. Annika Sorenstam might tell a story about Tiger Woods. Juli Inkster might give you a few putting tips. Laura Davies might even hang around afterward and tip back a pint.

But the outing is not nearly as enjoyable if the pros cannot speak to the amateurs, who are paying thousands of dollars for the experience. Just like in any business, the LPGA wants its customers to be happy.

http://sports.espn.go.com...=harig_bob&id=3554052

Harig does raise a good point later in the article and one that I agree with. I don't think you should take away a players livelihood because they can't speak proper English and there are probably better solutions.


*insert obligatory *fiddlesticks* off korprit 'merka.

I personally think it's a silly dumbass policy but I'm having a hard time generating outrage. Especially since it seems the players don't have a problem with it based on what I've seen and read so far.

[stroh]

If I paid thousands of dollars to play in a pro-am I'd like to play with Harrington, and nobody can understand a word that *fudge*er says.

He's Irish for *fudge*s sake!

[Uisce Beatha]

If I paid thousands of dollars to play in a pro-am I'd like to play with Harrington, and nobody can understand a word that *fudge*er says.

He's Irish for *fudge*s sake!

Yeah, but he doesn't drink.  The paradox results in an inordinate number of "eeaaahhhh"s.  We're lucky it's limited to that.  Many have suggested such an event would result in the tearing apart of the spacetime continuum.

[twoiron]

We are an arrogant bunch.  No wonder the rest of the world hates us.

It's not because you're an arrogant bunch, every country hates you for different reason, unlike the French who are universally hated because they're French.

We just hate you for giving us TV shows such as "The Golden Girls", "Growing Pains" and "Ugly Betty"

[gleek]

We are an arrogant bunch.  No wonder the rest of the world hates us.

It's not because you're an arrogant bunch, every country hates you for different reason, unlike the French who are universally hated because they're French.

We just hate you for giving us TV shows such as "The Golden Girls", "Growing Pains" and "Ugly Betty"

Crocodile Dundee and Muriel's Wedding surrender.

[twoiron]

We are an arrogant bunch.  No wonder the rest of the world hates us.

It's not because you're an arrogant bunch, every country hates you for different reason, unlike the French who are universally hated because they're French.

We just hate you for giving us TV shows such as "The Golden Girls", "Growing Pains" and "Ugly Betty"

Crocodile Dundee and Muriel's Wedding surrender.

LMAo

[MFAWG]

It's not like they're telling them if they don't speak, they can't play. They have 2 years to learn a certain basic vocabulary.

That said, I played with a Korean couple at Jefferson last year who had the following for English:

Please.

Thank You.

Good Shot.

What more do you need?

[gleek]

It's not like they're telling them if they don't speak, they can't play. They have 2 years to learn a certain basic vocabulary.

That said, I played with a Korean couple at Jefferson last year who had the following for English:

Please.

Thank You.

Good Shot.

What more do you need?

LOL Exactly.

As for Fuzzy's point about amateurs who pay thousands of dollars to play in the pro-am, I'm pretty certain that 100% of non-English speaking LPGA Tour players already know how to say "good shot" and high-five you. I would venture to guess that 90% of the amateurs that sign up for the pro-am are middle-aged, white males, and if they're complaining about a lack of interaction non-English speaking Asian players, they have to realize that they have to be the ones that have to make the effort to interact. These are literally young girls coming from male-dominated societies. What may be viewed as aloofness is simply their behaving the way their expected to in their own cultures.

[gleek]

PGA TOUR players sound off on the LPGA policy.

Interestingly, Padraig Harrington has something to say too. (I'm sure it was through a translator.  )

Padraig Harrington, who has won the last two majors, wondered if the LPGA Tour is taking on too much. Like others, he wants to know how much English a player is supposed to learn to be "effective."

"Surely if you can say, 'Hello,' that's English. Is that good enough?" he said. "Who draws the line about how many words you've got to know in English? What if you have a person who genuinely struggles with learning a new language; they have a learning disability? That's tough to ask somebody with a learning disability, who might have found golf as the saving grace in their life, to ask them to learn a different language or else you can't play.

"There's a lot of different issues to that," he said. "It's a big step to actually put it out there."

[Fuzzy]

It's not like they're telling them if they don't speak, they can't play. They have 2 years to learn a certain basic vocabulary.

That said, I played with a Korean couple at Jefferson last year who had the following for English:

Please.

Thank You.

Good Shot.

What more do you need?

LOL Exactly.

As for Fuzzy's point about amateurs who pay thousands of dollars to play in the pro-am, I'm pretty certain that 100% of non-English speaking LPGA Tour players already know how to say "good shot" and high-five you. I would venture to guess that 90% of the amateurs that sign up for the pro-am are middle-aged, white males, and if they're complaining about a lack of interaction non-English speaking Asian players, they have to realize that they have to be the ones that have to make the effort to interact. These are literally young girls coming from male-dominated societies. What may be viewed as aloofness is simply their behaving the way their expected to in their own cultures.

To be clear, this was not my point.

[Uisce Beatha]

Fuzzy's point is on his head.