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The Loop

A Nice Cold Bottle of Shut Up

August 27, 2007

Joel Copeland of Plymouth, Michigan, jumped up from watching the Barclays yesterday and wrote us. Quickly. Maybe left the television on.

IN THE HOLE!!!

We've all heard it. Live and on TV. I was watching the Barclays tournament Sunday afternoon,

(congrats to Steve Stricker for a stellar performance) and was observing a player putt out, I don't recall who, but, within a nano-second of finishing his forward stroke someone in the gallery yelled as if trying to expel his lungs... IN THE HOLE, BABYYYYYYYYYYY!

As focused as I was on what the player was trying to do, the man in the gallery made me come out of My chair. This has got to be unnerving. There was a time when the game of golf was played with utmost courtesy by the players AND the members of the gallery. It's a simple matter of respect. Dont' you agree? Watching a good round of golf used to be as peaceful and soothing as being out there yourself with your three best buddies having the mind clearing experience that I think many of us consider it to be. Well, what happened?

Today, the norm seems to be the same behavior that you'd find at the neighborhood tractor-pull. And what about the reactions of the spectators around this person? Seems to me that someone would grab this clown in a headlock and give him a good noogy-thump on the back of the head and hand him a nice cold bottle of shut the hell up. (That's my fantasy anyway.)...

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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Always good to hear from Michigan. Being from Dearborn myself, I recognize the brilliance, compassion and common sense in your letter.

Joel: You are in dire need of live, amateur golf. Turn off your television and get yourself to the nearest Junior Amateur, Senior Amateur, Girls' Junior, State Amateur or Walker Cup. Watch it live, get close, enjoy the whispering galleries and forget about those noogies. Those are illegal under new FedEx Cup rules anyway.

--Bob Carney