'Golf is a bourgeois sport"

Venezuela president Hugo Chavez has decided that golf is not a game of the people, providing the impetus behind pro-Chavez factions' attempts to shut down two courses recently, the New York Times' Simon Romero reports. He writes:

"'Let's leave this clear,' Mr. Chávez said during a live broadcast of his Sunday television program. 'Golf is a bourgeois sport,' he said, repeating the word 'bourgeois' as if he were swallowing castor oil."

Chavez, the story reports, is not interested in outlawing golf, but he clearly demonstrates his aversion to the game.

"I respect all sports," he said. "But there are sports and there are sports. Do you mean to tell me this is a people's sport? It is not."

-- John Strege