For the most part I am going to have to agree with Jan Stephenson’s comments about Koreans and how English should be learned. Her quote about “Asians are killing our tour” (Shin and Nam, 2004, P. 224). I disagree with 100%. In fact they are running the tour from top to bottom. Sure there is Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Kristie Kerr and many other Americans. But the Koreans are winning week in and week out. Where I agree with Jan is with this quote “Their lack of emotion, their refusal to speak English when they can speak English. They rarely speak. We have two-day Pro Ams were people are paying a lot of money to play with us and they say hello and good bye” (Shin and Nam, 2004, P. 224).
I have seen this happen on a first hand account several of times. The past five summers I have caddied in the Jamie Farr Pro-Ams and also for a pro golfer two summers ago. I have been in groups where the Korean golfer rarely talked to the group at all. The golfers paying the big bucks had to approach the golfer first with questions. On the other hand I have seen Korean golfers be the first to approach the golfers. With that being said I also have caddied in groups where it was been an American golfer and they are so kind and full of joy. It is so much fun to caddie in a group like this. When I caddied for a pro two summers ago she was Korean and spoke okay English.
Tim,
ReplyDeleteWhile you make some good points I'm going to have to disagree. When Jan Stephenson said that "Asians are killing our tour" I think she was completely misguided. Saying that they're "killing" the tour implies that they are destroying or ruining the pureness or popularity of the game, when in fact its quite the opposite. Over the last 5-6 years LPGA television ratings have remained nearly the same, although they still aren't good. But it has been shown that the lack of interest in televised LPGA events is a result of the LPGA lacking a true cable network. Because of this the LPGA is forced to buy their own airtime on cable T.V., which in-turn, lists them as an infomercial instead of an LPGA sponsored event. So to say that Asians have killed the popularity of the sport seems to be untrue, and as far as I know, they haven't been caught cheating or doing anything else that would ruin the purity of the sport.
I would also like to address the language requirement. The LPGA is an institution that has previously encouraged international participation, in order to boost the popularity and competition of the sport. By placing a language requirement on international athletes they are diminishing international competition. I understand that the language barrier does create problems for the media, sponsors and fans, but the truth is speaking English has nothing to do with how well you golf. Should the NBA, or MLB institute a similar rule for their international players, because they surely have their fair share of iconic foreign players as well. Quite simply, I find a language requirement as an act of discrimination. It singles out a group of people who don't conform to what we, as Americans, want and places them at a disadvantage. For anyone who disagrees with that, go try and compete in at a professional level in a foreign country while trying to learn their native language. Then consider that the English language is one of the hardest to learn, and the American media is one of the harshest reporting bodies in the world. How fair is that?
I do not agree that the popularity of the game is decreasing. The Asian's are picking up the game at a very young age and here in America it is the same. There are a lot for high school teams in the area. When I played golf in high school there was one female on the JV teams, but next year there was enough for a teams and now there is about 13 girls playing.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do if your a CEO or another head of a big company and you play X amount to play in a Pro-am? And you get someone who does not speak English? I would be pretty upset because if I wanted to talk business with the people in my group (that is what they do I have seen it) I would have met them for breakfast at a local diner. They also want to interact with the Pro and get tips and learn about them as a person and golfer.
I think you might have misunderstood me. I didn't imply that the popularity was decreasing, in fact I said that it has remained quite the same. If you don't believe me, the numbers don't lie. Televsion ratings for LPGA events are very very low and I tried to explain this. I was referring to Jan Stephenson's statement, about Koren players "killing" the tour. To me that statement implied they were either ruining the popularity or destroying the purity of the sport, as I said before. I wouldn't consider their inability to speak English to be "killing" the tour, although it may be impeding fan interaction. I did also admit that the language barrier does present an issue for media and sponsors, and of course the companies that pay to play with the athletes. But the LPGA could have taken any number of different actions, actions that I think would have been more appropriate. As far as CFO and major players in big business, they probably only want to talk the Asian players so they can get a better understanding of the foreign labor wages in their countries(humor intended....).
ReplyDeleteI can understand to a certain extent because after reading ESPN.com that there are only 23 tournaments this coming season. But I do not believe this is because of the Asians. It has to deal with the top people.. wanting to run events over seas which makes zero sense.. Yeah have a few here and there but not every other week or how many they want.
ReplyDeleteI do feel that the ability to speak English should be required in the LPGA, better yet in every sport, men's or women's. But I feel the ability to speak English should be required to even live in the U.S.A. There are so many people that live in the U.S that don't have the basic ability to speak English and that is a real problem. In regards to sports, I don't feel it is right to require these athletes to speak English if they aren't fluent or comfortable speaking the language. But I do feel they should have the basic ability to do so. Let's face it, sports are international, therefore we can't ask that those involve adopt the most common language, but we can ask that these athletes do what is better for the sport and in this case, that is speak English.
ReplyDeleteI like to make a comparison to the NHL. Europeans come to play in the NHL and many do not speak English well. However, most of them take the time to learn the language and keep teammates, coaches, fans, etc. happy. An example is Alex Ovechkin from the Washington Capitals. He spoke only Russian when he came to the league in 2004. Now he speaks pretty fluent in English and it has been an impressive feat. There are some Europeans who have not been willing to do learn English, however, and that is very disappointing.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good discussion on the issue of language requirements and Jan Stephenson's comments. I want to speak about the Pro-Ams, because I have played in several in tennis. Tim is correct in saying that they are something that sponsors pay for and they want to be able to communicate. But I think it is something the LPGA as a body can do more to prepare players for. They could first of all choose players (and somehow reward them) based upon their ability to communicate (that might be seen as punishing players who participate because it is a commitment that takes away from concentrating on the tournament). My understanding of the state of the LPGA is that the former CEO was not much of a people person, and she may have been partially responsible for the declining number of tournaments as well.
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