UPDATE! - Commentary by a Golf Magazine Sr. Editor and more comments than you can shake a stick at: http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1836266,00.html
At an odd crossroads of the two topics I write about the most, sports and English, Ms. Carolyn Bivens (not pictured above) has provided me with a fantastic post: The LPGA is requiring that all of the players on its tour must pass an English proficiency test.
You can read the article here: http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/63530#tr_63530-comments_pages
The comments are even more entertaining… I have to admit that I am the submitter of some of the comments.
As I said, you can read the article and comments via the link above, but I’d like to make some observations about those who posted comments in this space:
1. It’s ironic that the people who disagree with the LPGA’s policy are the ones who most successfully used the English language.
2. I said it there, I’ll say it here, “there,” “their,” and “they’re” are different words.
3. I never knew that the different languages at ATMs bothered people so much.
4. The internet comment box is the new restroom wall.
5. Credit to JB for this one – it seems that patriotism, or at least some people’s idea of what that is, is the trump card for all arguments…
Person A: “Britain doesn’t use the euro.”
Person B: “Yes, it does, all of Europe uses it.”
Person A: “No, they still use the pound.”
Person B: “You don’t love America! Get out!”
I guess this is where Person A is supposed to admit that he’s wrong and feel bad that he’s not American enough in Person B’s eyes.
6. Seriously, checkout the comments section. It’s unreal how people invent new spellings of words…
7. As you can see, I’m just continuing with numbering all of my thoughts, even if they don’t address the original statement.
8. I’m a Yankees fan. I don’t care about the English proficiency of Mariano Rivera or Hideki Matsui.
9. I actually do think that there’s a very strong case for learning English for those who live in The United States. Just as there’s a strong case for learning Swedish when living in Sweden.
10. I genuinely respect the athletes of the LPGA. Many of these women are phenomenal at the sport of golf.
11. Maybe the ATMs are irritating because it takes so long to figure out which button to press..?
Yes, I agree that the comment box quickly becomes the least common denominator. Anyone who posts a comment is a moron. Oh, wait…
I’d like to be a moron too!!!