Say it with me people: "Tiger is not an athlete".
Okay, that's unfair. He might be. Unfortunately he plays golf so we will never know. He is incredibly talented, and great under pressure, but HE PLAYS GOLF. To be in the conversation about athletic prowess you need to be involved in a sport that takes athletic prowess--it's not a complicated formula. I won't say golf isn't difficult, sure it is. But, so are darts, bowling and poker and they sure as fuck don't require athletic ability.
So, talk about Tiger's golf greatness. Talk about Tiger's ability to perform under pressure. But, please please please do not bring up 'athlete' and Tiger until he gives up golf and starts a sport involving extreme physicality. And for the stupid argument that golf is an athletic endeavour because it takes some coordination and mental toughness, so does ever other sport in the world. Plus, they take athletic ability.
Tiger=great golfer
Tiger=incredible under pressure
Tiger might = athlete, but we don't know that because he golfs.
Agreed. Well said.
ReplyDeleteBut I wanted to comment on a previous post. You know who is very good at living in the moment? Infants. No bullshit, how much of your infancy do you remember? Exactly. Infants begin by grabbing things reflexively. And I don't mean reflexively in the complicated way graduate students use the term. I mean they grab it as though by reflex. They just do it. They don't think about it. They don't even no it's their hand, let alone that thing they're grabbing isn't attached to them. Once we acquire firm mental constructs of the past and present (and for that matter our body and the material world around us), it is quite impossible to "live in the moment". We move back and forth, recalling and projecting. It makes us human. This is why the idea of not doing it is such a powerful rhetorical tool. Living in the moment is to pop-culture and postmodern philosophy (assuming there is a difference) what masturbation was - is - to the Catholic Church. I'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy or attempt either of these things. I'm just saying I wouldn't expect to be able to live in the moment any more than you should expect to be able to refrain from ever masturbating. It's just not natural.
One of many reasons why we should disregard anti-humanist rants, whether they be uttered by the high priests of philosophy or the church.
Huh, good point. Masturbating without projecting myself is problematic. Perhaps if I was a narcissist I could, but I don't find myself that pretty.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should ditch the 'live in the moment' baggage and use a more practical, blue-collar phrase like 'focus on what the fuck I am doing at the time', or 'fucking pay attention'. It's the same difference, and doesn't require me to achieve a state of zen concsiousness while going at myself.