"The Masters"

The title begs the question: "Of what?"

Yes, the prestigiously dull, awesomely boring golf tournament known as The Masters gets underway in Georgia today amidst some flurry of protest and controversy. Seems the club that annually hosts the tournament does not allow women as members, proclaiming itself a "private" club, so barring women from the gate doesn't qualify as discrimination.

This would be true but for one thing: They host the biggest tournament in all of golfdom, and get paid handsomely to do so. While that may not technically alter the distinction, it does so in spirit. Fact is, they get way rich off the players who come there, the corporations who sponsor the tourny, and the fans who come and spend money all weekend long. This very public exposure makes them vulnerable, and to that end, someone has chosen to take them on.

Bravo!

Hold on a minute. Augusta National is a way ritzy club, its members way rich, so the argument really boils down not to women generally, but rich women specifically being barred from membership.

Oh. Well.

Fuck that.

Honestly speaking, it is ridiculous that a so-called private club can reap the rewards of a very public sporting event and still get away with rank discrimination, but a little perspective reveals that we are talking about rich white women being denied acces to the clubhouse. I can't get too upset about that.

There has also been much criticism of Tiger Woods for not coming to the aid of the monied damsels in distress, based on his color and the fact that not too many years ago he would not have been able to play on many of the courses he now visits, much less ever be a member. He even made those provocative Nike ads when he first turned pro, talking about that very issue. Now, he is the richest golfer in the history of the game, but has refused to get directly involved in the controversy, just as Michael Jordan refused to get into the issue of where and how those Nike shoes so closely tied to his name were being made, and by whom.

Some say Tiger can't make a bit of a difference.

Wrong.

He is so good, so far ahead of the rest of the sport, that were he to boycott the tournament and perhaps the sport, this men-only thing would be history. He chooses not to, and I think it unfortunate.

Maybe he just wants to play golf.