Ok, so I have to start this blog out with a quote from the article, "Culture, Gender Roles, and Sport: The Case of Korean Players on the LPGA Tour." To me this is one of the worst and most unneccesary things I have heard from someone in the sports world.
This is probably going to get me in trouble, but the Asians are killing our tour. Their lack of emotion, their refusal to speak English when they can speak English. They rarely speak.We have two-day pro-ams where people are paying a lot of money to play with us, and they (Asians) say hello and goodbye. Our tour is predominantly international, and the majority are Asians. They have taken it
over. (Kessler, 2003)
over. (Kessler, 2003)
She was right that she would get in trouble. At least with me by saying what she said. I understand it is important that socializing with sponsors and that is important and looks better for the LPGA, but you can't force people to speak English if they don't want to. That is just ridiculous. That would be like if a person that only spoke English was in Mexico and they expected him to speak Spanish. Come on, let's be real here. Also, she hasn't taken into account that maybe these athletes are just naturally shy. Maybe they don't feel comfortable talking to people and would rather just play and go home. I see no problem in the fact that Asians or any other professionals that speak only their foreign language. I think it brings diversity to the game and if they are a great player, then just let them go out there do what they love to do.
I found it interesting that the commissioner of the LPGA had this to say, “attendance, TV viewership, Web site traffic and purses are up. That does not suggest a tour is being damaged by any one group.” Right there proves that people are watching anyways. If they are getting more people interested and viewership is up, then why complain and why do you need them to speak English? The only possible reason I think they could have for wanting them to speak English is because they are money hungry and want as many sponsors as possible. And if that is the case, then I think that is just plain wrong. Let the athletes show up and do what they do and call it a day. They are still representing your sport in a good way and shouldn't be judged for not speaking English.
1 comment:
Great post, Nick! I could not agree with you more. Also, keep in mind that many of the Korean LPGA golfers have just come to the U.S. in the past year. We do not expect MLB players from Asia to speak without interpreters--even after they have been here for years!
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