Seve Ballesteros Passes

[Dave James]

For those who are fans of golf, the sport has lost one of its good guys. Seve Ballesteros passed away yesterday as a result of a brain tumor that he'd been fighting for some time. He played golf with the kind of flair you rarely see these days. A huge influence on the development of the sport in Europe. Here's a nice career retrospective put together by ESPN.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=6498364

[papsrus]

Sad news. Just 54 years old, too.

Seems to have been universally liked and admired in the golf world.

[J.A.W.]

Sad news indeed. A great champion who'll be sorely missed.

BBC obit

[Quincy]

Some nice highlights in the ESPN clips. It such fun to watch him get into trouble just to see how he'd get out of it.

[sidewinder]

Shocking, very sad news. A great ambassador for Spain, will be missed.

[Larry Kart]

Sad news. Just 54 years old, too.

Seems to have been universally liked and admired in the golf world.

Not exactly. In addition to his unreal shotmaking skills, he was known for his coin-rattling, coughing-during-other-players'-backswings gamesmanship. He and Paul Azinger got into it on several occasions. I'm not saying that Seve was right or wrong, just that this was part of his reputation.

[J.A.W.]

Sad news. Just 54 years old, too.

Seems to have been universally liked and admired in the golf world.

Not exactly. In addition to his unreal shotmaking skills, he was known for his coin-rattling, coughing-during-other-players'-backswings gamesmanship. He and Paul Azinger got into it on several occasions. I'm not saying that Seve was right or wrong, just that this was part of his reputation.

Never knew that. Ballesteros' heyday was before I got interested in golf. Mr Azinger seems to have had a reputation too, or so I'm told. Have no idea what that was all about.

[Dave James]

Some nice highlights in the ESPN clips. It such fun to watch him get into trouble just to see how he'd get out of it.

The only guy who even comes close these days is Lefty.

[Larry Kart]

The other side of Seve:

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1906770-3,00.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/golf/article3559327.ece

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HFI/is_9_53/ai_90701727/

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/seve-in-the-huff-as-tiger-talks-of-gamesmanship-1.297761

http://m.kitsapsun.com/news/1999/sep/21/golf-gamesmanship-still-is-in-style-at-the-ryder/

[Dave James]

Anyone who plays golf at any level knows the kind of game it is. Everyone has it in them to be a nice guy and everyone has it in them to be a dickhead. I try not to judge someone's career on the basis of a handful of events. I judge them for what they accomplished over the long haul, what they brought to the game and the way they are perceived by their peers. Ballesteros was a competitor. He was a winner. The sport was better for his having been part of it. That's all that matters.

[papsrus]

The other side of Seve:

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1906770-3,00.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/golf/article3559327.ece

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HFI/is_9_53/ai_90701727/

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/seve-in-the-huff-as-tiger-talks-of-gamesmanship-1.297761

http://m.kitsapsun.com/news/1999/sep/21/golf-gamesmanship-still-is-in-style-at-the-ryder/

Thanks for the links. One of our guys talked to Azinger yesterday about this very thing. I'll have to go back and see what was said.

I'd only note that this sort of thing is not uncommon in sports. Golf -- the gentleman's game -- maybe less so. But you often hear athletes say that they are good buddies with their opponents off the field. A brotherhood, even. Yet on the field, they are enemies.

However Seve was regarded among his peers on and off the golf course, as Asinger said in one of the articles you linked:

Gamesmanship has always been a part of the Ryder Cup, as long as it’s not unsportsmanlike, so to say Seve was the king of it wasn’t necessarily such a bad comment. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Seve Ballesteros.”

But in the end, as with any profession, it's not unusual for accomplished athletes to be seen as assholes by at least a some of the folks they defeated.

[JSngry]

Say what you will about assholes, but they do act as a counter to complacency.