It’s hard to find folks who sit on the fence about John Daly. It’s clear to me that fans of golf are either passionately loyal to him arguing that he is representing all regular folks out on the course, or vehemently disdain him because of a repeated lack of respect, in their view, of golf.
Without further ado, the winner of The John Daly Fans Debate is…
LOYAL HOMER!!!!!!
To recap… Loyal Homer did an excellent job of capturing the essence of the pro-John Daly group, even taking the argument a step further and calling John Daly a standout underdog in a sport dominated by underdogs – thanks to Tiger Woods. Bleacher Fan (whose keyboard may still be smoking) launched the counter-argument that John Daly is everything that golf culture isn’t – lewd, distasteful, and generally un-gentlemanly.
To me, this debate is not, as Loyal Homer stated, about whether John Daly is an underdog, feel-good story. This debate is not, as Bleacher Fan stated, about the various, well-documented illegalities and addictions that John Daly has struggled with throughout his career golf. This debate is asking if fans should root for John Daly, and all of the baggage that comes with him.
In short, fans should root for John Daly in the way that Loyal Homer described – as a good friend who continually makes poor decisions. Therefore cheering his successes only reinforces the positive outcomes. Do we get to a point with a family member or friend where we simply give up trying to help them? Doubtful. In Daly’s case, the goal must be to laud the accomplishments that reinforce the gentlemanly nature of men’s professional golf… something that separates it from all other major sports.
I will say that I do not agree with every aspect of Loyal Homer’s argument, specifically, the claim that John Daly’s crowds rival that of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. While Daly may move the ratings needle slightly (in the same way that people love to watch live car chases), I do not think that golf fans rearrange their schedules on Sunday afternoon to watch John Daly, the way they would for Tiger or Lefty.
I’ll also tack on that I agree with Bleacher Fan – Daly has injected some unfortunate memories into the sport’s history. It does seem strange for Daly to share the record books with some of the golf’s greats, even if he did earn his place.
John Daly is not an underdog. He’s a good golfer – or at least he can be. Fans should support Daly’s better golf outings, and root for his respect of the sport, and himself.
Excellent ruling!
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