LPGA to golfers: Speak English
Ready for a break from Dem convention coverage? Here’s the scoop on the LPGA’s decision to enforce an English-speaking policy. It’s a business decision. Many of the foreign golfers who are members have no problem with it. But wait until the ethnic grievance litigation unit gets wind of the policy. Lawsuits claiming civil rights violations in 3, 2, 1…
Concerned about its appeal to sponsors, the women’s professional golf tour, which in recent years has been dominated by foreign-born players, has warned its members that they must become conversant in English by 2009 or face suspension.
“We live in a sports-entertainment environment,” said Libba Galloway, the deputy commissioner of the tour, the Ladies Professional Golf Association. “For an athlete to be successful today in the sports entertainment world we live in, they need to be great performers on and off the course, and being able to communicate effectively with sponsors and fans is a big part of this.
“Being a U.S.-based tour, and with the majority of our fan base, pro-am contestants, sponsors and participants being English speaking, we think it is important for our players to effectively communicate in English.”
Ms. Galloway, meet Joey Vento. He’ll fill you in on what you can expect.
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Wow, guts and common sense. These poor ladies are gonna get pilloried, but I’m behind them 100%.
because they don’t see themselves as victims.
Grievancemongers will do what they do best - always an eye or an ear out for the next shakedown. LPGA, consider yourselves forewarned but most importantly stand your ground. They’ll crawl back under their rocks eventually.
LPGA for President!!!!!
That’s great, hopefully the LPGA doesn’t wind up being sued into dropping that rule. What I don’t get is that someone who is probably not even affiliated with the LPGA will be the first to sue…
Can we make pro women golfers speak English?
Si se puede!
This is great news. I was very ready for a break from the convention (I was tired of it long before it began) and this news was quite welcome. I really hope the LPGA sticks with this and that the foreign golfers step up in defense of the policy when the critics start whining.
No less a grade B former football player Mike Goilic… hated the decision. I always thought he was in the tank for leftist thought. This is great. They are putting the golfers on notice that if they are going to be interviewed and they take sponsors’ money, they better present themselves in intelligible English.
Golic, I mean
Now only if McCain will speak English.
Did you hear the one about the Spanish speaking golfer who hit a great drive only to realize there are golfers in the fairway, shouts “quatro!”
‘nuf said.
Bunch of man haters with clubs,better do what they say or else they’ll take off that visor and shove it up your butt.
JLP
The LPGA has a HUGE lesbian fanbase (especially the Dinah Shore Tournament.) The angry moonbat bullish lesbians will be livid over this. Other lesbians may be torn: the policy is bad, BUT the LPGA is great for lesbian get togethers.
That’s great, but honestly. Who cares what language they speak. Last time I played golf it was rude to speak in any language. It’s not like they’re playing password.
oh, it’s important the LADY GOLFERS speak english, but the idiots meeting in denver want to teach in multiple languages, and odumbo is ashamed amurrikans can only repond mercy buckets. are our values this insane. who would tell students “it’s ok to not learn proper english” just because you want to WORK in the u.s. barrack may stutter uh, uh, but he don be dissin yall wi no ebonics maman, an yo homey he ain talkin no puta rap or slingin no east l.a. m.s.13 jive. how could anyone ever expect these people to get any type of a job that doen’t have the word menial in it if they speak like this. bill cosby was right, and the minority groups had better start listening. if an employer has to hire people who can’t speak english anyway, he might as well hire them in china where the wage is $2.00 per day.
I dunno…I am all for encouraging players to use English, but requiring it in the all important, life & death matter of women’s gold is a bit too much.
I think it is a short-sighted business decision, and one that could put off the attraction of US women’s golf in the future and one the could put off foreign companies looking to place ads and have sponsorhsips.
meant women’s golf, not women’s gold (but it does come down to money).
It’s a reasonable job requirement that will assist everyone economically and it’s from the one who writes your check. That’s why they have no problem with it.
Most LPGA members are Asian (lots of Koreans), not Hispanic. I didn’t realize this was an issue.
Isn’t it funny though, how even though someone does not have a problem with something, some wonderful group will always come along to stick up for them to make it all better?
I figure it’ll take a few years for the players to go from knowing a few words to becoming conversational and even more for fluency. Look at Yao Ming - he needed a translator his first years in the NBA and has gotten pretty conversational with his English. Being an English speaker helps him make more money doing endorsement deals.
It’s a win-win for both sides. Everyone gets extra money by being good in front of the camera.
Just what part of…
Did you not understand?
For English choose the 1 wood.
For Spanish…
Interesting. My neighbor wasn’t hired for a job because he wasn’t bilingual. He’s a very smart man, and a hard worker. (Where do you find those nowadays?) But, because he couldn’t/doesn’t speak spanish, he wasn’t hired for a position he applied for with the city in the United States of America. (Arizona, ya’ know. We need to include everyone.
Evenespecially the lawbreakers!) Let’s hope the LPGA decision spreads! (But I won’t hold my breath)This is a good thing…unless you’re playing golf near San Francisco. Can you imagine a pro golfer asking a non-English fluent caddie to wash his balls…? Proper understanding is the key to effective communication, no?
I got passed over for a promotion because of the same thing about 2 years ago. Sad thing is, in my position and the promoted position, I never come in contact with anyone that is Hispanic. I do come in contact with Japanese on occasion, but they speak English when they are here.
I had a few meetings with HR and my attorney and got the promotion. I was apologized to and told it was because of the big “diversity” campaign our company was in the middle of and it should not have gotten that out of hand.
tears - lots of tears ROFLMBO
.
How dare they want the players to speak English.
They’ve really stepped in it now. Just wait ’til the ACLU hears about this. Can you say LAWSUIT boys and girls???
.
“Did you not understand?”
Do you understand that someone may offer a different opinion?
The NBA, MBL, and NFL are essentially US-based, but are looking towards the future and to games and teams overseas.
Thus, I have the opinion that the LPGA is being short-sighted as they too should be considering how the future looks like with golf expanding overseas. Part of the equation may also include how companies like Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Toyota, etc. may want to view future sponsorship activities with the LPGA.
The big women’s golf draw in the future, perhaps 5 years from now, 10 years, etc. may not be LPGA events.
The LPGA is way, way out of line. The argument being made is that these golfers are entertainers and need to be able to speak to their partners in English.
BS.
These women are not entertainers. They are athletes. They could be illiterate in every language. They’re paid to hit the ball into the cup. Now, I understand why sponsors would pay more money to be represented by English speakers, but that’s not an association issue.
There are plenty of baseball players who don’t speak English. And since the LPGA is in hard times, it should be noted that there are plenty of European players with poor English. Who cares? They are not hired to talk.
I can not imagine someone pulling these shenanigans in a male league. It wouldn’t be tolerated. But women athletes are “entertainers” so they will have to accept this ridiculous rule.
And the reason some players don’t have a problem with it is because other associations have caps on how many foreign players can join a league or association. South Koreans (there are 45 on tour) worry that the LPGA will put a cap on them and they will lose out on the highest paying tournaments.
Of course that’s quite illegal here, but I don’t think everyone knows that.
Even if it goes over seas, it makes sense to use only one language. The LPGA is doing all of these women a huge favor. Nobody says they can not come to the US and earn a nice paycheck. Just that in order to continue getting those paychecks they need to learn English. US courts should have no jurisdiction here. It is a common sense business decision.
Rusty, all I have to say is so what.
Do worry Rusty this one won’t fly. For them to actually think it will is amazing.
*#@^(@*)#)*(
DPT comes off like an appeaser of the first order. With that thinking, shouldn’t we all be learning to speak Martian, or some other galactic language, cause some day we may be invited to another planet for fresh kool-aid?
Good for the LPGA, a home town club.
nuf sed
I would think they should learn Spanish.
Hooray for the LPGA! This is how it begins. Stay the course ladies! Perhaps the rest of the meek will use their cajones and push forward.
Funny, when you listen to these Dem Fraud Failures about tolerance, multiculturism, blah, blah, blah, they seem to think the world works this way. Unfortunately, they have been at the crack pipe a bit too much. When you hear their jaded views on having been to other lands, ask simply if this was the tour they went with mommy and daddy, or if this was that time they stayed in a hostel, dropped acid, and woke up three days later with a major pain in their ass.
I have traveled to both Asia and Europe for business, doing business. I have never been asked to speak in the countries language. They all communicated English, both written and verbal throughout the course of the meetings. I have learned several languages in the past, of which none of them apply to the countries I have done business with. Not to discount learning a second/third language, it is that there are a lot of other nations and English has become the language of business.
The LPGA is an organization and selecting English makes sense. That or Esperanto…
Not that I have any problems with your opinion, I just felt the need to make sure you understood that it IS a U.S. based sport and as such it should be in English. Why would you not consider that the “majority” that would prefer English does not matter, just to appease the minority of viewers? Even so if they can speak English, I would think of it as a plus. It’s not like they would forget their native language so I don’t see where it would cause any issues if they were on tour in say Korea (which is where most of the top women on the tour are from) They could still speak in their language as well.
So are you saying that all of these athletes should be required to speak the languages of every country they plan on playing these sports? You know, just so they’re not being short-sighted from a business standpoint?
At last check, these companies advertise here in the U.S. in English. I see plenty of their adds on television.
Rusty,
You can’t be moron athlete in golf. Brains are actually part of the game. Sponsors expect certain things.
These women make enough money to travel around with some Rosetta Stone CD/DVD’s.
People go to “sporting events” to be entertained. ALL professional atheletes are entertainers, otherwise, why charge the public to watch atheletes play games?
Can you name one professional American sport that forces it’s players or coaches, who speak only English, to learn the languages of foreign born players? Generally the foreign players learn English to more effectively communitcate with their teammates and coaching staff.
“DPT comes off like an appeaser of the first order.”
Hey, that’s what my gun-toting, religion hugging grandma calls me too.
Best post evarrr from you Rusty!
I find it ironic that the rest of the world is using English as the default standard language, while the US has now become a de facto bilingual nation. Here is an interesting article written by a Japanese professor to a Japanese audience on why people must learn English. I think the US Congress should be forced to read it.
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Kitao-WhyTeach.html
right-on, lol, but we are speaking of the dykes in the lpga, not the pga. but it would create havoc in sf for many of the golfers wearing pink sweaters and kneehigh socks.
“I just felt the need to make sure you understood that it IS a U.S. based sport and as such it should be in English”
Golf is an international sport, and will become increasingly so in the future.
“So are you saying that all of these athletes should be required to speak the languages of every country they plan on playing these sports?”
I’m not saying that at all. I am questioning the need for a cross the board requirement for a sports entertainer.
“At last check, these companies advertise here in the U.S. in English. I see plenty of their adds on television.”
Very true, though as golf continues grows in popularity overseas, companies will decide when, where and how much to spend their money.
If…. *=it #=pound @=a$$ ^=up (=forward )=backward …then…whoa, Rusty! Nice talk!!!
Don’t you think it would be even more confusing if a “femininely challenged” woman said it?
For English press Driver
for Gaelic press 1 Wood
for Korean press 2 Iron
for Italian press 3 wood
for French press 4 putter
for Hebrew press 5 Iron
for all other languages press the pound sign…”Thank you and good bye.”
English=0
Let me rephrase that… The LPGA is a U.S. Based TOUR
Because here in the U.S. the majority of viewers don’t understand Korean. I don’t know if you know this, but it’s [English]also across the board for Formula 1 drivers too. They may not speak the best English, but they do (the top three on the podium) give post race interviews in English, and then they do the interview in their native tongue. And they don’t even hold a race in the U.S. at this time, they’re all overseas. Now, weather it’s a RULE that they have to know English I’m not so sure, but I do know they do the interviews in English first.
So cut off the hand that feeds you so you can attract a few foreign sponsors? Sounds like a solid business plan to me. ¯\(º_o)/¯
If the LPGA is not a government agency then they can require their employees to speak Klingon if they want. If they were a government agency then by all means, English it is.
You have to speak a certain language to play a sport?
Hey, people, this isn’t citizenship, it’s an athletic competition. And who’s going to judge whether the golfers are sufficiently proficient? Some country club Republican matron who will have a hissy fit if a wrong verb tense is used or pronunciation isn’t perfect?
Let’s tell it like it is. Asian women, especially Korean women, have been kicking major butt on the professional golf tour. The golf upper class groupies have trouble relating to them.
Apparantly not enough American girls are putting in the time and effort to succeed. The LPGA should be exploring ways to inspire more American girls to put in the time and effort.
There’s a parallel here to a larger picture. You look at the young American women who have excelled enough to make it to the tour, a disproportionate share of them are Asians who either immigrated with their parents at a young age or are the children of Asian immigrants. You can find the same dynamics in the classroom.
I’m a conservative and there’s nothing conservative about this xenophobic reaction by the LPGA.
Is it me or was Rusty more fun when he lived in DC?
Actually I think it’s a sales event run by golf equipment and accessory manufacturers…
These golfers ARE entertainers whether you like it or not. If I’m your sponsor and you are speaking with my logo all over you, you better be able to address my target audience in an intelligent fashion i.e. discernible English.
How? From what I understand, this also has to do with making sure all involved with golf conduct themselves ethically. Hard to do when you can’t understand the languages the golfers/caddies are speaking.
Ooo Rah!
“Actually I think it’s a sales event run by golf equipment and accessory manufacturers…”
…………………………………
No, it’s not the same as a concert or a festival or even a pseudo sport like pro wrestling. It’s an athletic competition and like all pro sports has sponsors and advertisors using it to make money.
You see any demands for the fantastic Latin American players in major league baseball be proficient in English? Would baseball be a better game without Big Poppyand Johann Santana?
The best policy isn’t to ban those who are outcompeting us. It’s to get better ourselves.
Our pro sports should be a mirror image of what’s helped make(or used to help make given the insanity of our immigration system) America excel, a system that attracts the best from everywhere. It’s great and quintessentially American that Yao Ming, David Beckham,Maglio Ordonez, and Si Ri Pak come here to contribute and take advantage of their talents.
I would rather they insist that English be learned by parents and spoken to their anchor babies at home.
Did anyone notice that all the signs at the CHINESE-hosted Olympics were in ENGLISH? That all Chinese athletes had their names in phonetic ENGLISH on their shirts?
The whole world is moving to English as a de facto Esperanto, except the “multi-cultural”, “diversity conscious” United States. In the very near future, there will be more English-speaking Chinese than Americans. I’ll bet that’s already true of India, where English is one of the official languages.
All international commercial air traffic control uses English.
Saddam Hussein had all his “baby milk factory” signs in English.
Meanwhile, here at home, I can’t make a single call to a national company without a “press one for English” recording.
This is the only country in the world where people are so proud to speak only one language.
I didn’t read this as an attempt to try to ban anybody. You act as thought they are requiring English to be every player’s first language. They just want all players to be able to converse in English.
I don’t think you are wrong about trying to create better American players, but to say that this is an attempt to ban foreign players seems a bit extreme.
Like the the following English words;
SODA.
Cristie Kerr golfs very well but soda my sister.
PICACHU
Footjoy, Nike, or Callaway it is hard to picachu.
CHINOS
My caddy thinks chinos everything, chinos nothing.
WATER
Her game and swing are in a slump, I don’t know water her problem is.
I have already read complaints in the papers about putting Korean golfers at a disadvantage. I feel that they would learn English anyway to participate on the U.S. tour whether this rule were in place or not. All of our foreign-born Major League baseball players learn English as a matter of course. Both Johan Santana and Big Papi speak English fluently enough to be interviewed without an interpreter.
And yet Manny Ramirez has terrible English, and he was raised here!
“All of our foreign-born Major League baseball players learn English as a matter of course. ”
Not true for all Japanese players.
Hey, if the LPGA wants to be US-centric and implement a language requirement (instead of a recommendation), that’s their business decision. Seems to be short-sighted in the context of the global economy, with the future broader and more wide open overseas.
“All of our foreign-born Major League baseball players learn English as a matter of course. ”
Also, I recall Sammy Sosa did not speak English.
This is a good business move. Those who think otherwise are naive. THe U.S. is by far the biggest purchaser of ad time and sponsership of the LPGA. First off, if 8 out of the top 10 fall into the non-English speaking catagory, viewership will dwindle. In addistion, interviewing the winners or for that matter, all the golfers on TV or radio will become problematic to say the least; again, declining viewrship.
As an example, I would like to point out the infux of foriegn laguages to Major League Baseball. Listening to Robinson Cano interviewed after a game is painful. Bobby Abreu, on the other hand, was terrible with Englis last year, but apparently studied hard in the off season and improved dramatically. Hideki Matsui seems to talk his team mates ears off in the dugout, but put a microphone near him and he has to have an interperter. I find that insulting! Matsui is making how much $$$$ in this country and has effectively lived here for at least five years and he will not speak one word of Englis to his fans! An outrage!
These things definitely impact baseballs American fans. Even more so, I would bet that it effects the MBL’s Canadian fans even moreso: just check the attendance record in Toronto, former World champs twice and current contenders to the Fall Classic this year and their attendance at home is abbismal! To blame is all on the ‘95 strike is short sided. After all, that was 13 years ago! It MUST be something else and I would say that the lack of English is a factor, at least.
How long until the LPGA caves and apologizes?
You should see all the liberal lefty loony NYT’s comments section on this article.
In response to various posters:
1. This isn’t about whether or not the LPGA has the right to do this. It’s about whether they are right to do it. They can do what they want within the law. We all can have an opinion about the merits of what they do.
2. Manny Ramirez was born and raised in the Domincan Republic, not the US.
3. Most of the Asian players learn English as well once they start playing here.
4.This wouldn’t be an issue if Asian players weren’t dominating the tour. So rather than concentrating on encouraging American girls and young women to work hard and excel, the LPGA erects a barrier to make it more difficult for young Asian and other foreign players to play.
DITTO
“I find that insulting! Matsui is making how much $$$$ in this country and has effectively lived here for at least five years and he will not speak one word of Englis to his fans! An outrage!”
Write the Yankees. Maybe they’ll release him and the Twins can sign him. We could use a good defensive outfielder who hits .300 with some power.
Probably went to public school.
Manny Ramirez was born in The Dominican Republic in ’72 and moved to Washington Heights, Manhattan, NYC at age 13 in ’85. This is from his official site…”High school was complicated for me. I passed my classes, but I never felt relaxed in class… I had just come to New York, to a different culture, and I was trying to fit in. Also, I was trying to learn to speak a different language… I always like to do things correctly, and it was difficult learning correct English, so I lost interest. This got me even deeper into baseball… When I played, I felt good about myself, because I could do my best. I could work hard and help our team to win. Manny”
Nobody said the LPGA was conservative. But as a conservative you must say they have a right to set and enforce their own rules. There reaction is not xenophobic. If it were they would be saying only Americans could play on the LPGA tour.
Instead their reaction has to do with the obligation of their players to help represent the sport IN THE USA. How would speaking Korean do that. I think they made a reasonable and logical business decision which as a conservative I can easily support.
I quit watching and attending professional baseball games when the” fabulous Fernando Valenzuela” was crammed down our throats and nothing but illegal Mexicans swarmed the bleachers screaming in their native tongue. I never heard Mr. Fabulous speak any English at all.
This move by the LPGA will enhance the careers of the participants, increase ad revenues, and fan appreciation. It’s great for America.
Can they do us all a favor and insist Michelle Wie’s father only speaks in Korean?
about as long as it takes for the ACLU to file a lawsuit…
…want all players to be able to converse in English.
I don’t think you are wrong about trying to create better American players, but to say that this is an attempt to ban foreign players seems a bit extreme.>>Elwood
Fair point, Elwood. It’s a policy geared towards making it more difficult for young foreign Asian women to compete here.
The older Korean players, Mi Hyun Kim, Si Ri Pak, Grace Park all have learned to speak English, but many of the young women who qualify for the tour in their late teens have trouble at first.
Nobody said the LPGA was conservative. But as a conservative you must say they have a right to set and enforce their own rules. There reaction is not xenophobic. If it were they would be saying only Americans could play on the LPGA tour.
Instead their reaction has to do with the obligation of their players to help represent the sport IN THE USA. How would speaking Korean do that. I think they made a reasonable and logical business decision which as a conservative I can easily support.>>MisterP
1. I never said the LPGA was conservative.
2.I never said they didn’t have a right to adopt the policy. I also have a right to voice an opinion on their policy. Is this a great country or what?
3. From what I’ve seen the foreign players conduct themselves very well. The players who have been on tour for a few years seem to have learned English so let’s not pretend this policy was prompted by a refusal of Koreans to learn English.
But hey, if the country club types think golf is more appealing without the best young players, they can do what they want and have them play elsewhere.
It’s about money and not “hitting a little ball into a cup”. If sponsors want English, they get English. Without sponsors, the sport is condemned to oblivion. Someone has to put up the money for the tournaments. That’s where sponsorship comes in. They put up the money and the fans come to enjoy. If the sponsors can’t sell their products, using the athletes, they go somewhere else. Besides, having someone selling a product, using an interpeter, just doesn’t go well.
If a sport fails, a sport fails. That’s the market. Cutting into civil rights to try and save a product isn’t legal.
Since speaking English is not an important aspect of golf. If it were, there would be no golf in South Korea in the first place.
Since an English requirement isn’t nercessary to the sport, there’s no way this will get through the courts. Blame the ACLU all you want, but them’s the rules.
Golf is a sport, the LPGA is a business, marketed largely to the US. The Washington Post is also a business, marketed largely to the US. To interact with it’s customers, it requires writers fluent in English. Many talented Korean writers are excluded for that reason - though I will admit the articles might make more sense if written in Korean. The LPGA doesn’t want all of its business of interacting with customers (fans) to be undertaken through an interpreter any more than the WaPo does.
My heart agrees with Rusty. My mind with Aloha.
I will agree that golf is a sport, but athletic?? NOT
Thanks, chapoutier. I was about to research Rusty’s claim prior to challenging it. It seemed silly, but he’s intelligent and has made several credible statements in the past (unlike lgm).
Rusty, I think you might lose some credibility on this one, but I’ll reserve judgment. Please tell me which laws or cases would give the ACLU any confidence in this.
Rusty, do you thinks that it’s illegal for the LPGA to engage in sex-based discrimination?
Rob, I wrote a post on this at another site and linked to a picture of Craig Stadler.
In the past, US courts have only said an English requirement was acceptable in cases of safety (airport tower weorkers for example) or convenience (customer service). That doesn’t apply here.
And organizations are only allowed to discriminate if it’s a necessary part of that organization. So the Boy Scouts are allowed to ban gays because of their religious influences and the KKK can kick out Catholics and blacks.
So, that’s why gender discrimination is ok in the LPGA. The Ladies part is an integral part of the organization. But that’s not the case for language requirements.
I don’t think this is a slam dunk for either side which makes it very unlikely that this requirement will ever be implemented. The years of lawsuits plus the public backlash (the LPGA is already backing off) make this a non starter.
With the way the Koreans are increasingly dominating the LPGA - they might reconsider - and make Korean the official lanquage of the LPGA.
You go Korean golfer girls!
Rob,
A six pack doesn’t make you an athlete. Remember the Babe, the Fridge, Butterbean… and the list goes on.
So you think CNN should be forced to hire anchors which can’t speak English? An anchor isn’t providing customer service, it isn’t a safety issue, and it certainly isn’t necessary to their organization.
Please, you have to be much more specific than that. What law or cases are you relying on here? I’m starting to think you’re making stuff up. You’re losing credibility, Rusty.
First you stated,
but after being challenged you backed off and stated,
Something which is quite illegal is usually a slam dunk for one side.