I really dug the Ryder Cup--I even got my housemate to watch it and he hates all things sports related (well, TV related, to be accurate). But he hates foreigners and was able to get into on that level. Hey, the beauty of international sports competition (like diplomacy, the arts and the global economy) is that it diminishes ever so slightly the need to trot out tank divisions to solve our disagreements. Call me Pollyanna, but soccer hooligans are better than massive standing armies of underprivileged farmboys.
Everything about the style of play is different from the regular PGA season and that's just fucking awesome. The multiple styles of play changing from day to day, the fist-pumping and crowd-whooping is cool and the team atmosphere is all good. I like the PGA but it's devolved into seeing whether Tiger will finish 1st or 2nd. Here each match builds into something larger and its such a rarity.
Commentators questioned whether this team could succeed without Tiger but I would suggest they're better off. They could do without Mickelson too. The Ryder Cup is about those steady guys that do the job and avoid the highs and lows. Check out Tiger's record: over the course of a 4 day tourney he tends to have one day when he pummels everyone but the other 3 days tend to be average or even below average. And we've seen with a guy like Kenny Perry that the best Ryder Cup players are the ones who see this competition as the pinnacle of their careers. Tiger has nothing to win or lose by playing Ryder-style. His legacy is determined by how many Majors he can take, not international competition.
I must admit I rooted for the Kentucky boys and Holmes and Perry acquitted themselves admirably. My only nit to pick: I would've preferred seeing Rocco Mediate on the team as opposed to Stewart Cink or Steve Stricker. Not to diss Cink or Stricker, I thought Rocco's remarkable staredown with Tiger at the US earned him a spot.
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