The Games We Play

("Will The Saudis And Donald Trump Save Golf - Or Wreck It?")

Mr. Helfand's inside look at the pros and cons (double entendre) of LIV was fascinating. But the piece never even touched upon another sport that dealt with unusual stresses in 2022.

With war raging in the Ukraine, Wimbledon decided it was appropriate to bar men and women from competing merely due to guilt by association, ie if they were Russian or Belarusian. And arguably the number one player in the world went through a bizarre entanglement Down Under and an emphatic no entry in the US as he missed two of four majors for his refusal to vaccinate against the coronavirus.

Governing bodies in both sports have been faced with circumstances neither could have once contemplated in their wildest dreams, correction, worst nightmares. A Saudi prince stealing the best and some of the rest with a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Couldn't happen. Oops.

The world of sport, like the world outside sport is in fevered turmoil. Politics and perceptions colliding with seismic effect on the realities of the games we play.

I can't wait to see what 2023 brings. Correction. Maybe I can.