Laughing Out Loud - PGA Tour Edition

So the other day a couple of buddies and I were discussing the glorious instance that is laughing out loud or "LOL," as it's commonly used in the electronic parlance of our times.* Well, we concluded that it's extremely underrated - whether you're the one laughing or the one causing the laughter - and that most people forget the value it can add to the rat race that is their daily lives. It can turn a bad day into a good one. I thought about this in the context of sports, specifically the PGA Tour and how seriously the game is presented to us. Other sports have embraced the light-hearted elements of their games, why not the PGA? We see baseball players playing clubhouse pranks on one-another, pre-game shows with comedians and guys snappin' towels at each other's derrieres in the lockerroom. We love it. We can see it on the field and in the broadcast booth. Whether it's baseball players supermanning across the infield tarp during a rain delay or Charles Barkley making inappropriate comments, we're happily engaged with the sport on multiple levels. The LPGA even has it, why not the PGA? At the Kraft Nabisco Championship (one of the LPGA's majors), the winner and her caddie traditionally jump into the water hazard adjacent to the 18th green to celebrate their victory. Augusta? Probably not, but you get the idea.
Basically, the PGA Tour needs a jagerbomb....from the broadcast booth to the personalities on the course. The answer isn't more Hank Haney projects and Pro-Ams. It's more Phoenix Opens and a bunch of happy people enjoying a 'la vida loca' golf experience. The game's frustrating enough, guys. Oh, and a reminder, it's still a game. Help us relax, laugh a little and have some good ol' fashion fun. The raucous 16th hole in Phoenix draws the biggest crowd on tour. Hmmm... you don't need an MBA to see the business connection here. Would more Phoenix Opens make the sport LESS marketable? I don't think so. Doesn't everyone involved want to grow the game, widen the audience and get more eyeballs on the product? Absolutely. I can't think of one good reason why this is a bad idea. Cheers.

And now....a conversation about laughter that will make you laugh.....

*It should be noted that using "LOL!" when you aren't actually LOLing is a haphasard misrepresentation of your self and only dilutes the true value of real laughter. Think before you "LOL."

JERRY: So the roommate laughed at everything I said.

GEORGE: Wow.

JERRY: It was a great sounding laugh too, kind of lilting and feminine--none of those big coarse "ha's." You know those?

GEORGE: Oh yeah: HA-A-A, HA-A-A.

JERRY: Yeah.

GEORGE: Hate the big coarse "ha." Hate those.

JERRY: And the worst part of course is that she also possessed many of the other qualities prized by the Superficial Man.

GEORGE: I see.

JERRY: So as you can see, I've got a bit of a problem here.

GEORGE: Well, if I hear you correctly--and I think that I do--my advice to you is to finish your meal, pay your check, leave here, and never mention this to anyone again.

JERRY: Can't be done, huh?

GEORGE: The Switch?

JERRY: "The Switch."

GEORGE: Can't be done.

JERRY: I wonder.

GEORGE: Do you realize in the entire history of western civilization no one has successfully accomplished the Roommate Switch? In the Middle Ages you could get locked up for even suggesting it!

JERRY: They didn't have roommates in the Middle Ages.

GEORGE: Well, I'm sure at some point between the years 800 and 1200--somewhere--there were two women living together.