Gongol.com Archives: July 2025
July 21, 2025
Since, for the most part, we no longer depend upon sports as a means to literally rehearse for combat, sports have comfortably moved into position as one of the primary means of mass entertainment in modern society. The entertainment aspect to the business has grown so large that premier professional athletes in the most-watched games rake in truly astonishing sums of money. Their elite pay, in turn, can have the effect of removing athletes from the realm of normalcy. It's hard to be down-to-earth when you're traveling with an entourage. ■ This is unfortunate, since the broad appeal of many high-profile athletes (and some coaches) gives them some of the biggest platforms to try to influence the public at large. They may not always have conventional "book learning" genius to share, but character doesn't depend on IQ. ■ Under these circumstances, it is refreshing to hear from the world's current most dominant golfer that he knows the limits of his work on the course. Addressing the press, Scottie Scheffler drew upon some of the wisdom of character when he remarked of his success, "It's fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it's not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart [...] If my golf ever started affecting my home life, or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or with my son, that's going to be the last day that I play out here for a living." ■ One could argue that his enormous success gives him the freedom to make a threat like that -- $91 million in winnings (and counting) is a pretty big cushion. But one could conversely argue that it's all the more laudable for Scheffler to say something like that, knowing how many people undoubtedly envy his skills and talents -- and his wealth -- and that he publicly embraces the attitude that his family life is worth even more than $91 million.
