I am a very proud American, but being an Irish American is especially sweet right now. ‘The Old Sod’ is bleeding green more than ever this weekend as the 148th Open Championship is being played at Royal Portrush (Northern Ireland).
The Passion
The Irish and, in general, Europeans are passionate folk. They hug, kiss, laugh, cry and love a bit harder from this guy’s perspective. I often joke about people that are “good huggers”. They are not that many. For some reason, Irish Americans (many of my friends and family included) are a bit hardened for some reason. Emotion sometimes viewed as a sign of weakness, perhaps? Boston has more residents of Irish decent than there are people in Ireland, according to my terribly inaccurate fact checking machine, but I am getting off topic.
The Point
My point is simple. Turn on the “tele” and watch this historical sports event. The Open Championship (still called ‘The British Open’ by most) has not graced the fairways of Portrush Ireland in more than half a century. Watch the play, interviews and comments by Irish golf legends such at McIlroy, McDowell, Lowery, Clarke and (the best which I have a great story about) David Feherty . You can see the excitement and pride in every movement and word. This is BIG deal for Ireland. Rightly so.
As of 2:43PM EST, it appears that most of these sportsmen of the Emerald Isle will be a part of the weekend, and enjoy the continued exuberance of golf’s oldest tradition.
In any case, golf fan or not, turn this on if you have a bit of that Irish spirit in you. Break out the ‘Ole ole ole’ chants….
Slainte!!!
Cheers!
