I miss, I miss, I miss, I make
May 7, 2011 6:03 AM Subscribe
Severiano Ballesteros, golf legend, has passed away at 54. If you could say anything about his game, was that he could win a British Open from the car park.
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In honour - that's the longest I've ever managed to watch televised golf.
posted by a non e mouse at 6:17 AM on May 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
In honour - that's the longest I've ever managed to watch televised golf.
posted by a non e mouse at 6:17 AM on May 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
One of the first people whose picture I ever cut out of a magazine to hang on my wall. And it was mostly about his game. (I was 12ish and he was cute! My teen idols tended to be sports stars.) This news saddens me quite a bit.
posted by Jazz Hands at 6:18 AM on May 7, 2011
posted by Jazz Hands at 6:18 AM on May 7, 2011
A friend of mine said recently: What do you get if you cross a ballerina and a bastard...Ballesteros, was his answer
posted by Dia Nomou Nomo Apethanon at 6:46 AM on May 7, 2011
posted by Dia Nomou Nomo Apethanon at 6:46 AM on May 7, 2011
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An earlier article from Bill Elliott.
Seve had been fighting a cerebral tumor since 2008.
La estrella más brillante se apaga.
posted by adamvasco at 6:51 AM on May 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
An earlier article from Bill Elliott.
Seve had been fighting a cerebral tumor since 2008.
La estrella más brillante se apaga.
posted by adamvasco at 6:51 AM on May 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
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Unfortunately I got into golf a bit too late to appreciate his heyday, and my main memory of him is his three-putt on the first hole of the playoff in the 1987 Masters.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:02 AM on May 7, 2011
Unfortunately I got into golf a bit too late to appreciate his heyday, and my main memory of him is his three-putt on the first hole of the playoff in the 1987 Masters.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:02 AM on May 7, 2011
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"It was an impossible shot and it was greeted first with a stunned silence, and then by incredulous laughter that greets something that is outwith the experience of the watcher. It was, in the literal sense of the word, fantastic."
That quote captures what it felt like watching Ballesteros escape from jail in some deep dark forest he had thrown himself into. Fun to watch.
posted by dglynn at 7:38 AM on May 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
"It was an impossible shot and it was greeted first with a stunned silence, and then by incredulous laughter that greets something that is outwith the experience of the watcher. It was, in the literal sense of the word, fantastic."
That quote captures what it felt like watching Ballesteros escape from jail in some deep dark forest he had thrown himself into. Fun to watch.
posted by dglynn at 7:38 AM on May 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
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posted by TrialByMedia at 8:11 AM on May 7, 2011
posted by TrialByMedia at 8:11 AM on May 7, 2011
Part of what I do is promote brain tumour charities and assist patients in taking part in their own issue when they've lost so much in terms and friendship/moblity.
Within moments of his diagnosis, Seve set about working to raise money for research, raise awareness etc.
I've no doubt at all that he put his own self and his own self in danger in order that people who would otherwise not have thought about the issue/given money for research would do so.
I spoke regularly to his people in the UK and they were absolutely first class.
He was a great golfer. I want him to be known, in his painful later years, as a really great man.
We're probably half a century away from getting better treatments for brain tumours. Seve used his frightening, lonely, isolating last years to make sure that it will happen earlier for the people who come after him.
Raise your glasses with me to a proper man who, in his last years, became a proper hero. He'll always be mine.
posted by pyotrstolypin at 8:21 AM on May 7, 2011 [11 favorites]
Within moments of his diagnosis, Seve set about working to raise money for research, raise awareness etc.
I've no doubt at all that he put his own self and his own self in danger in order that people who would otherwise not have thought about the issue/given money for research would do so.
I spoke regularly to his people in the UK and they were absolutely first class.
He was a great golfer. I want him to be known, in his painful later years, as a really great man.
We're probably half a century away from getting better treatments for brain tumours. Seve used his frightening, lonely, isolating last years to make sure that it will happen earlier for the people who come after him.
Raise your glasses with me to a proper man who, in his last years, became a proper hero. He'll always be mine.
posted by pyotrstolypin at 8:21 AM on May 7, 2011 [11 favorites]
A true legend, I remember he was the first professional golfer I knew of and would watch him with my folks. I liked this excerpt from RTE(Irish broadcaster)
"Like all those who met Ballesteros McGinley has his own cherished first memory.
'I went as a boy to watch a practice round for the Irish Open at Royal Dublin. There might have been only 20 or 30 people around the tee at the par four 16th at the time and, with typical Irish humour, somebody challenged him to try to drive the green on his knees.
'The hole was about 280 yards and he did it.'"
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:30 AM on May 7, 2011
"Like all those who met Ballesteros McGinley has his own cherished first memory.
'I went as a boy to watch a practice round for the Irish Open at Royal Dublin. There might have been only 20 or 30 people around the tee at the par four 16th at the time and, with typical Irish humour, somebody challenged him to try to drive the green on his knees.
'The hole was about 280 yards and he did it.'"
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:30 AM on May 7, 2011
Watching Seve at The Masters and Ryder Cup made me love the game. I was shocked to learn he was only 54.
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posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:01 AM on May 7, 2011
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posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:01 AM on May 7, 2011
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posted by arveale at 9:23 AM on May 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by arveale at 9:23 AM on May 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by New England Cultist at 12:17 PM on May 7, 2011
posted by New England Cultist at 12:17 PM on May 7, 2011
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He was a great golfer, but, above all, a great man. A true class act. He'll be sorely missed.
posted by Skeptic at 1:35 PM on May 7, 2011
He was a great golfer, but, above all, a great man. A true class act. He'll be sorely missed.
posted by Skeptic at 1:35 PM on May 7, 2011
For a moment I thought it said Silvio Berlusconi. Shame.
posted by ollybee at 3:14 PM on May 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ollybee at 3:14 PM on May 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
I posted this on SportsFilter last night but thought it worth repeating here.
I remember when I was a younger man by much and my brother and I went to the Westchester Classic. We were walking between holes and decided to stop and watch Seve tee off. We were beyond where anyone's drive had landed previously and way off in the rough. All of a sudden my brother yells at me to "watch it". Seve missed my head by inches. His ball is in the trees behind us. When he finally gets down the fairway to where we are standing, my brother said to him, "Nice drive." Seve just laughed and said, "Happens all the time except I usually hit the kid instead of miss." I rooted for him ever since.
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posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:11 PM on May 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
I remember when I was a younger man by much and my brother and I went to the Westchester Classic. We were walking between holes and decided to stop and watch Seve tee off. We were beyond where anyone's drive had landed previously and way off in the rough. All of a sudden my brother yells at me to "watch it". Seve missed my head by inches. His ball is in the trees behind us. When he finally gets down the fairway to where we are standing, my brother said to him, "Nice drive." Seve just laughed and said, "Happens all the time except I usually hit the kid instead of miss." I rooted for him ever since.
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posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:11 PM on May 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
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He was a class act in every sense of the word and will be sorely missed.
posted by arcticseal at 4:33 AM on May 8, 2011
He was a class act in every sense of the word and will be sorely missed.
posted by arcticseal at 4:33 AM on May 8, 2011
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posted by Thorzdad at 6:08 AM on May 7, 2011