Noko
To lose after leading five or six on Sunday in a PGA Tour competition when the top professional players are around, especially when these two have never won and this is their very special 54 hole 'massive' lead is , in one word tragic!
One could use a whole lot of other words like 'painful', 'agony' , 'frustrating' 'a horrible feeling' and more but tragic is that disastrous agonizing horrible feeling for those fewinutes after the loss sinks in. Theseoments will definitely go down in history as sic losses- tragic! Perhaps Greg's collapse to Nick Faldo at the Masters, losing a five hole lead tops it all! But, yes, one can return and rise again , as Kyle so gallantly did, only a week after. Cheers...Tim .....watch Tiger win this weeeek!
Tim, I guess we march to the beat of a different drum. A friend of mines son was attacked and brutally killed coming out of a football match. That is tragic. A golfer blowinjg a 6 shot lead but still ending up with a $400,000 pay day is not tragic in any shape or form.
noko, with all due respect, I think you are making a moutain out of a molehill.
People say "what a great putt!" all the time. Great? Really? A putt that goes in 5 times out of 100 falls and it is "great"? A putt a 4-year-old could make given enough tries is great? Hardly ranks up there with Greek Civilization or Alexander or Beethoven's Eroica.
The point is, people use hyperbole pretty much every time they talk about sports, so to call those losses tragic iin this context s perfectly acceptable to me. To nitpick over nothing is just going to stifle conversation. That's my opinion.
Attributing the word 'tragic' to a guy taking an 8 is bizarre in my opinion. I'd not be inclined to use the word tragic in this context.
IMO one diminishes to effect of the word. Two deranged schoolboys killing their schoolmates at Columbine is tragic. Taking an 8 at a par 5 to lose a golf tournament is not tragic in my eyes.
But if you like it, feel free to use it in any context you fancy
Noko,
Sure that was a personal tragedy for yr friend and for sports and football. Some dozens died in Egypt in a football stadium - really tragic.
We call those tragedies and use the verb freely and loosely. I agree- literary tragic, too misuse or abuse words, from an academician point of view. Here, we are just having fun at each others expense, which is tragic! Let's see the results for Tiger by Sunday- glorious if he wins n 'tragic' iif he comes in second or worst!! Esp he had a share of lead or lead by six! Tim
Timmy, I agree to a certain point. My issue is that language is important. The tsunamis that have hit the far east over the last few years were tragic. If you call Klye Stanleys loss tragic , you have rendered the word meaningless.
noko, I don't think you are being realistic. Hyperbole is inseperable from sports.
How many times have we seen "courageous performances"? Were the guys pulling strangers from burning cars?
How about "important putt"? A decision to invade another country is important. A putt to win a golf tourney (as you pointed out, finishing 2nd doesn't suck) is only important in the context of sports. So, missing such an "important" putt could be "tragic." It is all hyperbole.
"Critical tee shot?" The list is long. I don't understand why you got your panties in a wad over "tragic." It's not the guy said, "Losing like that was worse than 9/11."
noko, I think you over-reacted and just digging your hole deeper and deeper. Both of those statements are fine, depending on the conversation.
You seem to ignore the point that, when discussing sports, hyperbole is the order of the day.
Solving cold fusion would be great. Sinking a putt to win a tournament is great, too. But that's not to say the putt is equal to solving cold fusion. When Tim said "tragic," he clearly meant it in the context of golf, this being a golf discussion on a golf website and all... I don't think he meant flags would be flown at half-mast over it.
Lanny, I think we will have to agree to differ over this one.
I understand hyperbole and sports go hand in hand. But I also believe the misuse of language can paint an inaccurate picture.
I'd be more inclined to leave the flowery hyperbole to those who are paid to write.
As you know I have never warmed to Woods, but I wouldn't describe him as the living personification of demons from hell. Neither would I describe Adolph as a product of a slightly misguided youth.
IMO calling an 8 a tragic ending seems to take hyperbole to the outer limits!!
To describe something one uses words, words in and of themselves do not or may not reflect accuracy in the reporting thereof in the sense of emotional depth..it is what it is..the expression of the writer in their sense of adding emotion! The reader can take this in varying ways as objective or subjective, either way it's what most would term literary license on the part of the writer!
Noko, however I meant every word of it!! Someone else can probably explain it better in terms of your highly developed comprehensive skills for grasp'n the obvious!! In Texas some might say..El Comprende por favor!!
