Sports is a language all to its own. When you look at what sports has done to our society as a whole, for that matter, the world as a whole, you understand how powerful a message Sports can send. For example during the 1936 Olympics, Hitler was presiding over the olympic games, his message to the world was that the Aryan race was superior to all other nations. It was until sports, the Olympics which he prized and spent millions of dollars to have the best and most architectural stadiums to house these games. Hitler’s message to the world was “We are the greatest, and no other race can contend with us.” That was until Jesse Owens hit the track who completely blew up the 1936 Olympics and proved Hitler wrong in his own stadium in his own Olympic games and in his home country of Germany.
Then in 1938, along comes Joe Louis who knocks out Max Schmeling, a German nationalist, again disproving Hitler’s theory through sports. Joe Louis went on to travel the country with the best black pros in the nation, black pros who had won their own US opens, players such as Lee Elder, and other upcoming black professionals. On one occasion, Joe Louis, who was spokesman for Chevrolet, was given four passes to play in the Phoenix Open, which is still played today. It’s a tournament that highlights the hole in one. That was the tournament that Joe Louis invited Lee Elder and two other black pros to play in the Phoenix Open.
The crowds weren’t happy to see this group of black professionals and that included Joe Louis himself. So they spat at him, they threw beer cans at him and they called him every name under the sun. I think those pros were thankful that it was only 18 holes, but it wasn’t…it was 72 holes of golf. As they got to the 18th hole, having been humiliated through the whole round by the gallery, Lee Elder putted first and made a 40-footer. When he got to the cup, his ball was sitting in a pile of shit.
But through Sport, things changed, and that same Lee Elder ended up as the first black professional to play at the Masters in 1967. Sports also allowed for Lee Elder to win the PGA event and for him to be inducted into the PGA Hall of Fame. Sports is a wonderful way to communicate, golf of course being the most fluent language there is. Golf is played for sport but also some of the biggest business deals in the world have been done on a golf course. So I encourage you all to take up the game of golf and truly enjoy the sport of kings and the game of a lifetime.
The Blue Whale Exercise Program 