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Know this is posted nearly after a week after the fact, but I was listening to several sports talk personalities this week that mentioned Stewart Sink's blog about the US team attending the Euro team party after the Cup. These talking heads didn't like the fact that we attended this and several of the callers to the shows thot it was analogous to going to the oppenents' party after a Super Bowl. They also thot this was one of the reasons we have lost so many of the recent Cup matches - we're soft and just want to be liked.

I have no problem at all with them joining the party - they were invited and perhaps even Clarke wanted them there after all that he's been through. Golf is different than other sports. Yes, you try to beat the guys you're competing against, but after it's over, it's time enjoy the game for what it is.

Golf is still a gentleman's game - the Ryder Cup was never intended to be like a World Series or Super Bowl. It's suppossed to be a friendly match between two teams from different continents; but when the competition is over, it's time to have a drink or two afterwards and have some fun enjoying the matches. Maybe I'm a 'golf snob', but I don't understand the controversy about this.

I agree... and it really shouldnt just be limited to golf. At the end of the day, as important as sport persons think they are, they are only playing games to entertain us. They play games! They are not fighting for their lives! They are not battling to keep their loved ones! They are playing games!

I second this as well...golf is essentially an individual sport and as stated, a gentleman's game; while the RC competition was on the two groups took sides, but afterwards I thought it was great that these individual top golfers would mix with not only their teammates, but with the other team as well because in the end, their nationality means very little save for three days every two years...they see each other professionally much more often than that and I am glad for them that they took the oppurtunity to spend some non competitive time together...it would be a fairly crusty life after all if tour players limited themselves to geographical socialization on top of living out of a suitcase...

Could be an American thing, but here in the UK having a drink together after a game is done by most sports. In Rugby Union there is usually another competition after the game, concerning a large number of pints of beer.

You can't have a GREAT MATCH without a gracious loser.

Perspective...comes to mind.
I agree, the US was right attending...

I see nothing wrong with it. That's why it's a "gentlemen's game" right? You're not suppose to act like a sore loser in golf. Take your hat off to the opposing team and shake hands...I think that's what the US did.

You play as hard as possible on the pitch, then drink as hard as possible afterwards. After the Ashes win, the Australian team joined the Brits for a beer afterwards. No one plays their sport harder than Aussies, few drink harder.

It would have bee poor attitude if either team had not rnjoyed a social beer with the opposition afterwards.

Yell at the wife and kick the dog? That's serious. I don't see anything wrong with the US team partying with them...I find it kind of cool.

No problem as well. Might as well not give the Europeans any more ammunition for wanting to beat us.

I think it was good sportsmanship all around, and dispels a bit of the myth that the US team is uptight and lacking in camraderie. These guys can be just like you and I after our weekend matches...good to see them enjoy themselves together after a hard fought match.

I reckon that most right minded people will agree with the above. I think that anyone thinking otherwise needs to get a life.

So are you trying to say that I have a problem?

Absolutely agree with the posts so far (apart from kicking dogs etc). I occasionally play as part of a team against against other clubs in the local area (a local league of clubs). It is generally accepted that the host club provides a meal for its own team and that of the visiting club after the match.

Similarly, in match-play club knockout competitions, I have yet to decline as loser or offer as winner, the other player a spot of refreshment after the game. As a seriously competitive golfer who plays with other likeminded players, I have yet to encounter or experience any ill-feeling during or after any match.

Just two of the many things that golfers don't think there is anything wrong with - courtesy and hospitality.

Fair play to the American team for joining the party. I`m sure the Europeans would have dragged them in there if they`d been feeling down in any case! I`m glad both teams got together

This is the venue for my after-round-dissection-discussions! www.themayfly.co.uk some local people say the patterned carpets there are over 60 years old, and attract visitors from all over the world

C-B-C ...

Hey it's just golf not global politics. Nobody is going to die because the United States didn't win the Ryder Cup. Some folks needs to learn how to lighten up.