Rory McIlroy - out of the olympics - Zika

mcgovern · 22-06-2016 11:08AM

Lewis Victorious Lavender wrote: »

It's the olympics just put off having a kid ffs, well worth waiting in order to compete in the olympics.

He obviously doesn't agree, and without knowing his personal life, maybe he has good reason to not want to put it off? Not everyone is able to have a baby on demand.

aidan24326 · 22-06-2016 11:13AM

Deleted User wrote: »

He never really seemed that enthused by the prospect of playing for Ireland to begin with.

Which I wouldn't be too annoyed about, his choice and his decision. I guess he's found a handy excuse.

I don't think he was ever that bothered about playing in it full stop, for Ireland or anyone else. This is the first time golf has been part of the olympics for over a hundred years so there's really no history or prestige in it. The top golfers like McIlroy pick and choose what tournaments they play in and the olympics would be well down the pecking order compared to the majors and the other prestigious and lucrative tournaments they compete in. The olympics is a big deal for an athlete or a swimmer, not so much for a top golfer.

murpho999 · 22-06-2016 11:14AM

LexieOnRale wrote: »

But he's not an amateur?

Why do people keep thinking that the Olympics is an amateur event.

It has not been so for years.

timthumbni · 22-06-2016 11:15AM

sonofenoch wrote: »

He currently over at the Euros supporting the Ulstermen and singing GSTQ

Imagine supporting the country where he was born.

The horror, the horror.........

valoren · 22-06-2016 11:21AM

Olympic golf is a side show for elite professional golfers. A tournament with a few medals at the end.
When you're at the elite level it becomes all about the four major tournaments. Not the olympics.
I would imagine the attitude would be that a medal would simply be a 'nice to have'.
As such Olympic golf should be for the elite amateurs in the game and not professionals but that isn't sexy enough for the IOC.

Some high profile names have already indicated their non participation to much criticism. Scheduling and factoring in zika plus the travelling then it really dictates a players schedule for the season. They should be afforded respect for their decision to not play without attracting jingoistic criticism for arriving at such a decision.

timthumbni · 22-06-2016 11:22AM

Lewis Victorious Lavender wrote: »

The vast majority of Olympic events are open to professionals, In fact it's mostly professionals who compete at the Olympics.

It's the olympics just put off having a kid ffs, well worth waiting in order to compete in the olympics.

As a father I can assure you that given a choice of a heathy child or a wee shiny medal then there can only be one winner. And it wouldn't be the Olympics.

Rory has already made it in golf. He recently won the Irish open and then just give his prize money (over half a million) to charity ffs.

Other golfers have already pulled out. Ireland should just send its top amateurs to the olympics (if they want to go)

22-06-2016 11:24AM

Golf should never have been included in the first place, all its done is damage the reputation of the event

The Backwards Man · 22-06-2016 11:25AM

Aye I'd say it was the handy excuse out of it, you've more chance of contracting Weil's on a golf course in Northern Europe than you have Zika in Brazil.

yourdeadwright · 22-06-2016 11:26AM

This is all about his sponsors ,
He would have to wear New Balance if he played and no way Nike will let that happen,.
Think of the money he is paid by Nike, I think its worth 250 million his deal, and then the world see him play wearing New Balance,

yourdeadwright · 22-06-2016 11:26AM

This is all about his sponsors ,
He would have to wear New Balance if he played and no way Nike will let that happen,.
Think of the money he is paid by Nike, I think its worth 250 million his deal, and then the world see him play wearing New Balance,

gramar · 22-06-2016 11:27AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Is there that much negativity?

I haven't seen it tbh. I see the opposite, people kinda clinging to his Irishness and pretending he really wanted to play for us when to me he just didn't seem that bothered...and good luck to him, why should he be?

I don't feel any animosity towards the chap, I'm quite indifferent as to whether he wins or not or decides to stop playing golf and make candles from his earwax.

At first I might have been mildly rooting for him but my indifference was a result of incessant media coverage, not really his fault but to see the media handing him trophies before a Titleist had been struck in anger, his relationship with the tennis player christened wozilroy (excuse me while I dry retch) and general fawning over him every time he stuck his head out the door just put me off.

theoneeyedman · 22-06-2016 11:27AM

weisses wrote: »

A rich one who doesn't need the olympics

And therein is the reason that golf should not be an Olympic, at least for the pro players. One could argue about limiting it to amateurs, but bit of a cod really.
It's his choice obviously, but smells a little convenient tbh.

timthumbni · 22-06-2016 11:28AM

yourdeadwright wrote: »

This is all about his sponsors ,
He would have to wear New Balance if he played and no way Nike will let that happen,.
Think of the money he is paid by Nike, I think its worth 250 million his deal, and then the world see him play wearing New Balance,

Out of interest why exactly would he have to wear new balance??

valoren · 22-06-2016 11:30AM

timthumbni wrote: »

As a father I can assure you that given a choice of a heathy child or a wee shiny medal then there can only be one winner. And it wouldn't be the Olympics.

Rory has already made it in golf. He recently won the Irish open and then just give his prize money (over half a million) to charity ffs.

Other golfers have already pulled out. Ireland should just send its top amateurs to the olympics (if they want to go)

Reminds me of Tiger when given a choice;

Would you rather win this weeks tournament, the WGC, or win the Ryder cup for his country the following week?

He replied that he would rather win this weeks tournament (his apathy for the Ryder cup being well known).

"Can you give us a reason?"

"I can think of a million reasons!"

WGC Prize money - $1,000,000
Ryder Cup Prize money - $0

gramar · 22-06-2016 11:30AM

timthumbni wrote: »

Out of interest why exactly would he have to wear new balance??

They are supplying the Irish Olympic team with gear.

valoren · 22-06-2016 11:32AM

yourdeadwright wrote: »

This is all about his sponsors ,
He would have to wear New Balance if he played and no way Nike will let that happen,.
Think of the money he is paid by Nike, I think its worth 250 million his deal, and then the world see him play wearing New Balance,

Those who pay the piper, call the tune :cool:

Jawgap · 22-06-2016 11:32AM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Aye I'd say it was the handy excuse out of it, you've more chance of contracting Weil's on a golf course in Northern Europe than you have Zika in Brazil.

Which would be fine if Leptospirosis was caused by a virus, a treatment didn't exist for it and it was associated with birth defects

Ciaran_B · 22-06-2016 11:33AM

Fair play.

timthumbni · 22-06-2016 11:34AM

Who else is supposed to be representing Ireland anyway? Lowry and gmac????

yourdeadwright · 22-06-2016 11:37AM

timthumbni wrote: »

yourdeadwright wrote: »

This is all about his sponsors ,
He would have to wear New Balance if he played and no way Nike will let that happen,.
Think of the money he is paid by Nike, I think its worth 250 million his deal, and then the world see him play wearing New Balance,

Out of interest why exactly would he have to wear new balance??

They are the sponsor of the Irish team Olympic team

jmayo · 22-06-2016 11:40AM

Deleted User wrote: »

The fact that the Olympics are still going on as planned, despite their being an outbreak of a very dangerous disease, and numerous other issues that are plaguing the host nation, shows that there is something wrong at the very core of the Olympics. I mean, the Prison Nation of Qatar was picked, FFS!

Ehhh that is FIFA and soccer world cup.
Completely different corrupt organisation.

Deleted User wrote: »

So you don't like the thought of drugs...but you'd watch rugby, soccer and football?

Spanish football...you can almost see the track marks of the needles they start sticking into the kids as soon as they come off the flights from Bolivia. Go into any gym and look at a budding rugby player and ponder about the efficacy of testing for steroids. You can actually see some GAA county sides bulk up during the Championship.

Come on, if athletes are taking it, you can bet it gets worse in sports with more money like soccer.

Ahh FFS Conor don't you get the narrative.
Soccer is as clean as the driven snow.
It is all in your imagination, oh and that of David Walsh, The Times, the British media, and the FBI.

There are no performance enhancement drugs since no matter how much you take it will not turn you into Messi, Maradona, Ronaldo, etc. :rolleyes:

The only drugs are the white powdery kind taken by the likes of the aforementioned Maradona for recreational reasons.

Oh and for that matter Blatter and Platini were never corrupt, Russia and Qatar won the world cup hosting fair and square, Juventus never bribed anyone, Rangers were tax compliant and the Belgians never bribed refs in the 80s.
Now have I forgotten anything ?

riffmongous wrote: »

Golf should never have been included in the first place, all its done is damage the reputation of the event

Ehhh hello.
Whatabout Tennis, Basketball, Soccer ?
All highly paid professionals.

Oh and this would be the Olympics where one of it's ribbon events, the 100m final, was found to have 5 out of the 6 competitors in 1988 to subsequently be drug cheats.
And this would be the Olympics which has been hijacked by various corrupt rulers for their own purposes.
And this would be the Olympics whose hosting has up to quiet recently been determined by bribery.
And this would be the Olympics where boxing winners are often determined by judges to be the host nation rather than the deserved winner.

theoneeyedman wrote: »

And therein is the reason that golf should not be an Olympic, at least for the pro players. One could argue about limiting it to amateurs, but bit of a cod really.
It's his choice obviously, but smells a little convenient tbh.

You mean amateurs like those in the tennis, basketball, ice hockey (the wintery games), baseball, soccer. :rolleyes:
Hell even the boxing is now open to professionals.

3DataModem · 22-06-2016 11:42AM

It's funny how its the tennis players and golfers who more readily pull out of Olympics citing "other reasons".

Actually it's not funny. It's just that (a) they don't care about the Olympics as it is not the top of the game and (b) they are rich.

My name is URL · 22-06-2016 11:52AM

Deleted User wrote: »

The fact that the Olympics are still going on as planned, despite their being an outbreak of a very dangerous disease

How would postponing it help in this regard?

20% of the world's population already live in Zika inflicted areas, and 30% of all travel is into and out of those areas.

The Olympics is going to attract about 500,000 visitors which is a drop in the ocean compared to how many people travel there already.

The WHO and CDC have said there's no point in postponing or hosting it elsewhere

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/06/14/who-zika-risk-not-high-enough-to-postpone-or-move-2016-olympics/

jmayo · 22-06-2016 01:19PM

3DataModem wrote: »

It's funny how its the tennis players and golfers who more readily pull out of Olympics citing "other reasons".

Actually it's not funny. It's just that (a) they don't care about the Olympics as it is not the top of the game and (b) they are rich.

I would say it is a) rather than b).
In some sports the pinnacle is an Olympic Medal.
For example athletics, swimming, weightlifting, wrestling, amauteur boxing (or what used to be amateur boxing :rolleyes:), an Olympic medal would probably be seen as the biggest prize.

In other sports, especially those with professional established championships and tours, which also as a matter of fact includes those which have only recently opened up to top flight professionals, there is less of a draw.

As someone said the big things for golfers are the majors and some of the other high ranked tournaments.
Similar in tennis and in soccer the World Cup, Euros, Champions league, etc are the big things.
Soccer is a weird one because it wasn't until 1984 that professionals were allowed in.

Part of that has to do with concept of amateurism in Olympics and part with FIFA worried about Olympics competing with World Cups, etc.
Now the rules for particapants have been dicked about over the years to only allow under 23s, some over 23s, only those who have played in World Cup, etc
BTW the unders 23s are/were still all professionals. :rolleyes:

Coat22 · 22-06-2016 01:28PM

Zika virus me hole - the only reason Rory pulled out of this tournament was he didn't want to represent Ireland.

That's fair enough - I would have far more respect for the man if he'd come out and said so years ago rather than pretending he ever had any intention of doing so. If he feels British but can't represent them as he's affiliated to the GUI then just say "I won't be representing anyone" but he's gone the cowards way about it.

Lowry is in much better form anyway

Jawgap · 22-06-2016 01:35PM

Coat22 wrote: »

Zika virus me hole - the only reason Rory pulled out of this tournament was he didn't want to represent Ireland.

That's fair enough - I would have far more respect for the man if he'd come out and said so years ago rather than pretending he ever had any intention of doing so. If he feels British but can't represent them as he's affiliated to the GUI then just say "I won't be representing anyone" but he's gone the cowards way about it.

Lowry is in much better form anyway

Yes, well done that's absolutely the reason........

......oh wait

.....sure he loves his ol' fleeeeeeeg

Coat22 · 22-06-2016 01:41PM

Jawgap wrote: »

Coat22 wrote: »

Zika virus me hole - the only reason Rory pulled out of this tournament was he didn't want to represent Ireland.

That's fair enough - I would have far more respect for the man if he'd come out and said so years ago rather than pretending he ever had any intention of doing so. If he feels British but can't represent them as he's affiliated to the GUI then just say "I won't be representing anyone" but he's gone the cowards way about it.

Lowry is in much better form anyway

Yes, well done that's absolutely the reason........

......oh wait

.....sure he loves his ol' fleeeeeeeg

Not sure why you think he has any allegiance to the Republic of Ireland at all? Because there's a picture of him with a flag?

Jawgap · 22-06-2016 01:48PM

Coat22 wrote: »

Not sure why you think he has any allegiance to the Republic of Ireland at all? Because there's a picture of him with a flag?

Well I'm sure if he 'feels British' he'd be unwilling to compete under the tricolour......just like he'd probably find a more 'British' event to sponsor than the Irish Open......

22-06-2016 01:50PM

theoneeyedman wrote: »

And therein is the reason that golf should not be an Olympic, at least for the pro players. One could argue about limiting it to amateurs, but bit of a cod really.
It's his choice obviously, but smells a little convenient tbh.

Why? I'm really looking forward to the golf at the olympics, similar the Ryder cup the golfers will be playing for their country and a gold medal and not the prize money or world ranking position (not that I don't like watching them play for money but it is something different). If it was limited to amateurs it would be crap and no one would watch it, I want to see the top pros playing for a medal.

Just because players have made it in professional golf does not take away from the magic of an olympic medal, don't be under the impression of how high a regard a lot of golfers will hold getting one.

22-06-2016 01:53PM

One UK athlete has had his sperm frozen, so Rory isn't the only one worried about the risk. I wouldn't be surprised to see others following suit and not going.

Rory McIlroy - out of the olympics - Zika

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