Saturday, February 23, 2008

Talk About a Bad Sport

File this under bizarre but true:

In a fit pique, Fidel Castro banned golf and
golf courses
in Cuba after he lost a match to Che Guevara.

Now with Fidel's retirement, Raul Castro and his henchmen are talking about building 10 new upscale golf resorts on the island to lure golf-playing tourists.

Next up: casinos and back to the good 'ol Batista days.

10 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You may want to perhaps enroll in a remedial reading comprehension course -- the WSJ story you link to in no way supports your claim that Castro "banned golf". If you do a simple internet search on Cuba and golf, you'll find an 18-hole course that has been around for about 10 years and another, smaller one in Havana. If you're going to set yourself up as some sort of amateur journalist, you might at least pretend to engage in something resembling fact-checking.

February 23, 2008 at 1:23 PM 
Blogger Spencerblog said...

Depends on what your definition of "banned" is.

One thing that we can all agree on is that Castro didn't ban torture on his island paradise.

Being such a fan of cruel and unusual punishment he should've sentenced his enemies to play that horrid little course in Havana.

February 23, 2008 at 2:40 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Whoa, slow down there, Anon. It is my understanding that one course was not open to the public but was/is a private course reserved for use only by select Castro buddies and friends of state.
Maybe you should fact check prior to your spouting?

February 23, 2008 at 3:10 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I guess your definition of "banned" is something other than, you know, "banned". You're the one who made the "strange but true" comment -- You're the one who made the claim that Castro banned golf in Cuba because he lost a round to Che. Seems to me that given that your contention has been soundly disproven, you could at least have the intellectual honesty to say "Whoops" instead of that really embarrassing attempt at covering.

Oh, and "r"... I actually engaged in fact-checking -- golf was not in fact banned. You've copped to that yourself. In fact, your "understanding" (whatever that means or is worth) clearly puts the lie to the contention that Castro eliminated golf out some childish tantrum at losing, given that there was a course (as you claim) reserved for the use of the elite.

Castro is enough of a douchebag all on his own without this childish crap. You don't have to make stuff up, you don't have to be in such a rush to make a cartoon villain out of the guy. His record as a real-life villain speaks for itself.

February 24, 2008 at 12:34 PM 
Blogger Spencerblog said...

Homer nods.

Spencerblog is happy to concede that golf in Cuba has not been "banned" -- as in eradicated or made against the law.

But we don't concede that Castro didn't throw a "childish" tantrum over losing a match to his former buddy (and fellow killer), Che Guevera.

As the WSJ story reports:

"Mr. Castro's defeat may have had disastrous consequences for the sport. He had one Havana golf course turned into a military school, another into an art school. A journalist who wrote about the defeat of Cuba's Maximum Leader, who was a notoriously bad loser, was fired the next day.

At least we can all probably agree that Castro is a "douchebag."

Though some people might consider that particular term vulgar, adolescent or even childish, I don't see any reason to get all huffy about it either -- if you know what I mean.

February 24, 2008 at 2:53 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The WSJ "reports" an anecdote that "may" have led to... what?

You are the one who made the bizarre-but-true claim, remember? It seems to me that only one being really "huffy" here is yourself -- you made the baseless claim and then compounded that with an especially poor attempt at weaseling. I mean really, come on, dude... "Depends on your definition of banned"? That's pretty weak.

Oh well... as grudging as it was, with as little grace as it was delivered, you did at least make the concession. That's something, I suppose.

February 24, 2008 at 3:07 PM 
Blogger Spencerblog said...

Graceful, they name is Anonymous.

February 24, 2008 at 5:48 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, why's Anon so upset? ...and petty.

February 24, 2008 at 11:45 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anon is upset cause he is a liberal freak! This is how they operate. Make a claim and a liberal will find a way to say you are wrong. Of course Cuba banned golf. If it isn't banned, why can't everyone play? Liberals are so petty!

February 25, 2008 at 11:18 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lib Anon said: You don't have to make stuff up, you don't have to be in such a rush to make a cartoon villain out of the guy.

Yeah. Them Lefties will do this to our own president and then they get upset when someone cheapshots Castro. Lol...

February 25, 2008 at 11:36 PM 

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