Does age matter in sports?

Enough already! I’ve had it with Michelle Wie. Someone over there at the PGA headquarters… Enough already! I’ve had it with Michelle Wie. Someone over there at the PGA headquarters needs to stand up and be a man … which is to say, ban little girls from playing on the tour.

Before everyone jumps on my case about picking on a 14-year-old girl, let me say that I am a proponent of age restrictions for everything, or at least everything in America. I oppose age restrictions in Canada, Mexico and Europe, since those places provide wonderful outlets for underage Americans. So if the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association wants to let Wie play in every tournament, that’s their choice.

But I don’t want to see Wie playing in any more tournaments in America. I don’t care if she’s the best golfer to ever set foot on Earth. I don’t care if she could beat Tiger Woods by 30 strokes. I don’t care if she could shoot a 65 blindfolded. I don’t want to see it.

Age is definitely something that plagues professional sports. Of the major sports, only football has a restriction besides being 18. Minor sports like tennis and soccer don’t even have that. They say that if you’re good enough to compete with the pros, you’re good enough to be a pro.

Every year there are new stories emerging about young athletes trying to make the big bucks by turning pro early. Last year there was talk of LeBron James turning pro after his junior year of high school, and the current talk is of Maurice Clarett turning pro after being only two years removed from high school. What I say to that is no and no.

Sports like football and basketball are different from many of the other sports because of how physical they are. There’s no way 99 percent of kids coming out of high school could take a hit from Ray Lewis. Heck, many pros can’t take a hit from Ray Lewis. And in basketball, most college athletes can’t keep up with the pros as far as muscle strength, stamina or agility. It’s a huge deal to go from playing 35 40-minute games a year in college to 82 48-minute games in the NBA, let alone going from high school to the pros.

So what about the non-physically demanding sports like golf? Well first of all, to clear up a common misconception, golf is not a sport. I’ve always known it wasn’t a sport, but it wasn’t until last week that I heard the best reason why.

On the ESPN show “Around the Horn,” host Max Kellerman brought up a great point: golf cannot be a sport if a 14-year-old girl can complete with the best men in the world. That is so true. Think of another sport where that is true. Could a 14-year old girl return a 140 mph serve from Andy Roddick or a hit a 100 mph pitch from Randy Johnson. The answer is a resounding no. I respect golfers a great deal. I can’t play golf at all, and I’m not arguing that golfers aren’t great at what they do. But I can’t bowl either or do that thing with the brooms, but are bowling and curling sports either?

So to get back to my point, why shouldn’t Wie be allowed to participate in PGA events? It’s about principle, plain and simple. She shouldn’t be allowed to compete in pro events because she’s 14 and that’s just the way it is. I don’t care that she’s a girl either.

If a 14-year-old boy wanted to compete, I would be opposed to that as well. They should set a minimum age of 18 and that’s final. Establish yourself as the best among your peers first and then take on the pros. Tiger won three U.S. Amateur Championships before turning pro. He established himself as the best and when he finally played with the big boys. He beat them because he was as skilled as he could be. He didn’t take on the best in the world when he was 14 just to prove he could.

Wie’s father says that she must compete with the best in the world to get better, but that can’t make her better. Maybe more used to scrutiny, but not better at golf. It’s understandable that everyone learns a different way, but is playing against the best really the way to go? If I wanted to learn how to improve my basketball defense, would it benefit me more to join a league made up of college students like myself or jump right into trying to defend Shaquille O’Neal in the low-post? That may be a bad example because Shaq has about 16 inches and 180 pounds on me, but you get the point.

In basketball, most players that come straight from high school can’t compete with the best. Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O’Neal — all of these guys struggled their first years. Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler are all coming into their own now, during their third year in the league.

Not everyone can be James or Amare Stoudemire. Both of those guys were anomalies as far as their physical growth. Both were men when they entered the NBA. Just imagine how much better they would be if they played even one year in college.

Now, I can’t blame anyone for turning pro and taking the money. I would do so in a heartbeat. But that doesn’t mean it should happen.

If you’re a high school basketball player who wants to get paid right away, go play over in Europe. If you’re a high school football star who thinks you’re all that, try taking on some Canadians first. Then call me in two years.

Raymond Newby is a staff writer for the Pitt News. For anyone who wants to argue about what constitutes a sport, feel free to email him at rsn4@pitt.edu.