Kissing the trophy?

[Willie Malay]

Ultimate sign of "respect" or just plain weird?

[vo-man]

Just plain dumb IMHO and probably initiated by a photographer.

[Golfingdad]

Fits in with a lot of other sports "traditions" that started innocently enough and were genuine at the time, then a second person did it, and a third, and then it sort of became "required" and appears totally contrived.  Some examples of those:

• The gatorade dump on the winning football coach.
• Olympic medalists "biting" their medals.
• Tennis champions falling to the ground.
• Etc.

[RPMPIRE]

I always thought tennis players falling to the ground was unnecessary. But I guess most sports have their way of celebrating. Look at soccer (futbol), every time they score a goal there's a multitude of celebrations - sliding on your knees, taking off your shirt (even women), backflips, front flips, cart wheels, etc.

The biting of the hardware is what I don't understand. But I haven't won anything so I wouldn't understand anyway.

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Olympic medalists "biting" their medals.

Tennis champions falling to the ground.

[bwdial]

Originally Posted by RPMPIRE

I always thought tennis players falling to the ground was unnecessary. But I guess most sports have their way of celebrating. Look at soccer (futbol), every time they score a goal there's a multitude of celebrations - sliding on your knees, taking off your shirt (even women), backflips, front flips, cart wheels, etc.

The biting of the hardware is what I don't understand. But I haven't won anything so I wouldn't understand anyway.

The thumb sucking is the one I do not understand at all.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by bwdial

The thumb sucking is the one I do not understand at all.

Amen to that.  Jubilation is one thing - backflips, slides, dances, all fine - but sucking your thumb just makes you look like a complete moron.

[Sticky]

it's better than Rafa Nadal biting it

[Clambake]

Kissing the trophy seems to go back many, many decades.     Kind of weird to me, but it makes more sense than nibbling on it.

Of course, there is the time that Christie Kerr won the 2002 Long's Drug Challenge and showed some love for her new trophy.   Let's just say the optical illusion makes the trophy look a little different than a normal golf trophy!

[ndb8fxe]

Originally Posted by Clambake

Kissing the trophy seems to go back many, many decades.     Kind of weird to me, but it makes more sense than nibbling on it.

Of course, there is the time that Christie Kerr won the 2002 Long's Drug Challenge and showed some love for her new trophy.   Let's just say the optical illusion makes the trophy look a little different than a normal golf trophy!

funny.

[slodsm]

Originally Posted by ndb8fxe

funny.

I had to double take and then I still wasn't sure hahahaha.

[3PuttKing]

Originally Posted by vo-man

Just plain dumb IMHO and probably initiated by a photographer.

What is dumb about it?

Champions work hard to earn the chance to raise a championship trophy. They put is a ton of hours and make a lot of sacrifices. The joy an athlete feels when lifting a championship trophy that they dedicated their life towards is probably comparable to the joy a mother feels when she holds a child she has waiting so long to have. Any real athlete will understand why people kiss the trophy, everybody else will just look at it as cliche.

[GaijinGolfer]

Originally Posted by 3PuttKing

Any real athlete will understand why people kiss the trophy, everybody else will just look at it as cliche.

Or anyone who has worked hard to get where they are.  Being a, "real athlete" doesnt mean you always have an appreciation for where youre at in life.