Editorial on the Jan Stephenson comments

OK, so first she criticizes the Asian ladies in a cruel and nasty way. Then she really steps in something squishy by drawing a completely offensive and frankly horrifying conclusion. If she were commissioner, she spurts, she would institute a quota that would limit foreign participation on tour to 40% of the tour membership. Keep in mind that Stephenson is Australian, meaning she would be in favor of limiting herself right out of the league.

Let's do a thought experiment (which is more than Jan did before her Golf Magazine interview). Let's say Stephenson is made LPGA Commissioner on Bizarro Earth. Let's say she institutes her blessed quota. What happens next?

1. The Asian and other foreign companies that sponsor events on tour, insulted by the way their nationals have been treated, withdraw support from the events they sponsor. Let's see, that's Takefuji, Evian, Asahi Ryokuken, Mizuno, CJ and Sports Today, Wheetabix, and Samsung. Seven events go bye bye.

2. The Asian players who do make the tour are outraged about the quota. Many of them decide to leave the tour and go back to Korea or Japan. Many other European players decide to return to the LET, where they feel more wanted.

3. Several other companies drop sponsorships, because they either do not want to be associated with a tour that would have such a quota, or because they have international business they do not want to jeopardize.

4. Tour is killed.

Se Ri with her trophy from the 9 Bridges tournament,
an LPGA tournament sponsored by a Korean company,
taking place in Korea.

So it's pretty clear that there is not even the slightest bit of truth to anything Stephenson says, and that her suggestion to improve the tour is borderline insane. And yet... so many people seem willing to accept that the Asian players are some kind of problem. Given that there is so little fact to her accusations, why are so many ready to believe her?

Well, the first thing is, as I said above, some of the Asian players are shy, and some have only been speaking English for a short time. They cannot be expected to be able to joke around with pro am partners like native speakers. But as I proved above, this is a much smaller percentage of the players than Stephenson would have you believe. And of that small subset of Asian players, I wonder how many of them entirely understood when they came into the league exactly what was expected of them. Rather than crucify them in the press and suggest quotas, why doesn't she suggest to the LPGA programs to help the shy ladies (of all races) with media relations? Why not have regular meetings with players to help them learn how to interact with pro-am partners? Contrary to what they may believe, it is not completely obvious what you need to do to keep fans and sponsors happy. The LPGA should make it their job to explain to all players, especially newcomers, exactly what is expected of them, and to help them get to the point where they can achieve it. If that means English lessons, that's what it means. I wonder what if anything the LPGA has actually done to facilitate all this. I know, as a manager in my company, I would be remiss in my job if I didn't let my new hires know exactly what their responsibilities were.

Players such as Young Kim are still learning English, but have ways of making themselves understood to
their American fans

But for those who still think she may have a point, what about all the tour players who said she's full of it? What about Annika Sorenstam, who called Stephenson's remarks 'pathetic'? Meg Mallon also dismissed them. Grace Park just seemed confused, insisting that Stephenson 'should play with me. I have great emotions' (and indeed she does, as Seoul Sisters fans know very well!). Perhaps my favorite criticism came from Christina Kim, who is American 'and damn proud of it'. She said, "I see Jan out there, and she doesn't make an effort to congratulate players like Se Ri on her success. Jan has her own clique. I watch her, and she never makes the effort. " Perhaps if she made a little effort, her view would not be so one sided? Kim went on to say, "I spent all of (Friday) morning and afternoon trying to figure out who it would be she's talking about, because everyone out there tries their best."

Eric Adelson, in an article for ESPN, postulated that the problem is that Asian Americans do not have a public voice who will call people to task for making statements like Jan made. If she had said something like 'blacks are killing the tour', or 'jews are killing the tour', regardless of anything else she might have said thereafter, she would have been publicly crucified, and marches would have been conducted at every tournament until Stephenson was very publicly rebuked. But Asian Americans do not have that sort of leadership in this country, so statements like hers go unchallenged.

Christina Kim is among the players
who have condemned Stephenson's
remarks.

Grace Park. What's not to love?

Another problem is that the LPGA does not treat these players like the valuable commodity they are. They seem almost embarrassed by the fact they do so well, when they should be embracing them as great players with vast potential crossover appeal. Adelson's article puts it succinctly: 'treat them like the stars they are'. This is an era when America has embraced Asian movie stars (Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Jet Li) and Asian sports stars (Ichiro, Matsui, Michelle Kwan, Yao Ming, even Michelle Wie) like never before in its history. Why couldn't they embrace Grace Park? Or Se Ri Pak? Or Mi Hyun Kim? There is no reason, except that the LPGA chooses not to promote these players as befits their astounding accomplishments.

Lastly, perhaps the most damning question is this: where's Golf Magazine's Se Ri Pak interview? Se Ri has been the #2 player in women's golf for the last two years, yet I see no in depth interview with her in any major golf publication. They see fit to interview a has been like Jan Stephenson, while a fantastic young player who has already eclipsed Stephenson's career marks in wins and Majors is completely ignored. And mainstream publications choose to focus on a 13 year old who hits the ball a long way instead of a Korean superstar with a winning game and even more winning smile. And if they feel she cannot speak English well enough, what about Grace Park? She, too, has been ignored by the American media. I won't even mention Hee-Won or Mi Hyun, the two most ignored top players in recent memory. Get these players out into the mainstream, and the next time some fool makes a ridiculous statement about them, people will jump on her or him from all angles. The Korean players deserve the limelight; they've earned it. It's time for the media, too, to 'treat them like the stars they are'.