Golf and the Little Black Box that Could

I am by no means a sports fanatic, nor am I a huge gammer. I do though enjoy both to varying degrees. The "degrees" probably have more to do with my temperament at the time than the sport or the game.

For either I enjoy the community they create; although I will not dress up as a hunk of cheese, paint myself blue, nor will I dress up as Viking or my favorite character Star Wars. I have enough troubles with dating without using the latest laser rifle and disintegrating my own foot. There isn't anything wrong with dressing up like your favorite character from Star Wars; nothing wrong at all. I just don't suggest walking through airport security. But I digress.

Last month I was out at Best Buy looking for ways to blow some of my mad money, and ending up leaving with Links 2004 for X-Box. If you don't know what "X-Box" is please stop reading, unplug your computer and go and bury your head back under the sheets,you will be happier there. I can play Links 2004 in world wide tournaments against all types of people using X-Box Live. Okay, not knowing what X-Box Live is could mean you are a sheet dweller, but maybe not. Basically, it connects hundreds of thousands of X-Box units over the Internet in "On-Line" game play. See, not so hard was it?

This week I started my first tournament, it is kind of a qualifying tournament that makes you a member of the community, and I am doing okay. I have finished three rounds of four, and I am not coming in last place yet. You don't play the tournament live with other players, but instead your scores are posted in a public forum along with your ranking. It works rather well. When I feel like playing with others at the same time, I can do that too. That can be very much like a real game of golf. Of course I have never played a real game of golf, but I did take lessons in college.

I am not a big sports fan, but this is pretty cool and a nice diversion from bad TV and games that are just about fraging and not about anything else. Oh, and less 10 year olds using language that would make a sailor blush. I could read, but I don't get the same satisfaction from madly turning the pages as I do whacking the heck out of a poor innocent ball.