I went through tonight and read all 11 pages and on the positive side, it's good to see that people still retain their passion for the subject, and certainly for their individual, if differing opinions. That's all good stuff and one would hope that never changes.
However, I was left to wonder why I started this thread in the first place. So, I'll try to answer;
First of all, the "jump the shark" analogy which has been questioned here is generally a term that has evolved over time to mean something that was really good and unique and somewhat pure at one time and which has since morphed into something different and with some loss of quality. In the case of GCA, I used the analogy to refer to the Happy Days show, where it became obvious that the show's writers were rapidly running out of creative, new, original ideas. I think GCA is suffering from a similar malady, and I think much of the personal sniping is due to the fact that some of the actual architectural content has become stale. Blame the long winter, blame the fact that however interesting the topic, 5 gazillioin words later much of can be said already has, or blame the growth in the site, but the undeniable fact is that much of what we have been talking about in recent months is rehash....how many times can we decry technology and what it's doing to modern courses, for instance?
Still, I am left to wonder if we've exhausted this topic or if we just aren't open enough to new ideas, new courses, new concepts. I mean, have we really considered that there are wonderful new courses being designed by people who aren't household names, or are we all just so locked into our own preconceived notions of greatness that people are afraid that they'll look foolish if they start talking about that enjoyable new course by "Gary Panks" (insert 100 other names here) that their thoughts will be castigated, or worse, ignored?
But, the real reason I think I started this thread is that I know many of you, personally. And, I have to say that it PAINS me to see guys I know would really enjoy each other personally spending their energies in the type of acrimonious backbiting and personally vindictive crap that I see way too much of in recent months. How about we each start treating each other in the way we would if we were sharing a bench talking while waiting for a par three green to clear?
I also thought that this group needed some shaking up and self-reflection and had hoped that this thread might provide some impetus for us doing so, individually and collectively. I admit that is sort of assumptive and pretentious of me, but I've had private conversations with any number of individuals that I respect who have shared similar impressions. I thought that perhaps if I struck a chord, individuals might think about putting aside petty differences and personal grievances and really THINK about what they were writing to each other a little more before hitting that "Submit" button. I had hoped that we might start to consider that in many ways we are all brethren sharing not only a passionate interest, but also a bit of our best selves as we put a public face on our private thoughts.
Reading many of the posts on this thread have showed me that I was pretty naive in my effort.
If this site is ever going to have any kind of positive and influencial impact on the world of golf, and you guys are fooling yourselves if you think it can't (because I KNOW how widely read it is), then we should be generating a hell of a lot more light and a lot less heat than we're doing now.
I'm really glad and thankful that we have such genuine passion here. I just hope we can start using our heads as well as we use our hearts.
Sincerely,
Mike