On Taking Risks

A few choice words from some legendary risk takers ...

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt: "Citizenship in a Republic"

Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

(Image: wikimediacommons.com)

UPDATE: Phil Capelle has marked the 100th anniversary of TR's fine speech (which is today!!) with a great post at capelleongolf.com.

"I think it's better to risk my life and to be a has-been than to never have been at all. Even though crippled and busted in half, it's better to have taken a chance to win a victory or suffer a defeat than to live like others do who will never know victory or defeat because they haven't had the guts to try either."

Evel Knievel: Sports Illustrated, September 2, 1974

(Image: Sports Illustrated)

"If you can see the ball you can probably hit it, and if you can hit it you can move it, and if you can move it you might be able to hole it out. So try. It is the trying that is fun."

Arnold Palmer: Sports Illustrated, August 9, 1965

(Image: John Zimmerman, Sports Illustrated, via golf.com)

"A great shot is when you pull it off. A smart shot is when you don't have the guts to try it."

Phil Mickelson: post-Masters comments, April 11, 2010

(Image: brisbanetimes.com.au)

A bit of analysis ... I was half-way through a post about Phil Mickelson's risk-taking when the Masters happened. The words I was writing expressed the opinion that Phil the Thrill would need to learn to play smarter golf if he was going to win more major championships. I was comparing him to Tiger, who also makes spectacular shots, but who seems to take risks that are more calculated. Tiger, it seems to me, will ask himself "What if I miss?" before he tries a bold shot. That is, he knows when he pulls the trigger that even if the shot doesn't go exactly as planned, he's generally not going to get himself into worse trouble.

     Phil ... not so much.

     But my opinion has changed. Not that Phil doesn't make foolish choices sometimes; he does. But I no longer want Phil to change. Look at Arnold Palmer. A strong argument could be made that he would have won more several more major championships if he did not take so many risks. Two points: 1) You could also argue that he would never have been in position to win as many (he won seven professional majors, and one U.S. Amateur championship) if he toned down his aggression; and 2) more importantly, he wouldn't be Arnold Palmer! Without his aggressive style, he wouldn't have been the swashbuckling young shot-maker that set the golf world on fire in the late 1950s and early '60s – and brought the game to the masses in the process.

     I no longer care how many more majors Phil wins. Rather, I don't care as much as I care about watching him continue to be Phil the Thrill. Let Tiger be the cold, calculating, never play a dumb shot, robotic foil to Phil's occasionally head-shaking on-course antics. Phil plays golf the way he does because, as Arnold says, it's the fun way to play. Fun for him, fun for us, fun for the game.

     Let Phil be Phil. And hang on tight for an exciting ride into the 2010s!