Putters From Heaven - An Organization Founded by Golfers and other Putters

Putters From Heaven®

This is a copy of the reply we made to a commenter who disagrees with our view. The reader (James), believes that smoking should be allowed by the PGA members while they're playing.

Hello James,

We appreciate you taking the time to send us an email and letting us know how you feel about Angel Cabreras' smoking. We don't understand your comment regarding your respect for Cabrera as compared to Tiger Woods.

The issue is not with Cabrera and the fact he smokes, it's that he's a member of the PGA and that all legitimate professional sports organizations have a ton of rules that affect how their members conduct themselves. There is a reason golf is about the only pro sports organization that still allows smoking, and it's all about money. If you have kids, or coach sports, you know the effect of what showing professional athletes smoking on TV does to kids and less educated adults. The kids who are out on the golf course and following these players in person, will be left with an indelible impression of smoking that may never be corrected.

If you visit a hospice, you will see the real life results of what smoking does. This is why we don't want the PGA to use the great game of golf to market cigarettes. TV commercials for cigarettes have been banned for many years. It's hardly a fair fight for kids not to resist the temptation to smoke when they are being marketed to in many different ways by companies with unlimited amounts of money, and by the most brilliant (although ruthless) marketing experts and lawyers in the WORLD. This includes much of the mainstream media, which has a large interest in many of the tobacco companies. It's the responsibility of all us who know better and who care, to see this behavior is stopped. Our kids deserve a fair chance to make an intelligent choice about whether to take up, what will likely be, a lifetime of smoking. Approximately half of the 3000 kids who start smoking every day in the U.S., will eventually die as a result of that decision.

In regards to your comment regarding Environmental Tobacco Smoke on the golf course, ETS has been classified as a known human carcinogen, equal to asbestos and other cancer causing chemicals. This alone substantiates the argument to not allow smoking in a public domain. We do not believe smoking should be banned either, we just believe it must be done responsibly, and so that it never affects the health or rights of others.

We believe it was also very irresponsible for NBC to show Cabrera flicking his lit cigarette butts onto the ground. There are 1000's of animals who die every year from ingesting this toxic trash, and a huge cost in terms of accidental fires, clean-up, etc. We don't dislike smokers for this behavior, most are not aware and need to be educated about these facts. It's actually fairly normal behavior for those who have little discipline in their life and have little respect for themselves and others.

Thank you again,

Good golfing and good health to you.

Robert "Duffy" McDonough
Putters From Heaven
PFH.net

E-mail our office here.