Into the Bear Pit: The Hard-hitting Inside Story of the Brookline Ryder Cup Book

The cover is as telling as the words inside: jubilant members of the 1999 US Ryder Cup team dance across the 17th green at Brookline celebrating what they think is victory. Jose Maria Olazabal, meanwhile, stands stunned waiting to attempt to sink a putt that could keep the European side in the match. In Into The Bear Pit European captain Mark James presents his side of the story behind the 33rd Ryder cup. He tells it well, coming over every bit the decent man he did during and immediately after the tournament. However, the quotations at the back of the book speak loudest of the emotions aroused on both sides. One US star, before the final day, implored, "Let's go and kill them", and by the end of that day veteran European Sam Torrance described the events on the 17th (somewhat hyperbolically) as "one of the most disgusting things I have seen in my life". To counter many of the claims of the lack of sportsmanship, defenders of the US side and their support point to specifics, claiming similar instances in Spain two years earlier, branding the Europe side sore losers. As James counters, and most observers can testify, they are missing the point. As winners or losers, the US team have never been subject to such treatment over the course of a tournament. The most telling words here, though, belong to Olazabal, the man stranded on the 17th: "The whole world saw what happened, and the whole world is going to judge what their behaviour was like. All we ask is respect from our opponents." --Trevor CroweRead More