I recently stumbled on this 70s photo of Puerto Rican legend, Chi-Chi Rodríguez and his caddie, John Lynch at the Masters Golf Tournament held in Augusta, Georgia. Rodríguez, who turned 85 last October, was one of my favorite athletes growing up. It’s a great photo, but the back story is even more interesting. At the time, Chi-Chi was one of the few non-white golfers on the PGA tour, and the Augusta Golf Club, where the Masters Golf Tournament is played, was still a “whites only” country club in the South. Besides being a great golfer, Chi-Chi Rodríguez was one of the most beloved and entertaining athletes in the world. After making a long putt, he would famously hold his putter like a sword and dance like Zorro to the delight of the audience. Rodríguez’ personal story is also inspiring. He was born into poverty in Puerto Rico. He started working at the age of eight and eventually became a caddie, where he learned how to play golf. He made his first golf clubs out of bamboo. During his time as a professional golfer, he started and supported numerous charities and on one occasion, he gave away so much money, he didn’t have money to live. Chi-Chi was proud of his Puerto Rican roots, and rather than trying to blend in with the stodgiest crowd in all of professional sports, he introduced golf fans from around the world to the passion and vibrancy of his Latino culture. This incredible photo of Rodríguez playing in the most prestigious golf tournament in the world, at a country club that at the time would only allow him on its premises to mow the lawn or wash dishes, also shows that for a while Chi-Chi Rodríguez was one of the coolest cats on the planet.
NAHREP has reasons for both optimism and concern about a second Trump term...
On Friday evening, the LA Dodgers won game one of the 2024 World Series over the New York Yankees in glorious fashion, with Freddie Freeman hitting a walk-off grand slam home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. For Dodger fans, the game could not have been scripted better...
With the presidential election only three weeks away, partisans on both sides are taking off the gloves with rhetoric that vilifies their opponents and fires up their minions. Most people believe that our country is more divided than ever. Indeed, the days when liberal and conservative candidates can debate their views respectfully seem like a distant memory. At the risk of oversimplifying things too much, let me cut to the chase about what is driving the divisions in the country.