Summaries, reviews, recaps, forecasts… The year is coming to an end, and the avalanche of recap or forecasting exercises multiplies across all media. I myself have contributed to this endeavour in previous years, but allow me to take a side road on this occasion.
A few days ago, I was preparing a segment for Campamento Krypton, arguably the best Spanish podcast related to pop culture (although they show little judgement by having me on from time to time), which this time focused on countdowns. Although I had some idea of the theoretical basis of time, preparing for the programme made me realise that the measurement of time is relatively modern and its systematisation even more so.
Until 1967, the definition of a “second,” the unit of time in the international system, depended on the duration of the solar year, but from that date, it was linked to “atomic time,” a highly precise standard, despite the somewhat unappealing definition. See for yourself: a second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 oscillations of the radiation emitted during the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom, at a temperature of nearly 0 K. I find the “nearly” at the end of the definition amusing after the previous display of precision and accuracy, but it must be remembered that absolute zero (i.e., zero degrees Kelvin) is an unattainable limit according to the third law of thermodynamics.
But let’s escape the well-intentioned scientific jargon and try to bring the ball down to earth. Before science, there were stories, and you don’t have to search hard to find numerous references to time in various creation myths. For example, the seven days used by God in the Judeo-Christian creation were a kind of countdown “forward” (forgive the contradiction), and in all cosmogonies, there are mentions of battles against time. Cronus, time itself, devours his children until his own time comes at the hands of Zeus, and we can also see this struggle in the determinism of prophecies, generally of a grim nature, and in the predetermined fate of heroes like Oedipus or Achilles, to name two offhand examples.
Birth activates our clock, which, subject to nature, begins its countdown to death. We don’t know when zero will arrive, but we know it will. Therefore, in art iconography, this certainty is used to remind us of our mortality through memento mori or vanitas, which make us see the fleeting nature of life and human glory.
But not everything is bleak in our relationship with time. Although it is a relatively modern tradition, in Spain, we have turned this more or less fateful countdown around by celebrating the end of the year with the chimes in a ceremony of renewal and commemoration. As the saccharine song by Mecano reminds us, “we take stock of the good and the bad” and use this moment as a springboard into the following year… although we don’t know if we will nail the two and a half backward somersaults in a pike position or make a belly flop in the pool of the future.
Although supposedly it is a variable that is considered and controlled (right, bosses of the PGA Tour?), in golf, time does not carry the same weight as in other sports. Beyond the control that is more or less loosely enforced depending on the circuit, and its exasperating elasticity in the amateur realm, time is not a fundamental factor in golf (although it should be). While there have been some minor experiments in this regard, in our beloved sport, there are no countdowns that offer small catharses during the match and foster more or less controlled emotional outbursts each time the clock approaches zero.
However, golf is a sport of long duration, and that is one of its main virtues. As players, it can accompany us for almost our entire lives, regardless of whether our abilities diminish. Even in the professional realm, we observe the contrast that time offers when newcomers to the main circuits face off against historic veterans week after week. Who wouldn’t pay good money to follow a match with Ángel Ayora, aged 20, and Miguel Ángel Jiménez, aged 60 (soon to be, on January 5th) in a major DP World Tour tournament?
Not long ago, we were able to enjoy a similar duel in the conclusion of the PNC Championship, where Tiger and Charlie Woods faced off against Bernhard and Jason Langer. Regardless of any other considerations, the match, electrifying until the end, was a wonderful example of what golf can offer all its players. The contrast of ages and abilities, the combination of experience and energy, the brilliance of the younger sons despite the dense shadow of their proud fathers, the equality on the field that golf offers (despite some questionable adjustments in the distance they had to face from the tee). At the same time, Charlie Woods and Jason Langer served as a living reminder to their fathers of what they were and what they are.
In ancient Roman times, every victorious general parading in the capital of the empire was accompanied by a slave who, besides holding the laurel crown, had another important mission: to occasionally whisper the phrase “remember you are mortal.” Both Woods and Langer are aware of this fact (especially Woods, given his tumultuous career over the last decade and a half), but they surely smile contentedly when they look to their side.
Allow me to bring this analogy a little closer. A few weeks ago, after a successful career, Javier Pinedo decided to ‘hang up the mic’ with the broadcast of the DP World Tour Championship on Movistar Golf. There are very few professionals who have managed to become the voice of a sport, and Javier is one of them. Besides approaching his task with professionalism, capability, knowledge, and judgement, Javier has always been extremely generous with me, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate to enjoy his friendship. It so happens that he can also look to one side and see how one of his offspring, Ignacio, follows in his footsteps along the path he, with effort and dedication, paved a few decades ago. I am convinced that listening to Ignacio brought the same smile to his face that we saw on Tiger not long ago as he enjoyed his son’s swing. Thank you for everything, Javier. Best of luck with what’s to come, Ignacio.
