Let’s jump right in.
1. First of all, normal sport, I don’t get it. Well, it’s a tongue-in-cheek reference to the bizarre nature of the game – that golf is, when you really think about it, completely and totally insane.
Listen, what you’re going to do is go on a six-mile hike. And you’re going to carry a metal rod, but it’s not for disciplining the sheep, although it used to be for that. No, it’s for striking this dimpled, white sphere that you’re going to try and somehow get into a cup sitting in the ground. There are going to be a lot of feral animals and terrible weather it’s going to be by far the best four-ish hours of your week.
2. OK and what about the logo? I wrote about that right here.
TL;DR it’s a sheep whose grazing was interrupted by a collection of the folks mentioned above who began stomping around her fields.
3. What you should expect from us.
• Three newsletters a week.
• Tuesdays will be our classic “can you believe this giraffe!” newsletter.
• Fridays or Saturdays will be a Q&A.
• Both of those will be free.
• Thursdays will be my 10 thoughts.
• That one will be for members only.
• You will get nearly-daily content during major weeks.
• That will be for members only as well.
• All of it will be filled with ridiculous golf tidbits and nuggets.
• With some behind the scenes thoughts and insights from the Tour.
• And a lot of our favorite work from other creators in the golf space.
• As well as our illustrated interpretation of what’s going on in golf.
• Sometimes I’ll share something more heartfelt.
• One reader said: “It makes me smile every time I read it, and I always learn something.”
• That was very nice.
4. What you shouldn’t expect.
• Us taking ourselves too seriously.
• Vapid, filler, meaningless content.
• Golf betting or personal game improvement advice.
• Extensive Fireballs and Cleeks coverage.
• (We only do moderate Fireballs and Cleeks coverage)
5. [here it comes I can see it coming, he’s going to do it]
That’s right, I want to tell you quickly about our membership.
Wait, why do you have members? I thought this newsletter was free?
Well it mostly is, but our business model is such that our membership does help support the business as a whole. We will provide plenty of value (less Chris Como during the Tiger era and more Chris Como during the Xander era) for your $82 annually.
Probably more value than you are expecting.
Things like …
1. A bonus 10 thoughts from me every week (on Thursdays).
2. Daily updates during major championship weeks.
3. My monthly thoughts on entrepreneurship and the direction of Normal Sport.
4. A digital version of all our Normal Sport books.
5. Early access to limited edition merch drops.
6. Giveaways from our partners (like this trip to Ireland).
We have membership mostly so we don’t have to ask Yasir for money but also because we believe having a thriving membership is foundational for our business. We literally would not exist without you.
Your membership nourishes the future of Normal Sport and allows us to keep meme-ing our brains out and writing 3,000-word pieces about how next year – no really for real this time! – is the year Rory is going to win his fifth major.
You can become a member by pledging your fealty below, or if you want to read more about why we launched paid memberships, I wrote about that here.
6. So who reads this again? First and foremost, sickos [71 percent of our readers identify as an 8, 9 or 10 on a 1-to-infirmary scale].
Our readership also includes folks from Titleist, Callaway, Augusta National, Nike, Dude Perfect, Adidas, TGL, the PGA Tour and even some of the top players in the world.
The only goal (obviously), though, is to get Johnson Wagner subscribed.
7. You can check out our full archives, and here is is an emergency nine three edition of our greatest hits.
8. Our mission: “Use humor and humanity to make the daily fan’s personal experience of golf feel meaningful.”
9. Our vision: “Become the most unique publisher of written and illustrated golf content in the world.”
Not ambitious at all!
Thank you again for reading. It’s very meaningful to me, and I’m grateful for your trust. Also, if you have a friend you believe who would understand even half of the above bullet points, you should send them this link.
Tell them it’s the Spiethiest newsletter in the world.