AT SPORTING EVENTS Don’t worry, pros are recording the action

The compulsion to gather proof that ‘I was there’ is never stronger than at sporting events, despite the likelihood of anyone ever asking to see it being nil. The spectacle of golfers teeing off, tennis players serving for the match, sprinters crossing the finish line or strikers taking penalties is invariably accompanied by hundreds, if not thousands, of people holding phones aloft in anticipation. The result: hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures of blurred, indistinguishable figures on green backgrounds doing something or other.

As sports fans, we’re still struggling to understand the futility of this behaviour – after all, there are plenty of professional camera people from various sports channels already on it – and it may take years for us to stop. But while we work stoically through the various sociological and technological issues, events such as Wimbledon and the PGA Tour have relaxed their previous bans on mobile phone use, which is kind of them. Visitors to the Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club, however, are unlikely to ever see that day. ‘I think our patrons appreciate our cell phone policy,’ said chairman Fred Ridley in 2019. ‘I don’t believe that [it’s] going to change in the near future, if ever.’

Rather quaintly, the club provides payphones for anyone who wishes to make a call. Although you’ll need to write down any contacts you need beforehand, given that you store them – yes, that’s right – in your smartphone. And what are the chances of your loved one actually answering a call from an unknown number…?

The compulsion to prove ‘I was there’ is strong – despite no one ever asking for it