THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Why we like the Ryder Cup, and other train wrecks

You would think there is something more local/regional that would be of interest.

Like ...

The ongoing saga in Pullman. Is the head coach of Washington State football team going to get jabbed in the arm soon? Or is he going to receive a medical or religious exemption? Or perhaps a Presidential pardon?

The paranoia that is Boise State football, with the Boise-beloved Broncos off to a 1-2 start heading into Saturday's play. The reality — when you schedule good teams in nonconference play, there's a possibility you could lose.

The mystery that is Idaho football, and whether there is anything to glean from the Vandals' first three games — a blowout of an overmatched foe, followed by one-sided losses in "money games" vs. Power 5 conference teams — that would indicate Idaho can compete for a conference title when Big Sky play begins next week at UC Davis.

But for some reason, that "friendly" golf competition this weekend between the Americans and the Europeans captures our attention — in sort of a macabre way.

THE RYDER CUP is a hard thing to watch.

If you're rooting for the Americans, you want to tune in to enjoy the chants of "USA! USA!" — especially this year, with the event in Wisconsin — and see your team win.

But you also run the risk of watching the Americans fall apart, and watching some European dude roll in a 60-footer, or get up and down from a garbage can, to win the hole, and/or the match.

Especially this year, with the matches on U.S. "soil."

The Ryder Cup is a hard thing to watch because the U.S. doesn't win it much anymore.

Europe has won four of the last five Ryder Cups, seven of the last nine, and nine of the last 12.

The last time the U.S. won on European "soil" was in 1993 at The Belfry.

Since then, Europe has won three of the six on U.S. "soil."

WHO KNOWS why this is.

In America, they play on finely manicured courses, and even if you don't win, a top-five or top-10 finish on the PGA Tour still pays well.

In Europe, if you don't win, you have to stay on the European Tour, where it seems like they play in stocking caps and howling winds most weeks.

If the U.S. wins the Ryder Cup, we're supposed to act like we've been there before. If we celebrate on the green, like we did in 1999 when Justin Leonard rolled in that 45-footer to all but cap an amazing U.S. comeback in singles, we are labeled as "ugly" Americans.

If the Europeans celebrate like that, well they're just "passionate."

If the U.S. loses, the team must not have had any chemistry — how can you expect 12 guys trying to beat each other the other 51 weeks of the year to suddenly be buddy-buddy with each other for the Ryder Cup?

If the Europeans lose, well, they gave it the good fight ... and let's go enjoy a pint, anyway.

In the run-up to the event, one analyst said the U.S. might have problems in an alternate-shot format, because many of them use different types of golf balls — some fly further, some spin more.

I have never heard a European loss explained by the fact that one guy couldn't properly hit another guy's ball.

Golf has become such an international game, and many of the European players compete on the PGA Tour, the "Us vs. Them" narrative is diminished. Many of the European players are popular with fans on the PGA Tour — some perhaps even more so than their American counterparts.

Many of the international players live in the U.S. for part of the year, so they are somewhat "Americanized."

How many American players have a home at St. Andrews?

So that makes it even harder to work up a good "mad" for the Europeans. They're one of us — except for all the extra zeroes in their bank accounts.

IN THE early days, when it was the U.S. vs. Great Britain and Ireland, the U.S. — and our heroes — dominated.

Jack Nicklaus was 17-8-3. Arnold Palmer was 22-8-2.

Since 1979, when the opposing team went from just players from Great Britain and Ireland to player from all of Europe, the Europeans have won 12 of the 20 Ryder Cups, including 12 of the last 17.

And our heroes have struggled. Tiger is just 13-21-3 at the Ryder Cup. Phil is 18-22-7, which is actually one of the better records among modern-day U.S. players in the event.

So who wants to watch their heroes struggle for one weekend, especially when we're used to seeing them shine the other 51 weeks of the year?

Even after the first three sessions this weekend, in which the Americans dominated and held a 9-3 lead heading into Saturday afternoon's play, there's always that underlying fear that doom and gloom is on the horizon.

The European players passed out cheeseheads to the gallery earlier in the week in an effort to maybe "convert" a few U.S. fans; maybe they start holing out from the sand and the dirt, and here comes another comeback.

Who needs to sit through that pain — again?

BUT, HAVING said all that, we'll tune in anyway, much in the same way some folks tune in to auto races because they might get to see cars crash.

Also, because if the U.S. does finish off a rare victory today, we want to say we were there to see it.

But we'll have the remote ready, just in case.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.