Daily Dose of Awesome: Kleptomaniac seagull steals golf ball

This article was originally published on 7/29/2009 and serves as the "pilot" for the "Daily Dose of Awesome" concept.  You'd think that I would have posted this first, but that's too obvious.  In any event, enjoy the video as it is quite glorious.


Hello, and welcome to my new segment "Daily Dose of Awesome". There are a lot of internet critics out there nowadays. You've got your big ones like Nostalgia Critic, AVGN, or Spoony, who have made names for themselves by finding movies, games, and other forms of media that are downright abysmal and metaphorically ripping them to shreds (rare exception to the case is Linkara, who literally ripped copies of DC's Countdown to Final Crisis to shreds). These guys are great at it, and their popularity has spawned others to go on to Youtube and try their hand at angrily critiquing old media.

I, optimist that I am, thought it would be nice to take a different approach and showcase things that are high quality and worth checking out. I was considering making a video series on this concept, and I still might. I would need a camera as all I have at my disposal are webcams. I'm mulling the option. In the meantime, there's no reason I can't put out a sample in text.

Today, I wanted to showcase a sports highlight I first saw on Sportscenter a while ago, and then found on youtube.  This is one of those things you really have to see to believe.

At a recent golf tournament, professional player Steve Lowery hit his ball and made a fairly decent shot. A minute later he watched in shock and horror as a seagull ventured towards it. At first, the bird just seemed to nudge the ball along, not really doing anything too damaging to Lowery's game. I don't know if the bird mistook the ball as an egg or what, but it managed to get a grip on the ball with it's beak and flew away.

As it stands, the story is fairly amusing but it gets even better. The bird loses interest in the ball two seconds later and just drops the ball in the water not too far off the fairway. The only way such a moment could have been topped was if the bird dropped it into the hole. As amazing as that would've been, I have to admit it would not have been nearly as funny.

What is the official rule on this sort of thing? It doesn't seem right to penalize the guy as his shot was perfectly legit, but golf is a stickler for the rules and the rules say that if the ball goes in the water, it's a penalty. Maybe extenuating circumstances allow him to just put another ball down where the first landed? I do not know.

I know, I basically told you what happens in the video, but I assure you, it does not come close to substituting for the joy that comes from actually watching the video footage. Even with the spoilers, I have no doubt that you will enjoy the video.