Who cares.

Let me just get this out of the way early – only Rickie knows what was the right call there and I’m sure he feels he made it.  Good enough for me.

What intrigues me though is the level of disdain for golf commentators, bloggers and fans who have questioned the decision.

You can see some of it here and here, and in comments for these posts as well.  I read both of those blogs regularly and think their writing is quite good.  Ryan at WaggleRoom is even a full on member of the GWAA ya’ll.

What bothers me about the sentiment shared in the above posts, and elsewhere, is the idea that professional broadcasters and fans (or even know-it-all bloggers) should give Rickie a pass because he’s 21.  Why does that matter?

Is this just a subconscious (or maybe conscious) reaction by golf society to try and rally around the person already being considered as a possible Tiger successor?  Or at least the ‘please deliver us from this immediate Tiger mess’ savior?  It arguably embodies a stereotypical criticism of golf, the golf media and golfing community overall - it seeks to protect its own, at all costs.

In what other sport do you find star athletes that are immune to harsh criticism?  Ask Jimmy Clausen at Notre Dame if he gets some kid glove treatment from press or fans?  Ummm…not so much. 

Kids who are younger than Rickie, and don’t get paid (i.e. NCAA Division I athletes), often have as big a spotlight on them and have to sometimes deal with brutal criticism. 

Why should a 21 year old up and coming golf star, that has Puma from head to toe, be any different?  Is he mentally fragile?  Is he incapable of dealing with the spotlight?  I doubt it.  In fact, recently after seeing one of Fowler’s bot-like tweets I said this to him.  I’m not proud. 

It was knee-jerk and in reaction to his publicist driven tweets - but it was also how I felt at the time.  What ensued was some back and forth with Rickie that made me rethink (in part) my hasty judgment, and in the end I gained respect for him.   Superstar prodigy challenged…he responds…blogger gains respect for prodigy…life resumes.  Ahhh, happy endings.

Right call or wrong call at the Waste Management (snicker) Open?  Irrelevant.  Criticism of it?  That’s just sports. 

The kid will be allright, without the kid glove treatment.

It’s vintage Tiger – line ‘em up.  Tell ‘em when to be here, what they can and can’t do, say or ask and let the good times roll.

It even began with the carefully crafted photo op that shows Tiger in his ‘I’m-fit-and-ready-to-kick-all-your-asses’ form. 

The only possible wrinkle in the perfectly crafted plan of Tiger & Co. is if an Alex Miceli-like individual skips past the velvet rope of this so-called press conference and asks a tough question.  Can you say not likely?

That said, be sure to give the previous link a look – it’s awesome and surprisingly candid given it’s on The Golf Channel.

Until Friday though, here’s a preview of how you can expect Tiger & Co. to address the media, his fans and anyone else that dare challenge him, care of R. Lee Emery’s brilliant performance in Full Metal Jacket.

h/t’s to Wei & Waggle

One thing has caught my eye a few times in reading the various blogs and news articles on Woods public relations nightmare – “What were his PR people thinking?”

It’s a fair question, but most of the speculation has centered on how those around Woods must have failed and not advised him properly.

Not so fast.

I’ve worked with a number of clients over my time in the PR industry, and spoken with even more PR people and the reality is it’s not that uncommon for someone to hire an advisor, pay them, and then disregard their counsel in whole or in part.

Why do they do this?  A few reasons:

Fear:  They’re afraid to do what their advisor is suggesting.  Maybe it involves something that feels counter-intuitive.  For example an advisor to Woods may have said something like ‘You’re in trouble, you need to rush head first into the fray and address what is being said.  Yes it will be hard.  Yes it will be painful.  But yes it is the right thing to do.’ 

Control:  There are individuals who absolutely do not feel comfortable losing control of a situation.  The sad irony is the surest way to lose any semblance of control is to not participate in your own story.  Sound like anyone you’ve heard about lately?  Also, the idea of ‘control’ is considered a dated concept by the more thoughtful communications pros today.  With social media, blogs, the internet, cable news etc etc etc…there is no control.  There is participation and engaging your audience. 

Trust:  The client may want to do the right thing, but lacks the relationship with the advisor so they can truly trust what they’re being told.  This could be for a number of reasons.  Maybe the advisor is new and the relationship is still forming when crisis hits.  Maybe there have been past issues that impact the trust, and if so then the relationship is shot and one of the two should have the courage to recognize it and move on.  Or maybe the client just has a hard time trusting anyone.  

With Woods’ resources it is unreasonable to think he doesn’t have some top notch communications talent advising him.  Ultimately though, as is the case with the root cause of this entire situation, Woods owns the final decisions and is fully accountable for how it was mismanaged.

If he was getting counsel he didn’t listen to – he owns that.  If he was getting bad counsel, then it was fairly obvious within the first 24 hours of this crisis and it still took him nearly three days to step back and say ‘No, we’re going to do this instead’ - he owns that too.  If he’s surrounded himself with yes men (or women) because he has shown an intolerance for people telling him things he doesn’t want to hear – he especially owns that.

Where were his PR people?  Probably right beside him talking into a deaf ear.

Editor’s note: I ran this post by @golferwriterguy as I often do for input/praise/’what are you nuts?’ reactions and he made what I thought was a very astute observation. 

All the things I pointed out above around fear, control and trust have contributed greatly to making Woods such a phenomenal golfer and are often cited as key to any level of player doing their best on the course.

Woods has mastered fear on the course, and routinely takes shots that would leave your average PGA pro trembling as they swung the club head away. 

He doesn’t try to steer his shots by controlling them.  Like any golfer, when you do that, things start to go sideways. 

And he has trust in himself, his judgment his game.  Another component to playing great golf – trust in your swing, your preparation, your judgment.

No real big ‘a-ha’ point with this note, just an interesting observation I thought he made upon reading.

There are a million tweets, blog postings, columns and TV stories being done right now that go into the timeline and  details. If you want that info you can find it elsewhere easily enough.  

For days now it’s been fashionable to trash ‘the media’ for invading Tiger Woods privacy. 

For days now fans and select media have worked themselves up into fits chastising anyone who dare suggest Woods speak out for his own good, and set the record straight.

So now that Woods has come clean what do our combo 20/20 hindsight and futurvision glasses tell us?

Not talking is rarely a solution: Tiger not talking to the cops?  Legally that appears to have been a sound decision.  In the court of public opinion however it added to the perception that he had something to hide with the accident, which doesn’t seem to be the case at all.  But now there will always be some lingering doubt from many around the circumstances of the accident. Plus, his lack of quick transparency helped further intertwine the Rachel Uchitel, and now Jaimee Grubbs, (the 2nd ‘e’ is for extramarital) stories with his crash.  Tiger never ‘owed’ us a response as many have been so vehemently pointing out.  Nor would have coming clean on the Grubbs involvement sooner helped him avoid the current scandal he is caught in.  But talking openly, honestly and quickly would have let him be the lead voice in this story versus deferring to TMZ, The National Enquirer and Jaimee Grubbs old voicemails.  Woods has been a master of exerting control over his image in the media.  He seemed to think that same control could be extended to a crisis like this – he was wrong.

It’s over and it isn’t: For Woods, the worst part of the public ordeal (barring something truly new and earth shattering coming out) is over.  He confessed and did so in a way that enables him to be able to deflect calls for further comment even if other women come forward claiming to have been with him – and they will.  Regardless of how true any of their claims may be there will be no shortage in people looking to cash in on Woods mistakes.  If you thought the onslaught from TMZ, The National Enquirer and other gossip rags/sites was bad before, you haven’t seen anything yet.  But Woods truly has said all that anyone can reasonably ask him to share (again barring a new bombshell that goes beyond other women coming forward).  He doesn’t need to go on TV and cry or detail out how many women, when, where or even why.  Now the public and media get to feast on the carcass of this story for the next several days or weeks or (God help us) months. 

The blame game: Woods himself clearly sought to call out, via his statement, some media (tabloid media specifically) for contributing to his current woes.  Fans continue to decry the media’s coverage, even to the point where reasoned, respectable journalists, bloggers and writers are verbally attacked for essentially not ignoring a story.  Others want to blame Jaimee Grubbs and any other women who may come forward. Feels a bit narrow minded to toss them under a bus that Woods may not be driving but certainly gassed up and started down the road.  In the end, no matter how despicable any media outlets coverage may be, or self-promoting an accusers actions may look, blame rests with Woods.  It also rests with our society where the business (and yes it is a business) of celebrity gossip sells, and sells quite well it seems.  We all feed the beast.  Now it’s eaten up a hero’s image and people act surprised.  If you want to be mad at someone, you may as well be mad at everyone because the blame game doesn’t easily tag one winner (or loser) in this situation.

I don’t feel sympathy for Tiger Woods. I also don’t revel in seeing him put through a public humiliation. He did what he did and now will deal with the consequences.  Because he is arguably the greatest golfer of all time, those consequences are significantly worse than what any average person would have to deal with.  Is that fair?  Maybe, who knows, probably not.  It doesn’t matter.

I find myself not really caring what is fair to Tiger Woods right now.  The only sympathy I can muster up is for Elin Woods and her kids.

But the Woods camp would be a bit naive to think this puts a cap on things completely.  After all the TMZ’s, National Enquirer’s and bloggers (those jerks!) of the world aren’t going to stop asking questions just because a statement was issued, especially one that arguably raises more questions than answers like:

- Why wouldn’t Woods share details with the FHP?  He’s now done doing the dance of scheduling (and then cancelling) meetings and has flat out said to them ‘get lost’.  It’s his right apparently, but it does beg the question on why? If it’s as cut and dried as he makes it sound in his statement why not share the same with law enforcement and remove any lingering questions?  Also, why did it take nearly 2.5 days to issue a statement that couldn’t have taken more than an hour (at the most) to draft? 

- Will Woods hold his press conference on Tues. for the Chevron World Challenge golf tournament?  Will he play? If he does either will the golf media step up and ask the tough questions like ‘So Tiger, about this Rachel Uchitel?’ or ‘Where does one go at 2:30am the evening of Thanksgiving anyway?‘.  Or do they fall in line and focus on golf and golf only?

We asked David Dusek of Golf.com if he’d been trying to reach Woods to ask him questions and what sort of a response he’s gotten.  What’s he heard? – “Total and complete radio silence.”

He shouldn’t expect anything new now.  Which means the only chance the media are likely to get to ask any questions beyond “How do you like the course Tiger?”, will be if he shows for the Chevron this week, and speaks.  Good luck with that.

Personally we’re glad Woods at least shared something.  It shows he’s not completely tone deaf. Sure it was still vague and woefully late in coming but he did at least speak, finally.

Will this stop the fanboys from continuing to thump their own chests and decry the evils of the media and rumor sites?  Probably not.  In fact we’ve noticed a few trends of fans when rushing to defend Tiger and thought we’d dissect them a bit more.  With that, here are the top lame excuses from fans about the Tiger Woods ‘situation’.

“It’s none of your business!” – Technically true.  We have no ‘right’ to know what happened.  Apparently neither does the FHP.  This of course only raises more questions and doubt on Tiger’s claims that this was no big deal and extends the story vs. closes it out.  But even Woods relented and realized he had to say something to appease the media, his fans, his detractors et al. Hence the carefully worded statement put out via his website.  So yes, in the end he did ultimately make it our business too.

“We shouldn’t focus on this instead of the war/economy/other world issues.”- Yes by all means, let’s pretend none of this happened by focusing on more tragic and important things in the world.  Even if we didn’t talk about Woods/Rachel Uchitel/his ‘situation’ all of those other things would still be issues.  In fact if the people who are so concerned about these other issues stopped taking the time to comment on various blogs and whine about how we should all ‘leave Tiger alone’ then they would have time to direct their focus to what they seem to think is more important.  Good luck with that.

“He’s a human being and makes mistakes.”- Whew!  Thanks for clearing that up.  We had begun to think he was some deity, or perhaps a cyborg type creation.  This is arguably the most vapid of all defense statements by fanboys. Woods himself uses it in his statement to play the empathy card against those evil unnamed others who would dare invade his privacy.  No one is saying he’s not human (duh)…we’re saying we’re more than willing to listen and accept whatever he has to say as a result - so long as he’s honest about it, because we ALL screw up.  

We should take Woods at his word re: the accident now that he’s shared some (minimal) amount of insight on it.  Though his words leave quite a few unaddressed questions as touched on above that it will be interesting to see how/if they play out. Don’t worry, we don’t expect any answers…he’s only human after all.

Update: A reader pointed this out to us. Wanda Sykes covers the Tiger Woods ‘situation’.  We’d humbly suggest Tiger immediately hire Wanda as his spokesperson.

Jay Busbee at Devil Ball Golf, who incidentally is one of our favorite golf bloggers to read because he is one of the few that is willing to not pull a lot of punches when writing about the big boys, put forth a piece echoing similar points that we made earlier about Tiger, and how he should (key point here) for his own benefit, get out front and share the facts around this incident.

If you’re the objective sort, give it a read and at the end ask yourself if Busbee is suggesting anything out of bounds, which boils down to:

- Tiger should get out in front of this story that is spinning out of control due in large part to his lack of sharing any details of what exactly happened.

- He cannot rely on his good ole boy network of the golf media to come rushing to his defense as the story has superseded sports journalism and is now a celebrity and culture story. TMZ is not going to do Tiger any favors.

The response? Exactly what anyone who has ever dared criticize Woods would expect – a freakout by the Tiger Woods fanboys. A few choice excerpts from Devil Ball comments:

Maybe you should go suck his d*ck busbee and then he will tell you his life story and what actually happened that night. Leave him alone, he will tell you when he wants, media just loves making everyone think the situation is worse than it actually is. If something did happen between tiger and his wife thats probably because some [profane] paparazzi people like TMZ cough cough made some bull [profane] up. Regardless tiger is above the media, he doesnt give a [profane], he has money and he owns the sport of golf. So get off his nuts and just be thankful he didnt get seriously hurt.

Busbee, you are simply pathetic. Can the guy actually get to feeling better before you ask him to respond to innuendo? But hey, feel free to use the National Enquirer as a source anytime you’d like. That will save us all the time of actually reading your garbage.

Tiger doesn’t need to do anything except continue to mind his own business like you should do. Do you post to the whole world when you make a mistake (I don’t think so). That’s the problem with this world, people don’t know how to tend to their own affairs and stop putting their noses in other’s business. Knowing what happened to Tiger is not going to improve or affect your life one bit except that it will give you fuel to write more negative crap. Get a life!

Classy.

When are we all going to learn that Tiger Woods is a human being and has shortcomings like all of us? When hero worship results in the inability to have some objectivity it’s both pathetic and frightening. Busbee wasn’t saying Woods is now suddenly a horrible person. Or that everything he has accomplished is suddenly undone. No he simply pointed out the obvious that if Woods wants the story being told about him right now to be accurate and go away sooner vs. later, then he’s the only one who can make that happen.

Real crazy talk. I guess Busbee isn’t angling for that Tiger Woods interview anytime soon, which is fine with us. If the cost of access is trading in your credibility and integrity then it’s too high a price anyway.

By the way, if you’re wondering if you’re a fanboy here is a helpful chart.

Not sure about you…but this is actually fairly common behavior at our family holiday gatherings.  Just sayin.

That said, you probably have read all the salacious details and speculation about what T-dub may have been up to both in the past day or two and more recently with one Rachel Uchitel. 

Suffice to say, the golf blogging community is getting their collective rocks off over the topic, so why should we not join in?

We’re fairly agnostic on the entire subject.  If Tiger did in fact fool around on his spouse, then how can anyone be surprised?  What pattern of behavior by political leaders, athletes and celebrities, let alone the general public’s behaviors, should lead us to expect more from him than anyone else? 

If he didn’t do anything untoward, then a strong response from him to the Enquirer piece should have occurred.  It hasn’t.

But Tiger should be thinking about how he tries to start getting his word out on this subject.  Old school spindoctors would advise Woods to ‘get control’ of this situation.  There is no control in today’s world of Twitter, texting and 24 hour news cycles. 

As two guys with 25+ years of professional experience in journalism and communications (including things like crisis communications) we feel like we have a unique point-of-view to add to the current drama around Woods & Co.

If we were asked to counsel Tiger what would we say?  Here’s a start:

Get well, but be fast at it: Make sure you’re right in mind & body before making any decisions or speaking publicly.  By most accounts Woods’ injuries sound relatively minor.  So he’s gotten a bit of a pass during the past 24 hours on no public response.  But now the clock is ticking and he needs to get public…quick.  He will face mounting pressure from now through Monday (and beyond) to speak publicly on what happened.

First, kill all the lawyers (ok don’t kill, but hem them in): So many people in a public position revert to the law when in trouble.  “I can’t answer that on the advise of counsel,” or “My attorney will now read a prepared statement,” or “Please refer all calls to the law offices of Dewey, Cheatum & Howe…”.  Not good responses in the court of public opinion.  Woods has now involved the law via his accident.  He needs to make sure he’s listening to his legal counsel as a result, but he would be mistaken to have one of the least trusted professions (along with politicians and used car salesmen) be the voice for his story in the next 24-72 hours.

Be honest & prioritize: Admittedly it’s easy to say ‘be honest’.  But that’s only part of it.  Right now there are two brewing issues that are separate but linked (or are they?).  Did Tiger fool around with Uchitel and what were the circumstances around his accident?  Everyone is speculating that Uchitel = car crash. Because of this, Woods needs to prioritize and focus on getting the details out around the accident.  It is something that has happened in an undeniable way.  If he was making a run for a late night pint of Ben & Jerry’s then get that word out.  If something else then he needs to determine what is the right level of transparency and where he draws the line around ‘this is family business’.

Wrap it up: Once the accident business is resolved, Woods may have bought himself some time, but he ultimately will need to respond to the speculation that he has cheated on his spouse.  Does he need to do the Barbara Walters tearfest?  Probably not.  But Woods needs to close the chapter by personally saying ‘ain’t true’ or ‘…is true and we’re dealing with it as a family…’ or ‘…is partly true but here’s what isn’t…’ and then say he is done w/the subject.  Of course no one else will be done, but if he’s said all he has to say on it and has some measure of credibilty and transparency to it, then he can at least deflect further questions to what he has said.

If nothing else it will be interesting to see how camp Woods deals with their first full-blown crisis.  Thus far, they seem to be stumbling a bit a lot, but with Woods resources he should get the right minds in the room and get back to doing what he does best soon enough.  Or not.

I know NiceBallz is a relative newcomer to the golf blogging scene. We’re the Johnny Come Lately, new kid on the block.  Invariably FNG’s like us show up and think they’re going to tell the world how to do things.  Don’t you hate that?

If so, you’re not going to like what we have to say here -The golf blogsphere is in need of a reboot.

Recently a post by Fake Steve Jobs (written by the real Dan Lyons) essentially opened a can of blogging whoop ass on the mainstream media.  If you haven’t read it, do yourself a favor and check it out, plus the follow-up here.

So why use a blog post authored by a real journalist pretending to be a CEO ripping the NYT to make a point about the golf blogsphere?  Simple – the business and tech blogsphere has a few key components to their collective mindset and approach in blogging that we think are by in large lacking in the golf blogsphere. 

• Balls: Yes, sorry to be all machismo on our female readers, but we believe women bloggers can (and sometimes do) have blogging balls as well. Ovum? If you have spent time following tech or business blogs you see one thing consistently.  People will piss all over establishment, each other…everything at the drop of a hat.  One could argue this isn’t exactly generative behavior.  True enough.  But at the same time…criticism at least stirs debate and dialogue and sometimes real change.  Plus, look at the impact blogs in tech and business have vs. golf.  You see major news broken in blogs by tech and business bloggers.  Policy shifts by companies have been made because of buzz stirred up by bloggers.  Usually when you see big news broken online in golf it’s still from the mainstream media, who happen to be at least somewhat savvy about using these new tools.

• Challenge: Do golf blogs by in large challenge the industry or players or the status quo enough?  We would argue, again in general, that they do not.  Why?  Some of it is probably an access question.  Golf blogs rely on agents, PR people at major organizations like the PGA and LPGA and other layers of gatekeepers to get access to the personalities that can help deliver great content.  If you challenge too much or dare work a bit of snark into the dialogue, odds are you’re at risk to get cut off.  The tech/business blogging world faced similar challenges.  Mainstream media and others tried to marginalize them and paint them as militants…the lunatic fringe.  Well, now the inmates are running the asylum with the advent of social media and more people being influenced by what they see and read in blogs and other places online.  You’re far more likely to see a slew of posts on a golfer giving money away to a charity, or gracing the cover of a magazine than you are to read anything critical of a player that goes beyond the superficial “FIGJAM’s a jerk” blather.  That’s not to say SOME coverage of the good stuff isn’t warranted.  But when bloggers are re-posting press releases (hey we get them too so you’re not fooling anyone) about a charity event or other softball news, it doesn’t exactly lend credence to the argument that we’re collectively serious about asking the tough questions.

• Contribute: Possibly the most disappointing thing we’ve observed, and what is arguably the most fixable is the propensity to copy and redo the same  story over and over.  It’s actually a bit of a hot button for us because IF we write something up on a topic others have done…we always strive to put a very unique spin on it.  After all, how many posts on Tiger Woods house do we REALLY need?  Sure, there is a fair amount of copy/lift/reprint in any sector of blogging…tech, biz, entertainment, sports overall etc.  But in a space (golf) where blogging is seen as generally lagging behind other sports bloggers, why be ok with the status quo?  Contribute a unique perspective…hell, just find a different PHOTO to use when you post the same article.  That’s a start.  And by the way…you know where you read it first, do the right thing and give some link back love to your fellow bloggers.  We’re all in this together folks, for better or worse.

Some would argue that the reason biz and tech bloggers are more big time than golf is due to the billions and billions of dollars at stake.  Totally fair point.  But golf itself is a pretty sizable industry but the sophistication and willingness to flat out take some chances here seem to be lagging disproportionately behind blogs in other sectors or sports.

But hey…that’s just some new guy’s perspective.  We’re sure you may have a different one and we’d love to hear it below.

PS - We weren’t talking about YOU of course fellow blogger.  No, not you.  You are a beacon of light in the dimly lit back alley’s of golf blogging.  You are the standard we aspire to live up to and we are graced by your presence here reading our drivel.*

*May or may not be true depending on who you are.

noun

1. the parts of a sentence, paragraph, discourse, etc. immediately next to or surrounding a specified word or passage and determining its exact meaning to quote a remark out of context

Robert Allenby is full of it.  A few days (nothing like being timely by the way) after trashing Anthony Kim for being ‘the loosest cannon’ on the American team and exhibiting off the course behavior that was akin to being the new John Daly…Allenby today did the predictable thing – He made up a lie an excuse about his words being taken out of context, and tacked on an apology for good measure.

If Allenby wanted us to buy that his words were taken out of context it may have been helpful if he had actually taken care to put his words IN the proper context.  For example, maybe when Allenby said: “Maybe we should all take the theory of Anthony Kim. Get home at 4 o’clock (in the morning) and then go shoot 6 under.”

Perhaps the context left out was: “…Get home at 4 o’clock after taking sandwiches and blankets to the homeless all night, and then stopping by a local Church to pray for those unfortunate souls…”ok, then Allenby would have reason to be grumpy.

Or maybe when Allenby said: “…He is the loosest cannon in that team.”  The lacking context was something like: “I mean look at his shoulders in his swing…so loose, his hips too. I bet he’s an excellent dancer.”

But it seems like Allenby is just pulling the typical ‘out of context’ card that many public figures mistakenly believe makes their apology more sincere or believable.  Does it even sound believable to essentially say –  ”I’m really sorry for what I said…which was misquoted and/or taken out of context…but still…I’m really sorry.” If you were misquoted or taken out of context…then why are you sorry?

What you mean is:

• I’m sorry I got caught.
• I’m sorry I said it when cameras/recorders were on.
• I’m sorry I was drunk and said/did that.
• I’m sorry I am going to lose money/stature as a result of this.
• I’m sorry I said something so dumb.

It’s the crisis communications equivalent of saying ‘wasn’t me’. Of course Allenby is far from alone in playing the ‘out of context’ card. Another well-known offender was Carolyn Bivens the (now) Ex-LPGA Commissioner.

After saying tweeting during a round on the LPGA could be good fun, Bivens issued the following statement once her players made it clear they thought she was out of her ever-loving gourd.

“Comments that I made in a conversation with a writer last week regarding the importance of social media and tweeting have been taken out of context. We have not discussed tweeting or the use of handheld devices during tournament rounds with the USGA, or even within the LPGA, nor do we intend to. Our players will not be tweeting during the rounds of LPGA events.”

I’ve had the good fortune of being employed in the PR/communications industry for many years now and have counseled a number of different clients.  The reality is some listen, take counsel and form a partnership with their communications experts.  Others, simply view communications as a means to an end, a tactic. Usually the latter group are who you see using phrases like ‘out of context’ once they’ve gotten caught in an unexpected swirl of controversy.

Sure, there are (more infrequently than not) comments that are taken out of context.  It can be done by any unscrupulous member of the media.  But the media are held accountable too.  If they regularly lie, eventually they will get caught and suffer consequences as well.  And if you’re going to claim out of context then please…at least provide the context that was lacking/removed.  Otherwise the claim is utterly unbelievable.

da Vinci supposedly said “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

In this day and age when public skepticism is high and tired excuses have worn thin, a more sophisticated approach to take when you say or do something that you later wish you hadn’t, is to just admit it, apologize and try to move on.

I recall Woody Austin riffing on a similar topic during a press conference about how the media portray Tiger Woods as ‘hating to lose’ more than anyone else.  Austin took exception to the idea that the rest of the tour pros were ok with losing.  Or simply didn’t ‘want it’ as badly as Tiger.

In some cases we’d say there’s merit to that position; Adam Scott seems to be busier doing photo shoots than fixing his game.  And in general the ‘young guns’ of the tour haven’t lived up to a great deal of their hype.  But overall, the idea that one of the LPGA’s biggest stars ’hates to lose’ is newsworthy, or merits the lead is pretty silly. 

“Hey Morgan, do you like to lose?”

“Hell no!  I hate to lose!”

“Great, thanks for the scoop!”

That’s how you spell Pulitzer my friends.

The benefit of the doubt should be given to the reporter on the headline as often they aren’t the ones who make the final decision there.  A reporter may even vehemently disagree with what is chosen as a lead.  But the piece overall, while possibly interesting to anyone who isn’t familiar with Pressel’s story, hardly breaks new ground and that is as disappointing as a weak lead.

Pressel undoubtedly has a strong competitive streak.  Though I doubt it is any stronger than say a Cristie Kerr, Suzann Pettersen or maybe even last week’s winner, M.J. Hur.

To that point, it seems like there is a different story that has yet to be told and would have made for a more interesting read. Who is M.J. Hur? Last week most of the coverage around her centered (rightfully) on her winning the Safeway Classic.  But you have to believe there is more here. 

She won with a new caddy who has only been on her bag one week.  She got into golf because of Se Ri Pak, and her father closed and sold his business so he could focus on her development.  Three years ago she barely spoke a word of English.  Now, she easily managed a press conference with media whose Korean is undoubtedly far worse than her English will ever be.

She’s at the Canadian Open this week according to the field listing on the LPGA site.  But maybe she’s tired of doing interviews, or maybe some media are simply tired of writing about Korean golfers winning yet another tournament on the LPGA.  We hope it’s the former.  While stories on Pressel, Gulbis, Creamer, Kerr and others are all well and good, barring any new, news they are also played out.  Stories on M.J. Hur or other less familiar players on the LPGA may not be as obvious on the surface, but they could be as interesting if the media who have the access also showed a desire to dig deeper than the obvious when considering story lines. 

Or, we could simply read about Natalie Gulbis being hot.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.