Jack’s Blog

Anytime an individual or team with a big lead loses, the word “choke” surfaces.  That was the scenario in yesterday’s PGA Championship when Keegan Bradley came from five strokes down with three holes to play, rallied to tie Jason Dufner and then beat him in a three-hole playoff.  So which was it - was Bradley clutch or did Dufner choke?  Without trying to psychoanalyze, probably both.

Dufner played sensationally (although the commentators had mentioned some of the short putts he made did look a little shaky) . . . until he had the five stroke lead - which he obtained when Bradley triple bogeyed the par three 15th hole.  Dufner was a hole behind Bradley and bogeyed 15 (and, ugh, 16).  Bradley birdied 16 and Dufner watched him birdie 17 as well.  After Dufner bogeyed 17, the tourney was tied.  Bradley closed out his round with a par.  With the pressure on - and momentum against him, Dufner was forced to par - or lose.  For someone who had bogeyed three consecutive holes - on national TV, in a major, Dufner could have . . . choked.  He parred the hole which forced a playoff.

On the first playoff hole, Dufner hit his shot close but Bradley knocked one inside him.  Dufner missed his birdie attempt, Bradley made his and went on to win the PGA.  As for whether Dufner choked, Henry Ford’s quote sums it up best - without disparaging anyone:

“There isn’t a person anywhere who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can.”

Whether reading accounts of the World Cup and the British Open, or watching television or listening to talk radio about them, one theme was discussed over and over - the subject of choking.  Did the U.S. women choke?  Did Phil Mickelson choke?

The arguments shared by those who claim “choke” by the females are that they were big favorites, missed on early opportunities, gave up goals that could have been avoided and performed poorly during the penalty kick phase of the contest.  Losing as an overwhelming favorite has nothing to do with choking; maybe overlooking the opponent or taking them too lightly (neither of which explanation I believe was the case with the World Cup final), but not choking.   The early lost chances could have been chalked up to lack of focus, not choking.   The first goal for Japan was due to a mistake in clearing the ball, not because the players involved choked.  Granted, the second goal should never have happened but because of a questionable strategical decision, not anything related to choking.  Regarding the PKs, two of the misses were superbly turned away by Japan’s goalkeeper and while the other miss was badly airmailed, to reason that one play caused the loss would be absurd.

Only because Phil Mickelson played absolutely magnificently for the first half of the final round was he even in contention for the Open Championship.  Lefty’s explanation for some risky shots was that he saw Darren Clarke was playing so well he knew taking risks were the only chance anyone would have to beat him.  I’ll take his analysis over some talking head whose golf game is more like mine than Mickelson’s.  He does miss more short putts than any great player but the rest of his game is as good or better than nearly everyone on tour so if that’s choking, he’s a choker.

The word “choke” is overused, especially in these two situations.  A little empathy would be wise in sports, considering our own performances.  As Stephen Covey has said:

“We judge others by their actions, ourselves by our intentions.“

College basketball coaches are allowed to evaluate off-campus beginning July 5.  Heading to SoCal for an AAU tournament.  Blog will return Monday.

Following his dominating win in the PGA championship in Philly, golf commentators hailed Nick Watney as most likely the best player from the United States.  Although he went through the tourney’s weekend in near perfect fashion ( a 27 on the back nine Saturday for a course record 62 and a bogey-free final round), he has a serious flaw in his effort to be “the best.”  He’s too good a person.

Nick Watney was a golfer for Fresno State when I was on the basketball staff there.  It was a time when the Bulldogs had some of the premier athletes in the nation.  In addition to Nick, David Carr was the overall number one pick in the NFL draft, Melvin Ely was the highest rated center in the nation (and a lottery pick in the NBA draft) and Stephen Abas was the best wrestler in his weight division, eventually winning an Olympic silver medal.

None were media seekers but Nick was the most reserved.  He was as unassuming a superstar as anyone you’d ever meet.  A great guy, Nick was just somebody who went to class, worked hard in practice and competed at the highest level.  He just wasn’t much interested in anything that would draw attention to himself.  He was a serious, religious young man, similar to his coach and uncle.  Mike Watney was as much a mentor to his nephew as he was a coach and relative, a trait he’s offered to every guy on Fresno State’s golf team - for about the past three decades.

How can all this modesty hurt Nick?  It seems Americans like their heroes to have a nasty or dark side.  Nick’s recently married, polite and soft-spoken.  Not a recipe for today’s superstar.  Instead, he’s a breath of fresh air.  While today’s cynical fans might look at Nick Watney as too boring, it would be better to follow Albert Einstein’s advice:

“Example is not the main thing in influencing others.  It’s the only thing. “

It’s only natural in today’s world of “all sports, all the time” that once an athlete performs in an extraordinary manner he (until there’s a little more history on the distaff side, this blog will address only the men’s side) is immediately compared to the person who’s situated on the pedestal.  Whether or not this type of rush to judgment is warranted doesn’t really matter.  It’s just the way things are.  So when Rory McElroy went “Tiger” at the U.S. Open, it was inevitable the comparisons would follow.

It was impossible to put on a sports talk station today without hearing opinions from “He reminded me of Tiger” to “It might be a little too early to crown Rory as the new Tiger just yet” to “It’s simply insane to make any kind of comparison to what Tiger did.”  On ESPN radio in Fresno, which has two stations, both of them were devoted the Rory-Tiger debate.  Who cares?  If it helps the sport, golf has to be thrilled with everyone chatting up the recent events.

I started thinking about all this - both the pros and the cons - and couldn’t remember if this same talk occurred following Tiger’s first major victory which probably means where this story goes is yet to be written.  One thing is for certain.  If McElroy’s trouncing the field at Congressional stokes Woods’ competitive juices, everyone wins.

So, to paraphrase Bob Knight, who possibly would like to take back his comment:

If (it’s) inevitable, relax and enjoy it.”

Three years ago, nearly to the day (6/19/08), the blog that occupied this space was about baseball and its decrease in popularity.  With the record performance by Rory McElroy at the U.S. open, baseball may lose the fans it may have gained back when Tiger Woods’ game went south.  Although golf takes even more time than baseball, will the rise of McElroy and a possible rivalry with Woods move more fans away from what used to be America’s past time?

The interest in baseball in this country has been waning for the past decade or so because of the change in the attitude of American society and the lack of change in the game of baseball.  Today’s generation is an instant gratification one; people can’t relate to something that doesn’t have a time limit - whether it’s a sport, a meeting, a lunch or even a phone (if anyone’s so lucky to even receive a phone call in today’s constantly “on-the-go” world).  It’s so much easier and more efficient, although much colder and more impersonal to email or text.

Baseball is a simple game (score more runs than the other team before you run out of at-bat opportunities), yet a complex game (a team sport in some regards but, in reality, a series of one-on-one confrontations between pitcher and batter).  The intracies of baseball are fascinating, if that sort of thing captures your fancy, but, at the same time, the traditions of the game have it trapped in a time warp.

Basically, there are two kinds of traditions: the first is the barbaric type (which “baseball people” will defend to the death), e.g. timing of the pitcher’s delivery motion by the batter as the pitcher warms up.  This one actually did result in a near-death on July 5, 1999 when a Wichita State pitcher intentionally hit a University of Evansville batter as he practiced his swings…24 feet from home plate.  And the coach from WSU admitted, “(If) the on-deck hitter is standing too close to home plate, you brush him back. I teach that…. So I guess if there needs to be blame, blame me.”  What’s sad is that to this day, there are players, coaches and fans who think the coach is right and the batter wrong and he simply got what he deserved.

On a lesser scale, but still from the Neanderthal school of thought is the “You hit our guy, expect retaliation” or “Break up a double play by going too far out of the way to take our guy out, we’ll do …”) whatever it is cavemen do to show loyalty.  You’ll know if you’re a true baseball person if you take offense at these remarks.

Update: With the controversy stemming from the injury to Buster Posey, how will baseball purists react to future plays at the plate?   

The second tradition that is hurting baseball is the “cat and mouse” nature of the game, e.g. a pitcher works too fast, call time out, tie your shoe, go back to the dugout for more resin; or if a runner is a threat to steal, throw over to keep him close … even if his lead is an inch and a quarter.  All these are time honored traditions, but time wasters in the eyes of the fan.  And now they’re talking about adding instant replay?  Baseball wanted to speed up the game and after a year, the results were released and games were actually shorter - by three minutes!

The reader will be shocked to know that, when I was a kid, baseball was my favorite sport and, as far as witnessing a game in person, there’s not a sport I enjoy more to watch in person (assuming the weather’s good) than baseball.  If that’s the case, then why the blog?  I’m not talking about relics like me; I’m not from “today,” as my grandfather was fond of saying.

This blog’s about why the interest in baseball’s decreased and, while much of it is due to lack of the foundations the game was built on, a greater reason is due to the lack of patience and leisure time (at least to spend on watching something - today’s leisure time has to do with working out, hiking, water skiing, doing stuff).

I recall the late, great sportswriter, Jim Murray, writing a column on baseball and why they couldn’t speed up the game.  Murray stated something today’s generation (and a good deal of the previous one) doesn’t seem to grasp:

“I can’t ever remember a time I went to the ballpark in a hurry.”

Corey Pavin has the job the golfing world says is one of the most enviable in the sport - captain of the US Ryder Cup - one of the few times, and by far the most important, that golf turns into a team sport.  I’m not sure why that is, but if you ever saw me play golf, you’d probably understand why anything about golf confuses me.

This year, as is the case with every Ryder Cup squad, Pavin was faced with the decision of selecting his “captain’s picks,” i.e. the tour pros who don’t automatically qualify for inclusion on the team.  Only this year one of the guys on his list of potential selections was none other than the man who’s dominated the sport for as long as many people can remember.  The Robo-golfer, Tiger Woods. 

After many disastrous choices he made - and I’m not referring to club selection - Tiger returned to golf after a hiatus in which his marriage broke up, he was diagnosed as having a sex addiction (a new one to people from my generation, where any guy whose lifestyle was similar to Tiger’s was known as a stud - if he was single - and a skirt chaser if he was married; now there seems to be a disease associated with any distasteful behavior, i.e. “it’s not his fault, he’s suffering from a sex addiction”), he became the punchline for nearly every comic (professional or wannabe) and, what was most shocking, his game did a complete 180, turning him into “Tiger vs. the field” to just another guy in the field.

Jim Gray, he of the fivehead, did what any journalist who’s looking to quickly advance his career: he asked questions that were controversial, untimely and unanswerable.  Then, when told by Pavin in no uncertain terms he didn’t appreciate the queries (nor the assumptions) and wasn’t going to respond to them, Gray threatened to retaliate.  In times like these reporters like Gray live by the line, “The pen is mightier than the sword - and thank goodness it is!“

So, after all was said and done, Corey Pavin did, in fact, make Tiger Woods a captain’s pick.  His reason?  “He’s the number one player in the world,” Pavin reminded people who’d seen the “new” Tiger and wondered if Pavin had.  Just prior to the decision, Woods went out and, for the first time since he came back, shot three straight rounds in the 60s.  Then, in the tourney following the announcement, Tiger shot two over and is tied for 45th.  Talk about your “up and down.”

I feel Corey Pavin made the right choice, if for no other reason than he knows what Tiger is capable of and how much of a competitor he is.  It would seem to the untrained eye - and none is more untrained than mine when it comes to golf - that picking him is a much safer and wiser move than not picking him.  It’s not like there’s an uproar in any of the camps of the Americans who went unselected.

When you look at Corey Pavin’s job and the criticism/support he’s received, what his choice came down to was:

“It’s a lot easier to make suggestions than it is to make decisions.” 

Sometime, somewhere, somebody coined the phrase “the public’s right to know.”  I’ve never heard anyone take credit for it and, possibly, it’s because it’s a fraud invoked on the human race.  A quite popular fraud, but fraudulent nonetheless.

There are many areas of a celebrity’s life the public has a right to know, most of them dealing with whatever he or she does in his or her chosen profession and whether or not the celebrity in question has a police record.  Where and why the public has a right to know all the details of a person’s life (celebrity or common person) is something I’ve never had satisfactorily explained to me.

As far as Tiger Woods, the man was exposed as a womanizer and it has cost him dearly in areas such as the pocketbook (although I don’t believe he’ll be filing the short form come April), fan base (which, while it remains huge, has certainly been diminished by a great deal) and, by recent results, his game.   Worse, it has shown him to be vulnerable, i.e. human, something neither he nor his late father, Earl, would ever want to admit, as it might cause him to lose his edge.  Which, based on his play since his return, is the perfect adjective to describe what’s happened to him on the golf course.

What goes on behind closed doors, however, as long as it’s in within legal limits, is not, nor should it be, the right of the public.  In fact, there is no need for the general public to know - although a strong case could be made for its desire to know.

I’ve made my feelings known in previous posts (see 12/3/09/ & 2/20/10, in particular).  By gushing over every gory detail (fact or fiction), yet not adding anything substantial to their own lives, people are proving the line I first heard from my late, brilliant mentor, John Savage:

“You don’t strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.”

As far as Dustin Johnson’s two-stroke penalty in last weekend’s PGA tourney at Whistling Straits, there is plenty of fault to be spread around.  First and foremost, Johnson and his caddy should have read the rules.  After all, it is a major and how embarrassing would it be to get DQ’d (or assessed a two-stroke penalty) for not knowing what was and was not legal?

That’s a given.  Similar to when you don’t read the small print and the company sticks it to you on a formality.  What happened in Wisconsin reminded me of that commercial where the obnoxious guy screws over little kids on technicalities.  Now, Johnson’s (and his caddy’s - having been an assistant, which is basically what a caddie is, I know it’s one of your responsibilities to make sure these kinds of situations don’t happen) oversights are much worse than not reading the fine print - since his job performance depended on it.  Golf, however, prides itself on being a gentleman’s game, one that oozes dignity.  What transpired on Sunday was as close to a “gotcha” as what the GOP claimed Katie Couric did to Sarah Palin.

During the broadcast, the fact there were a ridiculous number of bunkers (1300 is the number that pops into my mind) was mentioned (bragged about?) numerous times.  Every shot from Snoopy’s blimp reminded those with short attention spans.  Seeing the players avoid them, for the most part, displayed the incredible skill they possessed.

In most sports, fouls or illegalities are called based on “advantage/disadvantage.”  Did what Johnson do give him an advantage or cause one of his opponents a disadvantage?   Granted, had the officials looked the other way, fans would have been shown replays of a player “obviously breaking a rule” and the officials would have had to answer a slew of difficult questions.  Uh, kinda like they’re doing now.

I’m not sure what shocks me more - the fact that a woman was actually sitting on the edge of the bunker while Johnson hit his (illegal) shot or the fact that the PGA officials remain so adamant and inflexible in their reaction to the ruling (”The rules are clearly stated and posted”).  This guy played 72 holes and grounded his club once.  Do you really think he was trying to pull a fast one?

The only way this situation could have been more embarrassing to golf is what Johnson himself said - if he’d made the subsequent par putt, giving him the apparent victory.  Golf, a sport in which the word “class” is so revered should pay attention to a comment by one of its tour pros (for the life of me, I can’t recall which one, nor have research attempts yielded which player made the profound statement).  When everyone was talking about how fans trampled bunkers throughout play during the four days of the tournament, the pro said:

“Imagine this happening at Augusta.”

For those readers who frequented this site yesterday, you probably know what my feeling is.  Bad day.  Really bad day.  To watch Nick give away his three-stroke lead - on the very first hole (he double bogeyed & Dustin Johnson birdied to pull into a tie) - might have signaled Nick’s day wasn’t going to end as well as the day prior.  His misery, though, was more drawn out than what his playing partner, D. Johnson, would experience - but that’s another story for a blog on golf’s rules.  Note: That blog won’t be posted by me as I don’t know or pretend to understand some of the rules of that sport.

As I mentioned, to watch Nick unravel was painful, but not to be able to witness it was even worse.  I checked the paper this morning which said TNT’s coverage would start at 8:00am Pacific time, but that CBS’ coverage wouldn’t start until 1:00pm, joining the tournament in progress after a 49ers preseason football game.  Was a preseason football game more exciting and a greater moneymaker than the final round of the PGA?  Evidently.

This is one of those times that personal preference and emotion got the better of me.  Would I have been upset had Nick not been the leader at the start of the day?  Probably, because through the years, I’ve come to appreciate and enjoy golf, especially when it’s played by the best in the world, more than a somewhat meaningless preseason football game.  I have to admit that there was a day when I’d rather a re-run of a football game would excited me more than watching golf.  Maybe it’s called old age, maybe maturity, maybe expanding my interests.

However, I became more frantic after my friend, Peter Sharkey (see 6/15/10 for a blog on Peter’s induction into a local Hall-of-Fame), called me and was giving me stroke-by-stroke commentary.  Somehow, he was getting the tourney on some remote channel that I couldn’t find, although I searched through about 700 channels - have I ever mentioned that I’m technologically-challenged?  Since I had a meeting with one of my artists for C.U.T.E. Baby Gifts at 1:00pm (please go to www.CuteBabyNameGifts.com for information on the best, personalized, unique baby - and toddler - gifts you’ll ever find), I gave up searching and drove off to my meeting.

By the time I returned, Nick was so far out of contention, they weren’t even showing him.  It wasn’t until much later that, while he was still in a first place tie (heading into the par 3 7th hole), there was a disturbance that caused him to block his tee shot - into Lake Michigan.  It was too late to check and even googling didn’t help uncover what occurred.   The questions remain, “Did Nick succumb to the pressure of leading a major for the first time, did the crowd disturbance ruin his day (he triple bogeyed the 7th and bogeyed both the 8th and 9th), or did he simply fall out of the three-day zone he was in?

One thing about sports - especially individual sports like golf - there will be another day and another tournament.  For Nick Watney, at age 29, there will be many, many more.  Some day, he might even look back on yesterday and feel it was the turning point of his career.  As Robert Allen put it:

“The future you see is the future you get.”

File this blog under the category, “local boy makes good.”  After the third round of the U.S. Open at Whistling Straits (WI), former Fresno State golfer, Nick Watney, has a three-stroke lead.  Should he claim his first major, the San Joaquin Valley will receive publicity for something other than being the nation’s number one agricultural region.

Nick is more than just a Bulldog alum; he is, and always has been, a true role model for everyone who’s met, seen or followed him.  Soft-spoken, incredibly talented and a young man whose humility is in inverse proportion to his skill, he has made everyone in the Sacramento area, where he grew up, and the Valley, where he starred, quite proud.  Not only has he grown as a professional, he’s remained grounded - due mainly to his family.  I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting either of his parents, but I am lucky to have been a colleague of his uncle - Fresno State golf coach, Mike Watney.  Even though I’m no longer employed by the university, he and I regularly correspond - although I’m ashamed to admit that as much as I abhor communication through modern technology, it’s more of the email and text variety.

Mike was (and is, as far as I’m concerned) an accomplished golfer in his own right and a sensational coach (in 2007 he was inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall-of-Fame).  Besides having the Bulldogs in contention for a conference championship on an annual basis (he’s coached at FSU for 30 years), he, in one lesson (which I won in a Xmas staff luncheon and he insisted I take advantage of), watched me take two swings and rid me of my 20-year slice with a simple correction to my grip.  Unfortunately, I never won another lesson.  On that, I kid.  Mike offered additional lessons (at no charge), but my game was a lost cause - unlike those he tutors on the golf team.

Mike not only taught his nephew the finer points of the game, as he does the other golfers he’s mentored (several others of whom are on the Tour), but he is as fine a person as there is in college coaching today - regardless of gender or sport.  This message was conveyed loud and clear to Nick, who had the benefit of Mike’s impeccable character and guidance at family functions as well as Bulldog practice sessions.

Superlatives are overused, but I’ll go out on a limb and make the statement that there never will be any negative publicity concerning Nick Watney.  To date, there’s never been a hint of scandal in his career - which happens to be taking place during the Age of the Internet. Save your money if you’re planning on betting against my prediction.

If you believe that good things ought to happen to good people, join me in pulling for Nick Watney to win his first, but not his last, major.  As for what he ought to do to accomplish that, Abraham Lincoln summed it up best:

“I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.”