The Pen Is Mightier Than The Tiger

Now that some time has passed since the initial article was published and all the parties (and then some) have weighed in on this story, let’s try to take a reasoned look at the brouhaha that has resulted from Brandel Chamblee’s recent article on Golf.com (not on the Golf Channel, an important fact that will be discussed in more detail below) about Tiger Woods.

The timeline of pertinent facts:  

1.  Chamblee, a former PGA player and long-time commentator for the Golf Channel as well as a contributor to Golf.com, authored  an article on golf.com on October 15, 2013, awarding grades to the major golfers from 2013.  He stated that Woods “was a little cavalier with the rules”.  See the article here.  He clearly implicated that Woods had cheated and crossed out a grade of 100 and awarded Woods an F (based on an incident in Chamblee’s childhood when a teacher had caught him cheating and changed the grade on his paper from a 100 to an F).  

This Started It All ...

2.  On October 18, 2013, Woods’ agent Mark Steinberg of Excel Sports Management released a statement to ESPN.com in which he said that he would consider legal action. See the article here.

"There's nothing you can call a golfer worse than a cheater," Steinberg said . "This is the most deplorable thing I have seen."

3.  To date, no lawsuit has been filed.          

4.  On October 22nd, Chamblee issued an apology via Twitter.  He sent out five tweets, which together stated:

What brought me here was the realization that my comments inflamed an audience on two sides of an issue. Golf is a gentleman's game and I'm not proud of this debate. I want to apologize to Tiger for this incited discourse. And no — I was not asked to apologize. My intention was to note Tiger's rules infractions this year, but comparing that to cheating in grade school went too far.

5.  On October 28^th, Tiger Woods called out the Golf Channel to retaliate on his behalf without mentioning Chamblee by name:

All I am going to say is that I know I am going forward," Woods said in Haikou, China, before losing to Rory McIlroy in an 18-hole exhibition match at Mission Hills. "But then, I don't know what the Golf Channel is going to do or not. But then that's up to them. The whole issue has been very disappointing as he didn't really apologize and he sort of reignited the whole situation. So the ball really is in the court of the Golf Channel and what they are prepared to do.

6.  On October 29^th, Rory McIlroy weighed in all the way from China on the controversy:  “Yeah, I think Brandel was completely wrong. I don't think he has the authority to say

Good Heavens!

anything like that about Tiger Woods," McIlroy told the Guardian newspaper. "People wouldn't know who Brandel Chamblee was if it wasn't for Tiger Woods, so yeah, I am completely against what he said and I think he should be dealt with in the right way."  

7.  On October 30^th, Chamblee was interviewed on the Golf Channel.  He indicated he would  resign from his job writing columns for Golf.com and Golf magazine, and acknowledged that he made a "mistake" when he insinuated that Woods had cheated on the PGA Tour.  "There's no way that I could know with 100% certainty what Tiger's intent was in any of those situations," he said. "That was my mistake."  Chamblee had what appears to be the last word, stating that now, “if Tiger and his camp have an issue with something I write, they will at least be yelling at the right people.”

8.  Chamblee is still employed by the Golf Channel.  

Random GolfAlbumBlog Thoughts:

1.  Brandel must have been quaking in his boots this whole time.  Not.

2.  The I’ll Huff And I’ll Puff Department:  Steinberg’s threatened litigation will never happen.  The day that Tiger Woods opens himself up to cross-examination in a courtroom under oath concerning the issue of his own character is the day that Zambonis will be clearing the ice in Hades.

3.  The only oaths Woods utters are the well-documented, foul-mouthed ones on and off the course on a regular basis. (It was reported that Woods flew into a rage in the trailer when informed by the BMW Championship tournament official Slugger White, the Vice President For Rules and Operations of the PGA Tour, that his ball had moved, not oscillated, and a 2-stroke penalty was imposed.  Woods reportedly screamed  at White and Tiger-slammed the trailer walls before storming off without speaking to the press.  See the transcript of the last Q&A of the interview of White the next day on the PGA TOUR website here.)  

3.  Tiger’s agent is either a non-lawyer or has forgotten Libel and Slander 101.  Truth is always a defense.  In addition, in the case of a public figure, the plaintiff must prove actual malice or a reckless disregard for the truth.  Good luck trying to prove actual malice.  And there may have been reckless disregard involving Mr. Woods during the course of his rules violations last season, but not on Chamblee’s part.

4.  Tiger may or may not have cheated on the golf course, depending upon your definition of cheating. See one definition here.   But, as the world knows, cheating, i.e., “transgressions”, off the course is an entirely different matter.  

5.  McIlroy’s statement that a member of the press would not have the “authority” to comment on Woods’ behavior on the golf course is quite strange, reviewed out of context.  However, as an Ulsterman he might be more comfortable than most  with the concept of suppression of voices against authority, as well as the suppression of other freedoms we take for granted here in the good old US of A, which suppression has has occurred for centuries in Northern Ireland.

6.  Messrs. McIlroy and Woods appear on the surface to be strange bedfellows, until you remember the Nike connection.  And of course they now both date famous female athletes.  Not to mention that they both were paid handsomely for an exhibition match in China prior to last week’s WGC-HSBC Champions at Sheshan tournament in Shanghai.  (Industry insiders estimated McIlroy was paid $1.5 million for the exhibition at Mission Hills on Hainan Island in China, with Woods earning more than $2 million. Nice work if you can get it.)

BFFs

7.  Rory, nice of you to defend your buddy, but how about you wake us up when you are contending in a major championship again.  Or you win a tournament, for that matter.

8.   Tiger’s behavior would evidence that he still thinks he is the metaphorical 8oo-pound gorilla in the sport of golf, if not the world in general.  But now he is now back to being the literal 175- pound golfer, after EA sports dumped him as the 15-year face of its computer golf game after a 90 per cent decline in sales in five years. The 2013 version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour has sold just over 300,000 copies so far, compared to 3.39 million in 2008.  (Another McIlroy connection - the 2010 cover of the EA golf game featured another golfer alongside Woods -- Northern Ireland's rising star McIlroy.)  

9.  The EA Sports press release contained a statement from Daryl Holt, VP and GM of Golf at EA Sports which said in part

EA SPORTS golf fans have always loved authentic courses and players, but they've also asked for more choice and customization in how and where they play.  We're working on a new approach to deliver the best golf experience to our fans — we think you'll love it, and so we’re excited to share the first screenshot of our next generation golf game currently in development. 

Two Old Golfers

Next generation?  Next generation!!  In other words, Tiger, YOU’RE OLD!

10.  Woods and his agent tried to put the squeeze on the Golf Channel.  As Chamblee sagely pointed out, they were yelling at the wrong people.   Golf Channel has resisted if not rejected the attempted power play by the newly-defanged Tiger.  Oh no, Tiger will no longer give an  interview on Golf Channel??  Oh, the horror!  Lindsey Vonn might snub the media as the Olympics approach?  (Wring hands and gnash teeth.)  Who cares!  Only the media is obsessed with Tiger Woods.  (Witness the “Tiger Tracker” feature on the ESPN.com Golf website.)   Most golf fans want to see the “next generation” of golfers, the prior generation of golfers or, like the audiences at NASCAR waiting for a crash, see Tiger lose.  

11.  The only Tiger Tracker I want to see is here.

12.  Can we move on, please?  Thank you.  

Let’s get back on the course, because tramps like us, who don’t get paid a million bucks or more to play one round of golf with a friend,  baby we were born just to golf.

BORN TO GOLF

Original Song: Born to Run

© Bruce Springsteen 1975, 2003

In the day we sweat it out on the greens of the runaway American game

At night we play through fairways of glory only in our dreams

Sprung by the starter on the first tee, chrome-domed,

Man, hungover, and steppin' out to play away

Baby this game rips the balls from your bag

It's those sand traps, those suicide traps

We gotta blast out like we're tough

cause tramps like us, baby we were born to golf.

Wendy's lets us in on the way to the course to feed our sub-par vision

Burgers, chili, onion rings and shakes

Now we can wrap our hands round that sand wedge

Together we can beat this game, we'll swing 'til we drop

Baby, we'll always be back

You walk with us out on that grass

Chili and cheese kickin' back some serious gas

Babe you gotta know how it feels

I want to cure my slice

I want to know if golf is real

Beyond the R & A, tow-headed clones scream drives right down the middle

The groupies squint through periscope mirrors,

looking for one to diddle

The scoreboard rises, stark red and black the fans huddle 'round the last green

I want to die with you out on the links tonight but I've a match, A.M. 8:15

HUNH!

The Links are jammed with broken heroes trying to hit one more

power drive

Everybody's out on the course today, there's no place

left to hide

Together, with Wendy's, we can live with the

sadness, the madness

When you can't sink a putt in the hole

Someday, game, I don't know when, we're gonna get

to that place

Where we really wanna go

And we'll never walk in the rough

But 'til then tramps like us, baby, we were born to golf!!

Wuh oh Wuh oh Oh-o

_AMDG^TM

© 2013 R.E. Kelly