- Here’s yet another convincing piece of evidence that it’s time to end the ridiculous farce that is the celebrity pro-am event at PGA Tour events. Playing Friday in the first round of the Outback Pro-Am at the TPC Tampa Bay, actor Bill Murray hooked a tee shot so badly during that the ball sailed across a street next to the hole and hit a woman in her front yard. Murray was on No. 9 during when he hit Gail DiMaggio as she was watching the tournament from her front yard. She was knocked to the ground and had to go to the hospital, but Murray hooked his shot so badly that he had no idea where the ball went. "I wasn't sure I was in bounds or not," Murray said. "And I saw this NBC golf cart coming at me and he said, 'I hate to be the one to tell you this but you hit a lady. She's down on the ground.' That is, you know, sobering." Sobering and also a good sign that the pro-am is an outdated joke that needs to end. I’m sure that Murray’s partners on the day - Hal Sutton and Jeff Sluman - would concur with those sentiments if they were being honest. By the time Murray's caddie took him in a cart to the woman's yard, paramedics were already attending to her. DiMaggio was lying on the ground, but conscious and moving. She was back out in her yard watching the action today and actually chatted with Murray, who tried to be cordial about the whole thing. To her credit, DiMaggio seems OK with everything and doesn’t appear to be bitter at Murray even though she admitted today that he head is sore, bloodied and swollen. Honestly, I’m not so much blaming Bill Murray as I am the enablers who put on these pro-am events. If they just stop having the events, these things will cease to happen. Fans don’t care about seeing some 18-handicap actor or musician hack it around for four hours and you know that the pros who have to play with these celebs all wish they didn’t have to do so. Do everyone a favor, pull the plug on pro-am events permanently and save all of us a lot of pain, suffering and golf balls to the side of the head…….
- President Obama hasn’t even been in office for three full months yet, but dude is making a point of reconnecting with countries and foreign leaders with whom the United States was not on good terms the past few years. Already he’s made noise about normalizing relations with Cuba and has lifted bans on travel to the island nation while also allowing Cuban-Americans to send money back to relatives in Cuba. Now, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says that although President Obama doesn't have a one-on-one meeting scheduled with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but Obama would likely go along with it if Chavez were to initiate a conversation. With the president in Trinidad and Tobago for the Summit of the Americas, the possibility of an encounter with Chavez is possible because the Venezuelan despot is among the leaders from North and South America attending the summit. Asked what Obama’s response was likely to be if Chavez requested to meet with him, Gibbs said, "Every time I pull the president aside to have a conversation we've had that conversation, so I assume he would do the same." Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but I think Gibbs is on point. It really is amazing to see nations that were so hostile toward the U.S. the past eight years (coincidence? I think not) change course so suddenly simply because the worst president in world history is gone and a competent leader is in his place. Relations between the United States and Venezuela were actually pretty solid prior to the debacle of W.’s tenure, during which Chavez repeatedly called him the devil. His feelings must have changed, because in an interview in February, Chavez said: "I am ready to talk with the U.S. president. Let's hope, and I have said this, perhaps we can restore the relations to the same level that we had with the Clinton administration. Perhaps we can start a new period of respect and relations that would be constructive. I have the faith that that is maybe possible.” Now Obama must decide on the proper greeting for a fascist dictator who oppresses and brutalizes his people and strong-arms them into voting him dictator for life. Not exactly what the people of Venezuela had in mind when they elected Chavez president in 1998 as a leftist reformer. If only that coup attempt in April 2002 had succeeded. But best of success to B. Obama if he does meet with Chavez, should be interesting…..
- The more time that passes following the demise of Seinfeld, one of the greatest TV series of all-time, the more the writers of the show look like geniuses. No, I’m not referring to the brilliant comedy of the series, but rather to the fact that more and more of the seemingly ridiculous stories from the show are happening in real life. One example can be seen in the story of Jake Karle of San Antonio, Tex. Like Seinfeld’s central character, Jerry Seinfeld, who incurred the wrath of library cop Bookman for running up a ginormous library fees tab and not paying it, Karle checked out "Here Comes the Robots," a book about computers and robots, way back in 1988. That was several presidents ago, but in the 21 years that have passed, one thing that hasn’t changed is the location of that book. Karle never returned it to the San Antonio Public Library, running up a library fine of $2,682. The book was missing for so long that the library had already written it off. Safe to say that once you get past the 10-year mark, holding out hope that a book will be returned is an exercise in futility. Karle also forgot about the book and didn’t find it until he was going through some boxes while moving. On April 16, 2009, he found the book and finally got around to returning it. Given a late fee of 35 cents a day times 21 years, Karle technically owed $2,682 in fines, but the library graciously accepted the book without penalizing him. “We can always work out a payment plan if it is a larger fee, but the main thing is we want people to keep using the library,” said Imelda Moreno, a librarian. The lesson here, as always, never doubt the prophetic power of a scripted half-hour sitcom……..
- The world of cycling lost a legend yesterday….assuming that by legend you mean lying, cheating, no-integrity-having douche bag who the sport will be much better off without. American cyclist Tyler Hamilton announced his retirement Friday after testing positive for the steroid DHEA, the second time he’s tested positive for performance-enhancing tactics or drugs in his career. This time, he admitted to knowingly ingesting the ‘roids in an over-the-counter herbal antidepressant. That comes on the heels of a positive test for homologous blood transfusion in 2004. Hamilton served a mandatory two-year suspension for that offense, although he disputed the test results through two rounds of arbitration. For his second offense, Hamilton likely would face a suspension of eight years to life. Rather than wait and see what the sentence was, Hamilton pushed the eject button and left competitive cycling. Verrrrry courageous of you, T. The fact that you had one positive test against you - even if you dispute its veracity - and doping again shows what a total lack of integrity and honor you have. Your sport will be better off without you, my man. This may seem harsh to say about a guy who is fighting an ongoing battle with clinical depression that was first diagnosed in 2003, but to the best of my knowledge, depression doesn’t impact your personal integrity. I do have a deep degree of sympathy for anyone suffering from depression, but Hamilton’s consciously made the decision to buy the supplement, which is marketed under the brand name Mitamins Advanced Formula for Depression. He claims that he was in a "desperate" emotional state triggered when he went off his prescription medication cold turkey. DHEA is clearly listed among the over-the-counter drug's ingredients. “Right now, I need to deal with my own issues and take care of myself," he said. "Did I take it knowing it was on the banned list? Yes. Did I take it because it was performance-enhancing? Absolutely not." Honestly….it doesn’t even matter at this point. Nor do your attestations that you regret any negative impact the events may have on the sport. Right alongside Hamilton’s name in the minds of cycling fans will be two-time cheater, with the depression a distant second. Those memories of Hamilton as one of the best-known and most accomplished American cyclists of his generation will be so far down the list you’ll need a miner’s hat and flashlight to find them. No one will recall that he spent many seasons with the U.S. Postal Service team and became one of Lance Armstrong's most valuable support riders, nor will they recall that Hamilton went on to lead two different European teams, CSC and Phonak. Instead, they’ll recall the freefall that began in 2004, shortly after he won the Olympic gold medal in the time-trial event. That’s when an anti-doping test at the Tour of Spain revealed the presence of another person's blood in his system. Hamilton hired a team of attorneys and denied involvement in any doping scheme. Like many names floated in the Operacion Puerto scandal, Hamilton was never charged or cleared, but the damage was done. “There's always going to be doubters," Hamilton said. "I understand I'm going to have a few more doubters now.” Yes you will, amigo. Those doubters will have fresh ammo on the way as well, given the fact that the doping case against Hamilton will proceed despite the fact he is retiring from competition. Under the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's protocol, a panel of scientific and legal consultants reviews the evidence to decide whether the agency should pursue a case and if so, what sanction to recommend. In the end, I hope that Hamilton will get the support and treatment he needs to overcome his depression and lead a happy life, but I will forever remember him as a guy who cheated to get ahead in his sport…….
- For once, a Hollywood strike has been avoided. Unlike the terse standoff involving writers for television and motion pictures last year that crippled the TV season, a possible strike by members of the Screen Actors Guild has been averted. The union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced Friday that the two sides have reached a tentative agreement on actors' contracts for film and television work, although no details were immediately available. The main issue had been compensation for the sale of shows and movies via digital mediums, so I’d imagine that this new deal addresses those concerns. The union's 71-member national board will vote tomorrow on the agreement. Members approved a previously announced, tentative agreement for actors' commercial work today, and if approved by the board, the agreements would be submitted to SAG's more than 110,000 members for approval. The secret to success in these negotiations appears to be working through back-channel talks outside of formal negotiations. The final detail to cinch in the new agreement was the SAG and AMPTP reaching a compromise on when the new contract would expire. The SAG had wanted a June 2011 expiration, and producers wanted it to end a year later. No one is saying what compromise was reached, but whatever it was, it’s good enough from where I sit. SAG-covered actors have actually been working without a film and television contract since June, when producers made what they then called their best and final offer. The led to some very public intra-union sniping, with richer and more famous members urging against a strike and the rank-and-file membership on the other end of the spectrum. Earlier this year, the union removed and replaced chief negotiator and executive director Doug Allen. Allen was a leading pro-strike voice, so maybe getting him out of the way facilitated this agreement. With the economy sagging so badly and the entire country suffering through tough economic times, perhaps actors realized that holding out for more money wasn’t going to win them any sympathy. Regardless, I’m glad we’ve avoided another Hollywood strike and those starving actors will be fairly compensated……
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