imgreat95
06-21-2002, 01:52 PM
This is actually a golf story, but has some baseball connections, so I am posting it here.
Golf legends lack respect for PGA youth
Ron Cook
Friday, June 21, 2002
Who knew Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus had so much in common with the bitter, old men who gather in America's coffee shops every morning to re-live the past and criticize everything about everyone in every subsequent generation?
Who knew they could be so pathetic?
Maybe it's a natural part of the aging process. If it is, I'm not so sure I want to get old. It must hurt to know your time is down and that it's someone else's turn. I understand that. That's human nature. But you've got to be pretty miserable to take it out on those who come after you. You've got to be an awfully small person.
That description fit Palmer, Nicklaus and Gary Player earlier this week when they decided, for some strange reason, to go after today's golfers at a news conference in Kansas City. The players don't care about the game, the legends said. They only care about the money. They're just as happy finishing second, third or 10th as they are about winning. They are afraid of Tiger Woods. They allow him to beat them before they even step on the course. They're "buffaloed," Nicklaus said.
A rough translation:
The kids today might be good, but they're nothing compared to what we were.
Is that lame or what?
It's nothing new in sports, though. Talk to some older fans the next chance you get. You will find out quickly they still are blinded by the exploits of their heroes. Today's players simply don't measure up.
Shaquille O'Neal isn't as good as Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell.
Ray Lewis couldn't play with Dick Butkus or Ray Nitschke or -- gulp! -- Jack Lambert.
It doesn't matter how many home runs Barry Bonds hits, he's no Roberto Clemente. Bonds isn't legit, anyway. It's the steroids. It's the small ballparks. It's the diluted pitching ...
It's all a crock, that's what it is.
Are people really so jealous of the money in sports now that they refuse to give any credit to the players of this generation?
I'm sorry, but O'Neal, Lewis and Bonds could match up with anyone in any era. So could a lot of other players in sports today. That includes a lot of golfers.
That's why it was so sad to read what Palmer, Nicklaus and Player had to say the other day. They were so great when they played. Their places in sports history are secure. It's not as if they have to tear down today's players to make themselves appear bigger. You just can't be any bigger than Palmer and Nicklaus.
It also seemed a bit spiteful that the legends made their comments two days after Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open. They made it clear they were talking about the other golfers, not him. But don't give them too much credit for that. It's pretty hard to "diss" Woods these days. He has won six of the past nine major championships and is a good bet to become the first golfer to win a Grand Slam this year. Only 26, he already has won eight major titles. Nicklaus didn't do that until he was 30.
No, it's impossible to bash Woods. But that doesn't mean you can't cheapen what he has accomplished. All you have to do is trash his competition.
Maybe that's understandable to a degree coming from Nicklaus. If he dies tomorrow, they could put "Greatest Golfer Who Ever Lived" on his headstone. But 10 or 15 years from now? Woods will have that title. That might make anyone the grumpiest of Grumpy Old Men.
But what's Palmer's excuse?
No sports icon is so deified by those around him. Of the living Hall of Famers, Ted Williams gets the most respect from his peers, but, sadly, a lot of today's baseball players don't know anything about him. Palmer, on the other hand, is known by everyone on the PGA Tour. The other golfers know he made golf. They know he made a lot of them millionaires.
Remember a few years ago at the Masters when Mark Calcavecchia said publicly what a lot of people were thinking -- that Palmer was embarrassing himself on the course and should step aside? It wasn't just the media and golf fans who blasted Calcavecchia for his temerity. The other golfers wanted to take him out among the azaleas and beat him with a club.
There's no question Palmer deserves every bit of that respect.
It's just a shame he didn't give a little of it back this week.
Golf legends lack respect for PGA youth
Ron Cook
Friday, June 21, 2002
Who knew Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus had so much in common with the bitter, old men who gather in America's coffee shops every morning to re-live the past and criticize everything about everyone in every subsequent generation?
Who knew they could be so pathetic?
Maybe it's a natural part of the aging process. If it is, I'm not so sure I want to get old. It must hurt to know your time is down and that it's someone else's turn. I understand that. That's human nature. But you've got to be pretty miserable to take it out on those who come after you. You've got to be an awfully small person.
That description fit Palmer, Nicklaus and Gary Player earlier this week when they decided, for some strange reason, to go after today's golfers at a news conference in Kansas City. The players don't care about the game, the legends said. They only care about the money. They're just as happy finishing second, third or 10th as they are about winning. They are afraid of Tiger Woods. They allow him to beat them before they even step on the course. They're "buffaloed," Nicklaus said.
A rough translation:
The kids today might be good, but they're nothing compared to what we were.
Is that lame or what?
It's nothing new in sports, though. Talk to some older fans the next chance you get. You will find out quickly they still are blinded by the exploits of their heroes. Today's players simply don't measure up.
Shaquille O'Neal isn't as good as Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell.
Ray Lewis couldn't play with Dick Butkus or Ray Nitschke or -- gulp! -- Jack Lambert.
It doesn't matter how many home runs Barry Bonds hits, he's no Roberto Clemente. Bonds isn't legit, anyway. It's the steroids. It's the small ballparks. It's the diluted pitching ...
It's all a crock, that's what it is.
Are people really so jealous of the money in sports now that they refuse to give any credit to the players of this generation?
I'm sorry, but O'Neal, Lewis and Bonds could match up with anyone in any era. So could a lot of other players in sports today. That includes a lot of golfers.
That's why it was so sad to read what Palmer, Nicklaus and Player had to say the other day. They were so great when they played. Their places in sports history are secure. It's not as if they have to tear down today's players to make themselves appear bigger. You just can't be any bigger than Palmer and Nicklaus.
It also seemed a bit spiteful that the legends made their comments two days after Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open. They made it clear they were talking about the other golfers, not him. But don't give them too much credit for that. It's pretty hard to "diss" Woods these days. He has won six of the past nine major championships and is a good bet to become the first golfer to win a Grand Slam this year. Only 26, he already has won eight major titles. Nicklaus didn't do that until he was 30.
No, it's impossible to bash Woods. But that doesn't mean you can't cheapen what he has accomplished. All you have to do is trash his competition.
Maybe that's understandable to a degree coming from Nicklaus. If he dies tomorrow, they could put "Greatest Golfer Who Ever Lived" on his headstone. But 10 or 15 years from now? Woods will have that title. That might make anyone the grumpiest of Grumpy Old Men.
But what's Palmer's excuse?
No sports icon is so deified by those around him. Of the living Hall of Famers, Ted Williams gets the most respect from his peers, but, sadly, a lot of today's baseball players don't know anything about him. Palmer, on the other hand, is known by everyone on the PGA Tour. The other golfers know he made golf. They know he made a lot of them millionaires.
Remember a few years ago at the Masters when Mark Calcavecchia said publicly what a lot of people were thinking -- that Palmer was embarrassing himself on the course and should step aside? It wasn't just the media and golf fans who blasted Calcavecchia for his temerity. The other golfers wanted to take him out among the azaleas and beat him with a club.
There's no question Palmer deserves every bit of that respect.
It's just a shame he didn't give a little of it back this week.