An Honest
Day’s Word
THIS and that to chew on over lunch: Tiger & Co. should
admit their motivesI'll admit, when it comes to the Ryder Cup, I don't give a rip.
Maybe the old-time golfers played the Ryder Cup for Mom, apple pie and the flag. But today's players don't seem to play much golf for anything but the do re mi.
So, it's not surprising, then, that Tiger Woods, Mark O'Meara and David Duval made a stink about getting paid for playing the Ryder Cup, which pits American golfers against those from Europe.
Players get a $5,000 stipend to play for the U.S. of A. in this bi-annual affair.
Tiger, O'Meara and Duval have said they should be paid, strictly so they can give the money to charity, mind you.
Now, golfers -- and the PGA of America -- are a generous lot, by and large. I won't argue that. One look at the amount of money given to charities by those who spoil a good walk by chasing a white ball around the old pasture will convince you of that.
My question is why doesn't the Gleesome Threesome just admit they want the tax write-off. No harm there, they do it all the time. It's why many charities in this country are so well endowed.
And if they really wanted the money to go to a specific charity, they could work it out with the PGA so their charities get the money, don't you think?
I don't have a problem with the players asking to be paid to play. But don't try to pass it off as a largess fest.
As Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times first pointed out, O'Meara donated part of the $100,000 he earned from his President's Cup play to the Lake Highland Preparatory School.
Where his daughter is a student.
Sounds more like a tuition payment, to me.
So, fellas, either fess up or shut up and play. And if you choose not to, there will be someone else who will be happy to join the team.
Some thief in Seville, Spain, tried to make off with a suitcase the other day and high-tail it to the airport exit.
What he didn't know is that the suitcase belonged to Larry Wade, a world-class hurdler.
Ooops.
Apparently Wade was waiting for teammate Maurice Greene, the 100-meter world record holder, to finish a television interview when he saw the thief take off with his bag.
Greene and Wade chased the guy down with ease.
Jesse "The Governor" Ventura is back in the rassling ring this weekend, serving as referee for "Summer Slam," the WWF pay-per-view event in Minneapolis Sunday.
Jesse "The Body" was one of the funniest, most colorful rasslers of his time and was even more entertaining when he went behind the microphone to team with Gorilla Monsoon on "Tuesday Night Titans" years ago. My roommates and I would laugh until our cheeks hurt at Jesse's schtick.
One winter night in the Wheaton, Minn., high school gym, one of my roommates challenged Jesse to a body building pose down as "The Body" was yacking it up with the crowd.
Ventura heard Auggie's challenge and said he'd rather just kick the stuffing out of all five of us. It was vintage "Body."
A couple years later, another roommate, now a dentist in Fargo, saw Ventura in the Minneapolis airport.
"Jesse, how's it going. You're awesome, man," Darrel enthused.
"It's The Body to you, Jack," was the response.
He's one of a kind.
