Thanksgiving is coming up (for those of us in the USA at least). And with that holiday comes the tradition of the HOG Turkey Awards. Every year I post the top 10 turkeys or boneheads of the year.
Here’s my short list right now, in no particular order. Please comment in your opinions or suggestions!
1. Jim Furyk for being DQ’d from a FedEx cup playoff event because his cell phone battery was dead and his phone didn’t wake him up.
2. PGA Tour for DQing one of the their most honorable and dependable players, Jim Furyk because he was late to a pro-am. Give the guy some slack already. Furyk ends of winning the FedEx Cup anyway.
3. Dustin Johnson (part 1) for failing to win the US OPEN.
4. Dustin Johnson (part 2) for grounding his club in the bunker on the 18th at the PGA Championship and the subsequent penalty which knocked him out of the playoff.
5. The PGA of America for “Bunkergate” at the PGA Championship.
6. Tiger Woods’ porn star mistress for saying she had a sex tape of Tiger, then later admitting it was a phony.
7. Ryuji Imada for suffering 26 penalty strokes in a tournament in China.
8. Ray Halbritter, CEO of the title sponsor of the Turning Stone PGA Tour event, gives himself a sponsor’s exemption to play in the tournament.
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
#8 without a doubt, although #5 isn’t far behind! The arrogance that “I own the tournament” is no excuse! The tour and some of the guys fighting for a spot, let alone a career, are bringing this guy the recognition he wants! Did he replace the guy that need a few thousand to keep his card? Who knows…but this guy is a BONEHEAD!
Truth or Consequences
Another year of sports cheating and lying is about to end with the possible disqualification of one of the leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy. Yes, the same Heisman Trophy returned earlier this year by a former “winner” who was guilty of bending the rules.
Other top sports venues, such as the Olympics and the Tour de France, have shown that cheating and lying are certainly not confined to the big three, football, basketball and baseball, which will take center stage in April with the Clemen’s and Bond’s trials.
Then there is golf. Recent studies indicate over 70% of all players cheat. This has nothing to do with the personal situation of the most famous golfer. The studies are referring to us! In the 1992 movie, A Few Good Men, Tom Cruise yells at Jack Nicholson on the witness stand “I want the truth”, to which Jack replies, “You can’t handle the truth”. Can we handle the truth?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing for fun without any rules, similar to the popular Truth or Consequences game show of long ago. It was never meant to be serious or real. But, if you do consider yourself to be a competitive player, obey the rules and Play the Truth.
In order to have a round 10, here are two more.
9. Jerry Rice, for taking a working golfer’s place by entering his own tournament for his own foundation and then, predictably missing the cut.
10. Everyone who reports on the Dustin Johnson club grounding story without saying he should also have been penalized on that shot for breaking the rule against asking that someone move in order to put a shadow over his ball. (He is heard on the TV broadcast asking for the crowd, whose shadows were around the ball, to either stay still [legal to ask] or move to cover the slit of sunlight on his ball [illegal to ask].)