SB Nation User Blog: Bill Jempty

NY Times columnist Frank Rich on Tiger Woods

Bill Jempty — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:29:05 -0000

NY Times columnist Frank Rich on Tiger Woods

I should have seen this one coming. Rich's specialty as a columnist is how he weaves celebrities and pop culture into a diatribe against Republicans etc etc.

Vandals pepper Duluth school with golf balls, causing $10k in damage

Bill Jempty — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:54:11 -0000

Vandals pepper Duluth school with golf balls, causing $10k in damage

It's rumored the judge who sentences these men or women will make them take a penalty shot from jail.

Grandfather gets 'life' for fatal golf club attack

Bill Jempty — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:06:56 -0000

Grandfather gets 'life' for fatal golf club attack

A life sentence in the UK means a minimum of 11 years 8 months in jail. Colin Gourlay may be still under 60 before he regains his freedom.

In Kyung Kim Wins Omega Dubai Ladies Masters

Bill Jempty — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:46:22 -0000

Women’s professional golf is all wrapped up for 2009. From AP:

Honolulu’s Michelle Wie put on a show and a strong rally to finish second in the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai.

Wie, who started the day six shots back of leader and eventual winner In Kyung Kim, shot a bogey-free 7-under-par 65 to finish with a 15-under 273.

Kim of South Korea shot a 4-under 68 for a four-round total of 18-under 270 to win by three shots.

Wie had three birdies on the front and four on the back, including three in a row on Nos. 12-14.

She got within two shots of Kim with a hole — the par-5 18th — left. But Wie parred the hole and Kim birdied it.

Kim, who plays her golf with an almost perpetual smile on her face, has quietly played some of the best golf in the last 15 months. She won for the first time in late 2008 and then followed that up with a more than solid 2009. A win at the State Farm Classic, $1,238,396.00 in earnings, and 8th on the LPGA money list. Kim could be the #2 South Korean player in the world right now. It is either her or Na Yeon Choi. Of course, Ji Yai Shin is #1.

Michelle Wie finished 2009 on a strong note. I expect her to be in the winner’s circle at least once during the 2010 LPGA tour campaign.

So Do we care about golf? Or just about sex and silliness?

Bill Jempty — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:51:32 -0000

Was the headline for a column by Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot asks that question.

Walking through a Target this week, glancing at the magazines and tabloids displayed near the check out aisles, I caught

a partial glimpse of America.

Lined up like wanted posters, the magazine covers feature Tiger Woods, but in reality, they are a reflection of this silly country of ours.

Sex, betrayal, mistresses and promises of more mistresses - the Woods saga is the Grand Slam of salaciousness.

Can't say I'm not intrigued at least a little.

Nor am I. Prior to this post, I've done two blog posts on the Woods story. One when the accident occurred and a second two days later about how the media isn't getting the story right(and still isn't). Television and print media have long since gone overboard, and sad to say so have some golf bloggers. Some I liked or respected, Ryan here at Waggleroom and Stephie Wei, or some who I can basically do without, like the usually shallow Geoff Shackelford.

I expected shallow and or trashy from Geoff, the gossip columnists, and most of television. Others make me feel sad. I know golf is mostly at rest till 2010 but do respectable bloggers have to lose their dignity and muddy what ever decent reputations they have by adding to the gossip, reporting more than once stories that were wrong, and using those wrong stories to attack people who did nothing

wrong.

Ryan-

referred to Crane and Warren as PGA tour tough guys

Then A couple of PGA Tour pros – who most people have never heard of

Then The Slowest Golfer on Earth, Ben Crane

Then Charles Warren – the 387th ranked player in the world(Ranked at least 3,000 spots higher than Ryan)

Then You heard it here first: Charles Warren is going to be taking over for Dr. Drew

As Niblic said "You mock and belittle these guys mercilessly, and then say good for them having an opinion."

And all because you believed what that magazine said without doing any kind of checking first. Like where would someone have gone to talk to Crane recently? Check and verify? Nope, just rush to publish and criticize based on a report that looked iffy even without any checking

Way to go Ryan, was trashing people, waggleroom and then yourself worth it?

Lets see if Ryan makes this a featured post at Waggleroom rather than the trash, absent a few and far between real news golf stories and one recent post that looked like an advertisement, he continues to put up.

Taking A Whack At It: Proposed Tiger Woods Reality Show

Bill Jempty — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:26:00 -0000

Taking A Whack At It: Proposed Tiger Woods Reality Show

Frank Cerabino, a columnist for the Palm Beach Post, may make you laugh with the conclusion of a piece he wrote for today's newspaper.

There's some golf being played right now- Dubai Ladies Masters

Bill Jempty — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:22:08 -0000

There's some golf being played right now- Dubai Ladies Masters

Over in Dubai- Michelle Wie is in 2nd place, two shots behind In-Kyung Kim.

Will Gerard Gallagher of Sports Network please pick up the Red Courtesy phone

Bill Jempty — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:40:28 -0000

I knuckleheaded this golf writer four years ago(2005), when he wrote the following-

SHOT OF THE YEAR

When Meg Mallon rolled in a six-foot par save at the 16th on Sunday, she halved the hole with Karen Stupples and went 2-up with two to play. That assured the American side a half point, which was enough to give them the 14 1/2 points needed to win the Solheim Cup.

How can someone forget Birdie Kim's bunker shot to win the 2005 U.S. Women's Open? About a month after I gave Gallagher my award, he commented at my blog-

Well, I don't know exactly how I stumbled upon this, but I did...and I gotta tell you, your beef is completely legitimate.

I got a little carried away with the Solheim Cup's importance, and probably overlooked one of the most impressive moments I've ever seen in women's golf.

Your post has me regretting that I filed my story without even a mention of Birdie's Bunker Blast (which is how I think our writer headlined his final recap).

Thanks for pointing it out. Now where do I accept my award?

Four years later, Gallagher has struck again.

Na Yeon Choi was the only player other than Shin and Ochoa to win more than once this season. Choi caught fire down the stretch, claiming her victories in September and November.

Anna Nordqvist also won twice last year. Only taking home the LPGA Championship and the LPGA Tour Championship. This is almost as bad an omission as his forgetting Birdie Kim in 2005. Nordqvist won a major and the very last event of the year.

There are a couple of other problems with what Gallagher wrote-

The finish echoed a similar scene from 2006, when Karrie Webb chipped in for an eagle at the 18th to force a playoff with Ochoa (who also eagled 18). Kerr won with a birdie on the first extra hole.

Last time I looked, Webb won the 2006 Kraft Nabisco. Webb didn't chip in either, she holed a wedge from the fairway or a little over 110 yards.

Last but not least-

TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR - 'I can't even believe they've done this.'

On one exciting Sunday in late August, the United States won eight out of 12 available points in the singles matches to cruise past Europe and win the Solheim Cup by a 16-12 score.

Neither the Solheim or Ryder Cup is considered a tournament. They are biennial matches. No I wouldn't have had a problem with Gallagher calling the last Solheim Cup, the LPGA event of the year for 2009.

If Gerard Gallagher he picks up my page, he will be offered some remedial lessons in professional golf. He can sure use them.