Daly not a tragic figure

Will Daly give us a reason to cheer someday ... or has his career gone up in smoke?

   The British Open is always a highlight for me on the sports calendar,
but every year, it also makes me a little sad.
   On a thrilling weekend 13 years ago, I became a golf and John Daly
fan forever. During the Open that year at St. Andrews, Daly’s
incredible playoff victory over Costantino Rocca sold me on a sport
and individual that I knew nothing about. At that point, I knew nothing
of his miraculous 1991 PGA Championship win at Crooked Stick as
the final alternate, which catapulted him to instant fame.
   Daly’s triumph in the ‘95 Open was supposed to be another huge
block in the foundation of greatness. But 13 years and just one PGA
Tour win later, he is more of a cartoon-like caricature of a man and
more sideshow than serious competitor.
   Fans say that Daly represents the every-man, and in many ways,
that’s true.
   Many of us have had parasitic significant others, that suck life’s
blood out of you like a vampire that just woke up from a 100-year
slumber. Though Daly has no doubt contributed to his four failed
marriages, he has had a knack for picking the wrong girl.
   Many of us have dealt with — directly or indirectly — alcoholism and
other addictions. Daly’s primary hereditary flaw is that he has a
turbo-charged addictive personality. Just like his “grip it and rip it”
approach to golf, he goes 110 percent when it comes to drinking,
eating, smoking, and gambling.
   In trying to frame Daly’s life off the course, I think the words of Hunter
S. Thompson in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” might sum him
up best, “There he goes. One of God’s own prototypes. Some kind of
high powered mutant never even considered for mass production.
Too weird to live, and too rare to die.”
   Everything that Tiger Woods is, Daly is not. Though blessed with
undeniable natural talent, he has never put in the time to succeed on
a consistent basis. Woods had drive and focus as a child, and fame
never clouded that. Daly’s quick rise to stardom only fueled his
equally fast fall from grace, and it has often been one of the more
disappointing things in sports to behold.
   But what Daly lacks in professional work ethic in comparison to
Woods, he buries Tiger in one huge area — his direct relationship
with fans. While Woods is about as accessible as Howard Hughes,
Daly’s gracious personality has endeared him to fans of all ages.
He never says “no” to an autograph request and his alcohol
consumption is often helped by having drinks with his legion of
supporters, which is only outnumbered by Woods.’
   Though he now depends on exemptions to get into most events,
and though he rarely makes the cut, Daly is still a big reason why I
watch golf, and I’ll always be glued to the TV if he makes it to the
weekend. I don’t look at him as a tragic figure. I see him as a flawed
individual — like all of us — that couldn’t handle the taxing price of
fame. His destiny was never going to be what most had in mind.
   While I’m sure Daly would’ve done a lot of things different over the
years, he is still a salute to the imperfect nature of mankind, and
while many are appalled by his behavior, he inspires others with his
refusal to give up entirely despite his punch-line status.
   There are a lot of things I’d like to see before I die. One of them is
John Daly hoisting a major championship trophy one more time.
While the odds are stacked against that happening, I’ll never count
him out, and maybe on a blustery Sunday in July across the big
pond someday, Big John will do just that.

Sports or Crime News … What’s the Difference?

Matt Jones: Just another story of an athlete BLOW-ing it

   In the Internet age, there is nowhere to hide, and incidents that might’ve taken days to surface or that could’ve been swept under the rug even just 10 years ago are now splashed across computer and television screens instantly.

   These days it can be difficult to tell the difference between sports news and the police blotter. Take the college football section of ESPN.com for instance. Out of the 24 stories listed on July 11, a total of 15 involved either arrests, suspensions, or dismissals. Among the alleged criminal acts were rape, selling cocaine, drunken driving, and assault.

   The week’s bad news was low-lighted by the rather brazen actions of Jacksonville Jaguar Matt Jones, who was caught with some of his boys cutting lines of blow in a parked car in Fayetteville, Ark., where he was a star at the University of Arkansas before getting drafted three years ago.

   Jones’ indiscretion is a prime example of the feeling of invincibility that sometimes goes along with being an elite — or even just a pretty good — athlete. It is a byproduct of a widespread culture which often gives athletes a free pass, sometimes all the way to imprisonment or death. While some can be deranged to begin with — think Lawrence Phillips and Mike Tyson — others are corrupted slowly, as senses of entitlement and indestructibility creep into their souls.

   Sports can have many effects on an individual, both positive and negative, often based on the maturity level of the participant.

   I was just a decent prep football player that went on to play at the Division III level. In high school, there were plenty of classes in which grades were handed to me and other athletes that weren’t necessarily earned. Many of us weren’t equipped for college academically or maturity-wise and found ourselves with higher blood/alcohol levels than GPAs our freshman year.

   Once a recurring shoulder problem ended my playing days, I faced an issue that has plagued many former athletes — from high school to the pros — “What am I going to do to replace that release?” The answer was … party. A decade later I had an alcohol problem that threatened the safety of me and those around me, until enough blackouts and awful things occurred — thankfully without hurting anyone or going to jail — to where a decision to change had to be made.

   While athletics can build strength of character and body, it can also help create monsters like Phillips, Tyson, Rae Carruth, and O.J. Simpson. It can lead to the sometimes inescapable snare of drugs and/or booze — see Len Bias, Todd Marinovich, Bam Morris, Nate Newton, Marvin Barnes, Lawrence Taylor, and far too many more to name. Sometimes it can destroy a person’s ability to function normally — see Mike Webster, Andre Waters, Terry Long, and Riddick Bowe.

   While violence and substance abuse are problems in American society as a whole, I have little doubt that former athletes — especially in football, hockey, and boxing — have a greater tendency to engage in the activities … I’ve seen it too often to believe otherwise. You have to be geared a little different in those testosterone-driven, legalized forms of combat, and that unbridled intensity can carry over into everyday life, often with less-than-positive results.

   There is no cure for this ailment. And while colleges and pro franchises used to be able to bury the transgressions of their athletes, the 24-hour news cycle no longer allows it. Crime and sports have always been melded together, we just find out about screw-ups a lot faster than we used to.

Obama vs. McCain — A cure for the summer sports blues

   Even though I am getting a kick out of the perennial doormat Tampa
Bay Rays slapping Boston and New York around, Major League
Baseball lost me a long time ago, and I couldn’t tell you the last time
I watched a game from beginning to end.
   Partner that with Tiger Woods being out for the rest of the golf
season and my current pedestrian level of racing interest, and July
is not the best of sports months for me.
   In fact, the only thing keeping me sane at this point is knowing that
NFL training camp and the Miguel Cotto/Antonio Margarito
welterweight championship fight are just a few weeks away.
   Thankfully, there’s a prizefight of infinite magnitude going on that
comes around just once every four years … and this one even stands
out above most. With 120 rounds (days) until Election Day 2008,
we’re destined to see a scrap that might make Tyson/Holyfield II
seem tame by comparison, as Barack Obama and John McCain
slug it out for the top title in the world — President of the United
States.
   In one corner you have Obama, the 46-year-old Democratic slugger
from Chicago looking to become the Jack Johnson of big-time
politics. Like Johnson, who became the first black heavyweight
champion in 1908 while battling opponents and fervent racism,
Obama has a lot to overcome.
   Obama’s tooth-and-nail fight with Hillary Clinton has left their party divided
along ideological and — though most won’t admit it — racial lines.
Despite feelings of hatred toward George W. Bush and the
Republican Party, there are many Democrats that will not vote for a
black man.
   While Obama’s record of experience is a point of contention and
many are still confused by the lies spread regarding his
background, his biggest struggle will be against two-plus centuries
of negative feelings toward blacks in certain areas and
demographics of the U.S., passed down within families like
heirlooms.
   In the other corner you have McCain, the 71-year-old Republican
brawler from Arizona who fought through two horrific experiences —
a fire aboard the USS Forrestal that killed 134 sailors, and a nearly
six-year torturous stay in Viet Cong custody in Hanoi which included
two years in solitary confinement and other horrors beyond
explanation.
   Nine years after his release, McCain entered the combative arena of
politics. In the subsequent 26 years he has not always toed the
Republican line, and has joined Democrats in numerous battles,
including against the tobacco industry in 1998 when he received
next to no support from his own party. His less than fundamentalist
approaches to illegal immigration, abortion, and religion have
soured many would-be supporters, and he too will have a tussle on
his hands to win those folks over by November.
   Both fighters have their distinct strengths. While McCain’s public
speaking can be as painful as an Andrew Golota blow to the groin,
Obama is the Muhammad Ali of political orators. Obama’s
Washington experience is somewhat limited, and there’s no doubt
McCain’s service and sacrifice for America are his primary
advantages in the tale-of-the-tape. The big question is how much
McCain will be weighted down by Bush’s bungling. That burden
could feel like leaving the corner with Butterbean strapped to your
leg.
   No matter which cheering section you are a part of — or if you are
still undecided — it is going to be an entertaining showdown, with
the future of the free world and parts elsewhere on the line. At stake
is a title that hasn’t been this sullied since Richard Milhous Nixon
gave his infamous four-fingered salute as he vacated the White
House grounds in shame 34 years ago. With the current state of
affairs, the loser could be the luckiest guy on Earth, but the winner
could also join the pantheon of America’s greatest leaders … only
time will tell.
   Best of luck, gentlemen, and as Michael Buffer would say, “LET’S
GET READY TO RUMBLE!”

Welcome!

Thanks for stopping by Glasgow’s Huddle — where we’ll talk sports, politics, current events, and more. While I’ll do my share of venting, consider this your home to do the same.

Regular posts will begin July 7.