Tag: Jason Whitlock (Page 3 of 4)

      Jason Whitlock on Billy Payne on Tiger Woods

      April 8, 2010 /

      Confusing headline? Maybe, but it will make sense in a minute…

      Augusta’s chairman, Billy Payne, who took over in 2006, made a few comments about Tiger Woods and the scandal that has surrounded him for the last several months.

      “Finally,” Payne said Wednesday as he wrapped up his opening comment, “we are not unaware of the significance of this week to a very special player, Tiger Woods. A man who in a brief 13 years clearly and emphatically proclaimed and proved his game to be worthy of the likes of Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. As (Tiger) ascended in our rankings of the world’s great golfers, he became an example to our kids that success is directly attributable to hard work and effort.

      “But as he now says himself, he forgot in the process to remember that with fame and fortune comes responsibility, not invisibility. It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here; it is the fact that he disappointed all of us, and more importantly, our kids and our grandkids. Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children.”

      Nothing to outlandish there, right? Wrong. Jason Whitlock is up in arms because he doesn’t think that anyone associated with Augusta should be lecturing others about their behavior.

      He’s chairman of a club with a history of exclusionary membership policies that would embarrass even the angriest Tea Party protesters.

      You can’t preach ethics and morality from Payne’s bully pulpit. The stench of hypocrisy makes it sound like bull(spit).

      Black and brown folks have kids and grandkids, too. And so do women.

      It wasn’t until the Shoal Creek Golf Club/PGA Championship controversy in the early 1990s that Augusta National decided to invite a token black member. Augusta National still doesn’t have a female member, which does not bother me but does trouble some female golf fans.

      A couple of things bother me about Whitlock’s argument: 1) Payne took over as chairman in 2006, well after the club started to welcome black members, and 2) Whitlock brings up the “no-women” rule to support his point and then says it “does not bother” him that Augusta doesn’t have any female members.

      Payne is not responsible for the exclusionary policies that Augusta held before he took over. He is the chairman, and people are expecting him to make some remarks about Tiger and his recent history. Maybe his words were condescending and/or over the top, but it’s not like Tiger has handled himself with great humility and tact throughout this whole ordeal.

      As for the club’s lack of a single female member, Whitlock is essentially saying that it’s not okay to be racist, but it is okay to be sexist, or at the very least, it doesn’t bother him. I wonder how he would feel if a female columnist said that it would be all right with her if a club had a “no blacks” policy as long as women were allowed to join.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Golf

      Whitlock takes aim at Pierce, Reilly and general media covering Tiger incident

      December 3, 2009 /

      Never shy with his thoughts and opinions, FOX Sports’ columnist Jason Whitlock recently took aim at sports writers Charlie Pierce and Rick Reilly for the way they’ve covered the Tiger Woods scandal.

      The article is long, so here are some excerpts on Pierce:

      Pierce’s latest offering is an I-told-you-so column. He rages that Tiger’s puritan image is phony and points out that he wrote in great detail in 1997 that Woods was a scandalous, tail-chasing hound.

      I don’t know how many rich, famous and good-looking 21-year-old athletes/men Charlie Pierce has interviewed. The ones I’ve met have all been scandalous, tail-chasing hounds. No different from the frat boys I met in college or the corner boys hustling on the block.

      Pierce should’ve opened his column by admitting he dislikes Woods and his opinion is skewed by that bias. We’re journalists. We’re supposed to be transparent. Two weeks ago on Deadspin, Pierce trashed Bill Simmons and his New York Times-bestselling book. In that hit piece, Pierce failed to mention that he tried to befriend and mentor Simmons at the beginning of the decade and that in 2002 Simmons told Pierce to go (expletive) himself. That little nugget of information would’ve been very enlightening when reading Pierce’s Deadspin take.
      I’m sharing this because it’s important for the public to know that the media act dishonestly all the time. We’re far more phony than Tiger Woods ever could be.

      And Reilly:

      Continue reading »

      General Sports, Golf

      Whitlock: It’s way too early to suggest Young will be successful

      November 25, 2009 /

      Jason Whitlock writes that the book is still out on Vince Young, even though the Titans have won four straight since his return to the starting lineup.

      Young needed to be benched. He needed to be humiliated and humbled. It was the only way to get his attention.

      Vince Young did one thing Monday night that I did not like. In his immediate postgame interview on the field with Suzy Kolber, Young did not credit his teammates for his and the Titans’ success. This was a small error. But it’s an indication of where his mind is.

      Vince Young believes he was done wrong by his critics and perhaps Jeff Fisher. He’s wallowing in victimhood and looking for an I-told-you-so moment.

      I hope I’m wrong. I hope Young understands the mistakes he made and what he has to do to build on the success he’s enjoying now. He’s never going to be a guy who puts up huge passing numbers. That’s fine. If he avoids turnovers and moves the chains two or three times a game with a scramble, he’s a winning quarterback. He threw for 116 yards and rushed for 73.
      What I liked best about Young on Monday was his comfort in the pocket. He has accepted the challenge of being a pocket quarterback. His body language was good, too. A teammate dropped a beautiful downfield throw and Young did not react negatively. He stayed positive and moved to the next play. That’s leadership.

      The intangibles — leadership, courage against the pass rush, timely scrambles and avoidance of turnovers — are what can make Young a long-term winner in Tennessee. If he can get and keep his mind in the right state, he’ll prove his critics wrong and make us all eat crow without having to say a word.

      Oh, and he needs Chris Johnson to stay healthy and continue to carry the team.

      Young is succeeding because the expectations were low when he re-entered the lineup. Heading into his second season after his rookie year, the expectations were extremely high and he crumbled. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not he’ll continue to perform well if the Titans win and the stakes get higher.

      Some players perform better when they have a chip on their shoulder, although that kind of motivation is usually short lived. Eventually, Young will need to become a leader and a consistent performer if he’s going to succeed in the NFL. Time will tell if he has finally turned the corner.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      NFL Morning After Reactions: Patriots, Titans, Cowboys & more

      September 21, 2009 /

      Here’s a look at what local NFL beat writers and columnists have to say following their teams’ performance on Sunday.

      – Steve Serby of the New York Post writes that Jets’ rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez “outswaggered” the Pats’ Tom Brady.

      – Gil LeBreton of the Star-Telegram writes that the Cowboys’ offense spoiled Jerry Jones’ new stadium party.

      – Mike Mulligan of the Chicago Sun-Times says that Jay Cutler’s signature game saved the Bears from defeat on Sunday.

      – Damon Hack of SI.com says that the Patriots showed a rare loss of composure in their defeat to the Jets.

      – David Climer of the Tennessean compiles a list of troubling signs for the 0-2 Titans.

      – Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune wonders if the Chargers can be fixed after their loss to the Ravens and their near-loss to the Raiders in Week 1.

      – Tom Oates of Madison.com writes that the Packers’ offensive line (which struggled mightily on Sunday against the Bengals) could ruin the season for Green Bay.

      – Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post can’t help but think that head coach Jim Zorn has low expectations for the Redskins.

      – Never afraid to hand out criticism, Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star writes that the Chiefs coaching performance against the Raiders was embarrassing.

      NFL

      Whitlock: Serena Roberts has credibility issues

      May 7, 2009 /

      In Jason Whitlock’s latest column for FOXSports.com, he writes that author Serena Roberts has credibility issues stemming from a column she wrote about the Duke lacrosse rape case and calls her new book about Alex Rodriguez a “celebrity-gossip book.”

      During her interview with Jim Rome, she claimed she went into her investigation of Rodriguez believing he had never used steroids. She said that A-Rod’s interview on 60 Minutes convinced her of his innocence. “I didn’t think he was dirty,” Roberts said. “I thought he was clean.”
      This is nearly impossible for me to believe. Roberts is a cynic, at least she is in her column writing. When she worked for The New York Times, she wrote numerous columns about A-Rod with the same theme: Rodriguez is a phony. Read this, this and this and then read this blog for examples of her A-Rod cynicism.

      In those columns, does she come off like someone who would take Rodriguez at his word? She comes off like someone who doesn’t believe a word that comes out of A-Rod’s mouth.
      What I’m about to write is pure speculation.

      Selena Roberts believes America is a safe haven for sexism (I happen to agree, but that’s beside the point). She wanted the Duke lacrosse players to be shining examples of how deep-rooted and protected our sexism is, and she was more than willing to ignore their innocence to make her point (this repulses me).

      Selena Roberts believes professional sports — the money, fame and power they primarily give young men — are corrosive of good values and a haven for sexism (I happen to agree, but that’s beside the point). She wants Alex Rodriguez to stand as a shining example of what’s wrong with American sports, and she just might be willing to ignore flattering truths about A-Rod and publish hearsay and gossip to make her point (and this is unfair).

      She’s written a celebrity-gossip book, “A-Rod: Game of Innuendo.” Maybe you despise Rodriguez so much that you don’t care about her methods and whether the rest of the alleged mainstream media characterize her work properly.

      Whitlock brings up a good point that we must question what an author’s motives are for writing a non-fiction book, especially when the content matter essentially attacks a person’s character as in this case. Is Roberts trying to uncover the truth behind A-Rod’s use of steroids or does she have a personal agenda as Whitlock suggests?

      MLB

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