Posted on 10/18/2005 10:51:01 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Never mind what Karl Rove said to "Scooter" Libby that may have been heard by Judith Miller who would do 80 days in jail for something Bob Novak would put in print with impunity. And who spells Flame with a "P," anyway? The name that is important here is none of the above. It is Michelle Wie. Yes, the 16-year-old (barely) golfer whose professional debut was marked, and marred, by one of those lessons in life that must be attended by each and every one of us before this mortal coil is shuffled. But such an early shuffle!
Wie had finished a respectable fourth in a field of the Samsung World Championship led by the indomitable Annika Sorenstam. For this Wie was to have received $53,000 and change and the plaudits of a sports world that had wondered at her abilities for months leading up to her baptism among the ladies who play for pay. But no. Wie had not reckoned on the intervention of one of those people who do not play but who make a living watching others who can, a professional voyeur. One George Bamberger, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, thought he had seen a miscue of Wie's on the day before the tournament ended. Wie was to be undone.
Bamberger, gifted with not only a writing ability but also the global positioning capacity of a satellite, summoned Robert O. Smith, the LPGA Tour rules official, and they trouped back out to the seventh green Sunday evening to reconstruct a drop from an unplayable lie Wie had made on Saturday. After two trips to the green and re-enactments by Wie and her caddy, the lass was disqualified. It was determined that the drop from which she played her ball was closer to the hole than the point from where she had lifted and placed it. A rules violation and disqualification.
The eagle-eyed Bamberger had been some 15 yards away on the fateful day. After Wie had holed out, he stayed behind and paced off the distances, from where the ball first landed and from where the drop was made. He contacted the tour rules guy, Smith, the next day, saying he'd become more uncomfortable the more he thought about it, and rules officials said Wie had in fact dropped the ball about 12 inches nearer the hole, still 45 yards away. Wie says if it was truly closer it may have been three inches nearer.
The lessons learned? Always get a tour official to oversee a drop, and arbitrate an unplayable lie. Your caddy won't do; he is on your side. The gallery is no help, either.
And remember that for each of us, someday, somewhere, there waits a Bamberger.
Reid Collins is a former CBS and CNN news correspondent.
I know nothing about golf.
Nothing.
The only birdie I know has two wings and eats worms.
And the eagle is our national symbol.
Bogie was a B & W movie star.
But I do know one thing.
This one thing.
100%, absolutely, no doubt about it.
This Bamberger guy....
Is a GD, MF A**hole.
No doubt about it.
A mathematical certainty.
A big, fat, MF A88hole.
I'm out.
She was very gracious and understanding afterwards.
Here's wishing Bamberger sticks to writing, not being a severe flaming *sshole.
I figure my twelve inches could make me at least $53,000, but I would never give it a way for money.
What? I'm talking about my LP collection! What did you think I was talking about, you sicko?
Michelle Wie is revered here in Hawaii. If Bamberger comes to Hawaii, he should do so incognito. This is not a threat. Just a word to the wise.
I hope she learned another lesson. Don't EVER think those miserable pricks (and prickettes) in the media are your friends.
That's golf for you.
Personally, I don't like golf, but those are the rules. Even if your a star, you should have the same accountability as everyone else.
Rack him!!
Someone explain this to me 'cause I must be STUPID, I just don't get it;
I run out on the field to talk to the referee, I get decked by some 300 pound monster; then I get arrested and thrown out;
I run out onto the diamond to talk to an umpire, I get tackled, arrested, and charged with trespass;
I slide out onto the ice to talk to a referee, slip, break my teeth, then get arrested;
I go to a golf game, rat out a player for dropping her ball 12 inches closer to the hole (but still half a county away), and SHE gets disqualified and loses her 'purse'?
Excuse me, but I just have to say this:
WWWWWHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT?
By the way..........
Michael Bamberger is a Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated, which he joined in September 1995. Previously he worked for nine years as a general assignment reporter and sportswriter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and before that wrote for the (Martha's) Vineyard Gazette.
George was a pitching coach for the Orioles.
I guess Bamberger never followed Klintoon around the links?
Dittos
As Cartman would say to Mr. Bamberger:
"Shut your *****ing mouth you *****ing *OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Where is Hillary's Bamberger?
She didn't get disqualified for making a closer shot. She got disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. That's because at the time she signed it, it was correct. But after Bamberger got the officials back out there after her round was over, they declared the error which is a two-stroke penalty.
Imagine if football games or baseball games were changed long after play was over. "I'm sorry, Mr. Torre, but we've now decided the ball was foul. Your team doesn't get the double so you've lost instead of won. Sorry."
If they are going to punish a golfer, it should be before the round is over. That part of the rules is what really sucks.
http://wieblog.com/archives/michael-bamberger-a-name-youll-remember-39
Michael Bamberger, A Name Youll Remember
So it wasnt a home viewer in this case.
The updated Associated Press wire states that it was Sports Illustrated reporter Michael Bamberger who informed tour officials about Michelles Saturday round drop. Johnston was bothered that Bamberger, who was at the seventh green when Wie took the drop, waited a day before raising it with tour officials. Had she been notified Saturday before signing her card, she would not have been disqualified.
Bamberger said he paced it off after Wie, playing in the final group Saturday, finished the hole.
I did it in crude way Lets see what she has to say. I was hopeful she could convince me, in the Saturday interview, Bamberger said. I thought about it more and was just uncomfortable that I knew something. Integrity is at the heart of the game. I dont think she cheated. I think she was just hasty.
Asked why he didnt bring it up before the third round ended, Bamberger said, That didnt occur to me. I was still in my reporters mode. I wanted to talk to her first.
Now theres the ethical dilemma for you: Do you withhold information from your interviewee to get your story knowing that doing so could potentially disqualify your interviewee?
Wie accepted the decision: Rules are rules. Shes a class act.
.............. better...... at least before they sign their scorecard that particular day..
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