Michelle Wies' Debut.

Hey ... There are danes in the room, Slater. No disrespecting Hans Nielsen

On topic - I think this Wie obsession is a joke, and it happening in a sport like golf makes it even worse.

The foundation of golf is that we have to prove our skills to earn our merit. Wie hasn't - not by a mile.

hi mox you misunderstood me i was commenting on the media's obsession with hans almost to the detriment of all the other riders at that time no way would i diss him he's a legend a supreme motorcyclist and no mean golfer.

No problem - I was just joking with you

Of course, in Denmark he is above 'legend'. Especially alongside long-time compatriote Erik Gundersen. I believe the two still hold the record for most championships, be it pair, team or single.

Gunder's not much of a golfer though ... sadly, following a bad accident on the bike.

He's a big sports hunter though. The fact that he is walking is a miracle in itself.

But that's a bit off topic, sorry

I'm glad to see I am not the only one
growing disgusted with the Nike sideshow.
Nike is a tennis shoe company -- these
guys are not golfers, they are marketers.
I expressed that to the Nike reps face when
he visited our club this weekend. Don't get
me wrong, I recently bought an SQ driver and
love it; but, let's get real: Michelle is still
a minor, actually protected by child welfare
laws. This whole affair takes the Asian
sweatshop concept to another level. Look,
has anyone given a moments thought to
the adolescent development issues, here?
Of course not. Nike and it's stockholders
are shoving it south as fast as they can coin
it. Will they care if they ruin the career of
a beautiful, talented, young lady (dare
I say child) golfer? Hell, no, they won't.
("They" being the a-h's behind all of this.)
Also, are they concerned about the
newest and youngest PGA aspirants, living their
dream, where every single stroke, every single
distraction, could affect their career future?
Of course not; they are not golfer's, they are
tennis shoe makers and marketers, who don't
have a clue, and if they did, could not care
less. Before losing the Nike reps attention
forever, I offered a great idea for Nike: Get
Michael Jordon, Michelle Wie, Alice Cooper,
and Willie Nelson all fit out with Nike gear.
Put them off as a foursome in front of the
next major field and count their scores.
Hell, throw Annika in there, too, and play
five. Jack all the rates 10% so that they
can pay appearance money, and watch the
ratings go through the roof.
Hey, It might work so well they can
run two fivesomes: Jessica in a b-top
and cutoffs would be a good place to start.
Talk it up.

for the most part I agree with the above on NIKE, on the other hand I think it would be awful hard for a parent to advise their child to turn down a 10 million dollar marketing contract. She should be set financially for life regardless of how the golfing thing worked out.

It would be next to impossible to reject
Nike's deal, but, is the only choice to
parade Michelle around
the PGA tour (fully aware, by the way, of the
gender issues that are golf's contribution to
being "with it," baby) or forget it, no deal.
This is one reason I say Nikes aren't golfers,
they are Asian sweatshop tennis shoe manu-
facturers who are focussing their attention to
golf. (And doing a great job of it, as I pointed
out, in my opinion, with some of the things
they are doing.)

Nike seems to be ok for the world number 1 golfer mate!

I'd just as soon not bring Tiger
into this discussion.

I find it unfortunate that a prodigy such as Michelle Wie is being turned into a joke by her sponsors and father. She has such potential as a golfer and seems to really enjoy the game. Yes, it would be hard to turn down such a lucrative contract with Nike. Who knows what a broken arm could do to that potential. On the other hand, was it worth selling her soul over? Could a lower contract have been negotiated leaving more room for Michelle to grow as a player.

While I admire her ability, I don't believe Michelle even knows how to think for herself. She speaks with the clarity of a nine year old and the words coming out of her mouth are repetitive and coached. I think she would have been welcomed with open arms to the LPGA who definitely need the boost. But she has shown such disrespect for them, with her (or her sponsor's) obsession with playing with the men, that she may end up not overly welcomed by the players on any of the tours.

Tigress

hi
i think she trustd her family and they agreed to the nike deal and all that goes with it, she is not permitted to do so many things incase she gets hurt, she is another one that will miss out on there teen years growing up and are now coched what to say and what to even wear day to day. i think she handles it all well for a 16 year old but it must take so much out of her being controled in every thing she does and says, she even gets time to play some golf too but on the mens tour and not the ladys.
its all done to sell her to us and not about her really beating the guys on tour. its to get her up there on the tv with her nike tshirt and hat and skirt and shoes.
she is made for life but at what price to her.
bill

This is not exactly a new thing for
Americans, in that we have always
had little league Dads and the like.
What is new is the level, both money
wise and with respect to competition.
We are, though, familiar with the child
actor syndrome. The alleys and jails
of Hollywood are littered with the
hulls of former child stars: dysfunctional,
addicted, and socially maladjusted
former child stars whose parents were
quick to the lure of Hollywood money
but whose children paid the price of their
avarice. OK, I may be a little dramatic
here, but the principle applies. The game
of golf has always represented so much
more to it's devotees.
There are more similarities to the parallel
of Hollywood and Nike golf. I'd also throw
in the disgusting behavior of the fans at
Winged Foot this year. In my day, many
of those wouldn't have lasted ten minutes,
they'd have been told to behave or get out.
Golf is changing. For better or worse, that's
for the generations to come to decide.

hi edshaw
i think you make a good point, i think that why i think so much of big phil not taking the money when younger and staying an amature till he was ready to turn pro and not some company that wanted to make money out his name and game.
bill

Thanks, Bill:
And, look at how well Tiger is managing his
career and public personality. I know we
are comparing apples to oranges, here,
but still, isn't it possible that the time Tiger
spent both finishing high school and at
Stanford might have contributed to his
apparent success in his field?

<<<Sits back quietly and awaits the verdict of history on Miss Wie......thinly veiled accusations of cheating from fellow competitors......an obsession with distance that has ruined her swing and might yet ruin her body (has anyone noticed how heavy set around the face she is now, too much working out?)starting with her wrist......sponsor based stupidity starting with assigning a glorified sales rep as her manager and forcing mens comps on her....game in freefall.....even Leadbetter unable to sort her out.....

She has been overtaken by a couple of players already, Pressel for one....I think it would be interesting to see what the odds are on her being the next US player to win a Major, a year or so ago she was probably close odds with Creamer and just in front of Gulbis, Kerr and Pressel. All of them, with the exception of the injury plagued Gulbis would hae moved a bit ahead of her by the start of this season and two of them already have accomplished the feat.

Its a great shame, she was exactly what the womens game needed a couple of years ago and she was badly advised to concentrate on the mens tour rather than trying to become a force on the LPGA.

2 'withdrawals' hae seen her avoid losing any plaing priviledges for the rest of the year. I wonder if there were LPGA officials 'chatting cordially' with MacKenzie Kline's manager when she was heading for the 89 blows that saw her kicked off the LPGA????

D.

__________________
Longniddry Golf Club Champ 2005.

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