TIGER, TIGER BURNING BRIGHT(?)

So Mr. Woods is going to give a press conference tomorrow ... hmm ... what's he going to say? Well, I can tell you it's going to be pretty safe and cliche ... this will not be a speech from the heart. He'll read a statement claiming to be sorry that he let people down, that's he's learned his lesson, and will come back as a better person .... all good stuff - I hope it's sincere - but all of it is right out of the playbook.

Will he talk about coming back on the Tour? I think he will. I believe his plan is to make his comeback at Bay Hill - Arnie's place - he'll be sheltered, it's in Orlando ... it's his safest venue to play golf ... then, he'll sit out awhile and play in the Masters. Augusta National will not allow the media and public to harass Woods ... he'll be safe again. 

If he can win either of those Events ... he'll be fine - in fact, he'll be a hero. Look at Kobe Bryant - he won an NBA Championship and his rape incident is forgotten and/or forgiven.

What do I think about all of this? Well, I love the Heroic ... I believe that people are made to be Heroic and that we need sports and movies and novels where we identify with heroes overcoming obstacles and winning ... we need those examples for our own lives - so we can muster the courage to overcome our own obstacles. But, Kobe and Tiger shouldn't be given a pass just because they keep winning at a sport ... a real hero has a sense of honor ... they need to restore that they are honorable people. I was listening to ESPN radio this morning, and the radio host was excusing Tiger's Friday press conference because it was ok that Tiger was selfish. See, Ernie Els said that Tiger should have waited until Monday to give his press conference - not on Friday during a PGA Tournament. The radio host missed the point ... it's not that Tiger is being selfish - he's being disrespectful to the tournament and the players ... that's not an honorable thing to do ... isn't his lack of honor and respect why he got in this mess in the first place? Has he really learned anything? It seems to me that he's operating the way he always has ... not my idea of a hero .

INTERNAL MOTIVATION

If the Vikings weren't going to win the Super Bowl, I was glad that New Orleans won the prize. How great is their coach Sean Payton? New Orleans has good players ... but not close to the Vikings or the Colts ... they won because of their coach. That onside kick to start the second half was a brilliant move ... and ballsy, very ballsy. If they don't recover the kick and the Saints lose the game, the media and "fans" would never let it go. But, they would have lost anyway - that was the only way that they were going to get back into the game.
What's amazing is that most coaches don't have enough feel for the game to even realize the desperate situation and then have the guts to pull the trigger. I've watched baseball playoff games when during the late innings, the team at bat (who is losing) had men on base, one out and a 3-0 count ... and the coach gave him the take sign ... sure enough it's a fat fast ball for strike one ... and now the batter has lost most of his advantage, winds up popping out, and the threat is over, and then they bring in a reliever like Rivera and the game is over ... they HAD to let that guy swing (Morneau) on 3 -0 ... unbelievable and hard to watch. Thank God for Sean Payton. Do any of you remember when Billy Martin used to manage the Twins? They stole home 9 times that season! They were really fun to watch, but Calvin fired Billy after only one season - even though they won their division ... Calvin couldn't handle creative, exciting, intuitive baseball ... he liked it by the numbers ... he'd probably love Childress.
Most coaches don't coach to win as much as they coach to keep their job ... understandable, but not fun to watch.
Golf as a sport/business,game, etc is in that situation. Golf is not growing ... in fact it's shrinking. How come? Well, this isn't rocket science ... people don't want to play. What about money? Isn't that the big issue? Not really ... if people really want to play, they'll find the money ... look at liquor stores - are they folding? No, people are finding the money for booze. So the problem is motivation ... isn't the answer to find what motivates people to play golf? Instead, we have all of these "Grow the Game" initiatives that are mostly ways of throwing money around and hoping something happens. Sort of like what's been happening to our economy ... let's not solve the motivational issues that are at the heart of our nation's economic problems - no, let's throw money at our problems in terms of bailouts and let's hope magic happens.
People - especially scientists - don't want to face that most problems are problems of motivation - and I mean internal motivation. Programs of the carrot and stick, stimulous-response, monetary rewards and threats ... only go so far and last only so long. Companies, teams, and societies break down when its members' internal motivation breaks down ... that is the real issue ... always was and always will be ...

PGA Show in Orlando

Just got back from the annual PGA Show held at the Orlando Convention Center, It's a big show, but not like it was in the '90's when it was huge. That's when golf was on the upswing ... but too many courses opened and too few people took up the game and/or stayed with it. So the saturation of courses mixed with 9/11, lead to a weaker PGA Show during the last decade ... obviously the current economic situation hasn't helped.

But, I still love the Show. It's great seeing all of the club manufactureres such as Titleist and Callaway, all of the cool clothing lines like Polo, Petter Millar, and Bobby Jones ... and seeing some of the crazy inventions that might be the next hot item. Also, it's just fun seeing other pros and old friends ... it's one of my favorite weeks of the year.

This year, I went to a bunch of PGA classes. Mostly, I went to classes about marketing and management ... but I also went to some teaching classes. By far my favorite was led by Manuel de la Torre. Mr. Torre has to be close to 90 ... but, he's still unbelievably into teaching the golf swing and his class was fascinating. He believes in making a swing. Most modern instruction is all about making body movements and being in particular positions. He believes that positions are a result of making the correct swing - not the other way around. He also asked the class questions of cause and effect - the class was stumped, because they don't really understand the golf swing. Look him up on Wkipedia - he's an amazing guy and I think really gets it.

The reason that Mr. Torre's instruction is so out of step with current instruction, is that he tries to get the student to use his mind. Most modern instruction is about turning someone into a robot ... just the opposite of reaching someone's brain and then letting them make a proper golf swing with their unique body. This is at the heart of what I believe is going on in the world. People are easily controlled by "stimulus/response" (remember Pavlov's dogs?). But, I believe that happiness comes from being independent and free from outside control. Obviously, control people have been mastering the art of control - the Soviets believed in controlling all of the Russian people and then later on the whole world. Don't think this controlling isn't happening in the "free world" ... people use it because it works ... I believe it's evil, but it does work. People who are only practical, believe that whatever works is good ... I think that's pretty scary.

Did you ever watch that TV show from the late '60's called "The Prisoner"? I heard that there's a remake. He was trapped on an island where everything was "perfect" ... but controlled ... the only thing he didn't have was his freedom.

I've loved golf because it is an individual game ... you have the freedom to play it your way. Unfortunately, even golf has become under the spell of robot-making control freaks ...but golf will never totally turn into a Soviet style game ... robots don't have brains or hands ... humans do ... and that's what golf is all about.

ps close to the Georgia/Florida border, I saw a billboard that said "WHO IS JOHN GALT" ... I have hope ...