WEBVTT - Fire Drill 085: Follow the Money 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:05.720 Something I've believed from the beginning that the Yasers are 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:07.920 going to decide the future of Live and nobody else, 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:10.840 and so I think they're gonna go. They're gonna all 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:14.840 systems are go for twenty twenty four. It's partly to 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.840 keep them in a position of strength in negotiating with 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:20.560 the tour on this framework agreement, because if they just 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:23.080 pull the plug right now on Live, they've lost all 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:23.760 their leverage. 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:29.920 I got thoughts in my head. Can't get them out, ji, 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:34.320 and not to think what I'm thinking about. I'm bouncing 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:38.760 my head. Can't get them out, jih, not to think 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:40.440 what I'm thinking about. 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:50.400 Hello, this is Alan Ship Knock back for another Fire 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:54.840 Drill podcast. Another big day in the Gulf world, which 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:58.880 has crashed Capitol Hill for the Senate sub Committee hearings 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:02.400 about the front work agreement between the PGA Tour and 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:04.679 Live Golf and all the related intrigue. 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:06.520 We want to unpack this. 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.680 I'm delighted to be joined once again by Matt Janella. 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:13.000 I'm at what a day. 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:16.160 Let's pay a few bills first, tell the listeners who 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:18.120 are making this making this podcast possible. 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:18.920 Then we'll get into it. 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:21.560 Yeah, I can't wait. I can't wait to get your thoughts. 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:25.760 But yes, thanks to Dormy Workshop. Obviously, if you've been 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:29.040 listening to this podcast, you know this is a company 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:33.280 and a brand and a family that I love that 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:37.360 we're in partnership together. It literally is a family based 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:40.880 business based in Halifax, Nova, Scotia, where all they do 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:44.080 is make quality leather headcovers and accessories. I met them 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:48.160 at the PGA Merchandise Show about ten years ago. Been promoting, 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:52.040 you know, playing golf with them ever since. Go to 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:54.760 Dormy Workshop dot com and use promo code fire Pit 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:58.400 fifteen for fifteen percent off your next purchase. They have 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:03.640 an incredible array of goods and some of the most 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:08.400 unique stuff you'll see in the world of golf headcovers 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.720 leather goods. You can also go to the Firepit dot 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:14.400 com Firepit Collective dot com and go to the Pit 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:19.520 shop and order one of our Dormy headcovers or stash bags. 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:26.200 All right, Alan, I mean you watched, you listened. I 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:28.640 would assume you learned a few things. What are your 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:29.520 biggest takeaways. 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:31.880 Yeah, there's a lot to unpack. 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:34.760 It wasn't just the hearings which by themselves were quite interesting, 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:39.480 but then the related document dump a lot of interesting 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:44.400 material that you know, the when the Senate comes calling, 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:46.240 people will give it up. I've been asking folks for 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:48.560 some of these documents for a long time, and you know, 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:51.040 it's easy to blow off reporters, but it's different when 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:53.960 you've got the United States Senate in your business and 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.200 the Department of Justice, and so it was it's been 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:00.400 a treasure trove. And there was this previous document dump, 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.880 you know, a week or so ago, related to Larry 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:07.840 Clayman's lawsuit. He's Patrick Reed's very eccentric lawyer, and so 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:11.920 there's I mean, it's like it's like being archaeologists sifting 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:17.240 through these documents. But yeah, speaking a bit more about 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:19.720 the hearings, it was interesting. 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:21.480 You know, Jay Monahan was missed. 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:25.600 It was like they sent in Jimmy Dunn and Ron Price, 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:29.160 and Jimmy Dunn is a legend in the golf world, 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:31.880 but it seemed like he was struggling a little bit 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:35.520 to articulate his thoughts and a couple of times he said, well, 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:37.360 I'm not a lawyer. You know who's a lawyer is 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:40.640 Ed Hurley, who's a chairman of the PGA Tour Board, 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:43.440 who is also one of the architects of this framework agreement. 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.640 I'm still puzzled why they didn't send Hurley. He's like 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:48.880 supposedly the leading lawyer in the United States. Like I 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.800 think he might have been able to address some of 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:53.880 these things with a little more nimbleness and. 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:56.560 Precise language. 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.400 But and you know Poort Ron Price, I mean, he's 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:02.960 always been this background figure. He's been in the tour forever, 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:06.920 and all of a sudden, with his boss on medical leave, 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:08.160 which conveniently ends in a. 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:11.480 Few days, they said, they said, they said, Ron up 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:13.320 there just to be fed to the lions. 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:19.520 And I've watched plenty of of hearings going all the 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.159 way back to Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill, and it's 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:28.599 always interesting to see our elected officials on display. And uh, 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:31.120 there was some some departures, and we wound up talking 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:34.280 a lot about China. You know, Josh Holly from from 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:37.800 Missouri was obsessing about China. They're not really part of 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:39.200 this deal. You didn't, Senator like. 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:40.120 It was it was random. 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:45.680 And then you know, uh, Senator Paul from Kentucky went 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.320 on this whole riff about name image likeness and how 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:52.800 it's destroying college sports, and these things are tangentially related 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:54.720 to the issue at hand. But there was a lot 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:56.880 of grand standing. There was a lot of politicking, which 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.640 is always part of these these hearings, so that was expected. 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:03.680 But I thought Ron Johnson, he was from Wisconsin, it 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.200 seemed like he was auditioning to become, you know, maybe 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:09.040 maybe to fill Randall Stevens spot on the PG Tour 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:12.159 policy board. You know, he was like, he was very 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.720 gentle and very supportive of the tour. Blumenthal from Connecticut 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:17.720 who kind of you know, he was a senator who's 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:19.320 been the driving force and all this. I thought his 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:24.240 questions were really sharp and penetrating, and he definitely had 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:27.520 had the tour guys on their heels. There were no 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:31.719 bombshells that came out of this, other than potentially the 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:36.840 language about Greg Norman's dismissal, which was always kind of expected. 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:39.520 If Jay Monahan is going to become the commissioner of this, 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:42.679 of the new co, there wasn't really a role for Norman, 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:48.520 but that that's created a lot of headlines. I think 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:51.960 that was that was somewhat obvious, but it is interesting 0:05:52.000 --> 0:05:55.239 if liv continues to stay on this parallel path even 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:59.359 even as the new code framework deal gets consummated. That 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:02.320 if Norman has no role in that. So that was 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:04.440 kind of that was kind of the bombshell, if if 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.279 there was one, but I think. 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:07.920 It was a Norman. 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:11.000 It was about like, certainly the idea that Norman like, 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.520 I don't know, I mean, it's not only a bombshell, 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:17.600 but it's a bombs like to me, that was kind 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.320 of part of the layer to the Norman factor. 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:23.560 Is well, yeah, I mean, Norman's had to know he's 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:26.520 on thin ice ever since this deal became public and 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:28.240 the fact that he wasn't even consulted in it, he 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:30.800 had no role or voice in its negotiation, that was 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:33.280 the first clear signal he's on the outside looking in. 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:36.960 And given that the Norman and Monhan have been in 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.640 bitter opposition to each other and now Mona Han's been 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:42.560 elevated to the CEO of all of Golf, essentially if 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:46.400 this deal gets done, that would leave Norman on, you know, 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:48.560 without a role. I mean, that's been clear, but it 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:53.200 was interesting that it was actually put in writing and 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:58.840 and sort of the cold bloodedness of it. And so yeah, 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:01.080 my biggest takeaway, to go back to your original question, 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:07.240 is how tenuous this framework agreement really is. And some 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.800 of the documents as they've they've been laid out, show 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:12.680 how much horse trading that was going on just to 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:15.920 try and get to the framework agreement, which as presented 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:19.480 has almost no specificity, no details. And the reason is 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:21.040 they couldn't agree on anything. I mean, there was like 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:25.440 eight different drafts and all these fantastical things like you know, 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:28.160 the piff asking Tiger Woods to play ten live events. 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:30.000 I mean, Tiger's not going to play. He may not 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.120 play ten turn as the rest of his career, and 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.880 they certainly he's not going to burn any of his 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:40.040 precious footsteps on a live golf event, right, Like some 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:44.320 of it was was bizarre and wishful thinking. Maybe it's 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:50.760 just posturing as part of any negotiation, but so why 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:53.960 was the framework agreement so unsatisfying and so vague. It's 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:55.920 because they couldn't agree on a damn thing, and it's 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:57.360 just like, okay, we got to put this out. And 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:00.800 even even there was all this choreography about how how 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:04.880 we would the messaging behind it, what steps would come 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.400 before the announcement, that all got tossed aside too. I 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:10.320 mean in our previous podcast with Jeff Ogilvie, you know, 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:13.120 he speculated that it had been leaked and it was going. 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:15.320 To go public, and somebody knew or somebody was going. 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:19.560 To take it public, and that's why they hit fast 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:21.600 forward on the announcement that has more of the ring 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:23.760 of truth now and when you look at it didn't 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:24.320 play out the. 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:27.480 Way it was. It was scripted in all the correspondent, So. 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:32.440 You know, Jimmy Dunn was pretty honest about that. We 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.720 have a long way to go on this deal, and 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:39.560 the tour is vulnerable if if they can't consummate the deal, 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:43.800 because every every tour player who turned down the Saudi 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:47.839 money and remained loyal to the tour now to have 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:50.000 their bosses come in and say, listen, it's fine, it's 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:52.160 all good. We love the Saudis, we love the money. 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:54.920 We're all one big, happy family. And if this deal 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.839 blows up, there's absolutely no incentive for any of these 0:08:57.840 --> 0:08:59.600 guys to stay loyal to the tour anymore because the 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:03.680 tour was not loyal to them. So the the stakes 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:07.240 have been raised here in negotiating this this framework deal. 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:09.920 In some ways the stat he's already gotten what they wanted. 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:14.120 They've been they've gotten the official stamp of approval from 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:17.640 the powers that be in golf, and so I think 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:19.800 they're like, Okay, if we can, if we can get 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:21.800 this done, great, and if not, we'll just we'll take 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:24.760 We'll take John Rahm, and we'll take every other player 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:26.559 we want, and we'll just make Live a bigger. 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:27.920 Thing so you can. 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:30.880 And there was a moment where where one of the 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:33.600 senators asked, Jimmy Dunn, has this whole process made it 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:35.679 harder to consummate the frameworkgreement? 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.160 He said, yeah, obviously it has. And so. 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.880 The next you know, five months become really fascinating as 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:45.400 to if they can get across the finish line and 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:46.640 what it's actually going to look like. 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:53.959 This is, I mean, the idea that we are having 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:56.840 this conversation and having covered the game for as long 0:09:56.880 --> 0:10:00.160 as we have, whether you're just coming to the game 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:03.120 or you've been covering the game, like if you're Ben 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:07.600 Crenshaw or if you're like, you know, I don't know, 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:14.200 you know, Charlie Woods, like the the the whole thing 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:20.040 is just truly remarkable to me that this is the 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:24.520 state of professional golf and just shows you how I 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:27.280 don't know if you saw Riggs. Riggs is sort of 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.839 you know, social post on which he goes on and 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:33.840 sort of does his big takeaways and talks about the 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:36.480 way that the reason why we're here and why the 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:44.360 tour and how poorly they treated the players, the sponsors, 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:47.440 the ego they've had for so long, which is why 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:51.360 I've always said I'm just rooting for the disruption. I 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:56.760 just just the tour's attitude and ego, you know, sort 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:59.760 of ran a muck right, and Tim fincham Oh, by 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:04.960 the way, left this steamy pile of shit on the 0:11:04.960 --> 0:11:08.320 front doorstep or the of of of the office of 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:11.520 his successor and said. 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:12.520 I rode Tiger. 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:16.160 I'm not only did I ride Tiger into sort of 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:20.560 this new world era of professional golf, I wrote it 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:25.200 right into the Hall of Fame with Tiger shoulder to shoulder, 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.400 which the irony of that, all of that is not 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:31.400 lost on me. And now Jay has had to deal 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:38.280 with all of this and the vulnerability of this sport 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:42.160 in which it just took a big pile of money. 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:45.360 You know, you had the Premier Golf League, Saudi stole 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:48.200 their playbook had Greg Norman as a guy who was 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.559 able to get enough players to make this a relevant 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:56.320 and a real thing. That that led to like more 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.240 money here, and then a push to the sponsors to 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:01.240 bring up the money that they're going to spend on 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:06.120 a watered down, you know, product, and the sponsors going, 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.679 none of this is making much sense. You're talking at us, 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:12.440 not with us. Not only are we out in twenty twelve, 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:14.440 but let's try to get out in twenty twenty three. 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:17.920 Oh my god, we're screwed. We better meet with these guys, 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:20.160 we better bring them like we got to do a 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:22.640 deal with them. Let's just at least do a deal 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:26.080 to do a deal, and let's figure this out later 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:28.920 in the middle of the season of twenty twenty three, 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:31.840 in the middle of the four Majors leading into a 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:32.559 Ryder Cup. 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.880 I mean, this is absolute mayhem. 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.200 It is, as I've said many times, it's just a 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:41.600 gift from the content gods. As I was watching this, 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:43.920 hearing play out was I kind of had to jog 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:46.200 my memory. I was googling what were the biggest golf 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:48.760 stories of twenty twenty one. You know, that was really 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:52.560 the last year before Live arrived. Number two on this 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:56.360 list I saw was the USGA capping driver link at 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:58.400 forty six inches instead of forty eight. 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:01.240 That was the number two story twenty twenty one. Like 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:02.760 it was a much simpler time. 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:08.160 And I'm sure when the USGA was the bad guy, yeah, 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:09.960 Jesus even. 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:11.720 And that's what been one of the ironies along as 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:15.280 you were alluding to that the monopolistic PGA tour has 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:18.280 been couched as the good guy underdog and all this 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:20.480 because we know from our own dealings that's not necessarily 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:26.520 the case. But so yeah, it's these are just as 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:29.360 as many people have said, these are unparalleled times, and 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.400 it's we're all just kind of riding these waves of 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:37.440 news breaks and energy around this and this again, this 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:39.320 isn't even over. At the end of the hearings, they 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:41.880 you know, they kind of said, well, this is not 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:43.959 the end. We look forward to hearing from the people 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.480 that we have previously invited. We want to still want 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:48.800 to get their thoughts on this. That's Monahan, Norman and 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:53.400 the most important guy, Yaser al Ramayan. So you know, 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:55.839 mister Smith goes to Washington part too, like that these 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:59.760 guys are going to be testifying again and a bluemin 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:01.920 thought and Holly and some of the other senators were 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:06.520 pretty effective at boxing in uh, you know, Jimmy Dunn 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:09.280 and Ron Price and getting them to commit we want 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:12.160 they want certain things in writing. One of the interesting 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:18.120 bits was Price was questioned about pushback from the players 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:20.840 and he said, you know, he said, of course, yeah, 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:22.960 they're upset. We've been we've been having to you know, 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:25.240 kind of smooth things over, and there's been a lot 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.560 of conversation. And he said, have there been any communications 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:30.920 in writing and Price just him and how do you 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:33.040 want answer the question? And finally at the end he 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:35.440 extracted a promise and if there's anything in writing, we 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:38.680 want to see it so that that now becomes interesting, 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.840 you know, if they can get Rory and Tiger and 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:45.840 those guys as text messages to Monaghan or to Jimmy Dunn, 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:50.200 email correspondence between the agents like So this is not 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:54.520 over even from from the standpoint of the federal government's involvement, 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:56.800 and looming in the background of all this is a 0:14:56.840 --> 0:15:00.360 Department of Justice that that's a totally separate issue and 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:05.840 a different body with with with much stronger powers of investigation. 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:10.520 And so there there's they're still looking at anti trusts 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:12.720 as it goes back to the original battle between the 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:16.400 tour and live and now what this you know, quote 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:20.200 unquote merger might mean it's not really a merger, but 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:22.280 people using that word is interesting because it kind of 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:26.680 captures the feeling. And so this is this is not over, 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.840 and I'm sure there's there's plenty of golf fans who 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:31.480 wish it was. And then we could go back to 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:34.280 when the most important thing in golf was the lengthier 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.680 driver or whether you're wearing a hoodie or not. You know, 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:41.000 those were just much simpler times. But you know, it's 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:44.480 akin to I mean, the biggest scandal of the Obama 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:47.320 administrations was you know, him putting mustard on a hot 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.720 dog or wearing a tan suit. You know, is so 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.440 his quote, his scandals were so tame compared to Trump, 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:56.440 which had, you know, been so impactful and NonStop. And 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:59.960 that's kind of golf is following that that that traject 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:03.360 you know, what used to be a big deal doesn't 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:04.800 seem like such a big deal anymore. 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:06.800 Here's what we know. 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.680 There will be four majors in twenty twenty four, you 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:17.240 know what I mean, Like like the majors, and you know, 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:21.160 I'm just so disenchanted by all of this, just all 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:23.920 all of it as it relates to professional golf. I 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:26.320 have a hard time, you know, I have a hard 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:30.960 time firing for the week to week, you know, Thursday 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:35.720 through Sunday, stroke play, who won this week? Good shot, 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.120 bad shot, good score, bad score. 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:39.160 Finished strong? 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:44.280 We're choked, Like unless it's relating to a major, you know, 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:49.240 I none of this is really at all compelling to me, 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:53.360 and I feel like the only thing we know compelling 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:56.880 in a way that makes me more intrigued by sort 0:16:56.920 --> 0:17:00.480 of you know, following the world of professional golff. It's like, 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:03.840 good God, there never was a really good a good 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.240 guy in the room. I don't think there is a 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:09.400 good guy in the room still to this day. I'm 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:14.000 just rooting for, at some point down the road that 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:16.840 they will get it all sorted and will be presented 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:21.439 with some sort of a product that actually, you know, 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:26.640 has value from a from a fans standpoint. I mean, 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:28.880 the fans are so far down on this list at 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.000 this point in terms of what matters. 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:33.960 It's like it's you know, it's the. 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:37.439 Top players, it's the top sponsors, and brands that are 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:40.919 related to those top players. Then it's like, you know, 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.120 some sort of legacy as it relates to the PGA 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:45.880 Tour and the people you know are. 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:46.560 In charge of that. 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:51.240 Then there's like the other players you know that beyond 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.760 the top thirty or beyond the top twenty five, and 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.480 then it's you know, I keep going, like the priority 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:02.520 list just keeps going. You know, God only knows where 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:06.520 a DP World Tour, corn Ferry Tour, I mean, where 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:08.720 do where does all that? And but then there's the 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:13.359 fan the way down this list is like, we'll figure 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:15.200 that out at some other point, but we got a 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:18.120 lot of shit to you know this. This individual mindset 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:21.800 that it takes to be a player is well documented. 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.399 It's an individualistic sport. It takes a lot of you know, 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:31.240 you know, a tunnel vision, uh, sort of narcissistic approach 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:33.560 to sort of life in general, because you're it's you 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:39.200 versus the world. And I think there's something to that 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:43.800 that has led to sort of this that has blown 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:47.359 up in sort of the world of professional golf'space, and 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:50.959 I just don't see any real clear and and uh 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:55.480 an understandable solution in any way shape or form. 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:58.320 Yeah, it's interesting. Mark Brooks texted me out of the 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:01.280 blue yesterday. You know, for were a tour player, PGA 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:06.480 championship winner, all that stuff, and he was involved in 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:10.119 this effort to create a player union back in the nineties. 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:15.160 He was intimately involved, and they were basically shouted down. 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:17.320 No top players would support them, with the notable exception 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:20.080 of Greg Norman, which is interesting. Norman was on the 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:22.440 few guys who actually paid his thousand dollars membership fee 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:23.280 and was. 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:24.920 Vocal about supporting the union. 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:27.639 But all the other top guys that were dismissive and 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:30.439 they never got traction. And you know that was a 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:34.000 talking point in the Senate hearings is they kept coming 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:36.680 back to this point, why were the players not involved? 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:38.960 You know, the whether it was price or done. They 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:41.320 kept saying there were a players organization, and so the 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:43.480 senators kept coming back to this point, if you're a 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:45.640 player organization, how could the players not have a voice 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:48.560 in this process? And this is not a new issue, 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:50.360 I mean, this is going this is going on three 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:54.119 decades now where and even longer really, I mean, but 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:56.080 there was that strong push in the nineties to create 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:59.080 a real, workable union. And you see in other sports, 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:02.000 h how how important the union is that protecting the 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:05.200 player's interests. But those are team sports, and like you said, 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:09.560 golf is just this this game that celebrates the rugged individual. 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:13.280 But it's it's a problematic moment for for all these 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:16.760 lone wolves right now, who all of a sudden they 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:19.800 want the safety of the pack. But they they've always 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:25.880 rejected it until now. So it's there's there's the structural questions, 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:29.119 and neither Price nor Done came up with a satisfactory answer. 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:33.080 You know. They they made the point that uh, and 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:34.399 this this was kind of funny. 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:36.880 Basically, if the lawyers on neither side had heard about this, 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:38.840 they would have tried to killed the deal. Well yeah, 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:40.600 because the lawyers are making tens of millions of dollars 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:42.119 a month, so of course they would have tried to 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:45.520 kill the deal. But but they never were able to 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:48.880 fully explain why they couldn't have let Rory in or 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:53.159 Tiger or you know, even Peter mal not use on 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:54.080 the board of directors. 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:56.960 You know that they they they. 0:20:56.840 --> 0:20:58.840 Talked around it, but they never answered the question. And 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:02.000 so I'm sure some any players who were paying attention 0:21:02.800 --> 0:21:04.719 that that was that left him with a hollow feeling 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:08.280 because that that's that's been one of the primary critiques 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:12.640 of this entire process is that you've got uh and 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:16.520 and this was also interesting Jimmy Dunn, you know, they 0:21:16.720 --> 0:21:19.000 he said something to the fact like, well, I just 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:20.840 came on the board, you know, end of last year, 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:22.879 and I don't I don't really know all the personalities. 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:26.239 And you know, he kind of admitted that he was 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:29.720 this this this newcomer who didn't have a full understanding 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:32.359 of the landscape, and yet he was the guy because 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:34.359 of his charisma and because of his business background he 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:36.119 was sent out there to represent all the interests of 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:38.639