WEBVTT - Fire Drill 056: Fathers and Sons 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:06.920 Welcome back to the Fire Drill. On this week's episode, 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:10.600 Matt Janella joined us. So it was Michael Alan, myself 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.520 and Matt, and we started off a conversation uh and 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:16.800 really talked a lot about VJ. And it really went 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.480 a lot of places like the Fire Drill is supposed 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:21.840 to do, places that I didn't expect. Matt tells some 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.320 stories about a photo shoot. We obviously talk dear Antler 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:28.000 Spray because he can't talk VJ without dear Antler Spray. 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:30.120 Who knew. I didn't know that you put it under 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.440 your tongue, but I learned that today. Um. Yeah. But 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:36.440 we talked a lot about his career and good things, 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:38.680 bad things. It was really very interesting, one of those 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:41.919 moments when I'm on this podcast that I kind of, uh, 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:44.360 sit back and try to listen because it's great stories 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:46.479 from guys who have had firsthand experience at Allan and 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:48.840 Michael and Matt with him. So it was great. Talked 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:53.360 about PNC obviously, UM and Tiger and Charlie and and 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.240 just all the things that come with it. Tiger as 0:00:56.280 --> 0:01:00.120 a father, Uh, Tiger's place in the game. Uh. Out 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:01.640 of least places in the game that we all need 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:07.200 to chill delf out about like everything that Charlie does. Um. 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.320 We don't need to be that into Charlie. There can 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.720 be a level of interest without a stalker situation. Uh. 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:16.400 And then lastly, uh, we talked about O W g 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:19.360 rum Matt had put out a tweet UM a little 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:21.880 bit to go maybe last week that kind of went 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:24.640 a little bit sideways at times UM, and he came 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:26.840 on to kind of explain his thoughts and we all 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:29.240 joined in about O W G R and and what 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:31.640 it looks like in the future. So it's a great 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:34.760 debate four of us instead of three uh this week 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:39.160 before we get into the actual podcast, obviously want to 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:41.560 thank are too great sponsors that help us do this 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:46.880 dormy workshop. Awesome head covers, artisanal, gotta use that word 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:51.800 every week. Uh, great cub club covers, uh, putter covers, 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:55.960 head covers, awesome stuff. Appreciate their support and par points. 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:00.480 UH go make par awesome way to a different an 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:03.640 awesome way to keep score on the golf course. I 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:06.280 know it's hard to break out of something that you're 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:08.760 used to, but please go try it because it really 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:12.480 is a very cool way to score. UH. Part points 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:15.239 is great and a great supporter of us. And then 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:19.400 uh lastly, uh new podcast that we've that fire Pit 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:23.320 is doing. Need a fourth awesome guests with a famous putter, 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:28.640 gentle fella h heat Well, worth your time, going to 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:31.720 be an awesome one great guest coming up. We just 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:36.800 talked off air per se about upcoming guests for this 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:41.160 show and it is very very cool. Um. So all 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:44.000 of that being said, go to our YouTube page, subscribe, 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:46.560 Like you know, all those annoying things that people ask 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:48.240 you to do all the time and you don't listen 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:51.040 to them, Please do that. Please go subscribe to our 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:56.800 YouTube channel, subscribe to our podcast, uh like comment, do 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:58.720 all the things and then I'll stop saying that. The 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:01.440 more you do that, the us I'll say it, and 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:03.240 we can all just move on with our lives. So 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:06.680 we put out a lot of great content podcasts and 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:09.480 shows and all sorts of stuff. So go check that 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:13.200 out at the fire Pit Collective YouTube channel. These podcasts 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.520 are on there also, And without further ado, here's the 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:21.760 four of us this week talking golf. I got in 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:29.120 my head, can't get Jan nothing thing what I'm thinking about. 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:34.480 Can't get him now, Jen not to think well, I'm 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:45.800 thinking about Hello and welcome back to their Fire Drill podcast. 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.440 This is Alan Schipnuk. I am joined by Michael Bamberger 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:53.320 and Ryan French as always, and we have our our 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.480 colleague Matt Janella, who wanted to come on. He he 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:59.560 was under some bridges battling various trolls and thought we'd 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:03.240 have a a more thoughtful discussion about the topic of hand, 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:05.960 which was the world rankings and whether or not the 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:08.520 fire per Collective as a shill for live golf. Um, 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:13.000 but we will. We will start with the the events 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.160 of the day. I mean, it's it's a goat factory 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:17.720 out here. We had we started with Lionel Messy went 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:20.080 in the World Cup and we're rolling the Tiger and 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:23.599 Anika plane at the parents and so and you can't 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:26.039 call the father son and fonicas there and uh, of 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.280 course we got Tom Brady playing football layer today. It's 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:32.040 quite a sports day. Um, this is not a soccer podcast. 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:35.080 We don't have to go deep on that. But Tiger 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:38.120 and Charlie did not make a run. They're both a 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:40.080 little banged up, but it was it was fun to 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:42.719 see them out there. It was I loved watching VJ 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:44.800 seeing bring it home with his son. I remember when 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:48.080 his son cast was like early teenager. Now the dudes 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.760 in his thirties and um, they finally won it for 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:52.640 the first time after two decades, and it was it 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:54.520 was just fun to watch VJ do his thing. But 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:58.039 obviously all eyes were on Tiger and Charlie. Um what 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:00.279 did you guys think of of how how that the 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:03.240 Woods Is performed. I think, first of all, that the 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.000 PGA Tour, if they could have picked a worst storyline 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:10.520 to happen, I'm not sure VJ and and his son winning. 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:14.120 I mean they're like no, like they're having no fun. 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.159 They're like in full grind mode, like typical things out there, 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:20.120 Like VJ is full grind. I tweeted like they probably 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:23.080 went to the range after they won and like pounded 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:25.920 balls for a while, like it was full grind mode. 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:30.920 It was like, you know, I mean, it was great 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:33.680 to see the Woods. I love the dailies, but if 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:36.400 all storylines that could have happened, the things probably was 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.440 not on the top of the PGA tours list. Uh. 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:44.520 I don't agree, and Alan already knows why VJ is 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.320 always sticking it to the man and anytime he wins, 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:51.559 he's sticking it somewhere and I like it. Yeah. Does 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:54.400 Does Vj's career money list include the settlement he earned 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:58.080 in the PGA Tour for from the deer handler spray 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:00.600 non you know, suspension non suspenseion it. I mean that 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:02.880 probably bumps them up a couple of nots. Is Matt, 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:06.440 what was your take? I'm sort of with Michael, I 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:11.799 I think, you know, is VJ? You know, my favorite 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:14.479 player that I've ever met or spent time with or 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.040 worked with. You know, I've got everybody has their own 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:21.679 and all what our opinions of like players, always comes 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:25.719 down to like our own experiences, you know, right, And 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:30.760 and I have one terrible story about VJ saying and 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.760 how he treated a photographer Golf Digest, Steve's early who 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:38.760 is is a lifetime committed member of the world of 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:42.520 golf media and has tirelessly covered this game for more 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:46.320 than a better part of four decades. And VJ really 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:49.920 treated him poorly on a Golf Digest cover shoot, and 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:52.440 that always stuck with me, like I can't forgive him 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.920 for it, Like I just can't, you know. And I've 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:57.080 heard that VJ is actually a decent dude. If you're 0:06:57.279 --> 0:06:59.320 in the inner circle. It's a little bit like Tiger 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:02.040 the way he treats the innerstrc If you're in your end, 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:05.520 if you're out, you're out. Um. You know, I just 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:09.880 have that one story that always lives with me on 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:13.000 how he treated a guy like Steve's earl who didn't 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.320 deserve it, one of the best people ever. But that 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:17.920 you gotta tell us what happened if you come on given. Oh, 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.920 well it was golfed. I just cover shoot. I was 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:24.160 the you know, the director of photography, so I'm coordinating 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:26.720 with the agent on the front end. Hey, you know, 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:30.320 here's here's where they're meeting, Here's where it's going to be. 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.480 It's it was practiced round of of a tour event. 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:36.920 You know, say it was a Tuesday before an event, 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:39.800 and he was going to give z Earlie some time 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:45.160 and again a cover shoot, and Zuli's request to me 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:48.400 to communicate to the agent was, hey, you know, given 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:52.960 Vj's you know, specific color of his skin and how 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:56.520 dark he is, and in trying to make the cover 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.840 shoot look as good as it could be without the 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:03.000 without adding any light because we're doing it outside. He 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:05.880 wanted to do it outside during the practice round. He 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:11.800 the request was no, you know, black or white visors, 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:14.920 no black or white shirt because that contrast was going 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:18.760 to be really hard to make look good in a 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.440 in a on a cover shoot. So it was like, hey, 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:24.600 can you just bring different color shirts or visors? Um, 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:28.280 And at the end of the round where he was 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:30.440 going to go change and get you know, he came 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:34.040 out with a white shirt and a black visor and 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:39.040 Steve was like, hey, hey man, any chance we can 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.679 get I thought we communicated that there was this is 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:45.200 gonna make it really hard with this light to try 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:48.600 to get light. You know, No, this is what I'm wearing. Okay, 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:51.120 well you know you do see that this. We're trying 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:52.920 to make this as good as possible. This is what 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:56.800 I'm wearing, you know. But if there's any chance, okay, 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:58.600 how about this, what if we what if we do 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.120 the cover shoot without the visor and on the inside 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:04.760 for the swing sequence that was generally tied to a 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.320 cover shoot, you can wear the visor inside. He goes, Hey, man, 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:11.440 I make more for this wearing this visor than you 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:14.800 will in your entire career. I'm wearing the visor, you know, 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.200 drop that line. I'm wearing the virus. This is what 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.840 I'm wearing, and that's what we're doing. And you know, 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:24.679 at that point, you know, Steve's Steve's just trying to 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:27.480 make it look you know, it had been cue again 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:29.520 on the front Like that, to me is just being 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:32.280 a dick right at that point, that's like using the 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:34.280 line do you know who I am? Like if you're 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.040 dropping those kinds of lines, I'm I'm ware make I 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:40.320 can make more for this than what And then it's 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:44.000 just it's the whole thing that just in I think, 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:46.240 you know, and we're just trying to make him look good, right, 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:49.760 We're just trying everybody's got in theory the same goal, 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:51.920 which is to try to make him you know. So 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:56.199 I don't know that just I'm not sure there's another 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:58.040 player out there here where there's as big a gap 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.880 between how the players feel about him and how the 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:04.200 fans of media feel about him, because most of the 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:06.760 players really like VJ, partly because he's like the the 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.600 he was forever was the de facto swing coach on tour, 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:11.480 Like if guys were struggling, they'd go talk to VJ. 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:14.480 He was so knowledgeable and he was generous with his time, 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:16.719 and you'd see him working with different players and he'd 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:20.400 be on the practice green sharing his little weird putting aids. 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.200 And I think there's actually a lot of VJ loyalists. 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:25.120 They liked that he stood up to Tiger, he stood 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:27.400 up to Phil. You know, they famously went jawn to 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:29.960 jaw in the champions locker room at the Master's VJ 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:33.160 and Phil and there was no love loss between between 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:36.160 VJ and Tiger, and I think players appreciate that. Well, 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:40.000 everyone else was retreating. You know. VJ wasn't afraid of Tiger, 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.000 and he actually he got the better of him a 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:46.679 few times during peak Tiger era. So VJ I think 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:48.760 has a lot of respect among his peers. But yeah, 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:51.720 fans have never warmed up to him. There's he was 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.760 He's never been a favorite among the typing class. So 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:57.880 it's just it's fascinating. I don't think VJs too bothered 0:10:57.880 --> 0:10:59.480 by any of that. As he said, he's he's got 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:01.080 all the money in the world, and he's got the 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:03.959 trophies and he just he does d G a f 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:09.199 which on some levels kind of high respect. I certainly 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:14.400 respect him. I when I first joined Morning Drive, now 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:16.760 ten years ago. It was right around the time of 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:20.679 the dear Antler spray incident, and I was I was 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:23.800 kind of bewildered by the idea that a guy of 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:27.360 VJ stature and all that, you know, and where where 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:30.880 where they were with the game would put something like 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.640 dear antler spray under his tongue without running it by 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.640 a few people, just to make sure that they that 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:38.960 the contents of it weren't going to come up as 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:43.160 you know, something that that the tour was uh, you know, 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.800 banned as a as a substance. You know, it was like, really, 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:48.520 we're gonna go with deer antler spray and just like 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:53.320 you know, just without without running it by a few people. 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:55.720 I mean, I kind of like poked at him for that, 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:58.920 and I don't think you appreciated. But you know, I've 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.120 had a couple, know, I've crossed paths with them from 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:05.160 time to time. Certainly the Pure Insurance where the Champions Tour. 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:08.080 I love that event, and you know, he's he's been 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.559 nice to me. But I that that story about how 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.040 how he treated Steve and what he said to Steve, 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:15.839 and as a director of tire and in the camp 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:19.440 of photographers and knowing how selfless and behind the scenes 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:21.280 they are and what they go through to carry those 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:24.280 that equipment and get into position and try to make 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:26.920 the players look good and shoots like that. It's like 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:31.320 that just seemed unnecessary and dick ish to me. Right well. 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:33.800 The opposite of that is in the early s I days, 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.640 photographers told Arnold Palmer, hey, wear a red sweater. It 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:39.240 looks great on the cover. And already showed up in 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:41.439 a red sweater. You know, yeah, you got it. It 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:45.880 showed be yellows, reds, you know, you know, contrast colors. 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:48.319 It's like the Queen always wears those bright colors. So 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:49.719 you could spart in a crowd. It's kind of the 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.320 same principal plays. What are you gonna say a minute ago, Michael, No, 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:57.000 it's gonna ask gran if you ever actually used dear antlers? Yeah? Always. 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:01.800 He may be our only hunter. I don't see ships 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:03.400 that for me doing a lot of hunting. Matt, I 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:09.440 don't know about I mean it is there is it 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:13.839 basically a yurine what I don't even know. I don't 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:15.800 know if people want to say there there was a 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:19.240 there was a g n C right near the right 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.240 near the entrance to that to that stadium course whatever 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:26.240 they called TPC sawgrass and she's you know, back in 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.319 the day with BJ was just getting bigger and stronger 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:32.040 and hidden, you know, literally five your balls a day. Uh. 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:34.960 He would just go there and point at stuff, and 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:36.640 you know, they would take it down off their shelves 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.640 and he'd go out there with their shopping cart. And 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.440 so I think he was to your question, I think 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:45.559 he was pretty indiscriminate. I did have a funny thing 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:48.440 where I was at a bookstore in Augusta, Georgia, the 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:50.360 week of the Masters. It is the Barnes and Noble there, 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:54.280 I think off of Bobby Jones Expressway actually, and VJ 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:56.240 was wandering around and so I was like, oh cool. 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:57.920 So I kind of like low key stock to him 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:00.160 to see what he was gonna buy, soph to be 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:02.360 some erotica or something. But he went right to the 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:05.960 sports section and he was flipping through the the golf 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:09.800 books and he wanted he wanted up buying like three books. 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:12.360 Sadly it wasn't mine or yours, Michael, but it was. 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:14.840 It was interesting, like he really looked at the books 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:17.920 with some care, and he he read the back flaps 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:21.240 and um and uh I think I think it was 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:23.560 a Hogan biography if I remember correctly, and it was 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:25.480 a kind of a coffee table book about like the 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:27.800 great holes of golf, and I just thought it was 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:30.000 kind of cool, like Michael's gust is a little boring. 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:34.680 During Master's week there he was no just so happened. 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:38.040 So yeah, So when I caddied on the European Tour 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:40.800 nine one, he played a lot of practice for for 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:43.800 golf dam Peter Turman and VJ played a lot of 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:46.840 rounds of golf with Peter practice rounds and tournament rounds. 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:50.120 So I got to know VJ then, and you know, 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:52.680 to the point we're all making. He's always been quote 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:54.560 nice to me, except for when he has treated me 0:14:54.680 --> 0:15:00.480 like absolute dirt. So that's happened too. But anyway, uh well, 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:03.680 we maybe overdo it on VJ. But I think it's 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:06.880 astounding how good his swing was today. I've seen him 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:10.040 swing poorly in the past three years, like it didn't 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:11.760 have the speed that it had now in it. But 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:16.920 he looks strong, I mean, looks the same really and supple. 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:19.400 I mean such a long swing. I mean, it's just 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:23.760 it's one of my favorite swings ever. And um, it's funny, 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:26.240 we'll probably all have like certain swings burned into our 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.440 brains that we we got to watch up close. One 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:31.480 of the most majestic golf swings I've ever seen was 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.720 at Whistling Straights when when Singing won that p G 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:35.440 A and it was in the playoffs, they went to 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:40.040 the seventeenth hole, that long part of three and um, 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:41.760 he was just kind of the left side t box. 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:44.280 I was on this little little hill above it. He's 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:47.320 just framed by the lake and he hit it was 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:49.640 just the most beautiful swinging I've ever seen, and he 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:51.080 just held the finish for song and I don't know 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:52.480 where that ball is going, but that's the best golf 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:54.080 swing I've ever seen in my entire life. And of 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:55.520 course he get it stiff, and that was kind of 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:57.640 the key to the winning that playoff. I mean that 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:00.840 PG championship, But like that is just into my memory. 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:04.440 It was so majestic and it just like the ark 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:06.280 of the club. It looked like it traveled about twenty 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:09.640 feet and the rhythm and the grace and the power, 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:14.080 I mean, peaque VJ was absolutely incredible for someone without 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:16.520 great without great putting. I just gonna say that for 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:19.520 a mediocre putter to win nine times knock Tiger from 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:23.120 number one when the p G a like UM and 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:25.240 don't for that sixty three he dropped on Tiger in 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.800 Boston to take over number one that year that we're 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:30.040 playing together. That's one of the all time great head 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.120 to head round. So yeah, it was kind of fun 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:34.600 to think about VG. I han't thought about him a 0:16:34.600 --> 0:16:39.040 long time, but BG Appreciation Podcast Apparently Matt was his guy. 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:43.120 Darrett was not. Darren Clark Um Clark Jones was that 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:45.920 his agent back then at the time. Yeah, you know, 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:48.800 UM and and and spend a lot of you know, 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:52.120 I had a lot of Sergio Garcia. Clark Jones was 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:55.600 Sergio Garcia. Yeah, the UM did a lot of work 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.920 with Clark at that time, and BJ was tricky. Uh, 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.640 they're all they all have their own their own little 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:05.320 quirks about him. Um. I got a ton of stories 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:09.919 because those photo shoots lent themselves to a to a 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:14.200 lot of great anecdotal stuff. Um. But I will say 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:17.359 just to go back to the event itself, and I know, 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:20.600 Michael you're gonna you're gonna write about it, but boy, 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:24.320 if if, if, if, this isn't the best But with 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:27.560 Tiger as a father, isn't the best version of Tiger. 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:30.680 I mean, clearly, he's he's an elite competitor and he 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.159 you know two fifteen that will We're never going to 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:39.360 see that again. But but this vulnerability, the vulnerable Tiger 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:43.600 that talks about what his kids meant to him in 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:46.920 his recovery and what they said to him and how 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:51.520 it mattered and and all that him sort of on 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:54.840 the verge of emotions in a in an interview. I 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:58.199 mean that is to me, you know, and again we 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:02.040 all have our own incidents are anecdotes about Tiger himself. 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:05.040 But it's just the best Tiger. It's the Tiger that 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:09.200 for me as a dad. Now you know, I started 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:12.320 early with Tiger as a as a photo editor a 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:15.240 Sports Illustrated I was on shoots with him. He was 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:18.959 really socially awkward. He was he was stiff as rigid. 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.600 You know, his jokes only were funny to the people. 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:25.840 You know that that sort of we're in his paid 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:29.760 or on salary. Uh. There was a lot of awkwardness 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:34.520 about him. But boy, this this version of him when 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:38.800 he's willing to sort of have these open conversations about 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:42.240 being a father and watching him interact with his son, 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:46.440 not unlike what we watched when Earl interacted with a 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:50.960 young Tiger. It's just very That's the most compelling aspect 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:53.600 of where we're at with Tiger by far from me, 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:57.760 and uh, and I like seeing it in other fathers 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:01.800 and sons or I even like you know, Nelly to me, 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:06.879 is is um is incredible and and uh, you know, 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:11.920 and worth all the the hype and the attention as 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:15.320 it relates to her swing and her her her conviction 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:18.640 and personality and competitive nature. I can't wait to see 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:20.879 where she goes. But anyway, just the mash up of 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:24.439 all of that this week was really really cool stuff. 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:27.520 I said it a couple of weeks ago when we 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:31.040 were talking about Tigers. You know, I like Tiger more 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:34.240 after the scandal, if that makes sense, because I think 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:36.960 he's grown as a person, and this week kind of 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:40.240 sums that up, like he was a flawed human, still 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:43.840 a flawed human, and but has grown and only his 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:46.960 kids and his girlfriend and people around him will be 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:48.800 the judge of of what kind of person he is. 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:51.879 And it seems from the outside that he's a great 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:55.480 father and uh and I think that's at the end 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:57.399 of the day all that matters. Quick note on the 0:19:57.560 --> 0:20:00.160 apparent child. I know this will never happen be cause 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:02.160 Charlie would will grow up and Tiger and Charlie will 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:04.800 play forever. But it should be either you have to 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:07.439 play with your father or you have to play with 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:10.760 a kid who's under fifteen. Right, Like, I don't know, 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:13.840 I don't know what VJ and his former pro son. 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:16.679 Is that a great of a story, you know what 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:19.600 I mean? The guy used to play on the European Tour, 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:21.800 So I don't know, there should just be an age 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:26.280 woman on the kid part of it. Yeah, I don't 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:30.200 disagree with that. But like like you said, Matt, I mean, 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:33.440 tire hit a couple of electric shots during the first round, 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:35.840 like that that long pitch off the pin straw that 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:40.080 was that was so vintage. But um, the most memorable 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:42.320 thing I think he did across the competition was they 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:45.520 were the post round press conferences and seeing seeing that 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:48.439 softer side and seeing that chemistry and he was kind 0:20:48.440 --> 0:20:50.480 of we just started to hear Charlie's voice, right, like 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:52.840 you know this is they've kind of slowly been unveiling 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:54.399 him to the world, and so it's fun to hear 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:59.240 Charlie talked about his dad and um it really, I 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:01.199 would say for all the Nike ads and all the 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:03.639 Buick ads, you name it, this has been the single 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:07.000 best brand building exerciser is for Tiger. Not not to 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:09.000 be cynical about it, but I mean, because it's clearly 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:12.280 comes from the heart, but to see a softer side 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:14.679 of Tiger and that we can all relate to that, 0:21:14.720 --> 0:21:17.080 you know what. You know, I watched my daughter play basketball. 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:21.399 My heart's like just bursting, and you know, we all 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:25.959 have competed alongside um kids or parents or whatever it is, 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:28.480 so to imagine how special that feels for them. It's 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:31.399 really it's cool that Tiger lets it out. He's not 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:33.760 trying to hide it, he's not trying to he's not 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:35.560 trying to make it anything other than what it is, 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:37.199 which is a really special part of his life in 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:39.760 his career. And I think other than maybe the Masters 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:41.360 and the Open, I think this is probably the most 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:44.120 meaningful week of the year for Tiger and that's cool. 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:49.000 The other thing is it's also it's another feather in 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:52.280 the cap of the game. Of golf, and Jordan's made 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:54.600 that comment about how in the locker room you've got 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:58.560 these kids in these these these grizzled legends, you know, 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:02.479 in the same lot headitive locker room. But having played 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:05.399 in the car golf's father's son at Waterville for years 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:10.440 now and then the father daughter as well, and watching 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:13.920 you know, these titans of industry. You know, whether it's 0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:17.200 Dermot Desmond or j P. McManus, or there's been Dan 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:21.000 Marino or Wayne Gretzky or all these guys. You know, uh, 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:24.800 Jeff Yang has played. There's so many people who have 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:28.919 showed up in Waterville and competed in this event um 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:33.159 from all different sort of walks of life. And that 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:39.120 the game is that great equalizer that sort of levels 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:45.159 the the the ego playing field out a bit. And 0:22:45.400 --> 0:22:49.520 you watch fathers who aren't as good as their sons 0:22:49.880 --> 0:22:52.520 or as their good as their daughters, and you watch 0:22:52.640 --> 0:22:57.520 them it's just it's like it's just the best version now. 0:22:57.720 --> 0:23:00.720 It just brings out the best in people. I think 0:23:00.920 --> 0:23:07.480 it's when you start mixing generational stuff up around this 0:23:07.600 --> 0:23:11.719 competitive landscape, it tends to I don't know, it just 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:14.520 this is a good reason why we look forward to 0:23:14.560 --> 0:23:17.159 this event. It's why we look forward two events that 0:23:17.200 --> 0:23:20.720 involve either our fathers or our sons or daughters, or 0:23:21.000 --> 0:23:23.920 we watch you know. Yeah, I don't know. Just there's 0:23:23.960 --> 0:23:29.119 something about that and the game that no other sport 0:23:29.200 --> 0:23:32.680 really is able to accomplish, and so that in itself 0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:37.480 also deserves to be noted in my opinion, it's well said. 0:23:37.520 --> 0:23:41.160 And and just a quick note on on Tiger's other 0:23:41.240 --> 0:23:45.160 child is is Uh, everyone knows he's got an older daughter, Sam, 0:23:45.240 --> 0:23:48.439 and she was I think she's shy by nature. If 0:23:48.640 --> 0:23:50.960 you know, we've all seen around a little bit. Uh, 0:23:51.040 --> 0:23:53.240 you know that the son Charlie is kind of a 0:23:53.320 --> 0:23:56.520 him and outgoing and and that's delightful. But she's just 0:23:56.560 --> 0:23:59.280 a different personality. But at the Hall of Fame induction 0:23:59.280 --> 0:24:02.720 where she introduced to her father, she was so poised 0:24:02.720 --> 0:24:07.679 and so intelligent and funny and insightful and um, and 0:24:07.720 --> 0:24:10.720 it's neat. I don't think any of us would ever 0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:13.440 want to trade places with Tiger Woods. I mean, we're all, 0:24:13.480 --> 0:24:16.880 I know, we all take being fathers very seriously ourselves. 0:24:17.800 --> 0:24:21.639 Ryan's Tiger's age and has, like Tiger, a son and 0:24:21.680 --> 0:24:24.720 a daughter and uh, you know, we have the advantage 0:24:24.720 --> 0:24:28.480 of raising our children and anonymity, and uh it's a 0:24:28.600 --> 0:24:31.760 much much much better way to grow up. Uh. Tigraph 0:24:31.800 --> 0:24:33.639 of course doesn't have that, and those kids won't have that, 0:24:34.320 --> 0:24:37.840 So there are challenges. We can never really understand it. 0:24:37.880 --> 0:24:41.480 But to see and we just see little glimpses, but 0:24:41.560 --> 0:24:43.720 to see glimpses of these kids that seem to be 0:24:43.880 --> 0:24:48.280 very well adjusted, happy, intelligent, caring kids, it really is 0:24:48.320 --> 0:24:51.560 a great tribute to Tigers. I think of Tiger. I 0:24:51.600 --> 0:24:54.320 think of Tiger as a I like to think that 0:24:54.359 --> 0:24:56.639 I have a lot of empathy for Tiger and in 0:24:56.680 --> 0:24:59.200 my mind and I wouldn't say this of Jack or 0:24:59.240 --> 0:25:01.000 Arnold and very as others. I think is that a 0:25:01.320 --> 0:25:05.399 very very trying, difficult life. So I think it speaks 0:25:05.520 --> 0:25:08.239 very well for for Tire and definitely for Ellen as 0:25:08.280 --> 0:25:12.240 well to see these kids, uh coming out when they 0:25:12.240 --> 0:25:15.879 do make these public appearances um as as they do, 0:25:16.640 --> 0:25:19.800 and I think even deserves some credit to right because 0:25:20.480 --> 0:25:26.080 these kids are obviously got they've got some really good balance. 0:25:26.800 --> 0:25:30.040 From from where we sit and what we see, they've 0:25:30.080 --> 0:25:34.920 got some pretty nice good uh you know, head on 0:25:34.960 --> 0:25:38.080 their shoulders, so to speak. It seems to me, they 0:25:38.119 --> 0:25:42.040 seem pretty well grounded and rounded. You know, we'll we'll 0:25:42.040 --> 0:25:44.159 see how it all evolves. But boy, I mean that 0:25:44.400 --> 0:25:47.160 that to me, considering what Tiger has been going through 0:25:47.200 --> 0:25:51.720 and has dealt with, and Tiger being Tiger, for these 0:25:51.800 --> 0:25:55.600 kids to be who they are in this these situations 0:25:55.640 --> 0:25:58.000 and with microphones in front of their faces, or leading 0:25:58.040 --> 0:26:01.520 them the large of their father into the World Golf 0:26:01.560 --> 0:26:03.919 Hall of Fame, it's pretty It's pretty impressive, and I 0:26:03.920 --> 0:26:06.720 think she deserves a big chunk of credit for that too. 0:26:07.920 --> 0:26:10.879 I also think that the fascination with Charlie needs to 0:26:10.960 --> 0:26:14.600 like tone down a bit as a general media Like, 0:26:15.280 --> 0:26:17.879 I mean a Brennan breath said at best, like the 0:26:17.920 --> 0:26:21.360 PGA tour took a picture of his divid patterns and 0:26:21.359 --> 0:26:24.160 and Brennan's tweet underneath of it was like it just said, 0:26:24.200 --> 0:26:27.959 for fox sake, you know, is divid patterns. And it's like, 0:26:28.400 --> 0:26:31.840 I mean, it's it's like, again, he's never going to 0:26:31.920 --> 0:26:35.280 be his father. It's impossible, Like, just let the kid live. 0:26:35.760 --> 0:26:38.240 I get the interest, I understand it, and I'm all 0:26:38.320 --> 0:26:40.840 for it for a week at a time, but let's 0:26:40.880 --> 0:26:43.480 just chill. I mean, the kid is thirteen and he's 0:26:43.520 --> 0:26:45.919 like the hundred and fiftieth best player in Florida or 0:26:45.960 --> 0:26:48.639 something like. He's a very good player. He's got a 0:26:48.640 --> 0:26:52.040 great swing. But just I don't think we need to 0:26:52.040 --> 0:26:55.240 take pictures of his divid pattern. Okay, like, just take 0:26:55.280 --> 0:26:58.600 a breath. There's a there's a fine line between Stocking 0:26:58.640 --> 0:27:01.200 and thirteen year old and in wrist in Tiger Woods 0:27:01.200 --> 0:27:05.240 as a kid, Like, let's find that. Totally agree, that's 0:27:05.280 --> 0:27:07.960 well said. I mean, I was. I was explaining the 0:27:08.000 --> 0:27:10.080 interest in Charlie justsone who's not really a golf fan, 0:27:10.720 --> 0:27:12.560 and she said, isn't that like a lot of pressure? 0:27:12.600 --> 0:27:14.159 Why is he even doing that to a sudden to 0:27:14.200 --> 0:27:15.920 make him play in this event? And I said, well, 0:27:17.320 --> 0:27:19.120 you could try, and if your tiger, you can try 0:27:19.119 --> 0:27:21.959 and give your kids a normal childhood. But it's impossible anyway, 0:27:22.000 --> 0:27:25.600 and especially if one of them is into golf, Like like, 0:27:25.800 --> 0:27:29.200 there's no scenario where Charlie Woods can have a normal childhood. 0:27:29.359 --> 0:27:32.639 It's just not in the realm of of of human existence. 0:27:32.680 --> 0:27:35.400 So I think it makes sense they're kind of slowly 0:27:35.440 --> 0:27:39.840 introducing him to performing and and you know, obviously Tigers 0:27:39.840 --> 0:27:42.520 do interviews of this favorite people like Sanzy and it's 0:27:42.520 --> 0:27:46.160 still a pretty controlled environment, and it's kind of this 0:27:46.160 --> 0:27:49.760 this year by year evolution, and I don't think you 0:27:49.800 --> 0:27:52.199 can it just if Charlie wants to play golf, and 0:27:52.200 --> 0:27:55.359 clearly he does. I mean, unfortunately, his last name is 0:27:55.359 --> 0:27:58.199 Woods and people are going to pay attention. So I 0:27:58.200 --> 0:28:00.520 think they're doing a pretty nice job of bringing him 0:28:00.520 --> 0:28:03.560 along slowly, and it doesn't seem like he's out there 0:28:03.600 --> 0:28:07.399 grinding on them the big time junior golf circuit and 0:28:07.400 --> 0:28:10.320 he just kind of does this thing, and um, I 0:28:10.320 --> 0:28:12.280 think it's commendable. There's there's no right or wrong way 0:28:12.320 --> 0:28:15.239 to do it, but I appreciate the restraints, you know, 0:28:15.359 --> 0:28:18.159 like I'm sure he Charlie could have already committed to 0:28:18.160 --> 0:28:20.680 Stanford by now if they wanted to make that announcement. 0:28:20.800 --> 0:28:23.400 You know, there's but they're just they're keeping things low key, 0:28:23.440 --> 0:28:27.160 and I think that's probably the right path forward. Yeah. 0:28:27.200 --> 0:28:29.600 I don't think it's Tiger's fault. I think it's media. 0:28:30.920 --> 0:28:33.760 I mean, again, most of it is the PGA Tour. 0:28:33.920 --> 0:28:36.720 And again, I they're just as a fine line. I'm 0:28:36.760 --> 0:28:38.880 I'm I understand he's your best player. I understand you 0:28:38.880 --> 0:28:42.680 get to promote him, But there's just a line the 0:28:42.760 --> 0:28:46.040 kids thirteen years old, like, let's just let's just chill 0:28:46.040 --> 0:28:50.680 out here for a minute. So, Matt, the reason we 0:28:50.720 --> 0:28:53.480 wanted to have you on, especially this week, and we 0:28:53.560 --> 0:28:56.640 are I think as as this Fire Drill podcast evolves, 0:28:56.680 --> 0:28:59.440 will have more and more of our our colleagues pop on, 0:28:59.560 --> 0:29:03.040 just keep things fresh and offer some different perspectives. But 0:29:03.080 --> 0:29:05.960 which is always a great thing. But um, you put 0:29:05.960 --> 0:29:09.240 out a tweet about the world ranking, you know, on 0:29:09.280 --> 0:29:11.680 the occasion of Dustin Johnson falling out the top forty 0:29:11.720 --> 0:29:14.400 in which was obviously a joke because there's not It's 0:29:14.400 --> 0:29:16.760 not thirty nine players on the planet better than Dustin, um, 0:29:16.880 --> 0:29:21.400 no matter how you slice it. But um, it created 0:29:21.440 --> 0:29:25.040 a lot of engagement, a lot of conversation. Why don't 0:29:25.080 --> 0:29:28.160 you recap your stance on the world ranking and then 0:29:28.200 --> 0:29:32.240 how things escalated from there. Well, it was just that 0:29:32.400 --> 0:29:35.400 I just you know, I tend to shoot first and 0:29:35.440 --> 0:29:39.080 then ask questions later. But you know, I saw a 0:29:39.120 --> 0:29:42.160 tweet out Dustin Johnson fell out of the top fourty 0:29:42.200 --> 0:29:46.000 according to the official World Golf Rankings, and it was like, um, 0:29:46.080 --> 0:29:49.960 well this just the optics of this just doesn't make 0:29:50.000 --> 0:29:54.960 any sense. You know, I Dustin Johnson is Dustin Johnson. 0:29:55.560 --> 0:29:57.440 I played with him at a dare manner. He is 0:29:57.600 --> 0:30:02.040 definitely better than then party players roaming the planet. And 0:30:02.080 --> 0:30:04.440 if they were official, if there's such a thing as 0:30:04.480 --> 0:30:08.760 the official World Golf Ranking and it's not, you know, 0:30:09.120 --> 0:30:12.040 and he's not in the top forty, there may be something. 0:30:12.440 --> 0:30:15.440 There may be a flaw on the system. And it 0:30:15.520 --> 0:30:18.480 was literally like, I doesn't this doesn't make any sense 0:30:18.520 --> 0:30:20.479 to me. And then you know, if you do some 0:30:20.560 --> 0:30:25.160 deep dive into the official, the official World Golf Ranking 0:30:25.680 --> 0:30:28.360 and you see who's on the board, and you see 0:30:28.360 --> 0:30:31.280 the criteria and you see that it you know, sort 0:30:31.280 --> 0:30:35.360 of got changed as of August that you know, continues 0:30:35.400 --> 0:30:40.320 to make it more difficult for you know, one could 0:30:40.440 --> 0:30:44.400 argue not just the live tour, but other tours to 0:30:44.480 --> 0:30:49.400 try to get points. The system may need, may need 0:30:49.440 --> 0:30:54.120 another overhaul. And you know, I listened to the Fried 0:30:54.120 --> 0:30:59.880 Eggs podcast. Garrett Morrison had a statistician Joe Lamanna, but 0:31:00.000 --> 0:31:02.600 even the way he pronounces his name on who was 0:31:03.000 --> 0:31:06.800 tremendous he was. It was a great podcast, um and 0:31:07.120 --> 0:31:10.320 it was very informative, and you know, I listened to 0:31:10.400 --> 0:31:14.240 it after I made it comes because a lot of people, uh, 0:31:14.280 --> 0:31:18.160 you know, escalated because you know, people getting personal and 0:31:18.200 --> 0:31:21.840 then accusing us of being shills for Live. Like I 0:31:22.000 --> 0:31:25.360 I that's easy to dismiss because we're obviously not that 0:31:25.680 --> 0:31:29.680 we are not. We are not pro We're not pro Live, 0:31:30.040 --> 0:31:33.840 and we're not pro tour. We're just pro truth and sensibility. 0:31:33.880 --> 0:31:36.200 That's the way I like to look at who we are. 0:31:36.280 --> 0:31:41.200 Our collection of perspectives offers just that, a collection of 0:31:41.240 --> 0:31:46.320 perspectives based on who we are, our sensibilities and are 0:31:46.560 --> 0:31:49.760 you know, sort of what we want for a game 0:31:49.800 --> 0:31:53.560 that we all love. We that that that's that's also 0:31:53.720 --> 0:31:55.600 at the core of who we are as a company 0:31:55.680 --> 0:31:58.520 is a is a collection of people who generally love 0:31:58.600 --> 0:32:01.200 this game of golf for wide variety of reasons. From 0:32:01.240 --> 0:32:04.760 the professional standpoint, to me, if you're going to have 0:32:04.880 --> 0:32:08.600 something called the Official World Golf Ranking and it's not 0:32:08.800 --> 0:32:14.280 ranking the world of competitive golf, then there's a problem 0:32:14.320 --> 0:32:17.000 with it. Now you can say is Live competitive? And 0:32:17.040 --> 0:32:20.520 now I think there's issues with there's there's These are 0:32:20.560 --> 0:32:24.800 two separate conversations. What is Live and what is their purpose? 0:32:25.240 --> 0:32:27.680 What is the Official World Golf Ranking and what is 0:32:27.960 --> 0:32:31.600 its purpose? What is the PGA Tour and what what 0:32:31.760 --> 0:32:35.560 role does the tour have in controlling all of this? 0:32:35.720 --> 0:32:37.960 And then then then there's extensions to that that I 0:32:38.000 --> 0:32:41.000 have issue with, and the tours control over media and 0:32:41.000 --> 0:32:45.200 the narrative around the sport, the lack of transparency around 0:32:45.280 --> 0:32:47.959 the game. We don't find out what why people get 0:32:48.160 --> 0:32:53.480 fined or or or suspended. You know, all of that, 0:32:53.520 --> 0:32:56.560 there's there's a lot to unpack. And so as it 0:32:56.560 --> 0:33:00.400 released the official World Golf Ranking, I think you know 0:33:00.440 --> 0:33:03.480 and live and whether or not you know, I think 0:33:03.520 --> 0:33:07.200 both both need to move in order to make this 0:33:07.480 --> 0:33:10.080 a system that works for the greater good of the 0:33:10.120 --> 0:33:13.960 game and competitive golf. Uh. And that's just what I 0:33:14.000 --> 0:33:18.280 believe and that you know, that's it's you know, it 0:33:18.360 --> 0:33:21.440 is complicated, and it's not easy to answer or to 0:33:21.480 --> 0:33:25.080 come up with the scenario that accounts for all of this, 0:33:25.200 --> 0:33:29.120 But I think making you know, the criteria of having 0:33:29.120 --> 0:33:33.000 a cut seventy two holes for majority of events, having 0:33:33.040 --> 0:33:35.480 a way to peer, having field of seventy five or more, 0:33:36.680 --> 0:33:39.120 have an open qualifying process, you can go through each 0:33:39.120 --> 0:33:41.800 one of those and and and argue the merits of 0:33:41.840 --> 0:33:43.719 each one of those as it relates to the Official 0:33:43.720 --> 0:33:46.880 World Golfering but at the end of the day, out 0:33:46.880 --> 0:33:50.400 of the gates based on who's on the board and 0:33:50.440 --> 0:33:52.600 the fact that it calls itself o w g R 0:33:52.680 --> 0:33:54.800 Official World Golf Ranking, and you've got a bunch of 0:33:55.320 --> 0:33:57.720 really good players who are who are falling down that 0:33:57.800 --> 0:34:00.800 ranking system because they're not playing in an event that 0:34:00.960 --> 0:34:04.080 Matt's Matt's Dow's criteria. I think there there's there's issues 0:34:04.120 --> 0:34:05.960 to take with a lot of it and all of 0:34:05.960 --> 0:34:09.839 it and on both sides. Yeah, well, I mean that's 0:34:09.840 --> 0:34:13.120 a good overview. I mean, I think the strong reactions 0:34:13.160 --> 0:34:16.120 to your tweet, it's just part of a larger issue 0:34:16.160 --> 0:34:19.960 in modern life and especially social media, Like there's you 0:34:20.000 --> 0:34:21.480 have to pick a side, you have to pick a 0:34:21.480 --> 0:34:23.520 side immediately, and you have to defend it to the 0:34:23.600 --> 0:34:29.040 death no matter what. And um so it's like when 0:34:29.360 --> 0:34:32.920 live has been so polarizing, I think all of us 0:34:33.160 --> 0:34:35.120 are larger. We are trying to play it down the 0:34:35.160 --> 0:34:37.480 middle where we you know, I've said this before. I 0:34:37.520 --> 0:34:39.239 don't know if on this podcast or elsewhere, but my 0:34:39.280 --> 0:34:41.479 idea of balance is to be critical of both sides, 0:34:41.520 --> 0:34:43.000 and I think I've done that of the tour and 0:34:43.040 --> 0:34:47.440 of live. I've also celebrated there, uh their breakthroughs and 0:34:47.600 --> 0:34:51.200 and they're they're good ideas, but um, it's just like 0:34:53.280 --> 0:34:56.000 if if, if you don't, if you don't stake out 0:34:56.040 --> 0:34:59.959 a very black and white position, it confuses people, I think. 0:35:00.600 --> 0:35:02.879 And so the fact that that we're trying to see 0:35:02.880 --> 0:35:06.200 the nuance and were trying to be balanced, um and 0:35:06.239 --> 0:35:08.680 almost like upsets folks because they just they want to 0:35:08.680 --> 0:35:10.319 know which campion are you on my side or the 0:35:10.320 --> 0:35:13.640 other side? It's us versus them, And that doesn't leave 0:35:13.680 --> 0:35:18.839 a lot of room for for subtlety and for discussions. 0:35:18.920 --> 0:35:21.919 So that that was just the latest example, I think 0:35:21.960 --> 0:35:25.800 the very strong reaction to your tweet and and the 0:35:25.840 --> 0:35:28.600 accusations that you know, we're working for a live which 0:35:28.760 --> 0:35:31.480 is obviously ridiculous for those who bother to listen to 0:35:31.560 --> 0:35:33.840 podcasts and read the stories and don't just live in 0:35:33.880 --> 0:35:37.799 the twitter sphere. But I'd love to hear Ryan's take two. 0:35:37.840 --> 0:35:40.799 I mean, and and I know I've heard bits and 0:35:40.840 --> 0:35:42.719 pieces of it, but as it relates to the other 0:35:42.719 --> 0:35:45.160 two and and the other thing is is I generally 0:35:45.719 --> 0:35:48.880 and in the corner of the little guy, the dreamers 0:35:48.920 --> 0:35:51.839 and that's you know that that's another podcast I'm working on. 0:35:51.880 --> 0:35:55.200 That's in defense of a tweet I sent out or 0:35:55.280 --> 0:35:57.680 I was on a podcast and it got stripped out, 0:35:57.719 --> 0:36:00.880 and I'm gonna do a club pro podcast and and 0:36:00.880 --> 0:36:04.160 it's and you know, I'm dropping that next week. But 0:36:04.600 --> 0:36:07.000 I wanted to hear Ryan's perspective on all of this 0:36:07.080 --> 0:36:10.000 as a really official World Golf ranking and and and 0:36:10.040 --> 0:36:13.520 the trickle down effect of what the new criterias is 0:36:13.560 --> 0:36:18.319 going to have on other tours beyond Live. Yeah, I 0:36:18.320 --> 0:36:22.560 mean there's a lot of guys, you know, a live 0:36:22.719 --> 0:36:25.080 I think it's pretty obvious eventually needs to get it, 0:36:25.080 --> 0:36:27.080 whether they have to adjust or meet in the middle, 0:36:27.320 --> 0:36:30.479 I mean it. We talked the three of us talked 0:36:30.560 --> 0:36:33.399 at on a couple of weeks ago. It's like, if 0:36:33.560 --> 0:36:36.560 if camp Smith falls down, the Dustin is a great example, 0:36:36.600 --> 0:36:39.920 but camp Smith nowadays is even a better example. It's 0:36:39.960 --> 0:36:43.080 like he's gonna eventually fall down the rankings. Now he 0:36:43.200 --> 0:36:46.360 just wants so on a O W g R tour, 0:36:46.560 --> 0:36:49.240 But like if he falls down, then it just becomes 0:36:49.239 --> 0:36:51.040 a joke at some point, like you know, you're not 0:36:51.120 --> 0:36:54.360 better than if the if he falls down to seventh, 0:36:54.360 --> 0:36:56.560 the sixth ranked guy knows he's not better than the 0:36:56.760 --> 0:36:58.960 camp Smith and it becomes a joke as it's you know, 0:36:59.120 --> 0:37:02.080 slowly becoming so they have to adjust. But as an 0:37:02.080 --> 0:37:04.400 overall thing, you know, I mean the guys on the 0:37:04.440 --> 0:37:08.960 Asian Tour, um guys on the European Tour, and you're 0:37:08.960 --> 0:37:11.520 seeing top guys like rom talking, uh, you know, talk 0:37:11.600 --> 0:37:16.160 about it. I mean Travis Smith one on the one 0:37:16.160 --> 0:37:19.000 on the Asian Tour and got I think four point 0:37:19.239 --> 0:37:21.160 four seven points or maybe it was Andy who won. 0:37:21.680 --> 0:37:25.120 And it's like it's, you know, everyone thinks it's a 0:37:25.200 --> 0:37:29.480 joke at this point, or there's at least very big frustrations, 0:37:29.560 --> 0:37:32.759 right like these guys like Travis Smith has tried to 0:37:32.760 --> 0:37:35.040 make it here and you know hasn't got through Q school. 0:37:35.280 --> 0:37:38.120 Asian Tour is a place to play and if he 0:37:38.120 --> 0:37:41.759 plays well, he should be rewarded for it. And um, 0:37:41.800 --> 0:37:44.279 you know if the with the new changes to O 0:37:44.520 --> 0:37:47.759 W G r uh not giving as many points to 0:37:47.800 --> 0:37:52.120 these foreign tours, you know, it's it's tough and and 0:37:52.120 --> 0:37:54.920 and I think it hurts the world game in general 0:37:54.960 --> 0:37:58.360 because maybe it was inflated over and the tour. But 0:37:58.480 --> 0:38:01.160 I mean Tom Kim is a great exam ample. Tom 0:38:01.239 --> 0:38:04.480 Kim became a known name because of O. W. Jerr. 0:38:04.480 --> 0:38:08.440 He got in the top hundred playing overseas and playing 0:38:08.480 --> 0:38:11.120 on the Korean Tour and playing on the Asian Tour 0:38:11.719 --> 0:38:14.239 and getting in the top hundred in the world, then 0:38:14.239 --> 0:38:17.160 eventually coming over here and now he's a huge part 0:38:17.160 --> 0:38:19.919 of what the PGA Tour is doing right now if 0:38:20.000 --> 0:38:24.680 he is facing the same points problems that the players are. Now, 0:38:25.520 --> 0:38:27.960 do we ever hear of Tom Kim? You know, he 0:38:28.200 --> 0:38:30.640 would have never It's almost impossible to get in the 0:38:30.640 --> 0:38:34.600 top hunter playing the Asian Tour right now, so you know, 0:38:36.200 --> 0:38:38.879 and and these guys Michael and Allen have talked about 0:38:38.880 --> 0:38:40.520 it more. I mean like it was, it was brought 0:38:40.560 --> 0:38:45.040 up to it was made up basically. So is there 0:38:45.040 --> 0:38:47.719 just a better exploded all together and just find a 0:38:47.760 --> 0:38:50.480 better way, or as Michael has said, is it just 0:38:50.520 --> 0:38:52.279 get rid of it and figure out a way to 0:38:52.520 --> 0:38:56.239 let the majors just decide for themselves. What are the 0:38:56.400 --> 0:38:59.640 parameters to get in the four Majors? I mean, all 0:38:59.640 --> 0:39:02.200 the rain kings are are created by humans, So whether 0:39:02.239 --> 0:39:05.759 it's the Sagaran rankings or it's data golf, or it's 0:39:05.760 --> 0:39:09.920 the World Rankings and the official World Rankings. Someone has 0:39:09.960 --> 0:39:13.960 to decide what's going to go into the the algorithm, 0:39:14.040 --> 0:39:18.560 and there's debates and there's public comments, and there's votes 0:39:18.640 --> 0:39:20.680 and there's meetings. Ultimately it comes down to humans making 0:39:20.680 --> 0:39:23.120 those decisions. And that's all three of those rankings are 0:39:23.160 --> 0:39:26.080 are different. They they reach a snapshot of who's playing 0:39:26.080 --> 0:39:27.640 the best in any given moment, but they have their 0:39:27.640 --> 0:39:33.520 own biases and flaws and so, um, it's just because 0:39:33.560 --> 0:39:36.840 the ranking exists in one way, it doesn't mean it's 0:39:36.880 --> 0:39:38.800 the right way. It can always be tweaked and improved. 0:39:38.800 --> 0:39:40.520 In the history of the w g rs are always 0:39:40.560 --> 0:39:43.120 changing it, and so maybe they the pendulum swung too 0:39:43.160 --> 0:39:45.400 far and they do need to tweak it. So just 0:39:45.480 --> 0:39:47.399 because it is doesn't mean it's the right way. People 0:39:47.480 --> 0:39:49.359 kind of be like, well, that's it's the ranking, that's 0:39:49.360 --> 0:39:52.920 what it is. Well, it's it's changeable, it's fixable, it's tweakable, 0:39:52.960 --> 0:39:56.040 and um, so you know what we're gonna say, Mike, 0:39:56.440 --> 0:39:58.880 as Alan and I and others have said many times, 0:39:59.280 --> 0:40:02.399 it was a mark getting ploy by a very clever man, 0:40:02.880 --> 0:40:05.759 Mark McCormick, who was the founder of IMG to get 0:40:05.800 --> 0:40:09.239 his international players into events in the first place. Dean 0:40:09.320 --> 0:40:12.400 Beaman explained that to me the other day. So like 0:40:12.760 --> 0:40:16.440 we know why the American Constitution was written and it 0:40:16.480 --> 0:40:18.920 was sound, the reason why this thing started in the 0:40:19.000 --> 0:40:22.760 first place is not sound. And then add to Allan's point, 0:40:23.400 --> 0:40:25.480 uh with all you know, I don't know what the 0:40:25.560 --> 0:40:28.280 numbers are, but you know, it seems like there's two numbers, 0:40:28.280 --> 0:40:32.040 a dot, and then many decimal places after that. It 0:40:32.160 --> 0:40:36.680 makes it sound like it's scientific. As Alan just pointed out, 0:40:36.800 --> 0:40:39.919 there's no science behind it. And just as you can't 0:40:39.920 --> 0:40:44.600 compare Walter Johnson and Bob Gibson, you can't compare a 0:40:44.640 --> 0:40:49.200 wide open golf course uh is somewhere in Asia with 0:40:49.280 --> 0:40:51.880 you know something that they're playing let's say Colonial with 0:40:51.960 --> 0:40:55.720 the rough up. It's folly. The whole thing is folly. 0:40:55.719 --> 0:40:58.320 And now Davis said half as a joke, but maybe 0:40:58.320 --> 0:41:01.920 half seriously, just get rid of it all together. It 0:41:02.160 --> 0:41:05.799 really does not serve her purpose. It's really just on 0:41:05.840 --> 0:41:10.959 the basis alone, it's impossible. It is impossible to rank 0:41:11.040 --> 0:41:14.000 players playing all over the world in all sorts of 0:41:14.040 --> 0:41:18.840 different conditions under uh under with different quality of fields. 0:41:19.000 --> 0:41:22.239 It's an impossible task. It's a fool's errand and I 0:41:22.280 --> 0:41:25.520 don't really see how it's serving golf at all. And 0:41:25.560 --> 0:41:29.279 I think that the live PGA Tour event and if 0:41:29.800 --> 0:41:32.000 we're getting paid by Saudi rab and the Lift Tour, 0:41:32.040 --> 0:41:35.080 Matt's holding out checks from me. So if we got 0:41:35.120 --> 0:41:38.080 any checks from the Lift Tour, Matt, I'll send my address. 0:41:38.200 --> 0:41:42.399 Because everyone says we're chills, but Ryan's eager to sell out. 0:41:42.480 --> 0:41:48.040 But no, yeah, I'm totally fine with selling out. I 0:41:48.040 --> 0:41:50.200 mean if they have Monday qualifies and they're like two 0:41:50.200 --> 0:41:57.560 million anyway, Uh, the the I mean the pettiness on 0:41:57.640 --> 0:42:01.200 both sides of this fight. Obviously the Lift Tours. But 0:42:01.400 --> 0:42:05.160 if you're the PGA Tour and and you sit on 0:42:05.160 --> 0:42:08.160 that board of the o W g R Pelly and 0:42:08.160 --> 0:42:12.040 and and the PGA Tour and can't look at that 0:42:13.000 --> 0:42:15.920 without any who you're on, what side you're on, and 0:42:16.000 --> 0:42:21.880 know that you're a biased ranking system, then then we 0:42:21.920 --> 0:42:24.800 need someone else to to take care of the official rankings. 0:42:24.840 --> 0:42:27.239 Like you can't just sit down there and say hey, 0:42:27.320 --> 0:42:31.160 here's all the people and like they shouldn't get any 0:42:31.280 --> 0:42:33.160 Now what if they adjust, are you still gonna say 0:42:33.160 --> 0:42:36.319 they're not gonna. They shouldn't get any because again, the 0:42:36.320 --> 0:42:40.640 pettiness makes me concerned about OW. It makes me concerned 0:42:40.640 --> 0:42:43.800 about the future of golf in general, but just pertaining 0:42:43.800 --> 0:42:45.759 the o w g R. If you if you sit 0:42:45.800 --> 0:42:47.799 on the board of the o w g R and 0:42:47.880 --> 0:42:51.759 look across at the field of the Live Tour and 0:42:51.800 --> 0:42:54.480 don't think that they should maybe they need to adjust. 0:42:54.480 --> 0:42:56.279 I'm not saying they don't need to adjust. If you 0:42:56.320 --> 0:42:58.120 look at that field and don't think there should be 0:42:58.160 --> 0:43:01.600 some way that they are included in the rankings, then 0:43:02.400 --> 0:43:04.000 I don't know what to tell you. You're you're not 0:43:04.040 --> 0:43:06.719 looking at objectively. I don't like the Live Tour, I've 0:43:06.800 --> 0:43:09.480 said it many times, but they have a good feel 0:43:09.719 --> 0:43:12.319 and they probably deserve some world ranking points however that 0:43:12.360 --> 0:43:14.879 comes to be. And if you can't think that, then 0:43:14.920 --> 0:43:18.120 you're not thinking straight. Like if you're accusing me of 0:43:18.160 --> 0:43:21.840 being a live uh shill, you know you're being a 0:43:21.920 --> 0:43:25.040 PGA Tour shill or whatever she'll or you hate Live 0:43:25.080 --> 0:43:29.920 she'll because I don't like Live, I despise the political 0:43:30.120 --> 0:43:33.200 I've despised the format, all that stuff. It still includes 0:43:33.280 --> 0:43:35.200 some of the best golfers in the world. There is 0:43:35.239 --> 0:43:38.399 no argument. You can't argue that. And so to say 0:43:38.400 --> 0:43:42.359 that they shouldn't get some based on that, on how 0:43:42.360 --> 0:43:44.799 many holes they play in all that, it's ridiculous. Well 0:43:44.880 --> 0:43:47.359 to say they can't play on the PGA Tour and 0:43:47.440 --> 0:43:50.200 you can't get points, you can't like how many more 0:43:50.280 --> 0:43:52.719 like and we're on the board where I'm on the board, 0:43:52.800 --> 0:43:56.120 Jamon hands off the point, like how many layers of 0:43:56.280 --> 0:44:00.520 like dysfunction do you have to reveal before you're like, yeah, 0:44:00.600 --> 0:44:03.320 maybe this isn't probably the right system either, you know 0:44:03.320 --> 0:44:05.840 what I mean. I do have I do have some 0:44:05.880 --> 0:44:08.720 reporting on this because I was speaking on the phone 0:44:08.800 --> 0:44:11.360 with a member of the o w g R board. 0:44:12.160 --> 0:44:14.719 You know, it's the it's the inner sanctum. They don't 0:44:14.719 --> 0:44:19.399 want their name used publicly. But this person said that 0:44:19.680 --> 0:44:23.399 despite all the mud slinging and the name calling, there's 0:44:23.400 --> 0:44:26.640 actually a lot of communication between the institution of the 0:44:26.680 --> 0:44:30.120 o w g R and Live Golf, and things are happening, 0:44:30.360 --> 0:44:36.200 and um he he didn't think it was going to 0:44:36.320 --> 0:44:40.920 be resolved publicly by the time of the Masters, but 0:44:40.960 --> 0:44:43.120 it sounds like shortly they're after. I think there's gonna 0:44:43.160 --> 0:44:47.319 be some there will be some changes whether and I 0:44:47.320 --> 0:44:50.719 get the feeling it's on both both from Live more 0:44:50.800 --> 0:44:52.879 from the O w g R and how they're gonna 0:44:53.000 --> 0:44:55.879 they're gonna deal with Live and that some sort of 0:44:56.080 --> 0:44:58.360 solution is being brokered. And then it sounds like the 0:44:58.360 --> 0:45:01.799 conversations are productive. And you know, he said, the institution 0:45:02.360 --> 0:45:06.520 is succeeding in that w R has criteria that have 0:45:06.680 --> 0:45:09.920 comment periods, They have conversations with many tours around the world, 0:45:10.560 --> 0:45:13.200 and it's a there's give and take about what these 0:45:13.200 --> 0:45:16.480 tours can do to qualify what what And he said 0:45:16.520 --> 0:45:19.520 it's no different. And so even though I don't think 0:45:19.560 --> 0:45:23.239 Live on Live once it publicly is that it's a 0:45:23.239 --> 0:45:26.319 closed shop and it's say they're aligned against us and 0:45:26.320 --> 0:45:29.279 they're screwing us over that, the reality is that there's 0:45:29.320 --> 0:45:31.799 a lot of communication going on and that OB Jr. 0:45:32.040 --> 0:45:35.239 Is trying to find a solution. Now this this was one, 0:45:35.520 --> 0:45:38.400 this is one member of the board. I didn't um, 0:45:38.440 --> 0:45:40.400 but I have no reason to doubt what he's telling me. 0:45:40.440 --> 0:45:43.280 And it gives a little context to this. So we'll 0:45:43.480 --> 0:45:46.920 see how it plays out. But um, I don't think 0:45:46.960 --> 0:45:49.279 we're gonna get to do some you know what a 0:45:49.360 --> 0:45:50.880 year from now, I don't think we're still gonna be 0:45:50.960 --> 0:45:53.160 talking about this. There will have been some sort of 0:45:53.520 --> 0:45:57.239 meeting of the minds and and one step towards kind 0:45:57.239 --> 0:46:02.000 of reunifying a fractured professional game. And that that's a 0:46:02.080 --> 0:46:04.839 very big statement now, and because if they actually do 0:46:05.080 --> 0:46:07.600 go down that path, then that is the PGA Tour 0:46:08.000 --> 0:46:12.919 acknowledging that lived tour is legitimate. And that's been very 0:46:12.920 --> 0:46:16.320 hard for them to say. And to Ryan's point about 0:46:16.440 --> 0:46:19.719 just how petty and crazy the whole thing is, No, 0:46:19.960 --> 0:46:22.200 this really didn't get much focused this year. But the 0:46:22.239 --> 0:46:27.200 idea that the RNA, which presents itself and its championship 0:46:27.640 --> 0:46:32.879 with a great deal of confidence, disinvited Greg Norman from 0:46:32.960 --> 0:46:35.440 its champions dinner. He is a former champions one of 0:46:35.440 --> 0:46:36.960 the thing twice and now we can't come to your 0:46:36.960 --> 0:46:39.520 dinner just because you don't like what he's doing politically, 0:46:39.719 --> 0:46:41.879 and he can't play in your you know, your four 0:46:41.880 --> 0:46:46.040 whole exhibition. I mean that in itself showed such an 0:46:46.080 --> 0:46:50.640 intense level of pettiness that it's, uh, Bobby Jones will 0:46:50.680 --> 0:46:52.960 be spinning in his grave. So you know, to the 0:46:53.040 --> 0:46:55.120 question of you know, what's what's the Master's gonna do 0:46:55.200 --> 0:46:56.719 or what the what's the u s you're gonna do? 0:46:57.160 --> 0:47:00.000 If they want to be true to their actual convention 0:47:00.239 --> 0:47:05.960 conviction convictions, they have to invite anybody who qualifies. They 0:47:06.000 --> 0:47:09.839 can't possibly even think about blocking somebody because of their 0:47:09.880 --> 0:47:12.600 association with Live Tour. It's not like they're Unhel Cabrera 0:47:12.680 --> 0:47:16.440 in jail. They've just decided to play professional golf elsewhere 0:47:17.239 --> 0:47:19.600 for a startup. To use Hudson Swofford's term, which was 0:47:19.640 --> 0:47:21.719 kind of rich, but he's like, I just changed jobs. 0:47:21.800 --> 0:47:24.319 I went to a startup. Like, well, it's not it's 0:47:24.360 --> 0:47:27.320 not two guys in the in their garage. You know this. 0:47:27.320 --> 0:47:31.480 This is a well capitalized startup. But um yeah, I agree, 0:47:31.520 --> 0:47:34.360 And we've kicked this around before. There's no way Augusta 0:47:34.440 --> 0:47:37.919 is not going to invite people are otherwise qualified. That's 0:47:37.920 --> 0:47:40.680 not going to happen. Dustin will be there, cam Smith 0:47:40.719 --> 0:47:43.960 will be there, Phil will be there. But where it 0:47:44.000 --> 0:47:45.560 does get interesting is if you look at the world 0:47:45.640 --> 0:47:48.400 rankings right now, there's there's a handful of Live guys 0:47:48.719 --> 0:47:51.520 who were in the mid forties of the o w 0:47:51.640 --> 0:47:54.239 g R Top fifty at the end of this year. 0:47:54.280 --> 0:47:59.160 In two weeks get into the masters and Taylor Gooch 0:47:59.280 --> 0:48:02.640 is one. He's in the lightning rod all year. Um 0:48:02.800 --> 0:48:05.360 Kevin Naw you know, one of the original kind of 0:48:05.400 --> 0:48:09.480 lived defectors, Brian Coke Wrack. There's there's there's a there's 0:48:09.480 --> 0:48:12.239 a few guys, oh Harold Varner. They're hanging on by 0:48:12.239 --> 0:48:14.919 their fingernales that top fifty spot. And how the math 0:48:14.960 --> 0:48:16.600 works out in the next couple of weeks is gonna 0:48:16.600 --> 0:48:22.240 be fascinating. And um, so I don't think that there 0:48:22.880 --> 0:48:25.960 obviously not headliners, but any of those guys are good 0:48:26.000 --> 0:48:28.680 enough to win a Master's if they're in the field potentially, 0:48:28.800 --> 0:48:31.480 and so if they if they slip out of the 0:48:31.520 --> 0:48:36.000 top fifty, um, that's gonna be a big talking point, 0:48:36.080 --> 0:48:37.840 and that that will put a little pressure on the 0:48:37.880 --> 0:48:41.880 Green Jackets because um they do have the ability to 0:48:41.960 --> 0:48:45.720 invite anybody they want beyond um that that top fifties. 0:48:45.719 --> 0:48:47.880 So we'll see how that plays out. That to me 0:48:47.960 --> 0:48:50.520 is actually really interesting piece of it. The big guys 0:48:50.520 --> 0:48:52.040 are going to be there, they've were in their right. 0:48:52.360 --> 0:48:54.200 Fred really is not going to stand in the schoolhouse 0:48:54.239 --> 0:48:58.680 door and prevent them from from coming coming, you know, 0:48:58.719 --> 0:49:01.840 onto the property. That's just not how happening. But guys 0:49:01.840 --> 0:49:04.680 who you know, the Masters can always sold by the criteria. 0:49:04.719 --> 0:49:06.319 The criteria, we're not going to change it. Then there's 0:49:06.360 --> 0:49:09.120 gonna be some live casualties. And that's a little more interesting. 0:49:10.239 --> 0:49:14.840 A byproduct of these guys who are in there early 0:49:14.920 --> 0:49:21.360 to mid forties who may have a hard time competing 0:49:21.400 --> 0:49:23.360 against these guys who are coming up in the early 0:49:23.440 --> 0:49:27.920 twenties and are kind of lost with trying to figure 0:49:27.920 --> 0:49:32.359 out a career path is a byproduct of the tour 0:49:32.480 --> 0:49:36.720 not moving that age from the Champions Tour from fifty 0:49:36.840 --> 0:49:40.480 down to whatever, maybe forty five or forty four, and 0:49:40.520 --> 0:49:45.640 giving guys this tweener path between either staying and competing 0:49:45.640 --> 0:49:47.800 on the tour or going to what would be a 0:49:47.880 --> 0:49:52.960 Champions Tour and not evolving with sort of the the younger, 0:49:53.360 --> 0:49:57.120 the youth movement of the game. Again, this all it 0:49:57.239 --> 0:50:00.839 keeps layering and layering around, like of what else was 0:50:01.440 --> 0:50:04.359 Hendrik Stenson or Paul Casey or Lee West, what were 0:50:04.360 --> 0:50:08.319 these guys supposed to do? Just not play for five 0:50:08.400 --> 0:50:10.920 years and just you know, pack it up. Like again, 0:50:10.960 --> 0:50:17.000 it's just the whole thing is fascinating to me, uh, 0:50:17.040 --> 0:50:20.120 you know, and and your world ranking the board of 0:50:20.160 --> 0:50:22.640 the world, ranking the rules of what you can and 0:50:22.719 --> 0:50:25.560 can't do, what is ranked or not ranked, raising the 0:50:25.600 --> 0:50:28.120 price of Q school in the middle of all of 0:50:28.160 --> 0:50:31.080 this craziness that gets you under the corn Farry Tour, 0:50:31.440 --> 0:50:34.920 which means to me, again, the richest kids make it 0:50:34.920 --> 0:50:37.400 and not the best kids. And then what becomes the 0:50:37.440 --> 0:50:39.799 PGA Tour five years, ten years from now if we 0:50:39.880 --> 0:50:43.080 keep making it harder, more expensive to try to make 0:50:43.120 --> 0:50:45.719 it to the tour like it, you know, And this 0:50:45.800 --> 0:50:50.799 is why, this is why I think Ryan has has 0:50:50.880 --> 0:50:57.080 built such an incredible following based on his his focus 0:50:57.360 --> 0:51:00.880 on what we deemed dreamers, and why we're going to 0:51:00.960 --> 0:51:05.120 launch this series called The Grind, showcasing what it's like 0:51:05.239 --> 0:51:07.640 for these people out there on these you know, on 0:51:07.719 --> 0:51:11.799 this adventurous journey to try to make it. It's it 0:51:11.880 --> 0:51:14.439 all feeds down into that, right like that. That's why 0:51:14.520 --> 0:51:16.920 I say I'm not pro live, I'm sort of anti 0:51:17.040 --> 0:51:20.920 tour and if and if this disruption needed to happen, 0:51:20.960 --> 0:51:24.000 in which we're able to, you know, pull back the 0:51:24.040 --> 0:51:28.440 cover on the control the tour has had on professional 0:51:28.480 --> 0:51:33.160 golf and the monopolistic control over professional golf that in 0:51:33.239 --> 0:51:37.400 itself is worth rooting for. To me, media rights, you know, 0:51:37.440 --> 0:51:39.600 the narratives, and I use that example all the time. 0:51:39.640 --> 0:51:42.319 Rex Hoggard is a really good reporter. He's a quality guy. 0:51:42.400 --> 0:51:44.640 This has nothing to do with Rex Haggard, but on 0:51:44.719 --> 0:51:47.400 that court case in Northern California when it was lived 0:51:47.400 --> 0:51:51.560 players versus the PGA Tour and Rex Hagger's reporting live 0:51:51.640 --> 0:51:56.000 outside that courtroom wearing a PGA Tour logo on his shirt, 0:51:56.480 --> 0:51:59.040 That to me is a big part of the problem. 0:51:59.280 --> 0:52:01.759 And he was doing that without irony. We were supposed to, 0:52:01.840 --> 0:52:04.319 as consumers of the news of the game on the 0:52:04.320 --> 0:52:07.879 golf channel, supposed to, uh, you know, take that in 0:52:08.080 --> 0:52:12.480 without irony or or you know, understanding of the situation. 0:52:12.520 --> 0:52:15.319 It's crazy to me. Did you guys happen to see 0:52:15.320 --> 0:52:18.279 this Bob Riley from PNC Bank get on with the 0:52:18.360 --> 0:52:21.399 Dan Hicks today. He was wearing a blue shirt with 0:52:21.440 --> 0:52:26.080 no logo on it. I'm like, that's shocker. You're supposed 0:52:26.080 --> 0:52:28.319 to be selling p NC. It was kind of delightful, 0:52:28.360 --> 0:52:32.640 but I couldn't believe it. I personally love the CEO interview. 0:52:32.880 --> 0:52:35.600 It's one of my favorite parts Arey telecast. It's so 0:52:35.719 --> 0:52:39.680 crazy and it's so bad it's good, like I look 0:52:39.800 --> 0:52:43.760 forward to it and was good today. The first company 0:52:43.760 --> 0:52:46.440 that goes, you know, I'm not gonna put like if 0:52:46.560 --> 0:52:50.640 just say, hey, we're gonna skip the CEO interview to 0:52:50.840 --> 0:52:53.760 spare all of you, like it's gonna be the biggest 0:52:53.760 --> 0:52:57.480 thing on Twitter ever. You know, like the CEO of 0:52:57.520 --> 0:53:00.319 PNC knows you're gonna be bored shitless if he comes here, 0:53:00.560 --> 0:53:02.840 so we're gonna skip that interview, and everybody's gonna go, 0:53:02.880 --> 0:53:05.160 I'm going I'm switching all my money to PNC right now. 0:53:06.440 --> 0:53:09.160 I think if the CEO came on and said, I know, 0:53:09.239 --> 0:53:11.239 the last thing you want to do is here from me, 0:53:11.440 --> 0:53:13.920 So I am going to take my microphone off, I'm 0:53:13.920 --> 0:53:15.799 gonna get up off this set. I'm gonna go back 0:53:15.800 --> 0:53:18.319 where I belong, which is in the corporate hospitality tent 0:53:18.400 --> 0:53:21.040 with all of my top clients, and I'm gonna leave 0:53:21.080 --> 0:53:23.640 this to the professionals and they can communicate to you 0:53:23.680 --> 0:53:26.160 how good we are at what we do and how 0:53:26.239 --> 0:53:29.360 much money we're spending to support this tour. Did you 0:53:29.400 --> 0:53:32.520 hear oticas p NC shout out at the end, That 0:53:32.520 --> 0:53:34.600 shows you what a hard invitation this thing is to 0:53:34.640 --> 0:53:37.600 get She went directly into the camera with it. She 0:53:37.680 --> 0:53:39.920 wasn't just like in passing. She was like turned to 0:53:39.960 --> 0:53:43.160 the camera and was like thank you to p n c. Oh, yeah, no, 0:53:43.280 --> 0:53:45.319 there was there was. You can probably get into this 0:53:45.360 --> 0:53:49.160 field anytime. It was one of the greats of all time. 0:53:49.400 --> 0:53:51.400 Not to take anyway from Anka, but she does have 0:53:51.520 --> 0:53:54.920 that burnhard, longer Germanic kind of quality. Of course she's 0:53:54.960 --> 0:53:57.360 a Swede. But when she talks about her heart doing 0:53:57.400 --> 0:54:00.440 this and the tears behind her glasses, but in that 0:54:00.719 --> 0:54:04.080 dead flat on away, it just actually makes me laugh. 0:54:06.000 --> 0:54:10.759 It was the most emotional moment of my entire life. 0:54:11.560 --> 0:54:15.720 She said, this was really kids, like just laughing and giggling, 0:54:15.760 --> 0:54:18.680 and she's like it was. The kid was great. We 0:54:18.680 --> 0:54:20.680 had a lot of swag. Man, he's walking in Potts 0:54:20.800 --> 0:54:24.759 wearing Jordan's I mean, shout out to Will Sorenstam who 0:54:24.800 --> 0:54:28.560 made it fun for sure. Well, another reason there should 0:54:28.560 --> 0:54:34.600 be an agement on the PC. Okay, I support it. Yeah, 0:54:35.080 --> 0:54:37.279 when when you're a grandfather you shouldn't be able to 0:54:37.280 --> 0:54:39.520 play with your child like you know. I mean, I 0:54:39.520 --> 0:54:41.160 don't know if cast has any kids or not, but 0:54:41.200 --> 0:54:44.840 it's getting it's getting. That's what I'm susy. Any board 0:54:45.120 --> 0:54:49.359 that has any input into the greater scheme of like 0:54:49.600 --> 0:54:52.920 the game of golf from a pressure professional standpoint, that 0:54:53.040 --> 0:54:55.239 doesn't have Ryan French on that board, I'm not for 0:54:55.400 --> 0:54:59.279 it anymore. I'm gonna draw a hard line on if 0:54:59.440 --> 0:55:01.080 I'm gonna be the guy, I'm gonna be the guy 0:55:01.120 --> 0:55:05.400 who tells Charlie Woods's he's peaked. I was like, unfortunately, Charlie, 0:55:05.440 --> 0:55:09.040 if you've over, I would give you that. I would 0:55:09.160 --> 0:55:11.520 let you have that, make that help, make that like 0:55:11.560 --> 0:55:13.640 you should be on the board of the O W 0:55:13.800 --> 0:55:16.400 g R as a kind of a face and a 0:55:16.560 --> 0:55:20.000 and a and a and a supporter of all the 0:55:20.040 --> 0:55:23.719 other tours out there, making sure you know, doing what 0:55:23.920 --> 0:55:26.360 you know. Probably Keith Kelly tried to do, but probably 0:55:26.360 --> 0:55:29.400 I got voted, got got out voted on the board 0:55:29.719 --> 0:55:32.200 by all the others. But I mean, I just think 0:55:32.239 --> 0:55:34.920 you gotta like, why don't we go around and collect 0:55:35.880 --> 0:55:38.720 a little bit of perspective from a variety of different 0:55:38.840 --> 0:55:42.480 entry points instead of just like the Boys Club that's 0:55:42.600 --> 0:55:46.440 in control of the the the upper echelon of golf, Like, 0:55:46.600 --> 0:55:48.520 how was there not players on the board of the 0:55:48.560 --> 0:55:52.520 o w g R like a little possible, but yeah, 0:55:52.560 --> 0:55:54.440 it would be nice if not every important decision in 0:55:54.480 --> 0:55:56.719 golf was made in the grill room at seminole. Right, 0:55:57.000 --> 0:55:59.160 we need we need a few different perspective bit of 0:55:59.280 --> 0:56:01.680 you know, like to be a former player could get 0:56:01.719 --> 0:56:03.839 on the old w g R. Yeah, and a foremer 0:56:03.840 --> 0:56:06.279 player would make sense. It was like Nick Price going 0:56:06.320 --> 0:56:08.160 to the U s g A like that that made 0:56:08.320 --> 0:56:11.760 I like that, you know, Jason Gore before him. Certainly 0:56:12.480 --> 0:56:15.319 having having guys who've who have been between the ropes 0:56:15.400 --> 0:56:18.200 is valuable. I agree Ryan French for president. I put 0:56:18.280 --> 0:56:20.200 Ryan on the Empreme Court. I mean, the why stop 0:56:20.239 --> 0:56:23.839 with golf? Like we need some Midwestern sensibilities from down 0:56:23.840 --> 0:56:28.440 home Alpina wisdom. And I like Mike Juan, by the way, 0:56:28.239 --> 0:56:32.320 I think Mike Wan. I have a so much hope 0:56:32.320 --> 0:56:35.560 and faith in Mike Juan and what he could potentially 0:56:35.719 --> 0:56:38.200 do now that he's where he's at at the U 0:56:38.280 --> 0:56:42.080 s g A. I mean, I'm hoping and praying that 0:56:42.120 --> 0:56:45.399 he's going to have you know, uh, Fred pur Paul 0:56:45.520 --> 0:56:48.680 like these like there is there are these glimmers of 0:56:48.719 --> 0:56:52.200 hope around and and I've and I've got a lot 0:56:52.200 --> 0:56:56.799 of respect for Seth Wall there. You know, come on, guys, like, 0:56:56.920 --> 0:57:00.680 let's let's make sure that this game continues to evolve 0:57:01.400 --> 0:57:05.200 in ways that does make people feel a little uncomfortable. 0:57:05.360 --> 0:57:07.960 It's you know, the people who feel a little uncomfortable 0:57:08.000 --> 0:57:11.560 for where the game is going should feel a little uncomfortable. 0:57:11.560 --> 0:57:14.960 We should be comfortable in a variety of people feeling 0:57:15.080 --> 0:57:19.280 uncomfortable with the direction of the game. Otherwise it's not 0:57:19.360 --> 0:57:23.080 going in the right direction. Mike Juan very, I mean, 0:57:23.160 --> 0:57:27.160 I agree, Matt great and uh I saw him in 0:57:27.200 --> 0:57:30.920 a very small setting. Uh at the symmetric what was 0:57:30.960 --> 0:57:35.800 the symetric now absent tour, uh tour championship. Ten ten 0:57:35.840 --> 0:57:39.080 women got their LPGA cards and their families. You know, 0:57:39.120 --> 0:57:42.960 there's fifty people in the in the room, and uh, 0:57:43.000 --> 0:57:46.840 he made a great speech and a ton of respect. 0:57:46.880 --> 0:57:49.400 He's like, you know, uh, there's gonna be veterans out 0:57:49.400 --> 0:57:52.000 there like Christy Kerr, who you know, are gonna squeeze 0:57:52.040 --> 0:57:54.000 out of the range. And he's like, get your ass 0:57:54.080 --> 0:57:55.480 up there and push her to the side and tell 0:57:55.520 --> 0:57:57.000 her you get enough. Well, I mean, it was a 0:57:57.120 --> 0:57:59.440 very very cool speech and a ton of respect and 0:58:00.280 --> 0:58:02.120 went around and talk to all ten of the girls 0:58:02.160 --> 0:58:05.280 that had women that had gotten their card, and it 0:58:05.360 --> 0:58:07.240 was very much like, hey, you belong. You're part of 0:58:07.280 --> 0:58:09.880 this tour too, and you know I want to hear 0:58:09.920 --> 0:58:12.040 your voice as much as you know. I know he 0:58:12.120 --> 0:58:13.680 said what he was supposed to say, but it just 0:58:13.720 --> 0:58:17.920 felt very sincere. I was mad respect for him, and 0:58:18.280 --> 0:58:21.040 I agree in the position that he is. I he 0:58:21.120 --> 0:58:25.360 seems to be outspoken and a like a born leader, 0:58:25.520 --> 0:58:27.920 so I hope he can can say the things that 0:58:28.040 --> 0:58:32.720 that some people don't want to hear. I love that. Well, 0:58:33.280 --> 0:58:36.240 this is a busy week at the fire Pit Collective, 0:58:36.320 --> 0:58:39.000 so just to give listeners a little rundown on what 0:58:39.040 --> 0:58:42.800 they can look forward to, UM, Michael and I and 0:58:42.880 --> 0:58:46.120 Jeff Ogilvie taped a sort of a preview podcast about 0:58:46.120 --> 0:58:51.080 the sand Belt Invitational, which is teeing off Sunday afternoon 0:58:51.400 --> 0:58:54.160 in the US Monday morning in Melbourne. One of the 0:58:54.240 --> 0:58:56.080 really cool events in golf. I'll be writing about it 0:58:56.080 --> 0:58:59.560 every day for five Collective dot com. We have Benny West, 0:58:59.560 --> 0:59:02.200 Scott and Colton Nedler on the ground in Melbourne. They're 0:59:02.200 --> 0:59:05.880 gonna be doing all kinds of cool social cuts and 0:59:05.880 --> 0:59:09.680 and bring the tournament to life. When it's over, we're 0:59:09.680 --> 0:59:13.640 gonna get Jeff and hopefully the winner on for a pod. So, uh, 0:59:13.680 --> 0:59:17.000 that's happening. We have needed fourth our new podcast which 0:59:17.080 --> 0:59:20.439 launched a month ago, hopefully the Olive and listening to that. 0:59:20.640 --> 0:59:25.760 We have a blockbuster guests for that drops every Wednesday. 0:59:25.840 --> 0:59:28.240 Michael and I are very excited about that. We um, 0:59:28.280 --> 0:59:30.400 it's already been taped, it's being edited, and it was. 0:59:30.440 --> 0:59:34.920 It was a really lovely interesting conversation. So can I 0:59:34.960 --> 0:59:37.240 just say, guys, hate to interrupt them, like, you know, 0:59:38.040 --> 0:59:44.240 I am loving this podcast and you guys and the 0:59:44.320 --> 0:59:48.120 guests you've had on so far, Mike Mills, Michael Murphy, 0:59:48.360 --> 0:59:54.000 Brando Shamble, I mean everyone. I mean, it is as 0:59:54.040 --> 0:59:59.880 good as a golf podcast gets, in my opinion, you know, thoughtful, intel, 1:00:00.000 --> 1:00:06.000 alegent perspectives plus another fourth and the conversations that are 1:00:06.080 --> 1:00:09.800 happening and the stories that are being told, it's can't miss. 1:00:11.200 --> 1:00:14.600 It's incredible. It's well, you're nice to say, mad and 1:00:14.640 --> 1:00:19.480 I I really do feel that way. And I think, uh, 1:00:19.520 --> 1:00:21.280 you know, for those who have not had a chance 1:00:21.320 --> 1:00:23.920 to hear Jeff, he is absolutely one of the most 1:00:23.960 --> 1:00:28.040 thoughtful intelligent, insightful people in all of golf. Those who 1:00:28.160 --> 1:00:30.240 covered Jeff when he was in his playing prime would 1:00:30.240 --> 1:00:32.560 have would have known that for a while. Um, but 1:00:32.680 --> 1:00:37.040 this is another chance to see just a very intelligent, thoughtful, 1:00:37.200 --> 1:00:42.040 analytical person at work. And you know, and uh Allen's 1:00:42.080 --> 1:00:45.600 works uh literally speaks speaks for itself. So it's been 1:00:46.120 --> 1:00:49.760 it's been great. And then just a dovetail on on 1:00:49.840 --> 1:00:51.840 that one thought. You know, we've spent a lot of 1:00:52.080 --> 1:00:54.640 this time together and all of us who are interested 1:00:54.640 --> 1:00:58.120 in professional golf sort of consumed with the pj A Tour, 1:00:58.280 --> 1:01:00.400 US Live. It's certainly has been the biggest story of 1:01:00.440 --> 1:01:02.960 the year. But when you get to that need of fourth, 1:01:03.360 --> 1:01:06.920 it's just a welcome departure from all of that because 1:01:06.920 --> 1:01:08.600 we're not going down the road. It's not it's not 1:01:08.640 --> 1:01:10.960 like we're not trying to or trying to. It's just 1:01:11.000 --> 1:01:13.200 that we get somebody on there and the conversation goes 1:01:13.240 --> 1:01:15.440 where it goes. Like we had read Brandle on the 1:01:15.480 --> 1:01:19.520 other day, and Brandall talked about the golf swing because 1:01:19.560 --> 1:01:21.640 that's sort of like his entry point to the game 1:01:21.680 --> 1:01:24.200 in the first place. Uh So it's kind of a 1:01:24.280 --> 1:01:27.960 nice break, Yes, and accurate and and part of it. 1:01:28.120 --> 1:01:30.720 And you know, when I started at the Golf Channel, 1:01:31.440 --> 1:01:36.360 Kelly Tilman, rich Lerner and Brando Shambly identified themselves early 1:01:36.400 --> 1:01:39.640 on as people who were willing to give me time 1:01:40.120 --> 1:01:43.000 and serve as a mentor in terms of how to 1:01:43.080 --> 1:01:45.000 do TV because there's not a lot of you don't 1:01:45.000 --> 1:01:47.960 go through a training program of like, okay, this is 1:01:48.000 --> 1:01:50.160 how you do TV. They just like they put a 1:01:50.160 --> 1:01:53.080 microphone on you, you put on makeup and you're on TV. 1:01:53.360 --> 1:01:56.280 You're supposed to you're supposed to sort of understand what 1:01:56.280 --> 1:01:59.240 you're supposed to do, where to look, and it gets 1:01:59.320 --> 1:02:02.280 very confusing, very fast. And it's a it's a it 1:02:02.640 --> 1:02:05.640 talking about a pressure cooker. It happens when that red 1:02:05.720 --> 1:02:09.240 light goes on. And Brandle and we I've gotten a 1:02:09.240 --> 1:02:12.200 no Brandle, you know, outside of work, our wives are 1:02:12.320 --> 1:02:16.600 are very good friends. And it was so cool too, 1:02:17.520 --> 1:02:21.120 you know, show that side of him to more people 1:02:21.160 --> 1:02:24.440 than just the live from side of him in which, 1:02:25.240 --> 1:02:27.680 as he says, he gets paid to sort of explain 1:02:27.760 --> 1:02:30.720 the why and and he gets paid to, you know, 1:02:30.800 --> 1:02:34.760 to have an opinion on all of that. But there 1:02:34.880 --> 1:02:38.400 is this really really cool side of Brandle that. I 1:02:38.440 --> 1:02:42.720 think that's part of what got exposed in that podcast 1:02:42.920 --> 1:02:45.920 was just a general love for the game, for the 1:02:45.960 --> 1:02:49.080 literature around the game, the study of the swing and 1:02:49.160 --> 1:02:53.960 the game. His his admiration and respect for you know, 1:02:54.120 --> 1:02:56.479 Jeff and his place in the game, and that went 1:02:56.560 --> 1:03:00.920 both ways, and his respect and appreciation for other journalists. 1:03:00.960 --> 1:03:03.320 I mean, it's just it's a it's a side of 1:03:03.360 --> 1:03:05.120 Brandle that a lot a lot of people get to see. 1:03:05.160 --> 1:03:07.120 And I hope people are able to either see or 1:03:07.120 --> 1:03:10.080 listen to that because it's important. He he's an important 1:03:10.440 --> 1:03:14.960 piece of this puzzle that that makes up perspectives that 1:03:15.040 --> 1:03:17.680 talk about the game, and he is willing to say 1:03:17.720 --> 1:03:20.920 what he you know, feels, and it's it comes from 1:03:21.080 --> 1:03:25.320 well researched you know, analytics or or or thoughts, and 1:03:25.400 --> 1:03:28.800 I just think it's in that in itself is why 1:03:28.840 --> 1:03:31.480 this this podcast matters. And I can't wait for this 1:03:31.560 --> 1:03:34.160 week's guest because I know it is and it's it's 1:03:34.560 --> 1:03:38.760 he's one of my favorites. Yeah yeah, well thanks thanks 1:03:38.760 --> 1:03:42.480 for all that. And um brand my my new favorite 1:03:42.480 --> 1:03:45.360 new phrase. I was texting back forth with Greg Norman 1:03:45.480 --> 1:03:48.960 was so surprised some people, but and he concluded one 1:03:48.960 --> 1:03:52.120 of his texts by saying, thanks for being a solid 1:03:52.160 --> 1:03:56.200 part of the gulf ecosystem. And it makes me laugh. 1:03:56.200 --> 1:03:58.400 It feels like a team of consultants came up with that. 1:03:58.560 --> 1:04:02.120 But Brandle is a solid part of the golf ecosystem, 1:04:02.320 --> 1:04:04.160 and it was it was fun to have um and 1:04:04.200 --> 1:04:07.600 I think we can agree that. Imaginella, Ryan French, Michael 1:04:07.600 --> 1:04:11.160 Bamberger are very solid parts of the golf ecosystem that 1:04:11.240 --> 1:04:16.360 everyone will agree with that. I'm pretty positive. Quick quick 1:04:16.400 --> 1:04:20.160 nod to a to a member, a long time member 1:04:20.240 --> 1:04:24.960 the golf ecosystem, Rog the course whisper had his final 1:04:25.000 --> 1:04:29.360 lament this week. Oh yeah, he's been our lives, all 1:04:29.400 --> 1:04:34.960 our lives. Uh, I love him so anyway, Yeah, he 1:04:35.040 --> 1:04:39.040 represents a nonchalance that golf needs more of. Yes, I 1:04:39.080 --> 1:04:40.680 was gonna say, I don't know if Roger is a 1:04:40.680 --> 1:04:42.960 great analyst or not. I just he just fun hang 1:04:43.000 --> 1:04:44.840 out with. Like I'm in my living room, you know, 1:04:44.880 --> 1:04:47.440 I was actually doing a little household project and it's 1:04:47.480 --> 1:04:49.120 just like I love to listen to Rod. It's just 1:04:49.160 --> 1:04:50.600 like it's like like talking on the phone with a 1:04:50.640 --> 1:04:52.680 buddy because it's a one way conversation. He's only talking 1:04:52.720 --> 1:04:55.080 to you, but there is it is. It's sad to 1:04:55.080 --> 1:04:59.640 see him go. I'm hopefully he'll find another another landing spot. 1:04:59.760 --> 1:05:03.000 But um yeah, I think thanks for the tip of 1:05:03.040 --> 1:05:05.560 the cap because Roger's a very solid part of the 1:05:05.600 --> 1:05:08.400 Gulf ecosystem and maybe a future need a fourth. I mean, 1:05:08.400 --> 1:05:10.640 you guys need a fourth on a regular basis. You know, 1:05:10.680 --> 1:05:13.320 maybe Rog will make his way into the into the 1:05:14.560 --> 1:05:20.560 coming in smoking heaters like just Dart after dark. Yeah. 1:05:21.440 --> 1:05:23.400 Ryan's still trying to get you know, William Morris to 1:05:23.440 --> 1:05:26.560 sponsor need a fourth or fire drill or something. I 1:05:26.600 --> 1:05:28.960 don't think it could happen, Ryan, I'm sorry, I don't 1:05:29.000 --> 1:05:34.439 think it's Lucky tried to jewel last week. Yeah, that Matt. 1:05:34.480 --> 1:05:36.840 What's that thing in San Francisco where they go in 1:05:36.880 --> 1:05:39.960 the tents and they go away for a while. It's 1:05:40.000 --> 1:05:43.800 like Limium Grove. I knew you'd come up with it, 1:05:44.040 --> 1:05:48.560 right down street from the Alistair McKenzie and Northwood golf Course. Okay, well, 1:05:48.640 --> 1:05:51.000 Roger goes to that one year. You telling me about 1:05:51.120 --> 1:05:54.080 you know some musician who was in the tent next 1:05:54.080 --> 1:05:56.080 to him, and it was Bob Weir from you know 1:05:56.120 --> 1:05:59.840 the dead or something. My dad actually, as an in 1:06:00.120 --> 1:06:02.880 here for Bechtel Power, had a job of going in 1:06:02.960 --> 1:06:06.360 and working on the infrastructure of Bohemian Growth. He couldn't 1:06:06.520 --> 1:06:09.800 talk about it, you know, I've got to ask him 1:06:09.840 --> 1:06:14.720 about it, um my dad. Um, like Ryan's father has dementia, 1:06:14.800 --> 1:06:18.240 but still is able to recall, uh in great detail, 1:06:18.400 --> 1:06:20.880 some of the stories of some of the jobs he's 1:06:20.920 --> 1:06:24.080 worked on. Um. It's a short term memory that obviously 1:06:24.200 --> 1:06:28.200 is really really, really troubled. But he had he had 1:06:28.240 --> 1:06:30.960 a very interesting time with the Bohemian Grove. And I 1:06:31.040 --> 1:06:33.160 actually got to go in one day with him as 1:06:33.200 --> 1:06:36.880 a young kid, and I can remember just the redwoods, 1:06:36.880 --> 1:06:38.840 and that's sort of the darkness that was created by 1:06:38.880 --> 1:06:41.800 the Redwoods and stories of guys just you know, you 1:06:41.800 --> 1:06:44.000 can kind of pee anywhere. It's like, you know, it's 1:06:45.000 --> 1:06:48.640 it's quite it's quite as quite a quite a a 1:06:48.720 --> 1:06:51.360 fraternity of stuff. God only knows what happens at the 1:06:51.360 --> 1:06:56.080 Bohemian Grove. Well, another member of another attendee of Bohemian 1:06:56.080 --> 1:06:59.760 Grove is Michael Murphy A need a fourth podcast guests, 1:06:59.760 --> 1:07:03.080 So it all comes full circle. Um, all right, well, 1:07:03.160 --> 1:07:06.880 let's end this fire drill um shout out to Um, 1:07:07.120 --> 1:07:10.920 Roger Malpi and Charlie Woods and VJ Seeing and everyone 1:07:10.920 --> 1:07:15.120 in between for enlightning this conversation. We do these every 1:07:15.120 --> 1:07:20.200 stunt Oh, yes, Michael Ellen oh and yes, uh Ellen. 1:07:20.760 --> 1:07:24.520 Easy to get sidetracked. Um, So we do this every Sunday. 1:07:24.760 --> 1:07:27.320 Hopefully you guys have cut onto that. It's it's an 1:07:27.320 --> 1:07:31.280 ongoing conversation that will never end, um hopefully, and uh 1:07:31.440 --> 1:07:34.320 we're back again next week. It's going to kind of 1:07:34.320 --> 1:07:36.560 be the end of the year. I think, Michael and Ryan, 1:07:36.640 --> 1:07:38.800 I think are we cooked up a plan to do 1:07:38.880 --> 1:07:40.760 kind of our low key year and review and talk 1:07:40.800 --> 1:07:42.880 about our favorite moments and the biggest stories, and that 1:07:42.880 --> 1:07:45.320 that should be a fun one as well. So we 1:07:45.360 --> 1:07:48.520 appreciate your loyalty and fidelity as listeners. There's a lot 1:07:48.520 --> 1:07:50.600 of golf podcasts out there. Thanks for listening to ours. 1:07:51.400 --> 1:07:54.640 For Matt Ganella and Ryan French and Michael Bamberger. I'm 1:07:54.640 --> 1:07:57.960 Alan Schipnick. This was a fire drill podcast, and uh 1:07:58.000 --> 1:08:04.120 that's it. Thanks. I bet big and I played the Win, 1:08:05.560 --> 1:08:09.600 made a fortune, win my shop game. Man. I ran 1:08:09.680 --> 1:08:13.000 the table, never thought I could fall down. The winter 1:08:13.160 --> 1:08:18.200 time hit me like a cannon. The ball and now 1:08:18.280 --> 1:08:23.120 I can't shake this losing the streak. Every road I 1:08:23.240 --> 1:08:28.600 take is a dead end stream. I got thoughts in 1:08:28.760 --> 1:08:33.080 my head. Can't get him out, Trying not to think 1:08:33.200 --> 1:08:36.840 what I'm thinking about. I got thoughts in my head. 1:08:37.320 --> 1:08:41.080 I can't get him out, trying not to think what 1:08:41.120 --> 1:08:42.320 I'm thinking about.