Was it wrong?
I don't know, but it sure felt good.
As a true blue American who still believes in the supremacy of Yankee golf, I confess to the guilty pleasure of rooting for the Euros last week at the Ryder Cup.
After all, when your own "lads" (British term) can no longer summon more than cheap lip service for the greatest event in your beloved sport, then it's time for some tough love.
I'll come back to our side, when they start actually caring about winning the thing.
And don't tell me Curtis and the boys really wanted to win this thing. Like I said, just saying so, doesn't make it so. And if you followed any of the buildup to the matches, you'll know that the U.S. side was hardly inspired.
Mark Calcavecchia told Sports Illustrated that his biggest concern going in was whether his pants would still fit a year later with 20 more pounds of indifference packed around his haunches. Tiger Woods uttered his famous "million reasons" statement at the Amex Year Ending Money Grab (also a Tiger Woods client) and then tried to backtrack with a claim that he was "just joking" when he said even the Disney Classic would rate above the Ryder Cup.
Ha, ha. Stop it, Eldrick. You're killing us.
And of course Stewart Cink and Hal Sutton spent the week prior to the Cup playing for cash at the "Tampa Bay Classic Presented By Buick" in order to keep their kids from going shoeless. Thank god they picked up $8,620 a piece in a tie for 41st.
You might think Sutton and Cink would spend a week at the Belfry adjusting to the slower greens, getting over jet-lag, and playing a little alternate shot to get primed. Nah. Why bother?
Dedication. That's what it's all about for our guys.
And don't get me started on Curtis Strange. He's now chunked away two Ryder Cups. In the first one at Oak Hill (where he lost the final 3 holes to Nick Faldo in a key match) I'll actually excuse him, because Wake Forest butt-buddy Lanny Wadkins had no business taking him as a captain's choice in the first place.
But on this one, he should take the brunt of it. Not just in the amateurish way he backloaded the Sunday singles with Tiger and Mickelson (you would think NBC producer Tommy Roy filled out the U.S. lineup to maximize a potential "Tiger Saves the Day" made-for-TV Sunday movie) but also the complete lack of respect he gave Europe from start to finish.
Prior to the matches, Strange bragged to NBC's Gary Koch that he thought the U.S. "should kill them" in the opening day Four-Balls despite a emphatic European advantage in the format since 1985. Then, when Sam Torrance's tactic hit paydirt with a 3-1 lead out of the gate, Curtis insisted that "he still doesn't believe" in Europe's superiority in Four Ball.
Whether or not this stuff hit the European "bulletin board" is irrelevant. Suffice to say if Strange would say this kind of stuff in front of a live TV camera, then what he must have said to the team in private was no doubt even more dismissive.
And arrogance in this event will get you beat. Strange should have scrambled to steal the "underdog" mantle right from the start. Talk glowingly of how good the European tour is, mention the high motivation for Sam's lads, and cite the obvious home-course advantage the Ryder Cup provides. All the way from the stimpmeter to the explosions of cheers that put heat on the visitors as they waft up from the course.
Then in private, Strange needed to fully explain to rookies like Cink, Toms and Verplank that old, short-hitting fuds like Bernhard Langer will rip your lungs out in this event if you don't bring your "A-Game" from the start.
Did Strange tell his boys to be prepared for Monty going 5-0? If not, he should have. The whole "bad back" story line was classic rope a dope by the dour Scot. After what happened at Brookline, Monty would have played hopping on one bloody stump if that's what it took.
Too bad the American's didn't have a player like Monty. A guy who "gets" this event, loves this event, and lives this event. That guy should be Tiger, but don't hold your breath waiting for that transformation.
Has anybody shrunk from leadership as dramatically as Woods in this event? To begin, Strange capitulated to Woods from the get-go, promising not to pair him with Mickelson whom he has no use for. Then, Strange allowed Tiger to breeze through a cursory practice round at 6 a.m. on Thursday with his "approved pal" Calc. I'm surprised Strange didn't let them use a cart so they could be back in their pajamas at 10 a.m.
{INSERT_RELATED}Could there be a worse way to get ready for this event? I'm sure the U.S. team felt real "together" watching Tiger and Calc get their round "out of the way" so as not to disturb Tiger's precious schedule. Strange said he wanted his players to prepare "as if this were a major championship" thus proving how little he understands about the power of team-think at the Ryder Cup.
Memo to Curtis. Majors are stroke play. The Ryder Cup is not.
Not only did Woods inexplicably wear the opposite color shirt from his teammates every day (where was Elin when you needed her for some color coordination?) But you'd be damned to see him reading a partner's putt or discussing course management. I wouldn't be shocked if he walked off of most greens by saying "so, whadya have there, pardner?"
When Davis Love was riding Tiger's back like Eddie Arcaro on Saturday against Garcia and Westwood, Tiger refused to give even a small little fist pump after gutsy birdies to win or halve holes. After one 30 foot snake to match a Westwood bomb, Woods laughably went with the standard Tour-issue "cap-pull" thank you. Are you kidding me? Nobody is asking Woods to jump around like the hyperactive Garcia, but showing his teammates he was at full emotional throttle would have gone a long way.
Tiger began the event by bitching about a camera-click on his backswing (sound familiar?) on his first shot on Thursday. His week was capped by Strange telling the press on Monday that Eldrick actually had the sniffles on Sunday. Boo-hoo. It's almost as if no other player has ever had to deal with itchy-triggered photogs or had to take a Sudafed.
The Tiger Excuse Chorus from most of the media alternated between annoying and absurd . One commentator on Golf Central said they should adjust the way they calculate records in the Ryder Cup so as to account for partners who bring down a guy playing well. Others cited Tiger's "All Time" match play record as proof of his prowess in this format, despite a now piddling 5-8-2 Ryder Cup record. What the apologists fail to mention, is that almost all those previous match play wins came while Tiger was rolling through the U.S. Amateur, and none of them were in better ball, or alternate shot.
Thank god David Feherty had the stones to quip that Tiger's grade school report card must have said: "does not play well with others."
When people ask me how can I be so down on Tiger, I now simply take a page from his book and say that I've got "a million reasons."
I don't know if I'll be back on the American side for the next meeting at Oakland Hills in 2004. I want to be, make no mistake. I can root for David Toms all day long. Even Monty took a moment to tell NBC just how "underrated" Toms is as a player. I'll still defend Mickelson, although he's making it harder all the time. And I'm fine with Duval, even though he may never find his level of World #2 again. As for guys like Cink, Verplank, and Furyk - whatever. Good players but utterly uninspiring. Davis Love III looks more and more like a weenie every day, and should stay home next time if he plans to be such a baby.
And old grumps like Hoch and Calc can go back to sitting on their couch for all I'm concerned.
As for Tiger, it really wouldn't kill me if he stopped playing this thing altogether. Not that he should be kicked off, but no more molly-coddling by the Captain. Be a part of the team, or stay home in Orlando and count your money. Seriously, I think the team could actually be better without him.
Hell, Steve Lowery could go 2-2-1 for us.
Let's hope that new blood like Matt Kuchar, Charles Howell III, or Rich Beem make the squad next time. And if not them, at least somebody who understands that a putt like Justin Leonard's at Brookline can define a career as much as any major championship.
If so, I'll be back, fully supporting our boys to the last bitter halve.
But for now to the lads wearing the blue flags and yellow stars, at least one American golf fan says: "jolly well done!"
Steve is a native Washingtonian and has worked in sports talk radio for the last 11 years. He worked at WTEM in 1993 anchoring Team Tickers before he took a full time job with national radio network One-on-One Sports.
A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Steve has worked for WFNZ in Charlotte where his afternoon show was named "Best Radio Show." Steve continues to serve as a sports personality for WLZR in Milwaukee and does fill-in hosting for Fox Sports Radio.
