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01/23/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's amazing the things we choose to care about.
Hank Haney, the famed former swing coach for Tiger Woods, is writing a book titled "The Big Miss." It's about Haney's years coaching Woods and Haney's said numerous times that this will not be some tell-all scandal rag.
But Woods isn't satisfied.
"I think it's unprofessional and very disappointing," Woods told ESPN.com in a telephone interview, "especially because it's someone I worked with and trusted as a friend. There have been other one-sided books about me, and I think people understand that this book is about money. I'm not going to waste my time reading it."
Those are some harsh words from Tiger, but they aren't appropriate.
There is a murky area about whether it's bad form to write a book about people you worked with, or for. Some pros probably won't use Haney after this, but to my knowledge, he isn't really coaching much these days.
Clearly, Woods has never liked when employees talk out of school about him, but Haney is no longer an employee, so, per the First Amendment, a book seems like fair game.
"I was a witness to greatness," Haney said "to the AP last Thursday. "And I get asked the question all the time about Tiger. I wanted to talk about it and I wanted to share it with people. That's the bottom line."
Haney has been clear that there won't be any stories of tawdriness. Haney said when Woods' 2009 car accident revealed about 10 inappropriate transgressions, he had no knowledge of the behavior.
What is Woods so afraid of then? Haney isn't a terribly controversial guy. After following him on twitter for a year, the most controversial stance I've witnessed is he advocates Five Guys burgers over others.
What if this book just lauds Woods' work ethic and ability? Tiger hasn't even read the thing yet and he's condemning, which, by the way, will boost sales more than any Haney appearance on "The Daily Show."
"I'm not sure I understand the unprofessionalism part," Haney told the AP. "He hasn't read the book. There's a lot of positives in there. I think he's the greatest golfer who ever lived.
"I was just in a position to observe greatness and anyone who observes greatness likes to share it. I feel like I wrote a book that was fair and honest. It's golf history."
Woods has no interest in people around him writing or saying anything about him. That's a tad naive, although, when I interviewed Jimmy Roberts a few years back about a book he was doing, he said that he approached Woods, who turned Roberts down because he had his own book deal going he had yet to complete.
So maybe Woods doesn't want anyone spilling beans before he does.
The fact is this: Woods has no standing to complain about someone writing an accurate depiction of him. If he felt that strongly, maybe he should've had a confidentiality arrangement in his deal with Haney that prevented this in the event their relationship ended.
Haney will come off poorly if he tells tales of witnessing a woman sneak in Tiger's mansion through a side door. However, if Woods didn't want people writing books about his behavior, he should've considered not behaving that way.
Woods has much more important things to worry about, like his golf game. He starts his year in Abu Dhabi this week, then Pebble a little later where the possibility exists his amateur partner, Tony Romo, might shoot lower than him.
Instead, he sounds like a bitter guy with something to hide.
Yes, Haney is trying to make money. He doesn't make royalties on those Five Guys tweets. That's the American way. Hank should thank Tiger for the stories, the years of service, the talk show, the notoriety and now 50,000 more copies of "The Big Miss."
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- If you're a tournament official and your event is struggling, bring in a former President of the United States. President Clinton helped make the Humana Challenge, formerly the Bob Hope, somewhat relevant again. Any Democrat President who can get male, professional golfers to play in an event he's running is a masters salesman. PGA Tour golfers would rather vote for a water buffalo than a Democrat.
- Mark Wilson is underrated, yes. Five tour wins is a decent number in the Tiger Woods era, but winning after the Masters would help. All five of his wins came early on in seasons.
- Imagine playing two of your idols in a playoff, then beating them. That's what happened to Branden Grace when he knocked off Ernie Els and Retief Goosen at the Volvo Golf Champions event. It was his second win in a row and with two wins in three events, I'd vote for him right now for European Tour Player of the Year.
- Movie moment - "50 First Dates" is where Drew Barrymore has some rare form of amnesia where she re-lives the same day over and over. She marries Adam Sandler and they have a baby while he does science on a boat near Alaska. What doctor lets her have a baby? She doesn't know she's pregnant every morning, so what if she wakes up and feels like having a Bloody Mary? She doesn't know. Bad fake medical work.
<< Stampeders cut ties with franchise rushing leader Reynolds
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Unable to find a trading partner, the Calgary
Stampeders have released running back Joffrey Reynolds.
The 32-year-old Reynolds played eight seasons with the Stampeders and became
the franchise's all-time
<< Van Buyten sidelined by broken foot
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich defender Daniel Van Buyten is
facing a spell on the sidelines after it was confirmed that he sustained a
metatarsal fracture in his left foot.
Van Buyten suffered the injury in Friday's 3
<< Marseille loses Mbia to thigh injury
Marseille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marseille is set to be without defender
Stephane Mbia for the next two or three weeks after he sustained a thigh
injury in the club's 3-1 Coupe de France win over Le Havre.
Mbia was forced out o
<< Stars lock up D Goligoski with four-year extension
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars on Monday signed defenseman
Alex Goligoski to a four-year contract extension worth $18.4 million.
Goligoski was set to be a restricted free agent at the end of this season.
"Alex Goligosk
United's Jones out with ankle injury >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United defender Phil Jones
is likely to spend the next few weeks on the sidelines after damaging ankle
ligaments in his team's 2-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday.
Jones landed awkwardly on t
Malkin, Hartnell, Nabokov named NHL's 'Three Stars' >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin,
Philadelphia Flyers winger Scott Hartnell and New York Islanders goaltender
Evgeni Nabokov have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending
January
Kentucky returns to top spot in men's hoops poll >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky is back at the top of the Associated
Press men's college basketball poll.
It's the second time the Wildcats have ascended to the No. 1 spot this season.
They had a two-week stay as the top-ranked
Irony abound on Championship Sunday >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers had been living off
turnovers and stellar special teams play all throughout their tremendous 2011
season. Tom Brady had been bailing out a condemned New England Patriots defense
time a
BILLS (+10) at Steelers SPORTSBOOK LINES
It's impossible to gauge how a team will react after something like the Steve Everett situation, and it probably doesn't matter. That being said, the Bills are going to lose several games this year where they keep things close but fall short in the end to superior teams. Ben Roethlisberger and company could have a field day against Buffalo's decimated defense, but I like the Bills to cover.
BENGALS (-7) at Browns SPORTSBOOK LINES
All you can ask out of your NFL team is that it has a plan. You may not always agree with it as a fan, but as long as it appears the organization is going in some sort of direction, you have to go with it. Which brings us to the Cleveland Browns. You flip a coin to determine whether Chuck Frye or Derek Anderson should start the preseason opener. You start Frye in Week 1, but pull him in the first half. And then you deal him to the Seahawks for a sixth-round pick? Hmm... the Bengals could get six turnovers again this week.
COLTS (-7) at Titans SPORTSBOOK LINES
Tennessee signed ex-Colts cornerback Nick Harper in the offseason so that should help slow down Peyton Manning. Just ask Jason David and the Saints. Oh wait... One of these weeks, I'm going to learn to not pick against Tennessee, which has won seven of its last eight games. But it's not happening against Indy.
TEXANS (+6.5) at Panthers SPORTSBOOK LINES
Houston's Mario Williams, the first pick in the '06 draft, has more touchdowns than Reggie Bush after one week. Somehow I don't see that lasting. Meanwhile, Carolina bottled up what was expected to be a pretty high-octane offense in St. Louis in Week 1. Could this be the Panthers' defense everyone expected last year? Maybe. This feels like a 20-16 Carolina win.
RAMS (-3) vs. 49ers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Absolutely love this game. Everyone's favorite pick for this year's surprise team -- the 49ers -- laid an egg on Monday night (not that anyone was watching with the game ending in the middle of the night for those of us on the East Coast). St. Louis wasn't much better, delivering a lackluster effort against the Panthers that included two Steven Jackson fumbles and panic from his fantasy owners. Jackson rebounds this week, and the Rams get their first win.
PACKERS (+1.5) at Giants SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Do you really trust this guy to win an NFL game if Eli Manning can't go? I say no. I'd feel alot better about this Packers team if it had any semblance of a running game, but I still think Green Bay's defense is good enough to give it a 2-0 start.
JAGUARS (-10) vs. Falcons SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Does it scare me to pick Jacksonville to cover a double-digit spread after it scored just 10 points last week against the Titans? Absolutely. But can I bring myself to pick Atlanta under any circumstances? No. Check out this poll on ajc.com. It asks what Atlanta's most urgent deficiency is: offense, defense, specials teams or all of the above. "All of the above" has 57 percent of the votes. Ouch.
SAINTS (-3) at Buccaneers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
I'm picking way too many road teams this week. Oh well. New Orleans has had some time to reflect on its lackluster showing in the opener, and the Buccanneers just aren't a very good football team. Anyone else surprised Tampa Bay hasn't made a move to sign Byron Leftwich? I thought that's what they do.
VIKINGS (+3) at Lions SPORTS BETTING LINES
Run the ball and stop the run. Minnesota can do both, and that will keep them in a lot of games this season. Even though it was only one week, Adrian Peterson looks like he was a steal at No. 7 in last year's draft. Not only will he produce, but Peterson delivers excitement to what otherwise would be one of the league's most boring teams.
DOLPHINS (+3.5) vs. Cowboys SPORTS BETTING LINES
Lost in the Tony Romo lovefest is just how bad the Cowboys' defense was last week. I know they're banged up, but Dallas' 'D' allowed 438 yards to the Giants' offense, and backup running back Derrick Ward averaged 6.8 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Cam Cameron's decision to split carries between Ronnie Brown and Jesse Chatman sounds about as can't-miss as Larry David's plan to show up to Marty Funkhouser's party a night late. Still, gotta go with Miami to cover at home.
SEAHAWKS (-2.5) at Cardinals SPORTS BETTING LINES
I'm probably missing something, but this game seems too easy. Arizona blew Monday night's game against the 49ers in typical Cardinals fashion, and the Seahawks beat Tampa Bay by two touchdowns. Love Seattle in this one.
BRONCOS (-9.5) vs. Raiders SPORTS BETTING LINES
Special teams was a major story line in Week 1. Take a look at the Broncos. They had to rush on to the field to get a Jason Elam field goal as time expired against the Bills. Denver drove into Buffalo territory on eight of 10 drives but came away with just a pair of field goals and a touchdown. Look for more scoring from the Broncos this week against an Oakland defense that gave up 36 points to Detroit in Week 1.
BEARS (-12) vs. Chiefs SPORTS BETTING LINES
Everyone talks about Rex Grossman when dissecting the Bears' offense, but Chicago's quarterback got no help in last week's loss to the Chargers. Meanwhile, Kansas City confirmed what we all thought while watching Hard Knocks: The Chiefs are going to stink this year. It could be a rough first month for Larry Johnson fantasy owners. Kansas City's RB was limited to 43 yards on 10 carries in Week 1, and the Chiefs face the Bears, Vikings and Chargers the next three weeks, all formidable run defenses.
RAVENS (-10) vs. Jets SPORTS BETTING LINES
A big dose of Willis McGahee and a usual sound defensive effort will give the Ravens their first win. According to Football Outsiders, no team in the NFL rushed only three defenders on pass plays last year more than the Jets. And according to my special Jets correspondent Ben Stauber, New York did the same in Week 1. Whoever starts at quarterback for the Ravens should have all day to throw.
PATRIOTS (-3) vs. Chargers
Friends and I were discussing how Bill Belichick goes about paying his $500,000 fine for cheating. Does he just write one check to the NFL? Do you need some sort of clearance to make such a monstrous financial transaction? I guess I shouldn't complain about the security deposit I have to put down on my new apartment. Anyway, two of the league's best teams square off in what should be a good one Sunday night. The Patriots always respond well just when you think they're in trouble. And their offensive attack was the story in Week 1.
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting.
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