Monday, November 3, 2008

When Drinking At Hooters Goes Wrong


Not sure if you heard--or even care at this point--but golfer John Daly spent a night in a North Carolina jail last week. Evidently, police found the two-time major winner "extremely intoxicated and uncooperative" outside a Hooters restaurant around 2 a.m.

After Daly repeatedly refused to go to a nearby hospital, police took him to a Winston-Salem area detention center for a 24-hour "sobering up" period.

Somewhere, Otis from Mayberry is smiling.

Daly said his arrest and subsequent night behind bars were the result of a "misunderstanding." And perhaps it was. But considering how many times he's had encounters with the law (usually centering around domestic disputes) and his multiple suspensions from the PGA Tour, it's somewhat hard to give him the benefit of the doubt.

What I find interesting, though, is the lack of outcry from the general sporting public about Daly's continuing embarrassing behavior. Where are the shouts from the bloggers and the forum posters saying that Daly should never be allowed to play in a PGA Tour event again? Where are the rants from the radio talk show hosts demanding that Daly return his sponsorship money?

If those people are indeed out there, they are few and far between.

But just imagine for a moment that a NBA or NFL player had displayed such behavior. The reaction would be as frequent and varying as Daly's excuses for his problems.

As a golfer and sports fan myself, I can live with double bogeys. It's double-standards, however, that I can live without.


1 comment:

Malingering said...

I think fans of the PGA are too old for drama. Or maybe they just don't blog. I think this stems from their forced silence during golf tournaments. They're trained to be silent and supress their immediate reactions.

Golfers should have more tattoos, wear bling, and go into the crowd and throw beer Detroit style. People would totally be into golf.