thependulumswings

You know old Hank Haney, don’t you?  Sixty-three year old PGA teaching professional Hank Haney worked with Tiger Woods for a few years about a decade ago along with other PGA professionals.  He parlayed that experience into a golf reality show that lasted five years.  Each season one chosen celebrity would be the one that Haney would try to improve their golf game.

In 2008, Haney started working with former NBA star and current NBA analyst Charles Barkley on the Golf Channel’s The Haney Project: Charles Barkley, in an attempt to fix Barkley’s infamously bad swing. Haney’s show continued in 2010, this time with comedian Ray Romano. The third season, in 2011, featured talk radio host Rush Limbaugh. Series 4 (2012) featured a four-player shootout in Mario Batali, Adam Levine, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Angie Everhart.   Series 5, in 2013, featured all-time winner of the most Olympic medals, Michael Phelps.

Old Hank would cringe on camera every time Sir Charles stopped midway through his swing, then shank the ball in any and every possible direction.

Well, yesterday, several people cringed when old Hank weighed in on this week’s U.S. Women’s Open on his SiriusXM radio show.

When Haney’s co-host, Steve Johnson, asked him about the 74th Open being played this week, Haney joked that he was going to predict that a Korean would win.  And, he added that he couldn’t name six players on the LPGA Tour, except for those with the last name Lee.

“I’m gonna predict a Korean,” Haney said.

“That’s a pretty safe bet,” Johnson replied.

“That’s gonna be my prediction. I couldn’t name you, like, six players on the LPGA Tour,” Haney continued.

“Yeah,” Johnson said.

“Nah, maybe I could,” Haney said. “Well, I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right. I don’t know. … Lexi Thompson. Michelle Wie’s hurt. I don’t know that many.”

Haney’s comments were quickly criticized on social media, the platform of self expression of the new, kinder, more sensitive generation.  And Wie was one of them.

As a Korean American female golfer, these comments that @HankHaney made disappoint and anger me on so many different levels. Racism and sexism are no laughing matter Hank….shame on you. I don’t ever do this, but this must be called out. https://t.co/P18JByTosN

— Michelle Wie (@themichellewie) May 29, 2019

Old Hank took to the same Twitter outlet to get out his apology.  “This morning, I made some comments about women’s golf and its players that were insensitive, and that I regret,” Haney wrote. “In an effort to make a point about the overwhelming success of Korean players on the tour, I offended people and I am sorry.

Racism?  Sure.  Old white Hank predicted a Korean would win.  Old white Hank knows better we think.  You can’t say the obvious.  Koreans currently hold down the 1,4,6,8,12,13, and 15th places year to date on the LPGA money standings.  You can’t say the obvious.  He said he couldn’t name six players on the tour.  Neither can anyone else.  No one watches it in person.  No one watches it on TV either.

So Hank Haney said “I’m sorry.”  He offended people and was insensitive towards women.   Maybe he could make a run for the White House in 2020.  Joe Biden realized the error of his previous ways and said he was sorry to have been insensitive towards women as well.  He said he stands behind women now.  Wait, that still doesn’t sound right.

Regardless, old Hank’s apology stated that he actually had intended to “make a point about the overwhelming success of Korean players.”  No he didn’t.  He intended to make a joke about a tour that is viewed (but not seen) as a joke.

Wie said that she “as a Korean American female golfer” was disappointed and angry.  Couldn’t she just be a golfer or an American that was angry?  Or, an American tour player that was angry?  Nope.  It’s important today to tell everyone where you are originally from and how many obstacles you had to and have to overcome.  Wie claimed that the remarks were sexist too.  We wonder about that.  He was asked to comment on the LPGA tour.  Like what he said or not, he did just that.  If a female reporter comments on the PGA tour, are her remarks automatically sexist?

Christine Brennan, who writes for the USA Today, broadened the scope of the crime to include an accusation of xenophobia and wrote, “If there’s any golf club in the country (let’s make it the world) that allows Haney to set foot on its property after that despicable exchange, that club is telling every girl and woman and person of color to go play any one of the dozens of other sports they can play for life, not golf.”

This went from Koreans under attack to all countries.  This went from women to girls.  And, this went from one race to any person of color.   We wonder if Tiger Woods or Charles Barkley or Sugar Ray Leonard think old white Hank is prejudiced.  Did Angie Everhart think he was sexist?  Maybe they do.  And, maybe he is.  But, can we tap on the brakes just a bit?

Christine, a ton of golf clubs that you want old Hank to be banned from have members that can’t name six LPGA golfers either.   But, when they flip through the channels in the men’s locker room looking for the men’s tour broadcast of the week, they ever so briefly pause on the leader board of the LPGA event in their search.  On it they see the Korean flag, among others, up and down the first page.  It’s not bad.  It’s just bad the way old white male Hank made light of it.

Michelle Wie cried “wie, wie, wie,” all the way home.  It’s certainly her right.  But, did anybody hear her?

The problem for Christine Brennan and her diatribe is that no one reads the failing USA Today anymore.  Do you?  The problem for the LPGA tour is that no one watches the LPGA Tour anymore.  Do you?

Tap the brakes people.