Bamberger: “I have never seen a rules violation before.”
After reading the Q&A with Michael Bamberger published today on SI.com I’d say there was no malice involved in his actions. His explaination of his actions are reasonable, but I would’ve given him hell when he called on Sunday if I were his editor.
It’s that one sticking point: I still question his “I’ll ask Michelle Wie before I ask an official” reasoning, especially since he states that there were others around him who questioned the drop.
Excerpts from his answers regarding the aftermath follow:
I was extremely impressed with the calmness with which she handled a chaotic situation. I felt that she is way more mature than the ordinary 16-year-old and that I was certain she would learn a valuable lesson, not that it was ever my intention to teach her one…
… Professor Wie said to me, “Good job, Michael.” I knew he was talking to me; I knew he was not being sarcastic. He was talking to me, golfer to golfer. I’m sure he thinks the rules are sacred, too.
My heart goes out to [Wie's caddie Greg Johnston]. Even though he’s a veteran, well-regarded caddie and she’s a rookie, he is blameless. Taking a proper drop is 100 percent the responsibility of the player. When Michelle was taking the drop, he was pointing in the bush where the ball was originally and he couldn’t see the drop. It was Michelle’s job to figure out the correct line of relief. He was upset at me for not saying something during the Saturday round when she could’ve received just a two-shot penalty for playing a ball from an incorrect place rather than a DQ.
We probably won’t hear this much from Bamberger until after his Michelle Wie piece is published, as I’m sure his editors don’t want him putting their publication on the hot seat again.
There’s no bad press, unless you’re the press.
SI.com: Q&A: Michael Bamberger
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October 20th, 2005 at 4:07 am
I just finished reading the Q&A on SI’s site as well, I still don’t buy it. For someone as knowlegeable about the game as Bamberger, you can’t tell me that he didn’t know she’d be DQ’d after signing an incorrect card. His timing betrays is seemingly altruistic, “for the love of the game” excuses. Pure and simple, this whole thing absolutely REEKS of a publicity machine in high gear. He “claims” he never wanted to ever be part of a story yet that doesn’t reconcile with his credentials in the game of golf. The guy was a caddy for cryin’ out loud! He KNEW that if he says something immediately it’s a 2-stroke penalty. He KNEW that if she signs an incorrect card she gets DQ’d. So SI and Bamberger, I hope you ride this wave of publicity for as long as you can, as disingenuous as it is. Journalistic integrity? Puh-leeze…. Her first pro match will forever have an asterisk by it with Bamberger’s name forever etched in the history books, congrats Mike.
October 21st, 2005 at 10:54 am
Oh, come, now. Bamberger really plays that air violin, doesn’t he? He hasn’t always been that “highly regarded” either, judging from a bit in The Death of Sportswriting by Alan Richman repeated at http://sportswritingediting.blogspot.com/2005/09/death-of-sportswriting_22.html and a few other esoteric journalism blogs. To wit:
So empty is the reservoir of talent that last year the Philadelphia Inquirer assigned two cityside reporters to cover premier sports beats, assigning the Eagles to Mark Bowden and the Phillies to Michael Bamberger. I’m sure morale in the sports department soared after that. Neither experiment went for extra bases. Bowden wrote well, if naively. Bamberger wrote earnestly but ineptly and continually discovered what fans already know: that defense wins games and that “baseball is a wholly unpredictable game.”
November 18th, 2005 at 3:59 pm
Is the LPGA going to follow the same procedure to investigate claims of rules violations 24 hours after the alledged infraction in the future? In my opinion the actions of the LPGA rules official were uncalled for, outrageous, and humiliating to Michelle. I notice that Tiger Woods was not required to reconstruct his actions upon being accused by a spectator of violating the straddle line rule on the putting green and that was before he signed his card for the round at this years Masters. I will have nothing but contempt for the LPGA in the future because of this egregious incident. I personally believe the whole incident was setup because the LPGA knows that it will lose fans if Michelle achieves her goal of competing on the mens tour. Why? Isn’t it obvious? The caliber of golf played by the ladies is quite inferior to that played by the men.