OneOnlineCommunity Writer Dave Mishur

EDITORAL by Dave Mishur

The Daly News

Big John Daly, the pro golfer known for booming drives, weird pants, and erratic behavior on and off the course, has been the subject of controversy on many occasions, but the latest dust up concerning this winner of two majors has a strange, some might even say, first amendment, twist to it.

Daly was the subject of a recent column written by Gary Smith of the Florida Times-Union newspaper, in which Smith took Daly to task for his bad-boy antics on the links, behavior that has netted the pro golfer five suspensions, 21 dishonorable mentions for failing to put forth his “best effort,” and seven visits to alcohol rehab facilities. Smith cites the PGA’s 400-plus page dossier of Daly’s misdeeds.

Daly was quite naturally chagrined at this revelation, especially given the fact that the PGA does not reveal individual player’s disciplinary information, and Smith only discovered it as a result of its becoming public knowledge due to a lawsuit Daly filed against the paper over an earlier story. Nevertheless, he felt the information should not appear in the paper.

So, Daly being Daly, he Tweetered his fans with Smith’s cell phone number and invited them to let their feelings be known. More than a hundred did so. This made Smith mad and also upset a group called the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), which is now calling for the PGA to discipline Daly for releasing the columnist’s phone number.

Several thoughts immediately spring into this columnist’s mind (who always says nice things about everybody). If Smith has the right to freely express his thoughts about Daly, then Daly has a right to request his fans to rebut with their thoughts. Words, like actions, do have consequences. 

Another thought has to do with the behavior of another golfer named Tiger Woods, who, even before getting in trouble with the ladies of the night, was often a poor example of sportsmanship on the links, and who ever read a story about that? 

The final thought we had concerned the very existence of such a group as the GWAA. Do golf writers feel they are so discriminated against that they must band together for mutual protection? Apparently so. Especially now that an errant Daly drive may come crashing into the media tent next time he plays. 

Slow Down!

Drivers across Illinois will have to watch their speed, if a recommendation by the State Senate Executive Committee becomes law. This august committee recently voted, seven to five, to approve a 70 MPH speed limit on major state highways. Since most drivers that we encounter on the Autobahn known locally as I-55 go much faster than that, we suppose that the new law will require them to slow down. 

Drivers in the Chicago area, and, one may presume, in other congested spots, will not have to abide by this new ruling, so they will most likely continue to drive as fast as they want.

Pay For Play

The NFL players’ union is unhappy about a proposed new contract that some say may include a pay cut for the valiant gladiators of the gridiron. Although the current contract runs through next season, and this new one wouldn’t kick in after that, we say it’s about time. These jocks who slept through college classes and were treated as celebrities on the campus now get paid more than enough for trying to knock the sense out of each other.

Most are much better at dancing and showing off than they are at playing the game of football. The tally of missed tackles, dropped passes, and stupid penalties tends to make some games more joke than contest. What’s most hilarious is when a player gets up and beats his chest while doing a little dance after tackling a guy who just notched a 30-yard gain against his team. Team sport? Not any more.

Kick A Man When He’s Down

The Toyota Motor Car Company has enough troubles without being kicked around by Congress. Congresspeople, most of whom have never held a real job, simply don’t understand that the company got to be the biggest manufacturer of automobiles in the world by making some very nice cars that people like to drive. But cars are complicated machines and sometimes things go wrong.

Now, thanks to diligent reporting by a watchful media and an adequate, if belated, company response, the faulty cars are being fixed as quickly as Toyota employees can hop to the task. There surely will be mass law suits, as we opined in an earlier column.

But to take the president of Toyota, grandson of the founder, and embarrass him before a congressional committee, drooling with anticipation over the opportunity to lecture the poor guy, is very bad taste, and also very bad business. The Wall Street journal points out that Toyota employs more than 200,000 Americans in their various U.S. facilities, jobs that are sorely needed in the current economic doldrums.

I would also point out that the very cruelest thing to do to most Orientals, especially the Japanese, is to humiliate them in public. There is a strong sense of honor in the culture, and embarrassment is especially deeply felt. Toyota has been good for this country, both in terms of the cars our citizens have purchased as well as the number of good paying jobs it provides. 

These hearings have done nothing except perhaps to show that today’s cars are not perfect. Every manufacturer has had its failures, some even more egregious and dangerous than Toyota’s. But a congressional hearing never fixed a car, and our elected representatives, having gotten our country into a fine mess with their ineptitude, are in no position to lecture anyone about quality.

Besides, our government, as a major stockholder in the company that used to be called General Motors, is in a sense Toyota's competition. By bashing Toyota they in effect promote Government Motors. But such conflict of interest never deters our brave Congresspeople. In fact, they specialize in it.

E-Mail Dave Mishur: Dave.Mishur@OneOnlineCommunity.com