Thursday
May162013
Rocco On Tiger Signing His Photo: "That's just the way he conducts things. That's not him."
I finally got around to watching Rocco Mediate's appearance on Feherty and it was as much fun as you'd expect when you put two maniacs in a room in front of cameras.
Thankfully this clip of Mediate talking about asking Tiger to personalize a photo and pin sheet was posted online.
There's also a seven-minute outtake online where Rocco talks about the state of the game, the First Tee (genius but "where do they go"?), growing up on muni's and the worst rule in golf.
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 10:07 PM
Reader Comments (34)
Wayto define meanness. His overriding characteristic. Roccos's unmeanly-told anecdote sums up for me what I have detested about this creature for so long.
What a very small creature it is. His place in the record books is assured. His place in the history books will be less forgiving.
Ghillie ... words fail me.
FWIW, I've always thought that Rocco's always been a great measuring stick in terms of whether or not Player 'X' is an a-hole...or not?" Rocco's got no filter on his brain, and nary a mean bone.
Seems the brotherhood of PGA players, like most sports, keeps quiet about what douches their opponents are.
I don't know Rocco personally but I have seen behavior from him that would contradict your "nary a mean bone" compliment. Rocco seems.a lot like Trevino - when the camera's red light is on, they are the fun-loving, wisecracking "characters" that fans tend to love. Behind the scenes, not so much. I know of one incident where Rocco showed up in cargo shorts and flip flops - drunk - for the dinner/silent auction portion of a corporate charity event. He then "borrowed" two dozen Callaways from the pro shop the next day for the golf portion because he hadn't packed any in his golf bag. But he had no trouble cashing the sizeable 5 figure check. Or telling you how he admired Arnie's professionalism and tried to do the same.
Unfortunately, these types of stories are more the norm than the exception. I understand we all have our bad days, but c'mon, is it really that difficult to just be decent?
And I love how he finds it a tough choice between being a U.S. Open champ and forgoing his week with Tiger. Really, Rocco?
And Feherty looks like a perfect idiot with those silly sideburns.
Otherwise, everything was ok, lol.
Fine. And he does, fyg.
The problem becomes when someone from the "performance" camp wants to pretend they are from the "character" camp. I used to be this guy. "Tiger's not a jerk, he's driven and he needs to be this way to perform". That was me, I was soooo wrong. We understand not everyone is the same, some need quiet, some need a little fire, some need chatter to perform. And I also admit that what I (an outsider) see on TV and magazines is very likely not the whole picture, but it's normally all we get to see. I don't pal around with these guys, so I evaluate what I see: Stricker seems like a nice classy guy, I can root for him. Even Mickelson, with all the rumors, gives in depth (an also usually fairly self centered) answers to questions. Padraig is another, and these are part of the joy and entertainment for me, a viewer/consumer. Luke Donald, Adam Scott, Mike Weir, Matt Kuchar, etc.
But Tiger, and Sergio, come on....is it that hard to not be a pr*@k, You don't have to be insincere, or mister jovial, just don't make an effort to be mean.
I'll get around to the 2 when I quit erasing them.
BTW, just switched to TIVO as my DVR system- so far -I like it!
I'm sorry, but the question and answer about losing to Tiger/beating someone else for the US Open are ridiculous.
Either way, any dimwit of an agent would know that his marketability would skyrocket if he would move 10% toward civility. Take some acting classes if need be, ha!
I smile at your suggestion of acting classes, but only because I fear he'd come off as wooden as that presser in front of the blue curtain... <g>
What I'd like to have is a conversation out on the Privacy that would last as long as it needed to...
I think you're right, the cost of winning is high, some get away with less due to immense talent. The cost of long term winning is very high, the cost of generational dominance is hard to contemplate, let alone solve for.
And I empathize with that. I acknowledge that it isn't superstition, as it's sometimes called in great athletes, but rather an almost inhuman capability that winning on the highest of high levels requires. The place that people like Tiger, Michael Jordan, Magic, Bird, Borg have to go in order to do what they do in the moment when they do it. Most will never understand it, let alone experience it, let alone know that it isn't necessarily synonymous with fun. And that it sometimes demands skipping that gear, which in all honesty, I think these people rightly think they shouldn't open themselves to until they're finished with their moment in sports.
Maybe unfortunately for Tiger -- and for us -- because golf is the one sport that is a sport for life, it won't ever happen. That's what's sad to me.
You know, every now and again it slips out that some of them may have regrets. I feel like I've heard Faldo say, "maybe I could have been nicer, but I didn't know how to do both". Curtis Strange echoed these on Feherty a little bit. Almost to admit that the pinnacle of achievement is not worth the price.
What would be really cool though would be someone to take these experiences and work to blow the doors off of the current achievement requirements. Maybe after his playing days, Tiger would sit down with someone, maybe a Rotella type, maybe another and discuss what really went through his mind at these times. Once the "perceived" threats or intimations of weakness are no longer a risk...probably not going to happen but it could certainly advance the study of human performance, because love him or hate him, there is no credible way to dispute his abilities/records.
But I don't think Faldo was saying he regretted any of the way he was, or that it wasn't worth it. He was just saying being the way he was was part of what he accomplished and why. In fact, I think that interview was about as close as one could get to a good feel for that particular moment when Faldo was King, and what it took for him to be there. It reminded me of some things I heard Bjorn Borg say once, and helped me to understand that from the inside, the unusual nature that these guys find appears simpler and more matter of fact to them than it does to those looking in -- and that that's part of the secret of why it works for them.
The only way I can imagine Tiger ever reaching a point where he'd allow for any accessibility would be if he was no longer physically able to compete. Short of that, I think his referring a few times to Watson almost winning The Open at age 60 is how he sees his future -- except that he'd see himself making that final putt... and he probably would, too. <g>
Not a bad legacy.
I also think Rocco is way too impressed with his runner up finish in the US Open. If I remember correctly, Ricky Barnes also had a 2nd place finish and I've yet to hear him talk about it ad nauseum. Come to think of it, Mediate gets more attention than Lee Janzen and he won the thing twice!
Congrats Rocco...you lost and you've had way more than your 15 minutes of fame due to that bastard who wouldn't sign a piece of paper for you to hang in your living room.
Pointing out the inconsistencies in Rocco's words and action is fine, but you're holding him to a standard that's probably unfair. Rocco strikes me as someone who thinks and talks with his heart rather than his head, so I think it's likely that he is sincere about BOTH things. He feels Tiger is clueless about other people's emotions (kind of Asperger-y) yet Rocco also genuinely likes the guy.
Does Phil have all kinds of buddies he's always talking about flying to events with him? Do any of em? These guys are like traveling salesman.
Like they say, "get a dog"
Woods, in my opinion, is one of the mentally strongest competitors I've ever seen. He's in the mold of the old hockey players, a Gordie Howe or a Ted Lindsay. It's an "I don't care if I hurt you, I don't care if I hurt me. I'm gonna win this."
The more of a challenge, Tiger will rise to the occasion. And in a way, he gets even more from it when it's presented as a criticism; the media, Sergio, Steven Ames.
I pity him. He's a winner, but one without the heart of a champion.
ALGolf, who might you be referring to?