"The partnership with corporate America is mandatory to the survival of his workplace..."

Having read an expanded version of Kenny Perry's whining last week at East Lake in Golf World's Tour Talk (not posted but even worse than this), I was struck by how few writers pounced on this dreadful example of a truly spoiled brat.

Jim McCabe notes Kenny's ruined week and points this out:

The partnership with corporate America is mandatory to the survival of his workplace and perhaps if Perry would come out of his pampered PGA Tour world he would discover that it's not the most solid of landscapes these days. Thus, one can only wonder how his comments went over with officials high up at Coca-Cola and FedEx. Since those folks were largely responsible for Perry getting payments of $120,400 (T-24 in the tournament) and $250,000 (season-long points race), it would be interesting to see if they apologized for having "ruined" his week.

Comments

[thusgone]

i had been rooting for kenny this year. i liked that he set his goals and stuck to them in the face of criticism by second-guessers. but this comment was pretty unfortunate. i don't remember him saying anything against drug testing when the policy was being discussed, and i wonder if he thought it would never be applied to him. as for slagging the sponsors, it's kind of amazing that a guy who has been around as long as kenny has would not think twice before saying something like this.

i'm also less than impressed with the comments from media types who are "shocked, shocked," to learn that kenny is another example of the spoiled pga tour pro. not that such comments are not true, but the entire traveling circus that is the pga tour -- and i include the media here -- is pretty entitled and spoiled and out of touch imo. plus, this is an example of a pro speaking his mind, which, according to the media types, does not happen often enough. if i had to talk to the media as much as these guys, i'd limit myself to platitudes and meaningless cliches too, rather than getting raked over the coals every time i express an honest opinion.

[Ha]

If VJ had said the same thing as Perry, you know all the media would have picked up on this in a second. There would be long drawn out articles and everyone would be debating it. But not country boy Perry...he seems to be getting a free pass.

[Tighthead]

Is Perry menopausal?

He certainly needs to harden the f@#* up, Chopper style.

[RM]

Wouldn't golf be just fine if the current state of the economy caused PGA Tour purses to decline, even extremely? Even if purses declined by 50%, they're still playing for a hell of a lot of money. Every one would still play just as hard and the majors would still be just as important. It was a little shameful to hear the amount these players were being awarded at East Lake during a time of economic crisis. Some of these checks are just as outrageous as the golden parachutes that are causing such outrage. Maybe the ball isn't the only rollback the game needs.

[Tighthead]

RM

Lesser purses, fewer events = more tournaments with the best players entered.

[Le Sabre]

But if all the Buick events go, what would Tiger do? He's down to WGC's, majors and Buicks.

[Martin Del Vecchio]

McCabe is a great writer, and I read him in the Boston Globe all the time.

But I think he missed part of this story that was explained in other coverage I read.

Perry was upset because he was picked for drug testing during the tournament, apparently the second time for him this year. I believe that's what he was whining about.

Either way, I lost a lot of respect for him. Boo frickin' hoo. The world economy is melting down, and he's whining about either playing a big tournament right after the Ryder Cup, or about being drug tested.

Either way, it makes him look like a giant whiny ass.

[Hawkeye]

RM and Tighthead, I'm on your page. Just look at the Bowler's Tour. They're playing from October to March for chump change compared to golf, but Walter Ray Williams, Pete Weber, Chris Barnes and co. play virtually every event and show up for every function with a smile on their faces.

[Martin Del Vecchio]

Hawkeye, I think there's a corelation between "play for chump change" and "show up for every function".

[Hawkeye]

Yes there is. Is that an argument for or against my point? When athletes get paid as much as golfers do, they seem to lose track of whom they're actually playing for. Bowlers haven't.

[Ronald Montesano]

Yet it's so out of character for the media portrait of Perry that we have to date. Strong Christian fellow from a strong Christian state, gives back to his community in spades, tithes % to his church, and the lot. Maybe we're missing something behind the scenes, like we did when Phil Mickelson's wife was struggling through a pregnancy. Let's ask Kenny Perry, shall we?