Boomer Esiason & Craig Carton Gang Up On Hank, Call Him "Scum Of The Earth," "Terrible Human Being"

A CBS New York reports on the WFAN interview of Hank Haney by Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton resulted in Haney eventually hanging up after having suffered through various cheap shots.

As shocking as it may be, there are talk radio hosts calling someone "scum of the earth" and a "terrible human being," only after they sell a few ads built around making money off of their guest, who they view as violating one of "the most fundamental of trusts anyone could have," the athlete-coach relationship. What a country!

About five minutes in, the interview takes a turn and by the end Carton and Esiason are patting themselves on the back about how great it felt to have gotten Haney to hang up. Carton gushes that he's Tiger's biggest fan and "I pick him to win every freakin' tournament, I always will." Of course, the name of Tiger's current instructor also escaped Carton.

Esiason doesn't say much but when he does, he bumbles along with a few jabs, butchering various elements of the book he appeared to not have read, including most irresponsibly, a portion where he suggests that Haney implies there were "racial vibes" in Tiger's relationship with Phil Mickelson. Had Esiason read the book, he'd know Haney was referring to the climate in the world of golf, not Phil personally.

Descriptions used by Carton during the course of the interview:

Repeated references to Haney as a "coward" if he hangs up, or just a coward in general.

“The scum of the earth” for writing such a book.

"Terrible human being."

"Guys like you, the scum of the earth"

"Pond scum."

"Snake."

Listen and see what you think. I thought Haney did a fine job sticking up for himself and the book. Esiason and Carton seemed pretty proud of their efforts and have been promoting the interview on Twitter. I'm guessing the irony of trying to profit off an interview where you belittle someone for profiting off of someone is going to fly right over their heads.

Oh, and Tiger still won't come on your shows guys, no matter how much you pucker up and kiss his rear end!

In Defense Of Steiny...

Words I never thought I'd type. But a reader who is also a litigation attorney has seen some of the discussion about Team Tiger never having secured a non-disclosure agreement with instructor and author Hank Haney, and offered this in an email explanation:

In light of Hank Haney’s recent comments regarding the absence of a non-disclosure agreement, it is my insight that any purported non-disclosure agreement that attempted to cover this book would be overbroad and unenforceable.  As such, the absence of a non-disclosure agreement is really a straw man argument.
 
As a litigation attorney, I come across many NDA’s and confidentiality agreements in my practice.  Generally, NDA’s cover “confidential information,” which covers data or information proprietary to the non-disclosing party.  “Proprietary” is simply another term for ownership.  As Haney claims that these are his memories, he would have a factual basis to argue these stories were not proprietary to Tiger and he is free to write about it.  So even if an NDA was in place, Haney could find a way around it.
 
To come up with an agreement that forbade Haney to ever talk about anything said between him and Tiger would be truly overbroad.  I would never recommend a client to sign such documents, unless it is within the context of litigation and the agreement is to resolve a lawsuit.  Additionally, no golf instructor like that would ever sign such agreement, as it would hinder their abilities to market themselves.

Steiny Might Want To Think Twice About Calling Hank A Liar

Agent Mark Steinberg has long established himself as one of the least PR-savvy public ten-percenters on the planet, so I was not surprised to see that in the aftermath of his client's impressive Bay Hill win he  would acknowledge Hank Haney's new book and do his best to get the conversation back on The Big Miss. If Steiny is one thing, he's consistent!

Steve Elling has the agent's latest missive regarding claims that Tiger injured himself partaking in the adult fantasy camp version of Navy SEAL training.

“(Hank) Haney admits he never had in-depth, personal discussions with Tiger. This self-serving book is full of guesses and false assumptions,” Steinberg said in an emailed statement.

“Most don't merit a response, but his stories about Tiger's injuries are simply not true. Tiger's injuries, and how they occurred, were exactly as described at the time they happened. Despite repeated claims that this is a golf book, it’s not.”

So just to recap, Haney claims Tiger injured himself pursuing his passion for SEAL training. Not the diversion I would choose for a pro-athlete, but the great ones are all a little bit different. I can safely say from what I've read so far, this is not the worst revelation in the book. Unless of course you're Steiny trying to negotiate a new endorsement deal and companies keep asking for SEAL-related injury clauses.

That said, it's not as if Haney is out suggesting Tiger's body was somehow damaged by Dr. Anthony Galea's, uh, cutting edge therapy methods. Nor is Haney even bringing up the sheer stupidity of associating with Dr. Spaceman. So in that sense Steiny, it could be a lot, lot worse.

Tiger: "I enjoyed the progression we made this week."

Doug Ferguson's AP lede:

His ball safely over the water, Tiger Woods walked toward the 18th green Sunday as he had done over the last 30 months on the PGA Tour, with one big difference.

There was no mistaking that smile.

"Pure joy," he said.

Steve Elling played off of Woods and bagman Joe LaCava's 18th fairway chatter.

They exchanged a high-five of such ferocity that it could have registered on a spring training radar gun. Woods barked something that the TV microphones didn't quite pick up. Just as well.

"He said, 'F-yeah,'" laughed LaCava.

Music to many ears.

Just like that, Woods was back atop the firmament, rough edges and all, and taking aim on Augusta National and the assortment of players who have been piling up wins while he was reconstituting and reclaiming his personal and private lives.

Steve DiMeglio put the win in perspective and quotes Tiger referring to "we":

After winning his record seventh Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday at wind-whipped, baked-out Bay Hill, Woods said he'd go back to work this week before heading to Augusta National for the Masters in April.

"I still need some work, and it's going to be good to get a week off and work on a few things," Woods said after earning his 72nd PGA Tour win, third on the all-time list. "I enjoyed the progression we made this week. Each day there was a little bit of fine-tuning here and there, and we were able to make those adjustments, which was good, and especially with the conditions getting more difficult on the weekend. I was able to hit some really good shots the last two days, and that's a very good sign going into Augusta. I understand how to play Augusta National, and it's just a matter of executing the game plan."

Bob Harig for ESPN.com, writing about the energized scene:

All the while, he had to hear the support from the gallery, which was jam-packed and primed to witness Woods' return to winning ways.

"Welcome back, Tiger!"

"Trophy time!"

"It's a new day!"

"Bring it home!"

By the time fans were allowed to funnel in behind Woods and McDowell as they played the 18th, it would have taken a monumental blunder to blow it, although Woods kept his head down and his emotions in check until he knocked the final approach over the water and onto the green.

Jason Sobel says normalcy has returned:

The guy who won this week did so with a flair for closing that no other recent champion has displayed. In the first 13 tournaments of this PGA Tour season, no winner triumphed by more than three strokes over the nearest competitor; on Sunday, Woods prevailed by five.

It’s the type of performance that Woods used to proffer on a semi-regular basis. It earned him the reputation as an intimidator and dominator, but in reality, he’s always been more keenly defined as a closer – the rare player who knows exactly what it takes to accomplish the end goal of winning a tournament, then goes out and executes that plan.

John Strege reminds us that this win should make Hank Haney's book tour this week that much more interesting.

Woods' five-stroke victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational won't change the conversation entirely -- Haney will be ubiquitous in the coming days as his publisher puts the publicity machine in overdrive. But it will set the golf world abuzz, returning the bulk of the focus to Woods' golf, rather than peripheral issues that include his now very public private life. Winning, of course, was always going to be the easiest path to redemption.

The timing of Woods' victory was propitious in another regard, one of indubitably greater importance. Two weeks before the Masters, it was imperative that he take into Augusta something other than imperceptible progress that he habitually labeled "a process." Say it often enough and it begins to sound like an excuse.

Selected highlights from the SI/golf.com Confidential:

Van Sickle: If Tiger isn't playing, McDowell runs away with this thing. Instead, he's the B-Flight champ. Sound familiar? Tiger was a touchdown ahead of everyone else.

Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: The win is deeply impressive because he earned it on the practice tee, and it's hard to devote yourself to the practice tee when you're 36 and your kids need rides and the lawn needs mowing. He earned it. It wasn't smoke-and-mirrors. It was not like old times. It was totally different.

Shipnuck: I loved Tiger's demeanor. He seemed utterly in control all day, and even a couple of 50-footers from G-Mac early in the round couldn't change that.

ESPN.com features a few stats from day, including this about Tiger's par-5 play.

Woods also dominated the par-5s at Bay Hill, finishing -12 on those holes, the best mark in the field. Entering this tournament, Tiger was -101 on par-5s at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his career and +6 on par-3s and par-4s.

Ryan Lavner notes several things from Sunday, including that Tiger will be climbing up the OWGR.

Woods is expected to move from No. 18 to No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest position since May 2011.

Golfweek posts an image gallery from the round.

And here are the Sportscenter highlights:

The highlights, as approved by the PGA Tour: