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!

Members Buy Boston Golf Club

Carol Britton Meyer of the Hingham Journal reports the good news that the members have saved Boston Golf Club from a possible outside purchaser, likely assuring the low-profile Gil Hanse design remains in its current rustic form.

There had been rumors that a certain developer known for his hair and buying distressed properties had looked at BGC as a possible acquisition.

Couples Downplays Masters Chances; Kind Of

John Huggan on a modest but confident-sounding Fred Couples heading into the Masters:

Realistically -- there's that word again -- Couples doesn't see himself as a challenger for a second green jacket, citing an inability to find a higher gear as the biggest difference between himself and the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson.

"I have played fairly well at Augusta over the last few years," he continued. "But when I have a shot to work my way up the board, I don't continue to do it. I'm not like the young guys. I don't go on streaks of four or five birdies in, say, six or seven holes. So while I'm consistent in my scores, I don't shoot 66 or 67 like Rory, Tiger or Phil. Those are incredible scores on that course. For me, a really good score is 70 or 71. But if I shoot four of them, I'll be in a great spot by the end of the week."

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.