“People who don’t get along with the media have their heads in the sand."

Jeff Rude smells trouble with Bubba Watson's constant references to "the media" and offers a little suggestion or two for the Masters champ before things devolve the way Tiger's relationship appears headed.

I remember interviewing the late Al McGuire in his Milwaukee office on a cold winter day in 1978, a year after Marquette won the NCAA basketball championship in his last season as coach. Among other things, the colorful McGuire said this:

“People who don’t get along with the media have their heads in the sand. I figure the media was responsible for about 25 percent of income.”

This year, in early March, I had the privilege of visiting with Arnold Palmer in his Bay Hill office in Orlando. Palmer knows a thing or two about the human touch. His take follows.

“All you have to do is get in a squabble with a writer or broadcaster and you’re putting a mark on your life.

They can make you feel like a (jerk) the rest of your life. There’s no point to it. What’s the point of my arguing with you? I don’t get any place ...

“Point is, you can be congenial and nice, and it’ll work. That’s all I’ve ever done. My father always said to me, ‘Don’t be nasty. To anybody.’ ”