Wondering About Wie
New Jerseyan Thomas Csapo is bugged by all of the weeping and gnashing over Michelle Wie. Ron Sirak has done several pieces for Golf World, of course, and in the September Digest Jaime Diaz wonders about Wie, too. We should have known, says Csapo, that Wie's choices were adding up to disaster.
I really can't believe that you are asking such a silly question knowing what has happened to Michelle over the years. Before she even had time to realize what a 10 Million Dollar contract was with Nike for some reason she was on a quest to beat men on tour. Why did that happen and why was it permitted and why did the media play it up so much?That action in my opinion helped ruin a potentially very bright star in ladies golf. Anyone that has played the game for any length of time understands the great value of having confidence in your game. By having this child at the time play in that arena was not only foolish but very destructive to her mind game.
Great, great points, Thomas. The media, most of us of anyway, were not as skeptical as we ought to have been about the Wie family "branding" strategy. Let's face it, we were taken with her.
Two additional points. Ultimately, it was Wie and her parents who made these decisions (no matter what the media said) and they did it for her financial future, not necessarily her golfing future, which, as you say, was probably harmed. (See Dave Anderson's column today in the Times on Jack Burke and his plea for separation of "art" and "commerce" for support). Two, at the same time, some of us still think she'll be an LPGA star, with Leadbetter's teaching. But based on the reporting Jaime and Ron have done, it will mean Michelle's parents will have to step back some, as Earl Woods eventually did. For any parent who wants to the best for their kid, that's very hard to do. But in this case that kid is very talented. Here's betting she'll find a way out of this.
--Bob Carney
Comments