Johnny Miller Comment

South Carolina reader John Gregory Vincent has a problem with Johnny Miller's March Column in which he compares the leaves of absence that tour players take from their families with those of military personnel.  Miller wrote:

As a tour player, by far the toughest moment was when I was packing my suitcase to head off to a tournament and my youngest son, Todd, was pulling at my pants leg, pleading, "Daddy, please don't go. Can you stay so we can go fishing?" He followed me to the car, and to this day I can still see him in my rearview mirror trotting after the car, reaching out with his hands, crying. The thought of that still makes > me cry.

Many people in different walks of life go through the same thing; the thousands of soldiers in Iraq with families at home come to mind....>

John Gregory Vincent thought the comparison was inapt, to say the least.

Johnny Miller's "Lesson Tee" page in the March issue caused me to write my first EVER editorial comment in my 46 years. As a retired Navy Command Master Chief and avid golfer I took exception with Mr. Miller's direct comparison of the impact on the family of the tour player heading out for the week and those of our armed service members ESPECIALLY those today, heading to war. I will concede to a 3 or 4 year-old, gone is gone, but I can assure you that even the little one's quickly learn the difference between 10 days and 10 months. As for the impact on the older children, spouses, friends and family, please. It's golf Mr. Miller. There is ZERO comparison to golf and what our service men and woman and their families are experiencing.

--Bob Carney