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Haney & Romano and Being Bored with John Daly

by Jeff Skinner

If you’re a golf fan than The Golf Channel has to be a large part of your television viewing habits.  Unfortunately for the past months Golf Channel viewers have been force to watch the relentless promotion of their two shows The Haney Project and Being John Daly.  Both shows made their debut this week and of course I had to watch both of them, after all I would like to think that it is golf and any golf is better than most of the crap that saturates television.  Man, was I wrong.  There was plenty of crap even though it was sold under the guise that it was golf.

I will say that I liked The Haney Project with Ray Romano and Hank Haney.  Having heard Haney speak live before and watching him work with Charles Barkley last season you get the feeling that he is a genuine guy and refreshingly humble for a man with his stature in the game.  He is likable and all of us hackers can use each and every swing tip that comes from his lips.  Ray Romano can be a little obnoxious if you ask me, but he appeared to be toned down and even affable enough during the show.  Maybe it’s because Romano is playing our role, the ever optimistic golfer that thinks shooting par or getting to a single digit handicap is one swing tip away.  We all know that’s the truth, we all keep hoping for that one magic move that takes us from Shankapotamus to Mr. Single, single digit that is.

For those reasons I’ll continue to watch Haney and Romano or at least DVR it so I can glean his tips and continue to live the fantasy that I can improve my game.

As far as John Daly’s show, Being John Daly, I wish my DVR had malfunctioned.  Let me say that I am hoping that John Daly can set his life right and come back to play well on tour but more importantly live a decent and healthy life.  However, I had a hard time with all the emotional guitar strumming and the soul bearing vignettes.  I was looking for more Daly on the course, not the shots but the back story and the scenes that network television will not show.  Daly hanging out with his buddies, packing for a trip or playing that damn guitar does not interest me.  I did like his RV but his sitting around with his buddies while they tell him how great he is was a bit much.

Stories of redemption and comebacks are always attractive and can easily draw us in but as a good friend told me,” I was taught that a journey of redemption must be a path undertaken in humility. How humble is a man who has a mural of himself in his first moment of public glory painted on is living room wall and prominently featured in every TV promo?”

With the recent discovery of Daly’s disciplinary record on The PGA Tour it makes it more difficult to accept Daly as a sympathetic figure.  Let’s face it: most of John’s troubles were all self-inflicted.  I wish John good luck on the course this year, I hope he plays well and gets his playing privileges back.  As far as his personal life I hope he continues to make the right choices and gets himself together.  I just don’t need to watch it on The Golf Channel.  I would rather be watching the reruns of Shell’s Wonderful world of Golf with Jack, Arnie and Gary.  Now that’s some interesting television.

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One Comment

  1. Is anyone getting the idea that you can take “the best” golf instructor in the world and not the best specimen in the world and not get good results?

    I am amazed at the futility of it. It is a complete trainreck.

    I can’t take my eyes off it becuase of it.

    When will the public realize Ave. Joe can teach Tiger and he will still be the best.

    I am reminded by what putters are popular and why. Tiger wins with a certain type of brand putter so everyone in the world must have it because…

    I am going to go out on a limb here. I am going to suggest Tiger is a better golfer than Romano but that Romano is naturally more funny than Tiger. I wonder what Tiger would do by taking comedy lessons from Romano’s teacher?

    I doubt he is going to come across any funnier than he already is…

    Our talents are our talents are outr talents.

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