Rocco Mediate's story about Tiger Woods.

[BostonBrew]

I'll preface this by saying I'm a Tiger fan. Grew up watching him dominate and I never fail to get excited when he's playing well. I'd always thought that he acted the way he did on Tour because that was his way of dealing with the media or he was staying focused. I just love watching the guy play golf and never gave much attention to his off-course life, even with "the scandal." But this story dropped the guy a few notches in my book.

"Maybe Sergio was right. Maybe Tiger Woods really “isn’t one of the nicest guys on Tour.”?

The latest evidence comes from well-established Tour nice-guy Rocco Mediate, who, during a recent appearance on Golf Channel’s “Feherty,” recalled a Tiger memory from the 2009 Players Championship. At the time, Mediate was roughly a year removed from his playoff loss to Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, so he thought he’d ask Tiger for a memento.

According to Mediate, he left in Woods’ locker a photo of the two of them from the playoff, along with a pin sheet from their fifth-round match. He also left a note, requesting an autograph and an inscription.

“Look, sign these for me, write something on there, and personalize it and then sign the pin sheet,” Mediate told David Feherty, summing up his note to Tiger. “Because I’m going to put them on my wall somewhere.”

Well, Mediate got the autograph, but that was it. As Rocco tells it, Woods returned the materials later that day, having signed the photo but without writing an inscription. The pin sheet came back to Rocco untouched.

Mediate says he threw everything in the trash.

“That tells the story,” Mediate said. “Why wouldn’t he ... just mess with me, and the sign my pin sheet, so I could put the damn thing on my wall and say, ‘I almost got the guy that day.’”

Mediate emphasized that he’s still a Tiger fan.

“I’ve been a big fan of Tiger since I met him,” he said. “I love the way he does his job. I don’t care what anybody thinks or anybody says; we ain’t gonna see this kid come about again.”

You get the feeling that Sergio Garcia -- among many others -- would be just fine with that."

- Josh Sens - golf.com

http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2013/05/rocco-mediate-says-he-dumped-tiger-woods-autograph-in-garbage.html?sct=hp3

I had a similar effect when an elder co-worker told me a story about meeting Jack Nicklaus in the 60s. He apparently was very ill-mannered towards my co-worker and his friends. (co-worker was in his 70s with two knee replacements and still shot in the 70s, maintained a 69 avg while playing on scholarship for LSU way back, said he didn't go pro because, at the time, there was no money in it; one of those people who could tell a story while pulling on his pipe and captivate everyone)

[Golfingdad]

That doesn't really change my opinion of Tiger because it's only 1/2 of the story.  For that matter, not even half, because Rocco never mentions anything about inquiring with Tiger afterwards.

Maybe Tiger was in a big rush that day and didn't read through the whole note.

Maybe Rocco has bad handwriting and Tiger didn't understand it.

Maybe Rocco was rude to Tiger once and he was paying him back.

Who knows?  It's certainly not a big deal.

Also, everybody knows somebody who has a story like your Nicklaus story too.  My grnadma hated Mickey Mantle for a similar reason.  Is he an a-hole all the time?  I don't know, but apparently he was that day.  Somebody else said Willie Mays is a jerk.  I met him once and got his autograph as a kid ... seemed nice to me.

These guys are in the public eye all the time, they're going to have bad days and slip ups and nobody in any professional sport is capable of being Mr. Rogers 24/7.

My 2 sense. (See what I did there, snowman? ;))

[BostonBrew]

Yeah, I suppose you're right. I guess I just like Rocco a lot as well and when I saw the clip from Feherty I was a little irritated.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by BostonBrew

... I just like Rocco a lot as well ....

Me too!  I because a huge fan after the '08 Open.

EDIT:  Don't get me wrong ... even if I was right, it doesn't mean that "Tiger is a giant a-hole" still isn't one of the possibilities.  I'm just saying that based on the lack of evidence, it's just not the only one.

[RonTheSavage]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

That doesn't really change my opinion of Tiger because it's only 1/2 of the story.  For that matter, not even half, because Rocco never mentions anything about inquiring with Tiger afterwards.

Maybe Tiger was in a big rush that day and didn't read through the whole note.

Maybe Rocco has bad handwriting and Tiger didn't understand it.

Maybe Rocco was rude to Tiger once and he was paying him back.

Who knows?  It's certainly not a big deal.

Also, everybody knows somebody who has a story like your Nicklaus story too.  My grnadma hated Mickey Mantle for a similar reason.  Is he an a-hole all the time?  I don't know, but apparently he was that day.  Somebody else said Willie Mays is a jerk.  I met him once and got his autograph as a kid ... seemed nice to me.

These guys are in the public eye all the time, they're going to have bad days and slip ups and nobody in any professional sport is capable of being Mr. Rogers 24/7.

My 2 sense. (See what I did there, snowman? ;))

Standing Ovation

[minitour]

One professional athlete asked another one for an autograph for personal and not charity reasons? Wth?! Maybe Miller was right. Maybe Rocco should be cleaning pools. I have a hard enough time asking for an autograph now (and haven't since I was a kid). Let alone if I was on that same level. Guess I just don't put these guys on the pedestal that others do. Just seems weird is all. And what did he want him to write? He signed it...and then Rocco threw it away...kind of cutting your nose off to spiderface (anybody?).

[newtogolf]

As Golfingdad said, we're only getting 1/2 the story.

That said, if I were Rocco, and I wanted Tiger to do something for me, I'd have the courtesy to ask him face to face in a friendly manner rather than just dump some stuff in his locker with a note telling him what I wanted.

Overall, we know Tiger isn't looking to make friends with his competitors on the Tour, Hogan wasn't known for being very friendly either.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

These guys are in the public eye all the time, they're going to have bad days and slip ups and nobody in any professional sport is capable of being Mr. Rogers 24/7.

Speaking of Mr. Ro d gers, this reminds me of an interaction I had with a girl I was dating last year.  She is from Chico, the hometown of Aaron Rodgers.  She actually went to high school and college with him, but she didn't know him or even know of him at the time they were attending the same schools.  But eventually I asked if she knew who he was, considering similar hometowns and schools, and she said yes, and that "he is an *******."

That sorta came out of left field, so I asked her why she would say that.  She said her friends have stories about him being a jerk.  "Can you elaborate," I asked.  She didn't go into detail, but just generally said that when he "rarely" comes back to town, he acts like he's better than everybody and isn't very nice.

Well, why didn't you say something sooner?!?  I almost thought she was rushing to judgement based on hearsay.

I'm not saying there aren't celebrity *******s.  But like GD stated, if it only took one jerk-anecdote to make a person a bona fide jerk, every celebrity (and non-celebrity, for that matter), would be classified as a jerk.

Regarding the Mediate story, it's possible Tiger is pretty self-centered and didn't care to think of an inscription, and it's also possible that he didn't read the entire note and assumed all that was being requested was an autograph.  Why go through the trouble of returning it if you weren't under the assumption you were giving the person what they were asking for?

[Dave2512]

Tiger is and was the best player in the world known for having an intimidation factor. I don't see any reason for him let his guard down or do anything to give any of that away, especially with another tour pro that's put up a recent good fight. Not sure I like RM's approach either. If it went down like he said it did doesn't seem like a request as much as an order.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

if it only took one jerk-anecdote to make a person a bona fide jerk, every celebrity (and non-celebrity, for that matter), would be classified as a jerk.

I was kinda pissy with my 2-year olds teacher while dropping her off at pre-school yesterday.  If there were any parents in there who had never met me before, they would probably think I was a jerk too.

[Mr. Desmond]

I viewed Feherty, and Rocco's explanation left a little to be desired at the end.

I received the impression that Rocco wanted him to sign the pin sheet for his trophy case/framing to commemorate the week.

If I was Rocco, I would have approached Tiger and not placed it in his locker.

[SoundandFury]

That doesn't really change my opinion of Tiger because it's only 1/2 of the story.  For that matter, not even half, because Rocco never mentions anything about inquiring with Tiger afterwards. Maybe Tiger was in a big rush that day and didn't read through the whole note. Maybe Rocco has bad handwriting and Tiger didn't understand it. Maybe Rocco was rude to Tiger once and he was paying him back. Who knows?  It's certainly not a big deal. Also, everybody knows somebody who has a story like your Nicklaus story too.  My grnadma hated Mickey Mantle for a similar reason.  Is he an a-hole all the time?  I don't know, but apparently he was that day.  Somebody else said Willie Mays is a jerk.  I met him once and got his autograph as a kid ... seemed nice to me. These guys are in the public eye all the time, they're going to have bad days and slip ups and nobody in any professional sport is capable of being Mr. Rogers 24/7. My 2 sense . (See what I did there, snowman? ;))

Well played.

[Archie Bunker]

I'm no big fan of Tiger, but if Rocco would have asked Ben Hogan the same thing, what do you think Ben would have done? Ben treated the game, the media and the fans in a manner similar to what Tiger does today. Today, Tiger gets to be the villan, whereas Hogan gets a "Mystique". Maybe it's the "fist pump" thing that hurts Tiger the most - I don't recall ever seeing Hogan do a fist pump after sinking an important putt.

[zipazoid]

Well, let's take Rocco literally, based on what he said -

If his note truly said "Look, sign these..." and I was Tiger coming across that note, I'd be like "Yeah? And what else are you gonna tell me to do?" before I tossed it in the trash.

Now if the note said something "Hey Tiger, I'd appreciate it if you took a few seconds to sign this stuff. That playoff was the highlight of my career & I want to have mementos of the occasion. Thanks Bud." - I betcha Tiger would have done it. But not with some kind of order of "Look, sign these."

[colin007]

Meh... I never really liked Mediate. He's got a stupidly shaped midsection... And he was full of it when he said he could fix Tiger's swing in five minutes.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Archie Bunker

I'm no big fan of Tiger, but if Rocco would have asked Ben Hogan the same thing, what do you think Ben would have done? Ben treated the game, the media and the fans in a manner similar to what Tiger does today. Today, Tiger gets to be the villan, whereas Hogan gets a "Mystique". Maybe it's the "fist pump" thing that hurts Tiger the most - I don't recall ever seeing Hogan do a fist pump after sinking an important putt.

My understanding is that Snead was also known for being a jerk.

[SloverUT]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

I viewed Feherty, and Rocco's explanation left a little to be desired at the end.

I received the impression that Rocco wanted him to sign the pin sheet for his trophy case/framing to commemorate the week.

If I was Rocco, I would have approached Tiger and not placed it in his locker.

Gotta agree here.  If Tiger was telling this story he could easily spin it as Rocco being a jerk, because Rocco didn't even have the decency to ask in person.

Half stories never do well especially if the person the story is about isn't there to refute anything.

I feel sorry for some athletes in a way because they can never do enough.  I've heard so many "bad stories" about how such and such athlete didn't sign an autograph or ignored some kid.  If an athlete has signed 100 peoples hats it is always the 101st kid who says the athlete is a jerk.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

Well, let's take Rocco literally, based on what he said -

If his note truly said "Look, sign these..." and I was Tiger coming across that note, I'd be like "Yeah? And what else are you gonna tell me to do?" before I tossed it in the trash.

Now if the note said something "Hey Tiger, I'd appreciate it if you took a few seconds to sign this stuff. That playoff was the highlight of my career & I want to have mementos of the occasion. Thanks Bud." - I betcha Tiger would have done it. But not with some kind of order of "Look, sign these."

LOL, I noticed that too.  I just didn't address it because I was hoping that it was simply the way he was quickly telling the story.  (He is a pretty fast talker)  But if that is really what he wrote, then I have to agree ... it sounds like he's ordering Tiger around.  I wouldn't like it either.