Big John Daly has had enough! After a character assassination by a sports reporter at the Jacksonville-based Florida Times-Union left Daly stunned, Mr. “Grip-It-And-Rip-It” just had to speak up.
The brouhaha began after an editorial written in March 2005 during the Player’s Championship put down fun-loving Daly and playing partner David Duval who has been stumbing around the golf course for over a year.
Accusing Big John of having “Thug Life qualifications” wasn’t enough to tick off Daly. The final straw that broke the ‘Lion’s’ back was the accusation of “smacking his wife around”. At the Buick Open this past week reporters who questioned Daly got a mouthful. “Accusing me of being a wife beater? I had to do something!”
And so John Daly has filed suit against the Times-Union, its parent company Morris Publishing Group and its website jacksonville.com. The writer of the offensive article, Mike Freeman, is being sued personally.
Before the lawsuit was actively pursued the Times-Union received a letter from Daly’s attorney on July 5th disputing negative aspects of the column. On July 15th a clarification of the statements made by Freeman were itemized and placed on the cover page of their sports section.
No apology was made at that time, just an explanation of what Freeman saw as the facts.
But the explanation “did not constitute a full and fair correction, apology or retraction” and Daly has claimed that he had suffered substantial damages because of Freeman’s column.
Agreeing with his reporter Times-Union editor Patrick Yack stated, “It’s regrettable that Mr. Daly has taken this step.…Mike Freeman is a fine journalist. We stand by his work and his column. The matter is now before the court.”
Filed July 26 in Duval County Circuit Court the 23-page lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in excess of $15,000, the minimum amount for filing a circuit court action and jury trial.
“The statements in the Times-Union were not true,” said Daly’s attorney Lydia Jones. “We are pursuing the lawsuit vigorously and intend to seek punitive damages.”
It’s common knowledge that Daly has had his problems. The press has let the public know over the years of his moments of binging and carousing.
Freeman continually bashed Daly with his hurtful diatribe such as, “Three different kids from three different moms, making him the Shawn Kemp of golf? Yes. A former wife indicted for laundering illegal drug profits? Roger that” laying the groundwork for the lawsuit which ensued.
Comparing Daly to Jacksonville Jaguars’ R. Jay Soward was also opinionated and callous. Suspended for repeatedly violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy Soward was made to appear to have less destructive tendencies than Daly. According to Freeman Daly had “a rap sheet that would make R. Jay Soward look like a Backstreet Boy.”
But the devastating comment about the domestic violence charge in 1993 was too much for even Daly to bear. Pleading guilty to harrassing his former wife Daly received probation. Why should he have to constantly relive something that I’m sure he’s not proud of?
Did Freeman cross the line? Why does a person’s life have to be an open book for the satisfaction of a reporter who probably wanted to increase readership of his column? And if so, should there be a balance?
Something good that Daly did for someone else to even out the obviously malicious intent of the article might have helped. For example, at the recently played Battle of the Bridges a story was related about how Daly changed the lives of a family who lost a husband and father. Although he won his first tournament and owed much more money than he made with his first-place check, Big John set aside money for the college education of the two children. He never wrote to them nor spoke to them until they contacted him recently because he didn’t want them to relive their dad’s death. One girl became a doctor and the other is going to medical school. Where was the mention of the kindness of John Daly to temper the sarcasm and bitterness of the column?
Although Freeman knew he would get a reaction I’ll bet he never thought Daly would take it this seriously. And Daly is downright livid. As he vehemently commented at the Buick Open, “I’ve never hit a woman in my life!”
Daly still keeps his fun side apparent to his fans and we love him for it. The Trimspa emblem and Dunkin’ Donuts logo he endorses are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to dieting and empty (but delicious) calories. John Daly wears them with aplomb and everyone laughs.
Perhaps that’s why I cheer for him whenever he’s in the field. He reminds me of the “average joe”. He dunks a golf ball squarely into the water and tries again, shrugging it off. He makes no claims to greatness but just does the job that he sets out to do. He gets angry when he misses an easy shot, just like we all do at our local clubs and makes a miraculous recovery shot landing inches from the hole (just like most of us wish we could). He loses more than he wins but he keeps on trying knowing that there’s always another tournament on the horizon.
Whether I watch him smoking cigarettes walking down the fairway of a golf tournament or chugging down a soda in two seconds flat, John makes golf appear more like a game than a sport. He’s a “good ole’ boy” and makes no bones about it. I can’t help but root for him to win. I don’t necessarily need to know the details of his past to enjoy his spirit of the game.
Photo Credit: Unknown
JOHN DALY DESERVES TO BE TREATED FAIRLY JUST AS EVERYONE ELSE DOES. HOWEVER, HE IS HIS OWN WORST ENEMY. JD WAS, AT ONE TIME, EASY AND FUN TO WATCH. HE HAS CHANGED THAT FOR ME WITH ALL OF HIS OFF COURSE BEHAVIOR AND SHENANIGANS. HE HAS A FOUL MOUTH AND HIS PRESENCE, AS ASSOCIATED WITH HIS BEHAVIOR, DOES LITTLE FOR FOSTERING MORALITY AND RESPONSIBILITY IN AMERICA. IF YOU SPONSOR HIM, YOU SHOULDN’T. HE WILL BECOME A LIABILITY AND THOSE THAT CONTINUE TO RAVE ABOUT HIS PLAYING THE TOUR ARE BLINDED BY OTHER ISSUES OF LIFE AND, APPARENTLY, CARE LITTLE FOR THE HEALTH OF THIS COUNTRY AND GOLF AS A SPORT. I LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAY HE IS EITHER REPENTENT OR IS NO LONGER ON THE SCENE, AND, JUDGING FROM HIS PAST, AND HIS PRESENCE, HE WILL KILL HIS OWN POPULARITY. I AM SURE THE REAL NAMES IN GOLF ARE DISGUSTED WITH HIM AS HE REALLY DOES GOLF NO FAVORS.