For the Mikelson bashers:

[Baynative]

I've seen a few people here who give me the impression they'd run Phill Mickelson down if they saw him crossing the street. So, I just thought I'd share this:

Mickelson gives to Dobler family

By Bob Verdi, Golf World
Published February 7, 2007

[Ed: And the above is part of the reason I've REMOVED this article. You've violated copyright by posting it here, in full. Just link and quote, okay?]

[GoingfortheGreen]

Sure, credit goes to Mickelson for helping out the Dobler family. For every Mickelson story, I'm sure there tens of other professional athletes who are moved by someone's pain, and subsequently donate to the person in need or to a cause. I'm sure all of us are familiar with what Daly did with daughters of the man who was struck by lightning at the 1991 PGA Championship. This, IMHO was a more noble gesture, given that JD was a nobody, had nothing, yet he was committing $30K to them even though it was 13% of his paycheck ( http://thesandtrap.com/columns/profiles/john_daly/) . Similar to Phil and JD, there must be other PGA pros doing these acts of charity that we are unaware of...sure I dislike Phil, but it's more because of the way he acts and his condescension. He has talent, don't get me wrong, but I do take a little extra pleasure when he chokes. I can't help it - Phil brings out the worst in me

The Dobler story is emblematic of the poor job the NFL has done with it's players pre-1977. Taken from ESPN.com's Page 2 ( http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...hruby/070212):

TROUBLE IN PARADISE?

Is the NFL too big for its own good? Is it ignoring the health of its former players? Are sick of the Super Bowl hype and the mediocre product on the field? Vote now on these issues at SportsNation.

You've got Hall of Fame safety Willie Wood, crippled from a series of back, hip and knees surgeries, scraping by at a Washington, D.C., assisted-living center on a league pension that totals about $130 per month. You've got former Buffalo Bills lineman Donnie Green -- one of the human earthmovers who helped make daylight for O.J. Simpson -- reportedly living in a homeless shelter. You've got uber-tough, uber-nasty former Pro Bowl lineman Conrad Dobler, telling HBO's "Real Sports" that his post-playing aches and ailments are so painful, he might have to "check out" entirely -- because, as he puts it, "They shoot horses, don't they?"

So what are football's contemporary powers-that-be doing for the aging, broken-down, cash-strapped gladiators that helped create the sports world's biggest cash cow? Not bloody much. The league claims it pays out $60 million annually in pensions and post-career disability benefits, according to a recent AP story. Thanks to long-ago legal squabbles, most of it goes to players who retired after 1977. Meanwhile, union boss Gene Upshaw said during Super Bowl week that taking care of the pre-1977 group -- guys he played with -- isn't financially feasible, and union president Troy Vincent dismissively complained to reporters that elderly former players won't stop pestering their successors for money. Never mind that the old guard built the league on their fused vertebrae and worn-out hips, and that the house they raised makes billions of dollars. Billions!

We fling the word "disgrace" around in sports almost as recklessly as we fling around the word "great," but this really is a disgrace. And we're sure we're not the only ones in the world truly made queasy by the whole thing. For chrissakes, Jerry Kramer, Mike Ditka and others are selling off their championship rings and assorted memorabilia to raise money for their needy comrades. The gilded-age NFL can't spare another dime? Whatever happened to "no one left behind"?

Sorry for the NFL diversion, but I'm a big football fan.

[Baynative]

"I can't help it - Phil brings out the worst in me " ---



Once we build an aversion to someone or something, it will never change, I guess. Some people just don't like the way a person smiles and that's it.

For me it worked the other way. I played ball in high school and college and used to be a huge NFL fan. I grew up in the era when we rooted for teams not logos. A time when players respected the authority of coaches and the loyalty of fans. Then show boating became more important than defense and felon thugs draped in ghetto bling became role models to urban youth everywhere.

I haven't watched an NFL game in over 15 years (NBA either) and doubt if I ever will again.

[Ogg]

I have read so many positive things about Phil and his contributions. To say that he is condescending or that he acts poorly, wow, you must loathe Tiger then.

[GoingfortheGreen]

I have read so many positive things about Phil and his contributions. To say that he is condescending or that he acts poorly, wow, you must loathe Tiger then.

Actually I am a Tiger fan - at least Tiger's emotions

seem real; when he's pissed off, it actually shows. I have a problem with someone who is constantly grinning regardless of what's going on inside. If you're upset, you are allowed to show it...no need to act like the Cheshire Cat and mask your emotions. Again, this is all conjecture - maybe that's the way Phil's face looks 24x7..I don’t' know. Maybe it's his defense mechanism to shield everything out.

[Jeepthrills]

I think what gets clouded is how we decide who our favorite players are and what we don't like about others. I don't like Phil. However, that is based on how he acts on and arround the course. I think he comes off as a phony with his fake smiles and parading his family on the green after big wins. That does not imply that he is a terrible guy that kicks puppys and steals candy from kids. He, like Tiger, is involved with great charaties and gives a ton of money to worthy causes. I still cheer against him unless he is playing for the U.S. or against Vijay. Now Vijay on the other hand seems like a candy stealing puppy kicker. ;)

[Ogg]

Personally I will take Phil's genuine smiling and things like his joking with Fred Couples as they walked up the fairway together last year at the Masters. I love Tiger's golf but his petulance and condescension to anyone outside of Team Tiger gets old real quick. The way he treats any announcer who has critiqued him is really childish too. Not to mention his boorish idiot caddy!

Show me guys who are out there having some fun and interacting with the fans a la Arnie. That is what I want my kids to see.

[pickapocket]

I completely agree with Ogg. I appreciate that Phil has the look of a prozac case most of the time but there really is nothing worse than a sulking golfer; both in the pro and amateur game. Give me "soft mick" and his inane smiles any time over club throwing hissy fits.

Incidentally did anyone see Ian Poulter in the LA Open last night? Having already missed the cut he had clearly given up and was tapping the ball in one handed, missing the hole and clearly not giving it any focus at all. This from a man who is all too quick to get his face in the media for wearing daft trousers. Perhaps he should realise that a person in his position is a role model and looked up to by thousands of kids who play the sport.

Sickly smiles an all' at least Phil is aware of his reponsibilities to society in general.

[Chas]

I have a problem with someone who is constantly grinning regardless of what's going on inside. If you're upset, you are allowed to show it...no need to act like the Cheshire Cat and mask your emotions.

Are we talking about the same guy? Sometimes Phil's face shows so much distress and disappointment it's painful to watch. He's one of the most expressive guys on tour. Yes, sometimes he probably does smile to cover the pain - it's very human you know. Never done it yourself? I saw some guy really bash the fairway with his club on Saturday at Torrey, and I mean well AFTER hitting the shot - in pure frustration. Now admittedly he was about 12 over for the day but man was that a sorry sight for a pro.

[Baynative]

Phil has a close relationship with his parents and his wife's parents. He has a beautiful and loving wife and happy healthy children. He is rich beyond most people's dreams and plays golf for a living.

It just might be that he smiles a lot because he is remembering to enjoy his time on earth. Maybe he has the ability to put things in perspective and realize that being runner up is not the end of his existence.

[Puttin4Bird]

It just might be that he smiles a lot because he is remembering to enjoy his time on earth. Maybe he has the ability to put things in perspective and realize that being runner up is not the end of his existence.

Well said brother. That really does sum up a lot of it right there. He's incredibly rich and incredibly lucky to be doing what he loves to do for a living, I'd be smiling that goofy grin 24/7 if that were me.

Another thing I will get behind Phil for is this, in his interviews he is not a robot and does not just give stock answers to the reporters questions, he's going to tell it like it is and give honest answers and I respect that about Phil. David Duval is very similar in that respect, after the interviews you feel like you actually heard something. That's one thing that I can't stand about Tiger, never do I see him on a podium or behind the mic and think, "oh a Tiger interview, I can't wait to hear what he has to say" because it's always the same "canned" comments. He's too careful not to say something controversial or ruffle any feathers of the check writers.

[nogoodhacker]

However, that is based on how he acts on and arround the course. I think he comes off as a phony with his fake smiles and parading his family on the green after big wins.

You could pretty much insert Tiger here with his fake tears at the British Open or his fake smile when he anounced their upcoming child. To try and imply someone's emotions are fake is nothing short of claiming to be a mind reader.

We have no idea what someone is really feeling or thinking at any given moment in time. Let alone a competitor with the metal of Tiger or Phil. Unless of course you think they always let their opponent know exactly what they are thinking and feeling...

[mew6789]

I disagree. Although I do like Phil Mickelson, sometimes, it is possible to see that his smiles are obviously fake. I don't know how to explain it or break it down but sometimes you just know.

[nogoodhacker]

I disagree. Although I do like Phil Mickelson, sometimes, it is possible to see that his smiles are obviously fake. I don't know how to explain it or break it down but sometimes you just know.

You know he is not happy about a bad tee shot or a missed putt but he smiles anyway. Big deal, I guess for some people (losers) that is real a headliner. I read a golf book or story, where a player would say to themselves "that was interesting"; instead of beating their clubs into the ground or cussing at themselves after every bad shot. That is how I see Phil. He does not throw a "sissy hissy" like other guys when things start going south I admire that a lot.

The thing that also gets to me, is people trying to claim the hugs his daughters and wife are giving him (and he back) are fake. That is ridiculous. Just as ridiculous would be to imply Tiger having his Dad out on tour with him all those years was fake. Some people just want to see the worse in people; and that is what makes the Phil bashers so pitifull. They are looking so hard for something bad in Phil; all they really need to do is look in the mirror and they'll be totally satisfied everyday!

[J.P.]

Try and think back to the 18th hole at last years US Open.

Phil was teeing off, and hit the bad tee shot that sliced (for him) onto the tent way left and would lose the US Open for him.

If you remember the shot of his face watching the ball slice away, all he was saying was . . . Oh no . . . You could read his lips.

How many of us say something gentle like that on the weekend when we put one OB - with nothing at stake? Was he faking that? A few other players may have been a bit more vocal, lets say.

Phil is a stand up guy. He has spoken kindly to me during a tournament round about the construction of the golf hole, walking between holes here in Las Vegas. He has signed every last autograph no matter how long it takes. Sure, he could be very focused on maintaining an image sponsers can continue to profit from, but it could also just be who he is . . .

By the way, the only Callaway product I use is their ball, I don't use Exxon gas, and I don't drive a Ford. I don't even know what Bearing Point does! I like Phil, but I don't purchase due to Phil.