Ted Bishop removed from office for calling Ian Poulter a lil girl

[guywoof]

We are starting to live in a world where almost anything can be offensive to somebody somewhere. I don't think his comments were bright or good, but it wasn't the end of the world. No need  for the board to get their panties in a knot.

[18rounds]

It does. You can say things among friends or whatever that you can't say in public, or which would be really stupid or insensitive to say in public.

If it would be a problem to have it said publicly I am not sure it should be said. I am thinking through this because a guy at another office used the N word in a conference room with just him and his buddies. Unfortunately for him the recorder in the room had been left on from a training session earlier in the day. He is no longer employed and his prospects don't look good. I feel bad for his family but who he was in private became public and it cost him. If we are the same in public and private there is not a chance of this happening.

[ilikefishes]

Exactly, and respect everyone equally. It isn't about being pc, it is about being respectful.

[iacas]

If we are the same in public and private there is not a chance of this happening.

It's not gonna happen.

I might say "**** you man!" joking around with some buddies. I'm not gonna say it to my kid's math teacher* during a parent-teacher conference. We behave differently depending on the audience.

Ted was not tricked by an "always on" microphone. He took deliberate action to turn the microphone on.

* My wife is a math teacher, but the point stands.

[newtogolf]

I am not sure the idea that it's ok to say things in my private foursome but not ok to say the same thing in public holds up anymore. (If it ever did)

In this age of technology and social media the mic is always hot and the camera is always running.

How many politicians or sports figures have been embarrassed when the actions they thought were in a private setting became public?

Really, is it a bad thing?

Is being an actor in public the best way to live?

If you're a major corporate executive or in the public eye in any way you should be conscious that anything you do or say could be recorded and used against you.  For us regular guys, you should still be conscious that anything you share could be used against you by someone with malicious intentions.  There are a lot of "white knights" out there who seem more than happy to screw over their buddies for their own benefit.

Back on topic, @iacas this wasn't a case of someone recording Bishop on a hot mic, Bishop made the tweet and Facebook post himself.  At the time he either thought he was being funny or just publicly defending his buddy Faldo but he is the only one to blame here for his own stupid actions.

[18rounds]

Back on topic, @iacas is 100% right, this wasn't a case of someone recording Bishop on a hot mic, Bishop made the tweet and Facebook post himself.  At the time he either thought he was being funny or just publicly defending his buddy Faldo but he is the only one to blame here for his own stupid actions.

I totally agree this was not a situation of something private becoming public. I was responding to those who thought it was ok to be degrading to women as long as it is done in private.

[Zeph]

It's not about being politically correct, but more the fact that we use words and terms in a derogatory way because it's what we're learned from growing up.

Like using the word "gay" in a negative way. "That was so gay" or "You're gay". We don't react because we hear it all the time and most of us are in fact not gay. What about those who are gay? Some probably don't care, but I'm sure there are many that would rather their sexual preference not being used like that. I have nothing against homosexuals and I don't mean to offend them if I say "that's gay", but the problem is that it's generally accepted to use it.

I believe it was first used in a derogatory way simply because they didn't like homosexuals and thought they were lesser people. And today we keep using them like that. Just like we use "like a little girl".

The same story with women. They've been suppressed in thousands of years and we joke about it because it's become normal and generally accepted. As we saw from the "Like a girl" video, even little girls are affected by this, and it helps shape the image of them being not as good as the boys. They hear people saying "like little girl" and "women should stay in the kitchen", and it affects them. It may not affect the strong and independent woman with a good job, family etc., but it's those that are not as confident that are affected by it the most.

http://www.heforshe.org/

[sgt1372]

It was bad enough when we developed the ability to send off a thoughtless email from a computer at home (or work) to another person BUT now, with social media, you can send out a thoughtless remark from your smartphone anywhere you are that EVERYONE can read and that you can NEVER take back.

That's why I don't use Twitter to send out any idle thought that might cross my mind.  I assume that Bishop now wishes he had never used Twitter to do that too.

[Lihu]

It was bad enough when we developed the ability to send off a thoughtless email from a computer at home (or work) to another person BUT now, with social media, you can send out a thoughtless remark from your smartphone anywhere you are that EVERYONE can read and that you can NEVER take back.

That's why I don't use Twitter to send out any idle thought that might cross my mind.  I assume that Bishop now wishes he had never used Twitter to do that too.

Agreed. The moral being to "think before you tap", I guess.

[turtleback]

Surely PC is marginal in this case?

The severity of the sanction (being airbrushed from history - not the sacking) and the alacrity with which it was done (agreed in less than 24 hours and then rubber stamped at a quick meeting) has all the hallmarks of people settling scores and perhaps using PC as a flag of convenience.

I'm seriously struggling to believe that the board of the USPGA is awash with dedicated campaigning born again liberals. It's right that he should be held to a higher level of account. In fact I think its perverse that people seek to downplay this by projecting their own behaviour onto his as if the two are somehow compatiable. They aren't. There's also a clear business case that he's undermined, but one suspects that if he were a valued and popular President, a strongly conservative organisation like the PGA would have found a way of allowing him to serve out his time and at the very least chiselled his name onto the honours board.

PC gets a bad name really for being used as the excuse, but there's clearly a lot more to this then one comment about Poulter being a girl. Coming in the same week as the "Williams Brothers" remark, I think the USPGA have completely out shone the ITF

I think the PGA overkill had to be based on the whole 2 years (and maybe before, for all we know) of Bishop's reign.  Look at the stuff we all saw publicly with him - the rules controversy, the RG, and now this.  And now imagine what this guy must be like OUT of the public eye.  It will be interesting if we find out, in the future, what the real behind the scenes story is.  It would not surprise me if the Bd. did not tell Bishop to stay out of the news after the RC problems and got very POed when the Poulter thing erupted.

Originally Posted by iacas

It does. You can say things among friends or whatever that you can't say in public, or which would be really stupid or insensitive to say in public.

Tell it to Donald Sterling.

[newtogolf]

Tell it to Donald Sterling.

This ^^.   We're in the PC and TMZ era where people in power and the public eye are targets for "opportunists" that would like a quick payday from TMZ for some juicy gossip.   For us regular guys, it's a bit safer but still best to know who's in close vicinity if you're going to say something you'd rather not hear or see repeated.

[mvmac]

http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2014/10/26/clarifying-the-terms-of-ted-bishops-pga-death-sentence.html

Clarification requested by yours truly from the PGA of Americaspokesman Julius Mason:

Ted will enjoy the same rights and privileges of all PGA members, including the ability to attend PGA of America events. He will continue to be recognized as the 38th President of the PGA, and his record of service during the time period which he served will remain intact. Due to his removal from office, he will not serve on the Board of Directors in the role of Honorary President, nor will he be granted the rights and privileges of a Past President in our governance structure.

Life without the possibility of parole.

Technically Ted is not expunged from the record books.

[18rounds]

This ^^.   We're in the PC and TMZ era where people in power and the public eye are targets for "opportunists" that would like a quick payday from TMZ for some juicy gossip.   For us regular guys, it's a bit safer but still best to know who's in close vicinity if you're going to say something you'd rather not hear or see repeated.

I disagree. The reason Sterling has a problem is because he is a racist. It's like saying "The reason I had a triple bogey is because my playing partner saw me hit it out of bounds" nope the reason I had a triple bogey is because I suck at golf. Same as it's not TMZ's fault Sterling got in trouble. It is because Sterling is a rasist.

[phan52]

Unfortunately, Ted Bishop fell into a trap forged by his generation and his gender getting mixed up in 21st Century social media. He isn't the first and he won't be the last.

[Lihu]

Unfortunately, Ted Bishop fell into a trap forged by his generation and his gender getting mixed up in 21st Century social media. He isn't the first and he won't be the last.

Yeah, that is one of the stigmas that still sticks to this game.

If golf is to ever get more popular, the type of thinking (or lack thereof) that went into his statement has to go.

[newtogolf]

I disagree. The reason Sterling has a problem is because he is a racist.

It's like saying "The reason I had a triple bogey is because my playing partner saw me hit it out of bounds" nope the reason I had a triple bogey is because I suck at golf.

Same as it's not TMZ's fault Sterling got in trouble. It is because Sterling is a rasist.

I agree he is a racist, but you're analogy doesn't work.  A lot of people are racists, sexists and anti-sematic but no one really cares unless they are rich and/or famous.

Sterling wasn't recorded and broadcast all over tv and the internet because he was a racist, he was recorded because he is rich and a public figure who TMZ and other slime media outlets would pay people to out for being racist.

[No Mulligans]

When hitting a weak very short putt:

"Does your husband play"

"Nice putt, Sally"

"You got your putter caught in your skirt"

Those lines always get a chuckle (when directed at men) from both the men and women I play with.  I guess it just depends on the audience as Erik said.

[Lihu]

When hitting a weak very short putt:

"Does your husband play"

"Nice putt, Sally"

"You got your putter caught in your skirt"

Those lines always get a chuckle (when directed at men) from both the men and women I play with.  I guess it just depends on the audience as Erik said.

If Ted and Ian were best of friends, and Ian had said something funny in response I would agree that it would be funny. Ian did not sound like he appreciated it, and Ted did not sound like he was stating it in the "best spirit" of the game.

It doesn't just depend upon the audience, it depends upon the relationship between the individuals at hand and the intent of the words cast.

If someone said "You got your putter caught in your skirt" to one of the people I was playing in a foursome a couple weeks ago, I can guarantee that I would have been putting my EMT (ski patrol) expertise to work trying to stabilize the person who said it. Not everyone has a good sense of humor.