Tiger Woods, at Pebble Beach on Feb. 12, is having trouble doing something he once mastered: making pressure putts.
This is a Tiger Woods I don't recognize, this Tiger Woods who gags 5-footers that could keep a match alive, as he did last week against Nick Watney at the World Match Play. The Tiger Woods I used to know would've sunk that putt the way a carpenter sinks a nail, without a thought, and the next three after it.
This is a Tiger Woods I can't fathom, this Tiger Woods who goes to Pebble two weeks before and lets his rival, Phil Mickelson, leave enough spike holes in his back to start a colander; who misses five putts of 5 feet or less on Sunday, including one on 18 no longer than a kielbasa. The Tiger Woods I used to know had a Sunday putter so hot you could brand heifers with it. Now, I'm surprised he doesn't get frostbite.
This is a Tiger Woods I never imagined, this Tiger Woods who stands over a putt like it's ticking, who talks now of "the putter release point" and other mechanical goop you usually hear from guys headed back to the Nationwide Tour. Tiger used to have parts of guys like that in his lower intestine.
But this is the Tiger Woods we have. And if this Tiger Woods ever hopes to catch Jack Nicklaus and his 18 majors, he has to fix his putting. This, however, is like saying Baghdad needs to fix its bridges. His golf swing looks silky again, but right now, Woods is as far from his old putting self as Chaz Bono is from his old driver's license picture.
"That [Tiger] is not back yet," says putting guru Dave Pelz. "I don't know if he'll ever be back."
What happened? I have my guesses:
“
When I taught Tiger, all I ever did with his putting was try and notice if he was doing anything out of his norm. Now Tiger has changed so much about his stroke that it seems like it would be hard to figure out what's wrong.
”
-- Hank Haney
The Nike Theory
During the Tiger Sex Scandal, most companies fled Woods like Red Riding Hood. One that stuck with him? Nike. Not long after, at the 2010 British Open, Woods started using a Nike putter instead of the Scotty Cameron Titleist putter he'd won his 13 majors with. It was like Jim Bowie suddenly carrying a putty knife; B.B. King playing an oboe. Maybe Nike said, "We'll hang with you through all those pancake waitresses, but we don't want to see somebody else's putter next to your ball." Whatever. Since that day, Woods is 0-for-majors and winless on the PGA Tour.
"If I'm coaching Tiger right now," says Woods' old coach, Butch Harmon, "I'd take the Nike out of the bag and put the Scotty back in and see how good that looks in his hands."
Maybe it's in his contract, maybe it's out of loyalty, maybe it's because Tiger -- who is nothing if not stubborn -- refuses to admit he was wrong. But 100 guys out of 100 would've gone back to the Scotty two years ago. Hell, Arnold Palmer used to bring 12 putters to the putting green and pick a new one daily.
"Which is weird," says former tour star Peter Jacobsen, "because I think Nike would much rather see Tiger hoisting trophies over his head again than see their swoosh lined up next to his ball."
The Earl Theory
When you think about it, Tiger hasn't been golf's Mozart since his dad died in 2006. Earl knew which of Tiger's buttons to push, possibly because he'd installed them. They'd sit at dinner and talk about all the great putts he'd made that day, how he believed in his reads, how he saw them going in long before he'd struck them, just as the Green Beret psychologist had taught him.
Earl didn't even need to be with Tiger. At his first PGA Championship win, at Medinah in 1999, Tiger was standing over a tricky putt on the 17th hole on Sunday. As I wrote in Sports Illustrated in 2000: "I was in the hotel and I said to him, 'Tiger, this is a must-make putt. Now, we've been through it before. Trust your stroke. Trust your stroke.' And he made it. That night I said to him, 'I told you to [trust your stroke on] that putt at 17.' He said, 'I know, Pop. I heard you.'
That voice is now gone.
The Karma Theory
Great putting is like great writing -- it helps to have an uncluttered mind. When your life has come apart like bad knitting, as Tiger's has, you're up to your cheekbones in clutter.
A 6-year-old can make 4-footers all recess because he doesn't think about it. But if your mind is full of doubt and troubles and guilt, all those problems rattle around in your skull. These are known as The Demons. When the hole is looking like a Cheerio, The Demons will have you asking yourself why Golf hates you, why God hates you, why Luck hates you. Worse, you begin to wonder if maybe you deserve it.
In the year 2009 PFH (Pre Fire Hydrant), Woods ranked second in putting. This year, he's 175th.
"He's coming back from a pretty deep place," says Pelz, who has never worked with Woods. "Almost none of golf is mental. It's about your mind getting out of the way."
"He seems a long way from his unconscious right now," says Dave Stockton, who helps Mickelson and Rory McIlroy with putting. "He seems like he's thinking all the time, like he's trying. Putting is not about trying, it's the easiest thing we do in golf."
Not lately.
The Fun Theory
The Tiger I used to know laughed a lot more on the course. Laughed at himself sometimes when he'd miss an easy one, which was almost never. Now he laughs about as much as an Easter Island statue. Even makes are greeted with a look of dread reprieved for another hole.
"You look at [Tiger's] face and he doesn't look like he's having much fun," says Jacobsen. "You watch Rory McIlroy. He makes a putt and he looks like it's Halloween and he just got two large Butterfingers from the house down the street. ... That's not how Tiger looks. He looks like it's all a lot of work right now."
The Yips Theory
I hate to even broach this, but is it possible we're seeing the start of the yips?
"I wouldn't say the yips, no," says Harmon. "But I definitely see nerves. It started at Augusta last year, on the back nine. He had a chance to win and he suddenly started missing short putts. They weren't on line, they didn't touch the hole. It's understandable with everything he's been through off the course. I'm not making excuses for him. He brought that on himself. But his confidence just seems gone on the greens."
It's happened to great players before: Bernhard Langer, Tom Watson, Ben Hogan. They were never the same afterward.
Gulp.
The Time Theory
Tiger is fascinated with the golf swing, bored by the putting stroke. He's an incurable swing tinkerer, but he doesn't have any obsession with putting. Billy Casper used to wear out the carpet in his houses at night putting. Not Woods. He doesn't put in anywhere near the time on the putting green that he does on the driving range.
Woods often complains about "not getting the speed of the greens here" but is he out there enough? At the Match Play in Arizona last week, he played a grand total of nine practice holes.
If the worst part of your game is also the part you spend the least time working on, that's not a coincidence. That's a reason.
The Grooving a Mistake Theory
Woods used to have a beautiful swinging-gate-type stroke -- inside going back, inside going through -- like Ben Crenshaw's. Now he putts more straight back, straight through. That would be fine if it was working, but it's not.
Also "it looks as if he is trying to keep the putter shaft leaning forward like he does with his full swing," emails Hank Haney, Tiger's former swing coach, whose new book "The Big Miss" drops in late March. "When I taught Tiger, all I ever did with his putting was try and notice if he was doing anything out of his norm. Now Tiger has changed so much about his stroke that it seems like it would be hard to figure out what's wrong."
So what can Tiger and his putter do to dig themselves out of this quicksand? Well ...
[+] EnlargeWoods
Brian Spurlock/US Presswire
Among the many things missing from Tiger Woods' putting game now, the voice of Earl Woods may be the most important.
1. Get help. Tiger has never hired a putting guru like Pelz or Stockton or … anybody. He talks to Steve Stricker a lot, but how can you trust somebody who's trying to beat you?
He's had no problem having three swing coaches. Why not try one putting coach?
"Because," says Pelz, "when you've spent most of your career having people tell you you're the greatest putter in golf history, you're probably not going to ask for help."
2. Get a psychologist. Plenty of players do it. Tiger should. Because if he's got The Demons, they need to be cleansed.
3. Get a belly putter. Tiger hates it, has campaigned against it. But desperate times call for desperate measures. If Webb Simpson and Keegan Bradley can crush with one, why not?
"I think it would help him to practice with it," says Harmon, "because it forces you to take it back inside and release it through. Doesn't mean you have to play with it."
But why not? Does it cause warts?
4. Get nonchalant. "Phil is in a place right now where he doesn't care so much about results," says Stockton. "He's just rolling it and enjoying it. That's where Tiger needs to be. It's not about lessons or equipment. It's about just letting it go."
Uh, hello? Have you MET Tiger Woods? He's not big on letting go.
5. Get moving. Used to be, Tiger took two practice strokes, then his stance, then one last look, then fired. Now, he stares at it like Boris Spassky at a trapped queen. Sometimes he takes more than a full minute before he's ready.
"To me," says Harmon, "it looks like he's looking for something that isn't there."
Like himself?
2013年9月22日星期日
Larry and Earvin still magic
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson have been rivals on the court and good friends off it since 1979.
No two Americans in sports history are woven more tightly together than Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. And yet they're almost never in the same room.
That's because Bird, a famous homebody, has an odd rule. He refuses to travel farther than 45 minutes from where he stands, unless he absolutely has to. "I get homesick," he says with a shrug.
Which is why it was so rare to get them together on March 3 in the rarified air of Beaver Creek, Colo., much less have them sit still for an hour's worth of my questions.
The best of it:
Reilly: On April 11, you both will be at the premiere of a Broadway play about your lives -- "Magic/Bird." Larry, how many Broadway shows have you been to in your life?
(Sounds of Magic breaking up laughing.)
Bird (laughing): Uh, well (long pause while Magic laughs) ... uh ... thousands?
Reilly: Zero?
Bird: Yeah, zero.
(Magic now has his hands on the floor, laughing.)
Reilly: It's just, you don't seem like a Broadway play kind of guy.
Bird: I'm not! I couldn't even tell you where Broadway is!
Magic: Ahhhhh!
Bird (laughing): I didn't even go to my school play! And I was in it!
Reilly: Did you read the script?
Bird: Well, my wife read it to me. It's good. When it first came up, it was like anything else. I said, 'I ain't doing that.' But Earvin called me and said, "We gotta do this."
Magic: It's so cool! I'm a black kid from the ghetto and he's a hick from Indiana. And now we have a Broadway play. How does this happen?
“
One time, I was hurt. I was on the bench. Larry comes by during warm-ups and says, "Don't worry, Earvin. I'm gonna put on a show for you." I think he scored 40 that night and I think he only missed two shots. He'd get that walk goin' and that blond hair floppin' and you knew you were gonna be in for a long, long night.
”
-- Magic Johnson
It's been more than 20 years since Magic announced he had the HIV virus. This Tuesday night in L.A. is the premiere of the 90-minute ESPN film "The Announcement." The film debuts on ESPN on March 11 at 9 p.m. ET.
Reilly (to Bird): That day, did you think we were going to lose him?
Bird: We thought, at the time, there would be only 10 years left. That's what the doctors were telling us.
Magic: The first call I got that day was from Larry. Man, that moved me. You value great friends, people who, no matter what, will be there to support you.
Bird: Magic's agent (Lon Rosen) calls me and tells me about the announcement ahead of time. I said, "I gotta talk to him right now." And Lon goes, "I don't know. He's going through all this stuff right now." And I said, "I don't care. I gotta talk to him right now." And he put me through to him. ... Man, that really hit me. It really hit me hard. That was the first time in my life I played in a game that I didn't want to play (vs. Atlanta). I didn't have anything that night.
Magic: Twenty years later, we're still here. I have a lot to live for. I have a wife and grandkids and kids and great friends. The medicine is working. God blessed me.
The two men are so alike -- both grew up poor in the Midwest in big families (Magic had nine siblings, Bird five), with blue-collar fathers. (Magic's dad worked at a car factory, Bird's at a piano factory.) Each has three kids. Each has adopted kids (Bird two, Magic one.) Each married his college sweetheart. And yet they're as different as butter and butterflies.
Bird: You know, I used to wish I was like Magic -- happy go lucky, always friendly and smiling. And then I got to know him over the years and I decided, "Nah. No thanks." (laughing) I like being by myself. I'm a loner. People would ask why I sat in my garage. I'd say, "I gotta sit somewhere."
Magic: Let me tell you a story. I was gonna tell you this later, Larry, but I'll tell you now. I know a guy whose best friend lives next door to Larry down in (Naples) Florida. They meet up in the driveway and he asked Larry did he want to play golf. Larry says OK. This guy thought they would talk while playing golf. But Larry never said a word about talking. He just said he'd play golf. So they play golf and Larry doesn't say a word for 18 holes. Well, the guy thought he had done something wrong. "Man, what did I do to make Larry so mad at me?" So now they're loading the clubs back in the car and Larry says, "I had fun. Wanna do it again tomorrow?" Larry had the best time by not talking.
Reilly: How often do you hear about the other?
Bird: Just about every day. I don't travel much, but I can be anywhere, China or Israel or wherever, and it's always the same thing. "How's Magic? How's Magic doing?" Like I live with him or something.
Magic: First question I get whenever I speak is, "How's Larry? How was it playing against Larry?" Every airport, somebody will come up and go, "I'm a Celtics fan, but you and Larry, man, you two changed basketball." Look, man, I am happy to know this man. I tell kids who are trying to get good, "Go grab yourself a Larry Bird tape. And then you'll know how to play the game of basketball."
Reilly: Have you ever thought about what your rivalry and friendship has done for race relations?
Larry: I never got into that. I don't care nothin' about that. When I was a kid, like 14 or 15, I played with the waiters from the hotel, 'cause that was the best game. And these guys, they'd let me play. And they were black guys. And they'd go over and sneak a drag on their Kool cigarettes, but they let me play.
Reilly: Didn't your Michigan State teammates think Bird was black?
Magic: They did! Until they saw that SI cover. I told 'em, 'cause I played with him, this is the baddest white boy you'll ever see.
Bird: I remember when I first seen Magic play, I told my brother, "I think I just saw the best college player in the country." And my brother didn't really believe me. But then he saw him play and he came to me and said, "Man, Magic is BETTER than you!"
Reilly: What kinds of things would the other guy's fans do to you?
Bird: They'd be out there shaking our bus and everything. But one night, they beat us and we're walking out to the bus and this little Mexican guy ran up and just punched me right in the nose! Just jumped up and punched me right in the nose! And that little guy took off so fast. It was almost like it didn't really happen. I said to my teammates, "Did you see that? That Mexican guy punched me in the nose!"
Magic: One time, we had just landed at Logan (in Boston), during the Finals. We're walking through the airport and everyone -- everyone! -- is wearing Larry's jersey, wearing Celtics hats, all that. And this little old man comes up to me, all kinda hunched over, and he gets right up in me and says, (hissing), "Larry is going to KILL you." So now we get our bags and get on the bus and our bus driver is wearing a Celtic cap. And I'm thinking, "Are we going to make it to the hotel all right?" Then we go to check in to the hotel and everyone at the hotel -- everyone! -- is wearing Larry's jersey and Celtic jerseys and mean muggin' us. Just being real nasty. And the lady behind the counter goes (hissing), "Here's your key." Just staring at me.
The Lakers' Kobe Bryant said this week that he hasn't had a real rival in his 16-year career. Not LeBron James, not Dwyane Wade. If anything, Kobe's rivalry was with a former Lakers teammate, Shaquille O'Neal. But Bird and Magic were pure rivals. They were nearly the same height, turned pro the same year, and were so inflamed to beat each other that it pushed both of them to heights they might not have otherwise reached. Combined, they won eight NBA titles and six MVPs.
Reilly: What do you wish you could've stolen from the other guy's game?
Bird: I just could never figure him out. Most guys you could study and figure them out after a while, but Magic, you just never knew what he was gonna do.
Reilly: Did he ever make you look bad when you were back on a three-on-one?
Bird: Oh, yeah. I tried everything. One time, I even just decided I'd try to take a charge and just flop. No chance. I ended up on the floor once in the playoffs and the dunk landed right next to my head.
Magic: Larry was just so smart. He attacked you from so many different angles. And with Larry, you had to guard him five and 10 feet past the (3-point) line. Five feet past the line was nothing for Larry. One time, I was hurt. I was on the bench. Larry comes by during warm-ups and says, "Don't worry, Earvin. I'm gonna put on a show for you." I think he scored 40 that night and I think he only missed two shots. He'd get that walk goin' and that blond hair floppin' and you knew you were gonna be in for a long, long night.
Reilly: You two changed the game in so many ways. Your 1979 NCAA final in Salt Lake is still the highest-rated college basketball game ever. After that game, March Madness really caught fire. Do you ever wish you had a cut of all that money you made for the NCAA?
Bird: Oh, we got it.
Magic: We got some of it. But for us, it wasn't about money. We would've played for free, me and Larry.
Reilly: You two also, arguably, turned the NBA around, with the pass-first, unselfish way you played.
Magic: We didn't set out to do that. I was watching a tape of one of our Finals together and I counted eight straight plays -- on both sides -- where the ball never touched the ground. Never once touched the ground! We played a different kind of basketball than you see now, the kind where they feed it into one guy and everybody stands and watches him to see if he can score. We moved the ball, all the time.
Reilly: How much did it hurt when you lost to the other?
Bird: That '79 game (won by Magic's Michigan State Spartans, 75-64), that was the toughest time ever in my life as far as basketball goes. I just never dreamed we could lose that game. We were good but not as good as them. We play that game 10 times, we might win one of 'em.
Magic: I was depressed all that one summer (of 1984, after his Lakers lost in the Finals to Bird's Celtics in seven games). I was miserable. I sat in the dark a lot. I mean, a lot. I only went outside the house to go to the gym. I felt it was my fault for making some bad mistakes that cost us that series.
Reilly: Where? Where did you sit in the dark?
Magic: Just in my living room, going over the game, going over every play. 'Cause that's what you do when you lose. You sit and think about it. And the headlines were calling me "Tragic Magic."
Bird (laughing): I wrote them headlines!
Magic: If you didn't, you found somebody who would've!
Bird (laughing): Man, I had a great summer!
Magic: It's just, I hate losing. I still hate to lose. My daughter (Elisa, now 17) played a little for her school. So I play with her sometimes, one-on-one. We go to 10 points. l let her get to nine and then I have to crush her. Cookie (his wife) says to me, "You can't let her win one time?" And I'm like, "No, I can't!"
Bird: My son (Connor, 21) thinks Earvin is the king. He loves Earvin. I don't know why. I don't think he's ever seen either of us play. (Bird retired when Connor was 2.) When I told him I was going to be here with Earvin, he was like, 'Oh! Magic? Oh, tell him hey for me!"
Magic: Our wives like each other. They really hit it off. They're not trying to make each other suffer.
Reilly (to Bird): Didn't your wife (Dinah) used to rebound for you?
Bird: Yeah, 'til she broke a nail. You know, actually, she helped me become a better shooter. Because she wouldn't go get a shot that was really poor. If it hit the rim and went way off the other way, she'd say, "You go get that one. That's your fault." So she made me really concentrate.
[+] EnlargeMagc Johnson
Getty Images
Bird and Magic squaring off in the 1979 NCAA basketball final. They've been inextricably bound ever since.
Throughout the hour, Bird stayed in his chair, smiling and staring mostly at the floor in front of his feet. Magic, meanwhile, roamed through the crowd, gesturing wildly about Bird's greatness, making kids march up and shake his hand.
Magic: People, I'm telling you. There will never be another Larry Bird. This man was a genius. The things he would do!
Bird: I used to get bored. One night, I had this idea that I'm gonna try to shoot every shot left-handed.
Reilly: Didn't you spend a summer with your right hand tied behind your back, just so you could improve your left?
Bird: Well, not ALL summer. ... Anyway, (that night, teammate) Bill Walton asks me, "What are you doing? Don't do that. This team is pretty good." I think I made 11 of my first 14 left-handed.
Magic: Oh, my!
BIRD: Anyway, finally, my coach (K.C. Jones) calls a timeout and brings me over, 'cause we weren't too far ahead anymore. And he's pissed. And he says, "Use your other damn hand."
The two were asked about the Knicks' out-of-the-blue sensation Jeremy Lin, from Harvard, and about the league's runaway MVP leader this year, James.
Bird: Lemme tell you, this LeBron is about as good as I've ever seen. I seen players that were so unselfish like him, but not as good as him.
Magic: I think he's the best player in the NBA right now.
Bird: People are on him about no rings, but these championships don't come to your house and knock on the door. Anything can happen. Dallas got some lucky breaks or Miami woulda beat them. LeBron passes the ball and takes some crap for it ... I don't know what's going on with (him in) the fourth quarter. Some guys get shaky at the end of a game. I never felt that. I had it before a game, yeah.
Reilly: You used to get sick beforehand.
Bird: Yeah, but it stopped once I stepped on the court. I never stepped up to the free throw line and said, "Oh, Jesus! What's going to happen to me?" People ask me, "What were you thinking about during the game?" And man, my mind was a million miles away. "Did I turn off the stove? What's my grandma doing tonight?"
Magic: You had ice water in your veins. You scared everybody. Look, not everybody can play the fourth quarter. Not everyone can be the hero or the goat. A lot of guys can't recover from blowing the game. But that is what made Larry special.
Reilly: Why didn't you sign Jeremy Lin? (Bird is the president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers.)
Bird: I don't care what anybody says, nobody knew what that kid was going to be. I only heard about him one time. Our Northeast scout came to me two years ago. It's the only time I ever heard one word about the kid.
Reilly: What did the scout say?
Bird: "This kid can really play."
Reilly: And ... ?
Bird: I didn't want somebody on the team who's that much smarter than me!
Finally, I asked Magic how he ranked the chances of his group of investors buying the Los Angeles Dodgers, now that they're among the seven finalists.
Magic: I think we have a good chance. We have a good group of people, with Stan Kasten, who ran the (Atlanta) Braves.
Reilly: Larry, you going to ask him for season tickets?
No two Americans in sports history are woven more tightly together than Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. And yet they're almost never in the same room.
That's because Bird, a famous homebody, has an odd rule. He refuses to travel farther than 45 minutes from where he stands, unless he absolutely has to. "I get homesick," he says with a shrug.
Which is why it was so rare to get them together on March 3 in the rarified air of Beaver Creek, Colo., much less have them sit still for an hour's worth of my questions.
The best of it:
Reilly: On April 11, you both will be at the premiere of a Broadway play about your lives -- "Magic/Bird." Larry, how many Broadway shows have you been to in your life?
(Sounds of Magic breaking up laughing.)
Bird (laughing): Uh, well (long pause while Magic laughs) ... uh ... thousands?
Reilly: Zero?
Bird: Yeah, zero.
(Magic now has his hands on the floor, laughing.)
Reilly: It's just, you don't seem like a Broadway play kind of guy.
Bird: I'm not! I couldn't even tell you where Broadway is!
Magic: Ahhhhh!
Bird (laughing): I didn't even go to my school play! And I was in it!
Reilly: Did you read the script?
Bird: Well, my wife read it to me. It's good. When it first came up, it was like anything else. I said, 'I ain't doing that.' But Earvin called me and said, "We gotta do this."
Magic: It's so cool! I'm a black kid from the ghetto and he's a hick from Indiana. And now we have a Broadway play. How does this happen?
“
One time, I was hurt. I was on the bench. Larry comes by during warm-ups and says, "Don't worry, Earvin. I'm gonna put on a show for you." I think he scored 40 that night and I think he only missed two shots. He'd get that walk goin' and that blond hair floppin' and you knew you were gonna be in for a long, long night.
”
-- Magic Johnson
It's been more than 20 years since Magic announced he had the HIV virus. This Tuesday night in L.A. is the premiere of the 90-minute ESPN film "The Announcement." The film debuts on ESPN on March 11 at 9 p.m. ET.
Reilly (to Bird): That day, did you think we were going to lose him?
Bird: We thought, at the time, there would be only 10 years left. That's what the doctors were telling us.
Magic: The first call I got that day was from Larry. Man, that moved me. You value great friends, people who, no matter what, will be there to support you.
Bird: Magic's agent (Lon Rosen) calls me and tells me about the announcement ahead of time. I said, "I gotta talk to him right now." And Lon goes, "I don't know. He's going through all this stuff right now." And I said, "I don't care. I gotta talk to him right now." And he put me through to him. ... Man, that really hit me. It really hit me hard. That was the first time in my life I played in a game that I didn't want to play (vs. Atlanta). I didn't have anything that night.
Magic: Twenty years later, we're still here. I have a lot to live for. I have a wife and grandkids and kids and great friends. The medicine is working. God blessed me.
The two men are so alike -- both grew up poor in the Midwest in big families (Magic had nine siblings, Bird five), with blue-collar fathers. (Magic's dad worked at a car factory, Bird's at a piano factory.) Each has three kids. Each has adopted kids (Bird two, Magic one.) Each married his college sweetheart. And yet they're as different as butter and butterflies.
Bird: You know, I used to wish I was like Magic -- happy go lucky, always friendly and smiling. And then I got to know him over the years and I decided, "Nah. No thanks." (laughing) I like being by myself. I'm a loner. People would ask why I sat in my garage. I'd say, "I gotta sit somewhere."
Magic: Let me tell you a story. I was gonna tell you this later, Larry, but I'll tell you now. I know a guy whose best friend lives next door to Larry down in (Naples) Florida. They meet up in the driveway and he asked Larry did he want to play golf. Larry says OK. This guy thought they would talk while playing golf. But Larry never said a word about talking. He just said he'd play golf. So they play golf and Larry doesn't say a word for 18 holes. Well, the guy thought he had done something wrong. "Man, what did I do to make Larry so mad at me?" So now they're loading the clubs back in the car and Larry says, "I had fun. Wanna do it again tomorrow?" Larry had the best time by not talking.
Reilly: How often do you hear about the other?
Bird: Just about every day. I don't travel much, but I can be anywhere, China or Israel or wherever, and it's always the same thing. "How's Magic? How's Magic doing?" Like I live with him or something.
Magic: First question I get whenever I speak is, "How's Larry? How was it playing against Larry?" Every airport, somebody will come up and go, "I'm a Celtics fan, but you and Larry, man, you two changed basketball." Look, man, I am happy to know this man. I tell kids who are trying to get good, "Go grab yourself a Larry Bird tape. And then you'll know how to play the game of basketball."
Reilly: Have you ever thought about what your rivalry and friendship has done for race relations?
Larry: I never got into that. I don't care nothin' about that. When I was a kid, like 14 or 15, I played with the waiters from the hotel, 'cause that was the best game. And these guys, they'd let me play. And they were black guys. And they'd go over and sneak a drag on their Kool cigarettes, but they let me play.
Reilly: Didn't your Michigan State teammates think Bird was black?
Magic: They did! Until they saw that SI cover. I told 'em, 'cause I played with him, this is the baddest white boy you'll ever see.
Bird: I remember when I first seen Magic play, I told my brother, "I think I just saw the best college player in the country." And my brother didn't really believe me. But then he saw him play and he came to me and said, "Man, Magic is BETTER than you!"
Reilly: What kinds of things would the other guy's fans do to you?
Bird: They'd be out there shaking our bus and everything. But one night, they beat us and we're walking out to the bus and this little Mexican guy ran up and just punched me right in the nose! Just jumped up and punched me right in the nose! And that little guy took off so fast. It was almost like it didn't really happen. I said to my teammates, "Did you see that? That Mexican guy punched me in the nose!"
Magic: One time, we had just landed at Logan (in Boston), during the Finals. We're walking through the airport and everyone -- everyone! -- is wearing Larry's jersey, wearing Celtics hats, all that. And this little old man comes up to me, all kinda hunched over, and he gets right up in me and says, (hissing), "Larry is going to KILL you." So now we get our bags and get on the bus and our bus driver is wearing a Celtic cap. And I'm thinking, "Are we going to make it to the hotel all right?" Then we go to check in to the hotel and everyone at the hotel -- everyone! -- is wearing Larry's jersey and Celtic jerseys and mean muggin' us. Just being real nasty. And the lady behind the counter goes (hissing), "Here's your key." Just staring at me.
The Lakers' Kobe Bryant said this week that he hasn't had a real rival in his 16-year career. Not LeBron James, not Dwyane Wade. If anything, Kobe's rivalry was with a former Lakers teammate, Shaquille O'Neal. But Bird and Magic were pure rivals. They were nearly the same height, turned pro the same year, and were so inflamed to beat each other that it pushed both of them to heights they might not have otherwise reached. Combined, they won eight NBA titles and six MVPs.
Reilly: What do you wish you could've stolen from the other guy's game?
Bird: I just could never figure him out. Most guys you could study and figure them out after a while, but Magic, you just never knew what he was gonna do.
Reilly: Did he ever make you look bad when you were back on a three-on-one?
Bird: Oh, yeah. I tried everything. One time, I even just decided I'd try to take a charge and just flop. No chance. I ended up on the floor once in the playoffs and the dunk landed right next to my head.
Magic: Larry was just so smart. He attacked you from so many different angles. And with Larry, you had to guard him five and 10 feet past the (3-point) line. Five feet past the line was nothing for Larry. One time, I was hurt. I was on the bench. Larry comes by during warm-ups and says, "Don't worry, Earvin. I'm gonna put on a show for you." I think he scored 40 that night and I think he only missed two shots. He'd get that walk goin' and that blond hair floppin' and you knew you were gonna be in for a long, long night.
Reilly: You two changed the game in so many ways. Your 1979 NCAA final in Salt Lake is still the highest-rated college basketball game ever. After that game, March Madness really caught fire. Do you ever wish you had a cut of all that money you made for the NCAA?
Bird: Oh, we got it.
Magic: We got some of it. But for us, it wasn't about money. We would've played for free, me and Larry.
Reilly: You two also, arguably, turned the NBA around, with the pass-first, unselfish way you played.
Magic: We didn't set out to do that. I was watching a tape of one of our Finals together and I counted eight straight plays -- on both sides -- where the ball never touched the ground. Never once touched the ground! We played a different kind of basketball than you see now, the kind where they feed it into one guy and everybody stands and watches him to see if he can score. We moved the ball, all the time.
Reilly: How much did it hurt when you lost to the other?
Bird: That '79 game (won by Magic's Michigan State Spartans, 75-64), that was the toughest time ever in my life as far as basketball goes. I just never dreamed we could lose that game. We were good but not as good as them. We play that game 10 times, we might win one of 'em.
Magic: I was depressed all that one summer (of 1984, after his Lakers lost in the Finals to Bird's Celtics in seven games). I was miserable. I sat in the dark a lot. I mean, a lot. I only went outside the house to go to the gym. I felt it was my fault for making some bad mistakes that cost us that series.
Reilly: Where? Where did you sit in the dark?
Magic: Just in my living room, going over the game, going over every play. 'Cause that's what you do when you lose. You sit and think about it. And the headlines were calling me "Tragic Magic."
Bird (laughing): I wrote them headlines!
Magic: If you didn't, you found somebody who would've!
Bird (laughing): Man, I had a great summer!
Magic: It's just, I hate losing. I still hate to lose. My daughter (Elisa, now 17) played a little for her school. So I play with her sometimes, one-on-one. We go to 10 points. l let her get to nine and then I have to crush her. Cookie (his wife) says to me, "You can't let her win one time?" And I'm like, "No, I can't!"
Bird: My son (Connor, 21) thinks Earvin is the king. He loves Earvin. I don't know why. I don't think he's ever seen either of us play. (Bird retired when Connor was 2.) When I told him I was going to be here with Earvin, he was like, 'Oh! Magic? Oh, tell him hey for me!"
Magic: Our wives like each other. They really hit it off. They're not trying to make each other suffer.
Reilly (to Bird): Didn't your wife (Dinah) used to rebound for you?
Bird: Yeah, 'til she broke a nail. You know, actually, she helped me become a better shooter. Because she wouldn't go get a shot that was really poor. If it hit the rim and went way off the other way, she'd say, "You go get that one. That's your fault." So she made me really concentrate.
[+] EnlargeMagc Johnson
Getty Images
Bird and Magic squaring off in the 1979 NCAA basketball final. They've been inextricably bound ever since.
Throughout the hour, Bird stayed in his chair, smiling and staring mostly at the floor in front of his feet. Magic, meanwhile, roamed through the crowd, gesturing wildly about Bird's greatness, making kids march up and shake his hand.
Magic: People, I'm telling you. There will never be another Larry Bird. This man was a genius. The things he would do!
Bird: I used to get bored. One night, I had this idea that I'm gonna try to shoot every shot left-handed.
Reilly: Didn't you spend a summer with your right hand tied behind your back, just so you could improve your left?
Bird: Well, not ALL summer. ... Anyway, (that night, teammate) Bill Walton asks me, "What are you doing? Don't do that. This team is pretty good." I think I made 11 of my first 14 left-handed.
Magic: Oh, my!
BIRD: Anyway, finally, my coach (K.C. Jones) calls a timeout and brings me over, 'cause we weren't too far ahead anymore. And he's pissed. And he says, "Use your other damn hand."
The two were asked about the Knicks' out-of-the-blue sensation Jeremy Lin, from Harvard, and about the league's runaway MVP leader this year, James.
Bird: Lemme tell you, this LeBron is about as good as I've ever seen. I seen players that were so unselfish like him, but not as good as him.
Magic: I think he's the best player in the NBA right now.
Bird: People are on him about no rings, but these championships don't come to your house and knock on the door. Anything can happen. Dallas got some lucky breaks or Miami woulda beat them. LeBron passes the ball and takes some crap for it ... I don't know what's going on with (him in) the fourth quarter. Some guys get shaky at the end of a game. I never felt that. I had it before a game, yeah.
Reilly: You used to get sick beforehand.
Bird: Yeah, but it stopped once I stepped on the court. I never stepped up to the free throw line and said, "Oh, Jesus! What's going to happen to me?" People ask me, "What were you thinking about during the game?" And man, my mind was a million miles away. "Did I turn off the stove? What's my grandma doing tonight?"
Magic: You had ice water in your veins. You scared everybody. Look, not everybody can play the fourth quarter. Not everyone can be the hero or the goat. A lot of guys can't recover from blowing the game. But that is what made Larry special.
Reilly: Why didn't you sign Jeremy Lin? (Bird is the president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers.)
Bird: I don't care what anybody says, nobody knew what that kid was going to be. I only heard about him one time. Our Northeast scout came to me two years ago. It's the only time I ever heard one word about the kid.
Reilly: What did the scout say?
Bird: "This kid can really play."
Reilly: And ... ?
Bird: I didn't want somebody on the team who's that much smarter than me!
Finally, I asked Magic how he ranked the chances of his group of investors buying the Los Angeles Dodgers, now that they're among the seven finalists.
Magic: I think we have a good chance. We have a good group of people, with Stan Kasten, who ran the (Atlanta) Braves.
Reilly: Larry, you going to ask him for season tickets?
2013年9月21日星期六
Gallagher-Smith
Gallagher-Smith, who has two young boys, said one was sick with a stomach ailment Friday night, so her mind might not have been entirely on her game Saturday morning.
"I'm not sure I was totally there," she said. "He was still sleeping when I came out here this morning."
The other golfer from South Florida to make the cut, Marisa Baena of Weston, shot a 78 Saturday and stands at 6-over for the tournament at 222.
On the spot
The Golf
Channel waded into new territory Saturday when for the first time in an LPGA major, it conducted interviews with players in the middle of a round.Before launching the new feature, "At the Turn," the Golf Channel's Rich Lerner said he would try "not to intrude psychologically into what [players were] doing - I have tremendous respect with the competitive environment."
Lerner expects the interviews to become a regular feature when the Golf Channel starts a 10-year partnership with the LPGA next year.
One for Wie
Michelle Wie fired a hole-in-one on the par-3, 152-yard seventh hole Saturday, using an 8 iron. She finished the round with a 1-over 73, and a three-day total of 217, also 1 over. She started the day in a tie for 32nd.
Against the Florida Rams
Against the Florida Rams, the sophomores fell short in winning the title, taking second place.
The eighth grade club was at the .500 mark in pool play (1-1) and did even better in the postseason. Ramsey and company saw the eighth-graders go 5-0 overall in the playoffs, capped by its upset victory over the state-ranked Florida Phenoms in Division II.
The Blazers' home floor is at the Pompey Park Recreation Center, 1101 NW 2nd St. in Delray Beach.
locals capture putting champs
From basic amateurs to seasoned professionals, the John Prince Golf Learning Center in Lake Worth was the place to be recently for the annual Palm Beach County Putting Championship.
Ryan Alvino, PGA head golf professional at the center, welcomed more than 100 participants ages 5 to 75.
Donna White, a three-time winner on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour, was the lead instructor for the free putting clinic, which was also part of the activities.
Boynton Beach's Edward Smith, 28, hits the fairways for regular play once a week and watches the Golf Channel to pick up tips.
He found the putting clinic helpful since that's the one part of his game that needs improvement.
"This [clinic] is very beneficial," Smith said. "This is the only thing that is holding me back. I am in the low 80s, so if I can shave off a few strokes by being a better putter, that would be great."
Lake Worth's Vince Elliott, 53, was testing his skills in the county's putting challenge for the second time.
"I just want to come out here and have some fun," said Elliott, who comes to the links once a week for a casual round of golf. "I will also come out and work on my putting once a week."
Palm Beach Gardens' Eric Strand, 46, brought his 8-year-old son Zachary to the event. He liked the friendly competition and said his son was going to start in a kids' program at the center.
There were six divisions and trophies and prizes awarded in each. All proceeds benefited the Junior Golf Foundation of America.
PURSE: $8.5 million ($1.4 million to winner)
PURSE: $8.5 million ($1.4 million to winner).
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Nick Watney (67-70-68-67–272, two shots ahead of Dustin Johnson.
SCHEDULE: Thursday, first round starting 11:15 a.m. Friday, second round starting 11:15 a.m. Saturday, third round starting 8:30 a.m. Sunday, final round starting 9:30 a.m.
TV: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 2-6 p.m. (NBC), Sunday, 3-7 p.m. (NBC).
TICKETS: Single-day tickets $20 Wednesday, $35 Thursday-Sunday. Full-week Clubhouse Ticket for $115 includes access to clubhouse and a voucher for discounted golf rates at Doral. Children 18-and-under free with ticketed adult. Order online at CadillacChampionship.com or call Ticketmaster or 888-401-8000.
PARKING: Preferred parking (PP passes) off Northwest NW 52nd Street adjacent to Doral's Great White course. General parking ($10) at J.C. Bermudez Park, near Northwest NW 87th Avenue and Northwest NW 33rd Street. Cadillacs park free in a dedicated lot. Shuttle buses will transport spectators from both sites.
MOBILE DEVICES: Spectators may use their mobile devices on the course to send and receive text messages, check e-mail and access other data. Cellphone calls allowed only in designated areas, primarily at concession stands. Photos are prohibited during competition days. No video recording at any time.
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Nick Watney (67-70-68-67–272, two shots ahead of Dustin Johnson.
SCHEDULE: Thursday, first round starting 11:15 a.m. Friday, second round starting 11:15 a.m. Saturday, third round starting 8:30 a.m. Sunday, final round starting 9:30 a.m.
TV: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 2-6 p.m. (NBC), Sunday, 3-7 p.m. (NBC).
TICKETS: Single-day tickets $20 Wednesday, $35 Thursday-Sunday. Full-week Clubhouse Ticket for $115 includes access to clubhouse and a voucher for discounted golf rates at Doral. Children 18-and-under free with ticketed adult. Order online at CadillacChampionship.com or call Ticketmaster or 888-401-8000.
PARKING: Preferred parking (PP passes) off Northwest NW 52nd Street adjacent to Doral's Great White course. General parking ($10) at J.C. Bermudez Park, near Northwest NW 87th Avenue and Northwest NW 33rd Street. Cadillacs park free in a dedicated lot. Shuttle buses will transport spectators from both sites.
MOBILE DEVICES: Spectators may use their mobile devices on the course to send and receive text messages, check e-mail and access other data. Cellphone calls allowed only in designated areas, primarily at concession stands. Photos are prohibited during competition days. No video recording at any time.
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