Johnny Miller and the PC Police

Well folks, the PC Police have struck again. NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller is catching flak for his comments about Rocco Mediate during last weeks U.S. Open. If you recall, Rocco was battling some guy named Eldrick in what turned out to be a classic playoff for the Open title.

Before we get into that, you should know a bit about Johnny Miller. Before he was an announcer he was a pretty darned good golfer. Miller won 25 PGA Tour titles during his time as a player. These 25 titles include the 1973 U.S. Open and the 1976 British Open, two of the coveted major titles you hear so much about. He was called the “Desert Fox” because many of his titles came out West. It has been rumored that the image on the PGA Tour logo is Johnny Miller (Tour officials, it should be noted, deny this).

Once his career as a player came to a close he became the main golf analyst for NBC. Miller is one of the few analysts that add a bit of entertainment value to their analysis. There are some other colorful golf announcers, Gary McCord is probably the best known, who actually try to have fun while working the sport but Miller stands out for different reasons. Some others, again McCord would be the poster boy, use humor to liven up their call (McCord was famously banned from Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters Tournament, for saying, and I’m paraphrasing here, that the greens were so slick they looked like they had had a bikini wax.). Miller basically just tells it like it is. He has never been shy about calling out players for bad shots, poor choices, and/or flat out choking. I’ve always appreciated this aspect of Miller because he simply says what all we weekend warriors watching on TV are thinking.

So, this brings us back to last week’s U.S. Open. Rocco vs. Tiger. Everyman vs. Robogolfer. A guy who is built like your Dad vs. one of the fittest guys on the planet (certainly on the PGA Tour). Then something great happened. Rocco, the ultimate underdog, didn’t blink. He gave Tiger the fight of his life. During the playoff, Miller remarked, “Rocco looks like the guy who cleans Tiger’s pool” and later, “Guys named Rocco don’t get their name on the trophy.” Now, I was watching the telecast and didn’t think a thing in the world about it. It never crossed my mind that any offense would be taken. You see, I got it. Miller was not making an ethnic joke. He was just accentuating how amazing it was that this guy, who looks like your neighbor, was standing toe to toe with the great Tiger Woods. It was an everyman joke not an Italian joke. Predictably, however, some didn't see it that way and got upset. The National Association of Italian Americans issued a statement saying, “We are certain that NBC and Mr. Miller meant no harm and was simply having fun at the expense of Italian Americans. Nevertheless, this type of humor is problematic as it reinforces a demeaning and damaging stereotype about an entire ethnic group.” To this I simply say, GIVE ME A BREAK! Even Mediate himself was not bothered by Miller’s comments saying, “It doesn’t bother me at all.” If it doesn’t bother Rocco should it bother anybody else?

Folks, we have simply become a bunch of oversensitive pansies in this country. It is time to get a sense of humor and relax a bit. Johnny Miller issued an apology yesterday for his comments. I was disappointed he did so. He simply had nothing to apologize for, in my opinion. Had Miller said something along the lines of Rocco slipping a horse head in Tiger’s bag, missing a shot because of lasagna grease on his fingers, or that Tiger should be careful because Tony Soprano was caddying then I could see where an apology might be in order. Johnny Miller’s comments simply didn’t warrant such an overblown reaction.

By the way, my editor says I must issue an apology to “oversensitive pansies” stating that I meant no offense. I think not…

My best…