Hank Haney Worries About Charles Barkley the Man, the Golfer

As Charles Barkley slinks into obscurity -- even if temporarily -- he continues to leave a trail of destruction in his wake. That's probably overstating it just a bit; after all, following his Dec. 31 DUI, Sir Charles has taken an indefinite leave of absence from TNT, and T-Mobile dropped him as a spokesperson. (Although driving drunk and looking for sex is almost a prerequisite for public office, so at least his gubernatorial aspirations are still intact.)

Hank Haney, Tiger Woods' golf coach, has also tried to straighten out Barkley's full-body dry heave that passes for a golf swing. In fact, the two hatched a plan to film it all and turn it into a a reality show. Well, you can go ahead and shelf that, too. For now, anyway:

Haney and Barkley had taped five of the eight episodes before the DUI. While production was on hiatus anyway, it's unclear when the final three episodes will be produced as Barkley deals with legal issues and an alcohol problem as big as the man struggling with it. Haney, who quit drinking in 1986, could see the situation getting more serious and had hinted to his friend that things weren't OK.

But as GolfDigest's John Hawkins writes, "grown men don't tell each other how to behave." (Obvious exception: working security detail for Pacman Jones.)

There is good news, however. In an interview that will run in the February issue of Golf, Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon offers this about Chuck: "I worry for [Barkley getting into politics] because he's my friend. My life couldn't stand that sort of scrutiny. But I think Hank [Haney] is going to fix his swing. Most people don't know that before he started messing around with it, he was shooting in the 80s."

There's a good chance that this interview took place before Barkley's New Year's Eve run-in with the police. Or maybe Willybuns just has that much faith in Haney's restorative powers.