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Tennis: Nadia Petrova From Russia With Love

Posted: Jul 6th 2008 12:50 PM ET by Elie Seckbach (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Los Angeles, Tennis, Women's Sports, International Tennis, The Word, FanHouse TV, US Open

0 COMMENTS

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back here regularly for more videos.

In this video we talk to tennis star Nadia Petrova who tells us why she is more popular in the United States than in her homeland, Russia. We also learn why it's not wise to get in the way of any serve unleashed by this tennis powerhouse. Around 1:15 into the video Nadia tells us why Russia produces so many talented tennis players.

AOL Video link. Youtube link.

Report: Tiger Woods Needs Another Knee Surgery, Won't Play Again Until 2009

Posted: Jun 18th 2008 11:15 AM ET by Michael David Smith (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Golf, The Word

4 COMMENTS

Tiger Woods' U.S. Open title came at a heavy price.

The Golf Channel is reporting that Woods has a stress fracture in addition to torn ligaments in his knee, and that the combination of injuries is so severe that he will need season-ending surgery.

CBS's Bobby Clampett Apologizes for Calling Liang Wen-Chong 'Chinaman' at Masters

Posted: Apr 11th 2008 7:25 PM ET by Michael David Smith (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Golf, The Word

40 COMMENTS

During today's Masters broadcast, CBS announcer Bobby Clampett referred to Chinese golfer Liang Wen-Chong as "the chinaman."

According to CBS spokeswoman LeslieAnne Wade, Clampett later apologized on the Masters webcast.

Clampett has been working Amen Corner the last two days, and his commentary can be heard both online and on DirecTV. He used the "chinaman" slur while describing Liang's round and explaining that he will not make the cut.

There is no word yet on whether Clampett will be disciplined by CBS. Clampett's slur comes three months after Golf Channel announcer Kelly Tilghman was suspended for two weeks for saying that if young players want to beat Tiger Woods, they should "lynch him in a back alley."

There has also so far been no reaction from Augusta National, which is far from the world's most politically correct organization but which is known for its insistence that television announcers not say anything controversial. CBS announcer Jim Nantz frequently talks about how much classier golf in general and Augusta National in particular are than other sports and other venues, and Nantz has even criticized Woods for cursing on the course. How does he feel about one of his colleagues using a slur?

UPDATE: Bobby Clampett on 'Chinaman': If I Offended Anybody Please Accept My Sincere Apologies

Thank God Zach Johnson Isn't Serving Fried Chicken, Collard Greens at Champions Dinner

Posted: Mar 5th 2008 2:10 PM ET by Ryan Wilson (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Golf, The Word

5 COMMENTS

The Masters is all about tradition: the par 3 tournament, the ceremonial tee shot, the green jacket, calling everybody "patron," the Champions Dinner, and of course, institutionalized racism.*

As is custom, the defending champion gets to choose the menu for the Champions Dinner held during Masters week. This year, Zach Johnson was planning to have Ruth Chris Steakhouse serve up some Iowa beef, to honor his roots, and in a nod to his wife, Amelia Island shrimp. Augusta National offered a polite "hell no" on the idea and reminded Johnson that he'd have to use the chefs on staff.

So it was back to the drawing board, and the menu remains a work in progress with only a couple of weeks before his mid-March deadline. Surf and turf is about as concrete as it gets so far.

"We're trying to piece some things together and see how that works out," Johnson said... "I have a feeling it's going to be some Midwest food with some Florida flair."

Sounds good. Just stay away from the chicken and collard greens. It really bums out the segregationists who will be in attendance.

After the jump, 20 years worth of Champions Dinner menus.

* joke

Rory Sabbatini Is Getting on Tiger's Last Nerve

Posted: Dec 17th 2007 7:00 PM ET by Ryan Wilson (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Golf, The Word

19 COMMENTS

Hey, nobody ever accused Rory Sabbatini of being smart. That's one way to rationalize this:

Sabbatini didn't let the year end without getting under Tiger Woods' skin one last time. In a move that left players shaking their heads, Sabbatini withdrew from the final round of the Target World Challenge on Sunday because of "personal reasons," making him the first player in the nine-year history of the event to leave early.

The Target World Challenge is Tiger's silly-season tournament. (Tiger won the event yesterday and will donate the $1.35 first-place check to the Tiger Woods Foundation.) And even though Sabbatini bonked out early, he still got $170,000 for his troubles. He was in last place heading into the final round, only 28 shots behind Woods. Hey, it's just like a regular tour stop!

According to the AP, a clubhouse attendant said "Sabbatini cleaned out his locker Saturday afternoon ... He told them he was headed to Maui, where he spends his Christmas vacation." Well, I suppose that counts as "personal reasons," although Sabbatini's agent said his client suffered from shin splints. I wonder if "shin splints" is a euphemism for "getting his ass kicked." I'm going with yes.

This certainly won't improve Sabbatini's standing with fans, players and especially Mr. Woods. I think Fred Couples summed it up nicely: "They don't have any flights to Hawaii [on Sunday night]?" Couples said, shaking his head. "He's messing with the wrong guy."

True that.

Tiger Woods, Gatorade: $100 Million Deal

Posted: Oct 17th 2007 8:33 AM ET by Michael David Smith (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Golf, The Word

3 COMMENTS

You always have to be skeptical of the dollar figures thrown around in the reports of athletes' endorsement contracts. But whether the news that Tiger Woods has signed a licensing deal with Gatorade that could be worth $100 million gets the dollar figure exactly right or not, Darren Rovell explains at his sports business blog that this is a huge deal.

Rovell says Gatorade usually pays no more than $1 million a year to the athletes who endorse it, but that the arrangement with Woods is actually a licensing arrangement, not an endorsement. What's the difference? It means that Woods will get a percentage of the sales of the Gatorade Tiger Woods Thirst Quencher, the new drink that the company will launch in March.

Deals like this are rare -- the only other one I can think of is the George Foreman Grill, which earned Foreman somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 million. But with the way so many weekend golfers want to imitate everything Tiger does, I could see this drink becoming incredibly popular and generating nine-figure paydays for both Woods and Gatorade.

The Debriefing: I Would Like It if Someone Hit Rory Sabbatini in the Face With a 7-Iron

Posted: Sep 13th 2007 9:00 AM ET by mjd (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Golf, The Word

8 COMMENTS

The Debriefing is a column that runs every weekday at 9:00 a.m. here on FanHouse. It goes deep into one issue and then bounces around to a plethora of smaller ones ... and does it all in a way that will make you feel like the prettiest girl at the cotillion. Bookmark this page, and visit daily.

Of the 30 players invited to this week's Tour Championship, five are still mathematically alive in the race for the FedEx Cup. To me, that's one of the flaws in the system ... I'd like to see more players with a chance to jump up and grab the thing by the throat on the final day.

Rory Sabbatini also thinks it's a flaw in the system ... but he'd like to see the number of players still alive for the Cup shrunk, not expanded. He thinks that players who didn't play all four events should be ineliglible to win.

And incidentally, under the grand vision of Rory, the sudden hero of the sanctity of the FedEx Cup, he would be one of the three players still alive, while Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, the two best golfers in the world, would be the ones kicked out.

"The way I see it, if you don't play all four events, you shouldn't be eligible," said Sabbatini.

"If they played one event for the playoffs in the NBA or baseball or football, you play one [game] and if you decide, OK, I'm going to skip this week, that's a forfeit," he said. "That's the way I see it."

In other words:

"Waaaah! Tiger's too good! Tiger can win the FedEx Cup when he's not trying as hard as I am! Waaaaaah! Tiger makes me feel like an ugly little girl with a unibrow! Waaaah! I want Tiger to hold my hand and take me to get ice cream and tell me I'm a pretty little princess, but he won't, because he's mean! Waaaah!"

I think maybe it's time that Rory Sabbatini stopped talking out loud.

(Also at the bottom: ... I do not feel good about Stephon Marbury or the New York Knicks right now ... the ladies love Najeh Davenport ... and I didn't know this, but Andrew Walter is still alive ... )

Rory Sabbatini: OK for Me to Drop F-Bombs, Not OK for You to Ask Me a Question

Posted: Aug 7th 2007 7:48 AM ET by Michael David Smith (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Golf, The Word

368 COMMENTS

Golfer Rory Sabbatini is a disgrace.

Sabbatini, you'll recall, is the guy who had a fan removed from a tournament last weekend because the fan asked him whether he still thought Tiger Woods was beatable. (Woods was in the process of beating Sabbatini at the time.)

But today the Akron Beacon Journal reports that Sabbatini doesn't hold himself to the same high standards that he holds the fans in Northeastern Ohio to:

Sabbatini's reaction was particularly inappropriate given his own lack of decorum. The sheriff's grandson was among those who heard multiple Sabbatini F-words when Woods chipped in on the ninth hole to essentially seal the win.

So, just to make clear, Rory Sabbatini thinks it's perfectly OK to use the most vulgar word in the English language in front of young fans, but if a fan casually asks Sabbatini whether he has changed his opinion of Tiger Woods, Sabbatini thinks that fan needs to be forcibly removed from the course. Why does the PGA Tour allow this jerk to treat the fans like that?Sorry, No Photos

How Important Was Natalie Gulbis' Win to the LPGA Tour?

Posted: Aug 2nd 2007 10:17 PM ET by Ryan Wilson (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Golf, Women's Sports, The Word

6 COMMENTS

So last week Natalie Gulbis got her first professional win at the Evian Masters. Golf claps all around, right? Well, not quite. Some fans are put off by the 24-year-old showing off her ~~smokin' hot body~~ stunning good looks in men's magazines, on her Golf Channel reality show, or, hell, during tour events.

On the one hand, I can understand the "she's not a good role model for a the little miss junior golfers out there!!" argument. Fair enough. But 12 year-olds probably shouldn't be subscribing to FHM. Just a thought. But whatever, this isn't about me. Yesterday, The Golf Channel "experts" addressed this question on the webtubes: "On a scale of 1-10, how important was Natalie Gulbis' win to the LPGA Tour?" In the spirit of blogger pithiness, I'll just regurgitate the best answer:

Mercer Baggs: "This gives the LPGA even more reason to promote their tour through one of the most visible, attractive and likable players they have. I think a 10 would be having Michelle Wie win and commit herself to playing the tour full time. Love her or loathe her, no one at the moment drives more traffic the LPGA's way than does Wie. "

The Debriefing: My Best 7 Guesses at the PGA Tour's Steroid Abusers

Posted: Jul 19th 2007 9:00 AM ET by mjd (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Golf, The Word

15 COMMENTS

Gary Player thinks there's at least 10 players on the PGA Tour on the juice, but I can only come up with 7 good choices. Player ripped the lid off it yesterday, saying that he had knowledge that at least one PGA Tour professional has, as Gary Sheffield would put it, stuck some steroids in his butt.

"I took an oath prior to him telling me -- I won't tell you where -- but he told me what he did, and I could see this massive change in him," Player said. "And somebody else told me something, that I also promised I wouldn't tell, that verified others had done it."

"I might be way out [on the guess of 10 players using steroids]," Player said. "Definitely not going to be lower, but might be a hell of a lot more."

But Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, and Phil Mickelson don't believe that there's anyone in golf using steroids, and they all dismissed Player much as you would dismiss a drunk old man lying on the sidewalk with a battle of Mad Dog 20/20 in his coat if he told you that the "Walk/Don't Walk" sign on the corner just flashed the message "BRUCE VILANCH IS JESUS."

I, however, see no reason to dismiss the steroid accusations that quickly. Even though there's absolutely no one on tour that looks like they've ever even seen a performance enhancing drug (except for Tiger, but he was this good back when he was scrawny), I think it would be more fun to believe that there's a rampant steroid problem in golf.

So that's what I'm going to do. I've taken the liberty of identifying the guys who I believe to be the most obvious offenders.

(Also at the bottom: A little bit of gender confusion in the swimming pool, Julio Franco gets another job, Yao Ming is not making the People's Republic happy, a review of episode two of The Bronx is Burning, and Stephon Marbury might be losing it ... but he might also be awesome)