Hank Haney; Muppet or funny guy

[chrisd]

I don’t disagree Chris, it’s when the responses get personal or certain posters join in for no other reason than to make childish comments to other posters.
If they have something to say about the subject or discuss the subject, great. Sadly some simply troll and add nothing.

I agree wholeheartedly, once certain posters join in on a thread it's only going one way and I guess that's how they are in their golf club, at work, out with mates (if they still have any).

 

[sunshine]

It’s not the “professionally offended” though is it, the ones taken offence are the LPGA Tour players his sexist/racist comments were aimed at.

This is a bit odd. How can you construe his comments as racist? There are loads of Lee's high up in the rankings, it's just a fact, not a stereotype or even mocking Koreans.

It's not sexist either.

What he has done is demonstrate a lack of interest in the women's game. Which isn't going to endear him to people who are interested in the women's game. And being popular is very important if you want to work in media.... so he has apologised.

It is possible people might be offended by his dismissive attitude. But that is not sexist or racist.

 

[sunshine]

As for whether I think it’s racist, it’s irrelevant, as I’ve said on other threads I was an E&D Officer for over 10 years and one of the first things you learn is not to make judgements or allow your prejudices to cloud the facts.

But you have stated the comments are racist and sexist at least twice on this thread.

 

[Blue in Munich]

I think Haney has been stupid, without any shadow of a doubt, but racist and sexist; really? Some people need a reality check.

As to not qualified for his job, when did you need to know when a women's golf tournament was in order to coach successfully.

Reeks of the professionally offended seeing an opportunity and starting a witch hunt.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

This is a bit odd. How can you construe his comments as racist? There are loads of Lee's high up in the rankings, it's just a fact, not a stereotype or even mocking Koreans.

It's not sexist either.

What he has done is demonstrate a lack of interest in the women's game. Which isn't going to endear him to people who are interested in the women's game. And being popular is very important if you want to work in media.... so he has apologised.

It is possible people might be offended by his dismissive attitude. But that is not sexist or racist.

You’ve taken 3 lines out of 4-5 posts to highlight your point.

Haney had a conversation on the radio.

LPGA Players have took offence at those comments calling them sexist and racist.

Haney issues apology for causing offence.

You are simply putting your opinion on facts.

I’ve stated what Michelle Wie and others took offense at. ie, putting across how they saw it.

Again! You and I are in no position to tell Wie and others they are wrong.

 

[Parsaregood]

You’ve taken 3 lines out of 4-5 posts to highlight your point.

Haney had a conversation on the radio.

LPGA Players have took offence at those comments calling them sexist and racist.

Haney issues apology for causing offence.

You are simply putting your opinion on facts.

I’ve stated what Michelle Wie and others took offense at. ie, putting across how they saw it.

Again! You and I are in no position to tell Wie and others they are wrong.

Point is just being made that the comments were neither sexist or racist and it is completely wrong to say that they were

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I think Haney has been stupid, without any shadow of a doubt, but racist and sexist; really? Some people need a reality check.

As to not qualified for his job, when did you need to know when a women's golf tournament was in order to coach successfully.

Reeks of the professionally offended seeing an opportunity and starting a witch hunt.

The point in bold is not about his ability as a coach, he has a daily Golf chat show on the radio, discussing all things Golf, surely he would know or at least be expected to know when the Ladies No 1 Golf event is taking place.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Point is just being made that the comments were neither sexist or racist and it is completely wrong to say that they were

So send an email to Michelle Wie and others and tell them.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

But you have stated the comments are racist and sexist at least twice on this thread.

Nope, stated that’s how his comments have been interpreted by others.

 

[Parsaregood]

So send an email to Michelle Wie and others and tell them.

I'm not really bothered about the comments in all honesty but to wrongly say something is racist or sexist is out of order. Hank Haney should sue her for slander

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I'm not really bothered about the comments in all honesty but to wrongly say something is racist or sexist is out of order. Hank Haney should sue her for slander

His show lasts 2 hours, he made the comments at the beginning and was made aware of the backlash while still on air, stated he couldn’t remember what he’d said.
"I guess people are taking this as racially insensitive," Haney said." He then apologized "if I offended anyone."
Don’t really see how he could sue someone for slander if he’s apologised.

 

[Blue in Munich]

The point in bold is not about his ability as a coach, he has a daily Golf chat show on the radio, discussing all things Golf, surely he would know or at least be expected to know when the Ladies No 1 Golf event is taking place.

And my point is that his profession is golf coach; his sideline because of his coaching ability is the radio show. Like a number of presenters over here, they don't get to present because of their ability to present, it's because of their ability in another field. The fact that he has somewhere else there to guide him along shows that. He's not presenting the Women's US Open, he's presenting a show about golf in general. Maybe the Women's US Open, and women's golf in general isn't such a big deal stateside as some people would like to think it is.

I wonder how many people on here would have known it's the Women's US Open this week if they hadn't read this thread...

 

[Pin-seeker]

So send an email to Michelle Wie and others and tell them.

Seriously?

 

[howbow88]

Again! You and I are in no position to tell Wie and others they are wrong.

The thing is, we are. Or at the very least we are able to question it. This idea that only potential victims are able to judge what is and isn't offensive is quite absurd.

I'm not a big fan of Haney by the way - the book he wrote was a massive betrayal of confidence, though I guess he was willing to sell that relationship down the river for what would have been a barrel load of cash.

But as mentioned a million times - I cannot see how effectively pointing out that Koreans are dominating the women's game, and that a lot of them are called Lee could ever be sexist or racist. Naive in this day and age maybe, but that's only because of the bizarre need many feel to be offended.

If someone is offended by something, I really don't see that you have to just accept or respect it. You're within your rights to question it if you don't agree, and you may even learn something you didn't realise.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Well this thread went south! I still think at best Haney was narrow in his opinions and silly to put it out there in the context he did and clearly some took it as racist but I don't think that was ever his intent. As to other points like it damaging the "product" being the ladies game, I think the LPGA is in a fairly robust state of health (certainly compared to the LET) and it won't harm it in any way and the US Open this week will over shadow his remarks and showcase the womens game. If there are people looking to take the game up, certainly in the UK, there are lots of opportunities as clubs finally seem to be doing more to embrace females into playing (and the potential money from memberships) and I don't see these comments stopping that for any reason

 

[Slab]

I see he's been suspended

I just think its another (social) media platform that needs to produce constant content and we inevitably end up with lots of people who are not suited to the roles they take up (a guy we might otherwise hear from 4 or 5 times a year is now broadcast globally 5 days a week)

Is he there to inform as an expert or perform as an entertainer

If the former and he truly didn't know names (which I doubt) then he should have simply said 'I don't follow the LPGA Tour closely enough to have an opinion' but that doesn't fit with a role as an expert
If the latter it means he's pretty poor at telling jokes because he doesn't even know his audience

 

[Deleted member 16999]

And my point is that his profession is golf coach; his sideline because of his coaching ability is the radio show. Like a number of presenters over here, they don't get to present because of their ability to present, it's because of their ability in another field. The fact that he has somewhere else there to guide him along shows that. He's not presenting the Women's US Open, he's presenting a show about golf in general. Maybe the Women's US Open, and women's golf in general isn't such a big deal stateside as some people would like to think it is.

I wonder how many people on here would have known it's the Women's US Open this week if they hadn't read this thread...

Only those with Sky.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

The thing is, we are. Or at the very least we are able to question it. This idea that only potential victims are able to judge what is and isn't offensive is quite absurd.

I'm not a big fan of Haney by the way - the book he wrote was a massive betrayal of confidence, though I guess he was willing to sell that relationship down the river for what would have been a barrel load of cash.

But as mentioned a million times - I cannot see how effectively pointing out that Koreans are dominating the women's game, and that a lot of them are called Lee could ever be sexist or racist. Naive in this day and age maybe, but that's only because of the bizarre need many feel to be offended.

If someone is offended by something, I really don't see that you have to just accept or respect it. You're within your rights to question it if you don't agree, and you may even learn something you didn't realise.

I’ve never said anyone has no right to question something they disagree with or that only potential victims are able to judge what is and isn't offensive, what I have said is none of us have the right to tell another person how to think or feel.
We could listen to Hank Haney and his comments, listen to Michelle Wie and her reaction and absolutely judge for ourselves, it still doesn’t make her judgement right or wrong.
If it was possible we could suggest to Hank Haney his comments were badly thought out and we could explain to Michelle Wie the comments were never intended in the way she took them.
Haney apologised as soon as he became aware of the issue (and as I posted early in the thread that should of been the end of it) he did that while still on air, not after his agent or boss’s had out any pressure on him.

 

[howbow88]

I’ve never said anyone has no right to question something they disagree with or that only potential victims are able to judge what is and isn't offensive, what I have said is none of us have the right to tell another person how to think or feel.

If someone told me they felt offended by Haney's comments, I would ask them why. If their explanation was illogical, I would tell them that, and that their feelings were fairly illogical.

Like it or not, we do have the right to tell people what we think of their feelings. What gives you the right to tell anyone otherwise?

 

[Deleted member 16999]

If someone told me they felt offended by Haney's comments, I would ask them why. If their explanation was illogical, I would tell them that, and that their feelings were fairly illogical.

Like it or not, we do have the right to tell people what we think of their feelings. What gives you the right to tell anyone otherwise?

Because it’s your opinion, have I told you or anyone on here that your or their opinion of what he said is wrong? No, no I haven’t.
You can tell Michelle Wie, till the cows come home, IN YOUR OPINION, her feelings are illogical, but that’s it, YOUR OPINION, it doesn’t make you right IN HER OPINION.