Gary Player’s son thinks his dad should decline the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump.
On Wednesday afternoon chaos hit the United States Capitol Building, resulting in the deaths of four Americans. On Thursday morning a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony was scheduled to take place just blocks away.
After the original ceremony in March was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player were slated to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump at 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday morning in the East Room of the White House. Babe Didrikson Zaharias is also receiving the award posthumously.
One of Player’s six children – his eldest son, Marc – thinks his nine-time major champion father should politely decline the award, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
I wish my father would simply & politely decline this “award” at this time. Tone deaf. In denial. Wrong!!
This isn’t the first time Player and his son have publicly butted heads.
“It is with great sadness that both my personal and business relationship with my father has deteriorated to the extent that it has,” said Marc in a June 2020 story that detailed an ownership and naming rights dispute between Player and the Gary Player Group, his company operated by Marc.
When news outlets called the presidential race for Joe Biden on Saturday, Donald Trump was at his golf course in northern Virginia.
When news outlets called the presidential race for Joe Biden on Saturday, President Donald Trump was at his golf course in northern Virginia, just a few miles from the White House.
The president left the White House around 10 a.m. ET with golf-appropriate shoes, a windbreaker and a white Make America Great Again hat. His motorcade drove by groups of the president’s supporters as well as people holding pro-Biden signs, including one that read “Good Riddance.”
He arrived at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, at 10:39 a.m. The race was called roughly an hour later.
The Associated Press snapped a photo of the president and his golf group.
Donald Trump plays golf at the Trump National Golf Course on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, in Sterling, Va. Photo by Patrick Semansky/Associated Press
It’s hard to say what most disappointed fans of Jack Nicklaus upset by his endorsement of Donald Trump: that he held such a view, or that he voiced it.
It’s difficult to discern what most disappointed the fans of Jack Nicklaus who declared themselves upset by his endorsement of Donald Trump: that Nicklaus held such a view, or that he voiced it. Because neither can be at all considered a surprise.
Expressions of shock that a wealthy, 80-year-old Florida country clubber supports Trump demand a particularly melodramatic strand of pearl-clutching, but that didn’t deter critics who rounded on Nicklaus in an episode that exposed ample willful delusions to go around.
Start with those golf fans who apparently assumed that the on-course qualities for which they lionized the 18-time major champion—winning with class, losing with grace, abiding professionalism and decency—would be equally evident in his choice of presidential candidate. That such is not the case says less about Nicklaus than about the fatuous nature of sports idolatry, in which credulous people expect their heroes to embody virtues entirely unrelated to their high accomplishment in the arena.
Nicklaus readily exposed his firmly-held fantasies too, ranging from his debatable assertion that Trump “worked for the average person” to his laughably feverish contentions that No. 45 is “diverse” and America is hurtling toward socialism. In a subsequent interview with the Palm Beach Post, he went on to suggest hospitals are deliberately exaggerating COVID deaths for financial gain and that his own case was cured in two days by taking hydroxychloroquine, a controversial cure pushed by the president despite numerous clinical studies indicating no benefit from the drug.
Jack Nicklaus with his wife Barbara at the 2020 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio on Sunday, July 19, 2020. Photo by USA TODAY Sports
This kind of outlandish tripe from a respected public figure would usually attract the social media firing squad, but Kim Kardashian’s birthday party hardships drew the harshest volley of shots in another direction.
In all of this, two truths are absolute: Nicklaus is free to believe what he wants and to support whomever he chooses for public office; and he is not immune to scrutiny and criticism for his positions.
Nicklaus has long been a vocal Republican and no wallflower when it comes to election campaigns. In 2012, he rallied in Ohio for Mitt Romney and admitted that he had always wondered if his refusal to campaign in his home state for Gerald Ford had cost Ford the ’76 election. The preening self-regard a man must possess to think his personal absence might have cost someone the presidency is awesome to consider.
There is a yawning chasm between supporting Romney and supporting Trump, but Nicklaus is not alone among Hall of Famers in bridging that character gap as easily as one would a stream on a mediocre golf course. Nancy Lopez was equally full-throated in her support for Trump last week. Faced then with criticism on social media for her stance, she tweeted: “I never realized that people are truly that angry and mean.”
Lopez apparently doesn’t devote much time to watching the man she endorsed or her fellow supporters.
Whatever presidential preference Nicklaus or Lopez expressed risked causing rancor in a hyper-polarized environment. And regardless of their choice in candidates, their unimpeachable careers have earned both the right to be taken seriously when they speak on issues of integrity, honesty, character and fealty to the rules. But it’s wishful thinking to believe they won’t find themselves shadowed by charges of hypocrisy given their enthusiastic support for a man manifestly destitute of any of those qualities.
Just this weekend, it was widely reported that Trump has told confidantes that he will declare victory on election night if early returns show him “ahead.” If that charlatan standard were applied in golf, Nicklaus might have twice as many majors and Lopez a handful of U.S. Women’s Opens.
Scorecards and ballots both require counting. But then, the consistent application of standards isn’t much in vogue in politics or sport these days. If it were, the people who rushed to Nicklaus’s defense when he was assailed for expressing his views would have extended the same courtesy to Colin Kaepernick.
Whatever happens on November 3 and in its aftermath, the stain of Trump will not be erased. In America or in golf.
John Daly and Kid Rock were special guests of President Donald Trump at Belmont University in Nashville on Thursday night.
John Daly and Kid Rock were among the special guests of President Donald Trump at the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Practicing social distancing, Daly was seated three seats away from Kid Rock at the Curb Event Center on Thursday night. Daly was sporting a USA flag on his sport coat with the stars on the right side and stripes on the left.
Daly and Rock didn’t initially have masks on but put them on after being asked to do so.
Daly and Trump are good friends. In August 2019, the two played a round of golf President Trump at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. Daly later tweeted he is “proud to be an American, especially with this man leading our country. One of the greatest days of my life!”
John Daly and Kid Rock put on masks after being asked to wear them at the final presidential debate between U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at Belmont University in Nashville on Oct. 22, 2020. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“(My urologist) said there’s an 85 percent chance it comes back. So I’ve got to go back and see him in three months. They will probably have to cut it out again,” Daly said, according to Golf Channel. “It’s probably going to come back, and then another three months that you don’t know. You just don’t know.”
Despite environmentalists’ objections, President Trump wins council approval to build a second 18 holes on previously protected dunes.
President Donald Trump has final approval to build another golf course near Aberdeen, Scotland.
The Aberdeen council on Friday gave Trump the go-ahead for a new 18-hole layout, according to the Associated Press. It will be constructed right next to the original Trump International Scotland course on his Menie Estate, north of Aberdeen, which opened in 2012.
It will be dubbed MacLeod after Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod.
The plans were originally approved in September, but the AP reports that “Friday’s decision came from the larger Aberdeen council and is expected to be final.”
Local conservationists are not happy.
“The council sided with Trump International,” said Bob Ward with the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. “They accepted the economic case over the environmental case.”
Trump International Golf Links Scotland … has been blamed for badly damaging the spectacular dunes system at nearby Foveran Links, an official site of special scientific interest.
“This decision gives a green light to the Trump organisation to further vandalise and destroy Scotland’s natural heritage,” said Ward. “Aberdeenshire council and the Scottish government have ignored the objections of Scottish Natural Heritage about potential further damage to world-famous sand dunes that are supposed to be protected as a site of special scientific interest, but which have already been partially destroyed by the building of the first golf course.”
The report by the AP states: “The existing golf course and luxury hotel at the estate have not been profitable since they opened.”
Players have tweeted out ‘#WeWantToPlay’, in response to season cancelations. President Trump showed his support for the movement on Monday.
College football has been a circus in the past 24 hours, with rumors of the Power Five conferences canceling their seasons. In response, players from across the country have tweeted out ‘#WeWantToPlay’, showing their desire to have a 2020 college football season.
The biggest endorsement of all came on Monday afternoon when President Trump quote tweeted Lawrence’s original tweet. Support from such a figure such as the president will massively help the players, coaches, and administration who are in favor of having a football season of sorts.
“The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be canceled. #WeWantToPlay,” said President Trump.
There is still a long way to go for college football to happen this season. The players involved with #WeWantToPlay are giving it their best shot, outlining guidelines for how it can be done.
President Trump wants college football to be played in 2020.
The opinions are flying when it comes to whether to play college football. President Donald Trump chimed in Monday when it came to the debate because of COVID-19 and its impact:
President Trump tweeted he was too focused on the pandemic to throw out a first pitch at a Red Sox-Yankees game.
The New York Yankees tried to give President Donald Trump an opportunity to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. Team president Randy Levine invited the POTUS to do so Aug. 15 before the Bronx Bombers faced the Boston Red Sox.
At first, it was hopeful. However, the chance to see the president’s arm was doused — for now — as he tweeted Sunday his focus on COVID-19 will prevent him from doing such.
Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I won’t be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15th. We will make it later in the season!
The Jets have responded to allegations against team owner Woody Johnson.
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Hours after allegations of racism, sexism and corruption by team owner Woody Johnson were reported, the Jets have have released a statement in response to the story.
Johnson, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to be the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom in November 2017, was investigated by State Department watchdogs for a number of allegations while on the job, according to reports from The New York Times and CNN. Jets Wire went over the numerous allegations against Johnson, which included but were not limited to:
Asking the UK government to move the British Open golf tournament to Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland, a move that would have benefited the president’s personal finances.
Questioning why African Americans would want a Black History Month, resisting an event in which he asked if the crowd would be comprised of “a whole bunch of black people,” and referring to Black fathers leaving their families as the “real challenge.”
Objectifying, excluding and belittling women and women’s related events on numerous occasions.
The Jets released a statement in response to the story on Wednesday evening. It included a denial Johnson had tweeted from his official ambassador account earlier in the day.
The NFL had already acknowledged the allegations but deferred comment to the State Department. CNN reported that a spokesperson said the State Department stands by Johnson. President Trump, meanwhile, denied asking Johnson about securing the British Open for his resort.
The allegations against the Jets owner have captured the attention of players past and present, including current Jets safety Jamal Adams. Referring to Johnson’s status as owner, Adams called for a change at the top in a pair of tweets.
The Johnson story unfolds as the NFL reckons with its handling of racial and social injustice and sexual harassment against women. Since George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, the league has announced donations meant to combat systemic racism, among other initiatives. The Washington football team successfully was pressured into retiring its nickname, a racist slur for Native Americans. That organization, however, has since come under fire for allegations of sexual harassment from 15 women, thus igniting an industry-wide discussion on how women are treated in sports.
The Jets issued a statement on social and racial injustice in early June saying that they hoped to create “positive change” within different communities, though the team did not announce specific plans for achieving that.
A billionaire Republican donor, Johnson, 73, initially supported Jeb Bush in the 2016 Republican presidential primary before backing Trump. The heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune had zero diplomatic experience before being named ambassador. When his term began in 2017, Johnson handed day-to-day operations of the Jets to his younger brother, Christopher.
Johnson’s three-year term as ambassador ends later this year.
Jets owner Woody Johnson has denied allegations of racism, sexism and corruption while serving as the United States ambassador to the UK.
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Jets owner Woody Johnson has denied allegations of racism, sexism and corruption while serving as the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Johnson, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in November 2017, was investigated by State Department watchdogs for a number of allegations, according to reports from The New York Times and CNN. Jets Wire broke down the numerous allegations against Johnson, which included but were not limited to:
Asking the UK government to move the British Open golf tournament to Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland, a move that would have benefited the president’s personal finances.
Questioning why African Americans would want a Black History Month, resisting an event in which he asked if the crowd would be comprised of “a whole bunch of black people,” and referring to Black fathers leaving their families as the “real challenge.”
Objectifying, excluding and belittling women and women’s related events on numerous occasions.
“I have followed the ethical rules and requirements of my office at all times,” Johnson wrote. “These false claims of insensitive remarks about race and gender are totally inconsistent with my longstanding record and values.”
As of Johnson’s tweet, the Jets had yet to release a statement on the story. The NFL is aware of it but deferred comment to the State Department. CNN reported that a spokesperson said the State Department stands by Johnson.
The story has captured the attention of players past and present, including current Jets safety Jamal Adams. Referring to Johnson’s status as owner, Adams called for a change at the top in a pair of tweets.
The allegations against Johnson come at a time when the NFL is reckoning with its handling of racial and social injustice and sexual harassment against women. In the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, the league has announced donations meant to combat systemic racism, among other initiatives. The Washington football team successfully was pressured into retiring its nickname, a racist slur for Native Americans. That organization, however, has since come under fire for allegations of sexual harassment from 15 women, thus sparking an industry-wide discussion of how female employees are treated in the world of sports.
The Jets issued a statement on social and racial injustice in early June saying that they hoped to create “positive change” within different communities, though the statement did not address specific plans on how the organization would do so.
A billionaire Republican donor, Johnson, 73, initially backed Jeb Bush in the 2016 Republican presidential primary before supporting Trump. The heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune had no prior diplomatic experience before being named ambassador. When his term began in 2017, Johnson relinquished day-to-day operations of the Jets to his younger brother, Christopher.
The elder Johnson’s three-year term as ambassador ends later this year.
