If you can't say something good...

Anyone looking to make a case why a 16 year old should stay in school and why there should be an oral exam component to turning professional in any endeavor will be bolstered by the following quote. I hope no one finds this offensive, but incredibly poor speaking skills are a pet peeve of mine.

ESPN’s Charlie Riemer asked Michele Wie to describe her nine over par first round at today’s Sony Open.

(Please read aloud and you will see how painful this is to your ears.)

“Yeah, I mean… ya know, its just…. It… just it… was not my day, I mean, you know, I just, couldn’t just get things going, I mean whenever I wanted to try and do something it uh would just kinda backfired at me and um, ya know, I just kinda got uh ah started on the wrong foot with that three putt and ya know, ya know, it was kinda of tough to kinda get back with the hard conditions, but you never know I might shoot something crazy tomorrow.”

Translation: (30 year old male cliché version)

“It was not my day and I was unable to get anything going. Every time I tried to get my round back on track it would backfire. I got off to a bad start three putting the first hole and it was pretty tough out there today. Who knows, I might go low tomorrow, we’ll just have to see.”

Nike and Sony should take a percentage of the $10,000,000 and hire a grammar tutor or communication instructor to help this poor girl with her speaking skills. I struggle with the English language to some degree. I have spell check and my wife to help keep me in line. Wie will need some serious help if something other than her clubs is going to do the talking. I cut her some slack because of her age in 2004 and 2005. If she is a pro, she can’t continue to talk like a hack. She needs to spend less time on the golf course and more time on her course work at school.

The only positive of Wie playing poorly is a possible backlash pushing Wie back to women’s golf, where she belongs. She is a fantastic talent, but she has no business playing on the PGA Tour.