Gary Benz
Gary Benz is a life long Cleveland area resident. He has suffered, along with the rest of us, through every bad play, player and team to grace the Cleveland sports team. He has spent more time and money than he cares to remember on Cleveland sports teams with nary a championship to show, save for the 1964 NFL Championship. He hasn't yet, however, given up hope, despite what he might say. A journalist by degree, Gary left that lucrative field for a more pedestrian and lower stress career in the law.
He also writes for his own blog, which can be accessed at www.nextyearagain.blogspot.com
If you heard about Andrew Giuliani’s lawsuit against Duke University after he was kicked off the golf team and immediately thought about Cosmo Kramer, you’re hardly alone. If you take the time to actually read the lawsuit, you’ll be even more convinced that, if anything, Kramer’s lawsuit had more merit.
As you may recall, Kramer sued Sue Ellen Mishke, the “O Henry” candy bar heiress, when he injured his shoulder after crashing his car into a lamp post. Kramer was happily distracted by Mishke walking down the street wearing only a bra. At the trial, Kramer claimed the injury stunted his dream of joining the senior golf tour. The trial ultimately got derailed when Stan the Caddy advised Kramer to have Mishke try on the bra. It didn’t fit. Mishke walked and Kramer’s dream of a pro career was derailed.
Giluiani looks to be headed for a similar fate, without the side benefit of seeing Mishke parade by in her bra.
The Bridgestone Invitational arrives for its yearly visit to Firestone Country Club next week absent two notable players, Tiger Woods and John Daly. While the absence of Woods, who has turned Firestone into his own personal playground the last several years, will certainly be noticed, the absence of John Daly is mostly a relief.
Daly, who competed at last weekend’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, has become a bloated car wreck of a person and a player. The fact that he’s mostly an afterthought on the PGA Tour is truly addition by subtraction that most players would gladly admit. He’s been a distraction by any measure and about as poor a representative of pro golf as you can imagine. And that was before the video of him playing shirtless at a Branson, Missouri course made its predictable trek through the internet.
There will always be a segment of the population that considers Daly a refreshing alternative to the rather staid, almost automaton nature of most pro golfers. More is the pity because all that mentality does is enable Daly to continue to play the doofus unabated and put off such minor matters as maturity and self-discipline for another day. If you think that’s harsh, consider the unfortunate exhibition he put on at the Open Championship.
