Tiger's not happy...

...about Hank Haney's new book, just wait til he sees what Stevie Williams has in store.

Unusual to see Tiger voicing strong opinions in the media, maybe he's opening up more... or maybe the book is worth reading!

What do you think, is this poor form on Haney's part?

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/01/20/tiger-woods-will-not-be-reading-ex-swing-coach-hank-haneys-tell-all-book-2/

Tiger ejaculation is premature, perhaps not for the first time.
He hasn't read the book and there is nothing in advance notices to suggest there's anything negative about Woods, and nothing about his salacious escapades.
Tiger should save his indignation because sooner or later there'll be something published to really make him mad.

Poor form on Haney's part if he reveals anything he came by in confidence, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Good grief, he is a fine one to complain about disobeying someone's trust.

Kwini

I can understand why Tiger would be dismissive of the book and a little annoyed. The only reason Haney has a career beyond coaching, tv shows and writing books, is because of his association with tiger. Haney should be anonymous outside the inner geekdom of avid golf watchers and would do well to remember this.

Anyway for all we know Tiger might be a cultured chap whose reading of a celeb autobiography would provide little pleasure.

Yes, well! I'd give him a little credit if he was to point out the issues he disagreed with but he hasn't even taken the trouble to open the book.

Perhaps he's busy buying chocolate puds.

Kwini

Surely Tigers lawyers or some other hanger on will have read it before it hits the shelves? By the point anything of interest will probably have been removed, although the link above hints at talk of a fear shot.

He hasn't read it and yet he's sounding off? What a plum.

Why does he have to read it to be disapointed? He clearly had a relationship with this guy which has served both of them, but he believes what went on was private.
Presumably the guy was a friend at one stage and Woods feels let down and has said so. What's wrong with that ?
The book will still be printed , people can read it, but it's mainly going to sell because of Woods name and he'd rather that didn't happen. Is he not allowed to give an opinion anymore? Funny when he gives a corporate answer he gets hammered...he speaks his mind and the same happens.

The book isn't finished yet, it doesn't go on sale until the end of March. This is just a PR stunt to build awareness and crank up some sales.

For anyone who's interested, here's Haney's initial interview about the book: http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/7439313/tiger-woods-ex-swing-coach-hank-haney-publish-book?eleven=twelve

Digs

What he should have done was wait until he knew what was in it i.e. read it. Until then, he could have been pretty neutral/non-committal. Now he just looks a bit daft. Again.

If he wanted privacy concerning what went on with him and Haney, I'm sure he could have had Haney sign a non-disclosure agreement. In fact, TW being TW, I'm amazed that wasn't an issue for such an apparent control freak.

Navy

Do you really think the book will go to press without tiger knowing what is in it? And its not like he will have to read it himself.

Don't agree at all NBS, if your default view is that you don't want colleagues writing books he has every right to say that.
If Haney has a right to write the book then Woods has every right to have an opinion about books being written about him, whatever the content.

Diggers

Dont bother, the Tiger hating in this place is just ridiculous and beyond the point of reason.

McLaren wrote:Diggers

Dont bother, the Tiger hating in this place is just ridiculous and beyond the point of reason.

That's right, make a ridiculous statement why don't you?

McLaren wrote:Do you really think the book will go to press without tiger knowing what is in it? And its not like he will have to read it himself.

Eh? Of course he doesn't know what's in it. He knows what could be in it, of course he would, but that's a massive difference. Making statement like he's been doing just sounds silly. Again.

Diggers wrote:Don't agree at all NBS, if your default view is that you don't want colleagues writing books he has every right to say that.
If Haney has a right to write the book then Woods has every right to have an opinion about books being written about him, whatever the content.

Of course he can have an opinion; however, most sensible people would await the actual text and read it before commenting. The problem is, he's doing so without even having seen what Haney has said. Who knows? It might be essentially complementary. The fact he's doing so, in the absence of any (apparent) knowledge of what's in the book, is daft at best.

Yes, imagine that, commenting on someone elses actions when you actually have no idea what they may have said or done.
I mean, who would do such a thing?

The point is he clearly doesn't care if the comments are complimentary , he just doesn't want it to be in the public domain. He has every right to have a view on whether events/history that concerned him get published.

Diggers wrote:The point is he clearly doesn't care if the comments are complimentary , he just doesn't want it to be in the public domain. He has every right to have a view on whether events/history that concerned him get published.

Yes, I suppose so. Still, for someone who liked to control his press conferences etc so much you'd think he would have thought about this sort of thing a little more in advance.

I think if you have a coach who becomes a friend and has stopped at your home, on many occasions, so he knows quite a bit about your private life. To then find out that person has written a book about that time, would p*ss most of us off, I mean no one would like some one to spy on us, and this sounds like what Haney has done.

From all accounts, pre-publication admittedly, it sounds as if Haney has not betrayed confidences.
We won't know for certain until extracts get published but I'd be astonished if Haney was in the same bridge-burning business that Stevie Williams might get up to.
Also, his collaborator is Jaime Diaz who has probably had more access to Tiger than any journalist these past few years. Don't think he'd rattle Tiger's cage either.

Would it have been possible for woods to make any coach or hanger on sign something which said they could not writes books, do tv interviews or anything that would reveal too much about him. I have little knowledge of the US legal system so not sure how feasible this sort of thing is.

Mac,
Tiger usually requires all his "people" to sign confidentiality agreements - apparently he didn't demand that of Haney.
Much ado about nothing I think though, Haney and Jaime Diaz are not in the bridge-burning business.

They might find they are in the bridge burning business Kwini whether they like it or not. Like I said earlier, its not about the content as far as Woods is concerned, its about the concept, he clearly doesnt like the fact anything that could be construed as private gets written. And what he views as private is down to him to decide.
Haney clearly didnt get his blessing... because it wouldnt have been forthcoming...therefore he bridge will be burned, and Tiger has every right to feel that way.
In the grand scheme of things it is indeed much ado about nothing but I cant see Woods changiing his stance on this one whatevers in the book.

Digs

He can say what he likes and feel what he likes; he's perfectly entitled to that. However, the fact he's pontificating before knowing what's in Haney's book just makes him sound silly.

Digs,
Whilst I can see your point, if he's going to bellyache about something harmless, it's almost a catalyst for someone going ahead and spilling every bean in the can.

I wouldn't call it pontificating, he was asked a view and he gave it. Like I said earlier I thought people wanted Woods to speak his mind more.
I just think default position is people will knock him. In this instance all he is doing is standing by how he has been his whole career, which is you don't talk about your relationship with him and expect him to be happy.
In this instance I think he is being entirely consistent and can't see any problem with his statement.

kwinigolfer wrote:Digs,
Whilst I can see your point, if he's going to bellyache about something harmless, it's almost a catalyst for someone going ahead and spilling every bean in the can.

Kwini , I'm sure that will happen anyway one day.

Just another sign of Tigers naievity.

To talk about a lack of professionalism and trust in anyone other than himself is just no longer his domain in which to have any shred of credibilty. The more he puts up his little 'leave me alone I just wanna play golf' facade the more he'll attract it, the more he'll promote books and other media on the matter.

I'd recommend his best line of attack is to take the complete opposite view. Come out with it all, warts and all in a way that there will be no more stories, nothing more than can affect him, nothing more that anyone can come out with. In effect make the whole episode 'boring'.

Until then he'll be putting up this smug and naive front for the rest of his career, tryting to maintain some integrity when it just isnt there. Food for the sharks...

Certain ethics need to followed by a coach going public about a player he coached. This relationship is akin to one between a doctor and a patient. Whether an NDA is in place or not, there are implicit moral principles to abide by.

Without juicy details about Tiger, the book is not going to be interesting and Haney's publishers know that well.

Kwini - Not sure what your sources are but just to put the record straight, there have indeed been reports, and quotes, that the book does actually contain references of a personal nature. Whether these reports are accurate or not, I have no idea and nor do you, but to ignore them is just too convenient.

Taylorman - Do you honestly believe that if Woods wrote his own "tell All" that there would be no more stories....and you call him naive?
That said, I do agree that he needs to choose his own words very carefully, and that includes saying nothing at all sometimes.

The stories will continue as long as there is money to be made, and there may or may not be a grain of truth in any of them. I always find the timing interesting though. Does anyone else think it is mere coincidence that this one broke a week before the first tournament of Woods 2012 campaign?

Hank Haney has the legal right to write the book, but probably not the moral right. At some level not much better than a "kiss and tell". It will all come down to the content.

Tiger is entitled to give his comments at this time. How would we feel if a freind was writing a book about us and we know it would be read by millions.

So long as Hank tells the story from "how he coached the best golfer in the world" point of view then it could be an interesting read. How did Hank cope with the responsibility of changing the best golfer's swing? When the changes did not work did he doubt himself, did he change the approach? How hard does Tiger practice? Where does he practice and what facilities deos he need? What are their practice methods? Do they develop the swing changed together? Who has final say?

When is he ever happy? He's got a bottom lip like Bubba off Forest Gump almost tripping his miserable and sullen demeanour up with every step and even when winning doesn't look to be enjoying himself.

All this talk of non disclousure and the immorality of writing a book on the chump is hilarious. He's just a golfer and there is no hypocratic oath or priest with a penitent. Haney can say whatever he likes.

So Haney can say what he likes but Woods cant voice his own opinion. How doest that work exactly ?

Of course he can say what he likes, and I didn't say Woods couldn't say what he likes in response either, all I asked is "when is he ever happy?".

If I had close to a billion in the bank, I don't think I'd be too fussed about what someone wrote about me, mind you , I'd have the good grace to behave like a decent human being in the first place.

We dont when he is happy because we dont actually know the guy. Something you seem to forget half the time when you are slating him. Just because he doesnt walk around the world grinning like a maniac doesnt mean he is perpetually miserable. You hardly strike me yourself as the kind of bloke who has a grin like a cheshire cat for most of his waking day.

Super,

The morals and behaviour of Tiger, or lack of them, is not relevant when judging if his coach should be writing a book and cashing in on Tiger's celebrity.

Given his coach has made a public announcement that he will be selling a book (I used selling instead of writing as it appears he will have help in the writing the book) then Tiger is entitled to give his views. In Tiger's defence he is being pushed by the Media on the issue and he already gets critism for not giving the media his honest views.

As I said earlier if the coach keeps to the nuts and bolts of coaching the best golfer in the world then for me it would be worth a read and for me it would just stay the right side of the line. From what I have read this is his intension, but there must be a lot of pressure from the publishers to include some aspect's of Tiger's personnal life.

Scottie, as I've already said, Woods is entitled to respond, just as Haney is entitled to write about the loathsome creep.

However, given his rather dubious virtuosity and selacious private life, Woods would have to be a complete idiot to think that people in the know won't have the nous, reason and ability to cash in on it. As I've always contested, Woods isn't a very bright individual, whether it's actually a lack of intelligence or due to a sheltered and cosseted upbringing he's made some poor and rather amateurish decisions in how he chooses to paint his public image, but skeletons are always going to come out of his rather capacious and grim closet and he'd be a moron (he clearly is) to think that it wouldn't.

[quote="super_realist"]Haney is entitled to write about the loathsome creep.quote]

That's my point. Judging the rights and wrongs of Haney's decision to break a confidence should have nothing to do with the morals or behavour of the person he is writing about.

Whoever said it was a confidence?

He was employed to coach him. It wasn't subject ot the official secrets act.
If Woods was so worried about what would be written about him he should have got him to sign something to ensure he couldn't write about it.
So Woods is obviously, stupid, naive and far too trusting, as well as behaving like an idiot.

Can't blame Haney for anything he has written. Perhaps Woods should just have behaved more like an adult, and nothing controversial would have been written about him in the first place.

[quote="super_realist"]Haney is entitled to write about the loathsome creep.[quote]

ScottieD18 wrote:That's my point. Judging the rights and wrongs of Haney's decision to break a confidence should have nothing to do with the morals or behavour of the person he is writing about.

I think it's also a bit naive to believe that the morals of the person have no bearing - if you make a public spectacle of yourself and become reknown for something other than golf, you can't really complain when people cash in and it brings unwanted attention. In this case it seems Haney is only writing about stuff he has personal knowledge of and if Tiger didn't want that happening, he should have put an NDA in place.

On another matter, calling Tiger an idiot for his interaction with the press and public persona is also flawed - I would imagine he has a team of people looking after that and his agent bears some responsibility in this one.

Bob, in my opinion every sportsman ought to be intelligent enough to deal with all matters relating to the media by themselves. If you aren't then you deserve to have stuff written about you if you haven't the common sense to act decently and professionally.

super_realist wrote:Bob, in my opinion every sportsman ought to be intelligent enough to deal with all matters relating to the media by themselves. If you aren't then you deserve to have stuff written about you if you haven't the common sense to act decently and professionally.

S_R not sure I would subscribe to the "you're thick so you deserve it" doctrine, but I certainly do to the "you acted like a banker, so shut up and take it like a man" one.

Exactly, if you behave like a decent chap, then people will treat you as such.

It's impossible to have sympathy for Woods under any measure though. He's brought everything entirely on himself.

Right, so the guy has slept around (wow, how inique does that make him) and therefore has no right to have an opinion as to whether anyone he has worked with in his whole career...people who Im sure were financially well rewarded.....should write about the time they spent together.
As far as I can see from Woods perspective its got nothing to do with whether he acted badly or Haney acted badly etc etc, he would simply just rather people didnt write books about the time they spent with him and has said so.
He hasnt taken any legal action, he has said I wont read it, I dont endorse it, Id rather it wasnt written.
And for that he gets slated. Bizarre.

I think I side with those people who say "let's wait and see what's said".

Mr Haney has already written a few things about his time with Tiger - anecdotes included in his book "Essentials of the Swing" (e.g. grip change and stinger shot). If I recall, the biggest controversy/criticism when this was published was that it didn't include a foreword or any words of encouragement/endorsement from Tiger himself.

Of course he should be able to make comment, but he shouldn't be able to STOP people writing about him just because of who he is, he has no legal right as far as I'm aware to do so as there were no clauses in place as far as we are led to believe.

Woods would be better looking at his own behaviour if he doesn't want people writing negative things about his private life.

It sounds like he's given a measured response which is commendable given his lack of foresight for getting in a situation like that in the first place, even although that was probably written for him too, but he's a simpleton if he thinks that people WON'T write about him and his personal life, because there are ghoulish lickspittles who will love to read that tittle tattle.

What are you talking about banging on about him being simple. How do you know that it got anything to do with his behaviour with Haney, he simply doesnt want books written concerning relationships with him. If they were blowing smoke up his backside....he would still prefer that they were not written. As far as i can see he hasnt made any attempt to stop the book being written, he has said he's not interested in it.
Seriously the amount of hate you have for the guy is not healthy.

Diggers,
I believe Woods is simple because he thought he could bang a 100 women whilst married and that no one would ever find out. I also think he is simple because although he obviously would prefer people not to write about it, he was naive enough to think that no one would.

I think the other Tiger haters on here were suggesting that Tiger was not entitled to say he did not approve of the book or that it would not be worth reading as he had not yet read it. No one suggested he had tried to get the book blocked and he himself has not suggested he will do so. I think stating that you do not approve of any ex hanger on writing a book about you is a fair position to take. As I said earlier Haney has gotten TV work and a lot of money through Tiger and maybe he should leave it at that. It is a real shame Haney did not ask Tiger if he minded whether he wrote a book about a private and personal relationship.

And people talk about Tigers morals, Haney seems to have lost his own.



Super

As to tiger being stupid he attended Stanford and is known on the tour as a smart guy.

Mac, Haney wasn't under any obligation to ask Woods for permission. If Woods wanted I'm sure he could write a book about Haney, should anyone be interested.

Mac, it's well known that sporting ability usurps academic ability in terms of gaining admission to American insititutions. Anyway, I wasn't talking about his academic credentials, just his monumental lack of common sense and apparent naivity that has plagued the last few years for him.