Daly is taking fire today because he used his Twitter account to post a newspaper reporter's cell phone number, to call that reporter a "jerk," and to urge his followers to call the reporter. Presumably not to wish the reporter a good night and a pleasant tomorrow.
Here's the chain the events:
- Back in 2005, Daly filed a lawsuit against Morris Publishing, a media company, claiming libel.
- As part of that lawsuit, the PGA Tour was forced to turn over its personnel file on Daly. That file thus became public record.
- Last year, the lawsuit was thrown out, and Daly was ordered to pay Morris' court fees.
- On Tuesday, Gary Smits, a reporter for the Florida Times-Union - a newspaper owned by Morris Publishing - had an article detailing the contents of that personnel file: 456 pages of transgressions by Daly (more on that in a sec).
- Late Tuesday, Daly posted three tweets that included attacks on the reporter and the reporter's cell phone number.
- Early Wednesday, Daly removed the tweets.
But the tweets have been saved for posterity by multiple sources, including the Associated Press, which reports this is how they read:
- "here's the JERK who writes NON-NEWS article on debut of my show--CALL & FLOOD his line & let's tell him how WE feel" (followed by Smits' phone number)
- "Over the haters--To me, this isn't journalism, it's paparazzi-like gossip. Please try harder to find some REAL news next time Gary."
- "Gnight ALL but here's GARY SMITS cell number in case you didn't get it ... non sports writer." (again followed by phone number)
Daly later told the AP in a text message that he considered the reporter's phone number public record. And he's right: Smits' office number appeared at the bottom of his article about Daly's disciplinary file; and others have noted that Smits' voice mail message includes his cell phone number, the number Daly posted on Twitter.
That doesn't excuse Daly, however. When you call someone names and urge your fans, in an angry tone, to "FLOOD his line" and "tell him how WE feel" you're inviting trouble. Besides, it's just childish.
Which describes much of Daly's behavior that is detailed in that PGA Tour disciplinary file. Read the original Times-Union article for the full rundown; the capsule version includes:
- Seven times Daly has been ordered into alcohol rehab or counseling.
- Twenty-one times the Tour has cited Daly for "failure to give best efforts" (in other words, Daly just stopped trying on the course - and I think it's safe to say he's done that well more than 21 times in his career).
- Daly has been suspended five times.
- He has been placed on probation six other times.
- He has been fined close to $100,000.
All that discipline, and Daly is still ... Daly. One of the most popular players on tour, and also one of the most irresponsible. (I guess we can't call him THE most irresponsible anymore after Tiger Woods' troubles ...)
So, what do you think: Was Daly wrong to post the reporter's phone number? Should the PGA Tour add a 457th page to Daly's file with another fine or suspension? Is tweeting a good idea for professional golfers? Or at least for John Daly?
A forum member has started a thread in our Golf Forum; add your thoughts there, or in the comments to this post.
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More on Daly:
Comments
My comment is very simple and it’s not even at JD. I think the writer of this article, Brent Kelly, is a just a xxxx-head for reporting non-news and continuing to fan the flames around Daly. Why don’t you , Brent, report on real golfing news and just lay off JD? You’ll never win a Pulitzer for that reporting; in fact, About.com may lose some subscribers over your dribble. Oh yeah, mention that to your boss, if you have the cojones. Now that would be good reporting.
I agree with the first writer.
Also SLEAZE writers who publish such crap should have their lights punched out.
We start with the premise of freedom of the press. We then state the pen is mightier than the sword. However, when a sport’s writer goes out of his way to read close to 500 pages concerning an individual who had taken a civil action against his employer one must examine the motive for the article he wrote and had published. The same with the way the press went after Tiger Woods, and those baseball players linked to steroids. The press hides behind the public has a right to know. Who gave these reporters the right to determine what the public wants to read. One must never forget that he/she has determined that he/she has this right then he/she also has a duty to be fair, just and morally and legally responsible. I mus conclude that the sport’s writer went beyond that which should be consider good
You live in a Free country. If reporters can write about the “Poor little Rich Guy”. He can certainly reciprocate. Good for him! I don’t even like the guy.
Pat and John, you guys are interested enough in this “crap” to read this “crap” and comment, so you aren’t all that High and Mighty!