Officially Thin-skinned

On Sunday, at the W.G.C.-Bridgestone Invitational, Padraig Harrington was leading Tiger Woods by a stroke at the start of the par-5 16th hole in the last round of the tournament. They were on top of the leaderboard at the time, and the last pairing on the course. Harrington was leading at the start of the round, lost the lead, and had regained it by the 16th hole. Woods and Harrington are arguably the two best golfers in the world right now. Basically, this is as good as it gets in golf, outside of a major tournament.

Then an official stepped in. He told Woods and Harrington that they were playing slowly and were "on the clock."

Woods then sends his tee shot way left. Harrington sends his way right. Woods recovers and birdies the hole. Harrington implodes and posts a snowman, an 8, on the hole. Eventually, because of this hole, Woods won the tournament.

Woods then had this to say about being put on the clock, “That certainly affected how Paddy played the hole, and the outcome of the tournament. He was in control of the event. He was 1 up with three holes to go and he had a par 5. And you know, when we were put on the clock, it certainly changed everything.”

As Kornheiser and Wilbon said on PTI on Monday, this was very magnanimous of Woods. He certainly did not have to say that. In fact, it is somewhat out of character for Woods.

Then it came out that the PGA may or may not have fined Woods for his comments. There are conflicting reports about this, and Woods maintains that he has not been fined.

To me the point is that they were considering fining him at all. I'm a little sick of officials, refs, umpires, etc., being so sensitive. It has gotten to the point that in some leagues, NBA I'm looking at you, if a player or a coach says anything at all in the media about the officiating in a game, they get fined. Their comments don't have to be derogatory, angry, or even pointed. Any comment equals a fine.

This has lead to officials inserting themselves into games and affecting the outcomes. There is an old cliche that says the best thing an official can be is invisible. No one ever congratulates a ref after a game for calling it correctly. Refs are only talked about when they blow a big call or make some kind of spectacle of themselves. An example of this happened over the weekend too. MLB umpire Ed Rapuano ejected Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino, from centerfield (!), for raising his arms over some ball and strike calls.

Really Ed? You're that sensitive that you can't take a guy raising his arms over a call you made? You're umping a game in Philly my friend. Raised arms are the least of your worries. If you're calling a bad game, as most reports say you were, you should be prepared to hear some ornate and vulgar swearing involving you, your wife, your mom, and your kids.

Officials are human and make mistakes. They should be prepared to hear it from the fans, players, and coaches when they make these mistakes. That is the nature of sports.

Take your lumps, don't cry over every little comment, and move on.