The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Today's winners are Golf World magazine and its editor Geoff Russell. They get the award for their February 16th 2009 issue which contained a preview of the LPGA Tour. The US based Ladies Professional golf tour began play in Hawaii last Feb 12th.

Why do I give Golf World and Geoff Russell the Knucklehead. It is the untimeliness of their preview issue. The magazine came out last week, the same week as play some subscribers like myself didn't get the preview till yesterday or three days after the first tournament of the year was already completed.

Golf world rewards its customers by giving them week old news. Its a sports news publication, and all the tournament reports they give are almost a week old by the time a reader sees them. That's understandable. What is not understandable is why a Tour preview issue had to be late?

In the past Golf World did their preview in the magazine they reached subscribers anywhere from 3-7 days before the first tournament of the year was played.(Check out the date of last year's, February 8th) This year we got a golf course architecture when the LPGA preview should have come instead. Golf architecture can be talked about anytime, that news rarely becomes dated.

I emailed Russell when I saw the LPGA preview was late, he said it was coming in the next issue. When I told him that would arrive too late for subscribers, I got no reply. This is my reply now, as will be the cancellation of my subscription when it comes up for renewal. I should have ended it long ago. I learn more about ladies professional golf from bloggers like Bruce, Ryan, and Ken than I do from Golf World where the writer who most often writes about the LPGA, Ron Sirak, I've shown to be a complete idiot on more than one occasion. Take for instance when he chose a golfer to win the LPGA Championship who wasn't even in the field.

For not giving their subscribers their money's worth, I name Golf World magazine and its editor Geoff Russell today's Knuckleheads of the Day.

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is the Korea Times and cartoonist Stephane Peray. They get the award for the following political cartoon.

GI at ROK Drop does an excellent job of summing up why this is a Knucklehead winner-

The cartoonist is making fun of the bushfires in the Australian state of Victoria by trying to blame them on global warming. Global warming is not what started the bushfires because most of the fires were started by arsonists on the hottest day of the year in Victoria. The fires were started near towns which caused many people to die in their cars as they had no time to escape which is what this cartoonist is making fun of.

This cartoonist is not the only one that has been pushing this global warming nonsense as Greenies in Australia have been saying the same thing to include Australian Greens Parliament Member Bob Brown. These people are disgusting and revolting and should be ashamed on themselves.

It is disgusting ,revolting, in horrible bad taste and after an uproar, the Korea Times pulled cartoon. Its too late so far as I am concerned, I name the Korea Times and Stephane Peray today's Knuckleheads of the Day.

Note- If you go to the hyperlink for Peray, you'll see it is he who takes credit for the cartoon.

The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Today's winners are the New York Newsday newspaper and its reporter, James T Madore. In an article about new NY Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, Madore wrote-

Only two of Gillibrand's rivals for the Senate job, Suozzi and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, attended her rollout. The stage instead was filled with other representatives, state officials and a few Republicans, including former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, of Lido Beach. A Paterson spokesman said D'Amato was invited as one of only two living former senators. (The other is Clinton, who is now secretary of state and was unable to attend.)

If this was supposed to be a NY state politics quiz, Newsday and Madore just flunked it. I'm a Florida resident and can name every Senator from New York state going back to 1970. One of whom is James Buckley, who is very much alive. He even has a website.

A reporter and a newspaper who take the job seriously of covering politics should have known this off the top of their head, or bothered to check the facts. Since they did neither, I name New York Newsday newspaper and its reporter, James T Madore, today's Knuckleheads of the Day.

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Golf World writer Tim Rostaforte. He gets the award for the following-

Earl Woods would have cried, said Tiger. He would have cried remembering stories such as the one Golf Digest senior writer Jaime Diaz wrote in the New York Times on Nov. 9, 1990. The first three paragraphs paint a different picture than the press release issued Oct. 16 on Tigerwoods.com, when Aronimink was announced as host of Tiger's tournament:

The executive director of the PGA of America said yesterday that Aronimink Golf Club was right to withdraw as host of the 1993 P.G.A. Championship rather than risk a repeat of the furor that arose this year at Shoal Creek.

*****

Just to give the Tiger-AT&T announcement another layer of historical perspective, Woods was 17 at the time of Diaz's article. He had just won his third straight USGA Boys Junior title.

The Diaz article was indeed written on November 9, 1990. Here's a link to it. However Tiger wasn't 17 years old or a three time USGA Boys Junior champ at the time. Woods was 14 years old, and his first Boys Junior title was still almost a year away.

Tim isn't done screwing up yet.

For a city with such a rich tradition in golf, the Philadelphia market has been displaced on the PGA Tour calendar. The area hosted the SEI Pennsylvania Classic in 2000 and 2002. Before that the IVB Philadelphia Golf Classic was played at Whitemarsh Valley GC in Chestnut Hill in 1970s, and was won by headliners Billy Casper (1970), Tom Weiskopf (71-73), Hubert Green (74), Tom Kite (76) and Jack Nicklaus (78).

The IVB Philadelphia Golf Classic was a PGA Tour event from 1963 to 1980 not just the 70's. Rostaforte mistakenly says Tom Weiskopf won the tournament from 1971 to 1973, which is wrong because JC Snead won in Philadelphia in 1972. That could be chalked up as a typo but the real screwup is omitting The King Arnold Palmer from the list of great former IVB winners. Palmer won the inaugural event in 1963.

I probably shouldn't expect too much accuracy from anyone writing at Golf World. Alone one of their editors. Tim Rostaforte's sloppy reporting earns him today's Knucklehead of the Day.

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is the Sun-Sentinel newspaper. They get the award for the following.



Exhibit 233 of Hurricane hysteria South Florida style. The Sun-Sentinel is the worst so far as the three major daily newspapers go down here. It was announced yesterday that the Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, and Miami Herald will start sharing stories. Will they share my awards too? Not in this case, the Sun-Sentinel newspaper is today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Hat tip- Rick at SFDB

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is David Mercer of Associated Press. He gets the award for the following.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Ji Young Oh has won the LPGA State Farm Classic, making a birdie on the first playoff hole to beat Yani Tseng.

Oh made a par on the first playoff hole. When a journalist makes a mistake like this, you have to wonder if they are even at the event. Was Mercer writing his report from some sports bar in Springfield Illinois or the press area at the State Farm Classic?

Why doesn't AP hire me to cover ladies pro golf? At least I can get simple facts straight, instead of outright stupidity like this or picking a player to win a tournament they aren't playing in. Plus I can use some imagination when covering the sport, how often is ladies professional golf been compared to a Marx brothers routine? I've written straight news accounts too of play. Maybe I don't have a journalism degree, but like I said earlier, I can get simple facts straight.

AP did get around to fixing the embarrassing mistake, but I took a screen capture for posterity's sake. David Mercer of Associated Press is today's Knucklehead of the Day.

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Tampa Tribune sports writer Mick Elliott. He was covering the US Women's Open last weekend. In an article on the last round of play, Elliott writes-

Her(Inbee Park) best finish before Sunday's victory came earlier this season when she tied for second in Portland after a final-round 64

The Portland tournament Mick is referring to was last year, not this year. Once again a golf writer falls flat on his face getting a simple fact straight.

That's the secondary reason for Elliott getting the Knucklehead award. The main cause is this sentence.

Sweden's Helen Alfredsson finished second, four shots behind Park's winning 9-under 283, while Lewis was joined by South Koreans In-Kyung Kim and Angela Park in third place at 4 under.

Since when is Angela Park South Korean? Oh she's of Korean heritage, but born in Brazil and never lived her life in South Korea. More importantly, she became a US citizen this month.

Actually, she has taken an oath, too. The reigning LPGA Rookie of the Year became a United States citizen earlier this month, attending a massive naturalization ceremony at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Along with about 5,000 other teeming, beaming immigrants.

Unlike the vast majority of international athletes competing in this country, Park went through weeks of preparation for the tests required of new citizens, exams most of us homegrown sons and daughters of Uncle Sam would butcher beyond comprehension.

Angela has taken the time to become an American citizen. She therefore earns the right to be called an American, not South Korean a country she has only visited on vacation or when golf career requires it. Park has been living in the US since age 9, she's 19 now. I may also add this to further cement Angela's status as an American.

When the family relocated, the Parks made it a point to become fast immersed in the culture and traditions, which in her case, included golf. Angela, the youngest of four kids, has three brothers -- all of them have already passed the difficult U.S. naturalization exam.

More impressive, two of her brothers are in the armed services -- one in the Marines, another in the Navy.

"My dad is so proud of that," Angela said. "It was such a long journey for him, to Brazil, to the U.S., so for us to become citizens, he took great pride in that."

Mr. Park has a lot to be proud of between his sons serving in their adopted country's military plus Angela being last year's LPGA Rookie of the Year.

I wrote Mick Elliot yesterday, this was his reply.

Angela Park’s parents both are South Korean. She was born while they were living in Basil. I think it would be an insult to her not to acknowledge her natural heritage.

By Mick Elliott's rules, I'm Polish because I got Polish blood in my family(Paternal Great Great Grandfather) and been there on vacation. Don't you just love the way Mick Elliott spells Brazil?

Angela Park has earned the right to be called an American, and Mick Elliott of the Tampa Tribune has earned the right to be called today's Knucklehead of the Day.

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is announcer Bob Costas. Speaking at a sports auction this week, Costas said he couldn't understand what compelled nonjournalists to seek a forum for their opinions. Barry Jackson wrote this at today's Miami Herald.

Costas, speaking before he emceed (and donated $50,000) at Tuesday's Make-a-Wish sports auction at the Broward County Convention Center, doesn't understand what compels so many nonjournalist sports fans to seek a forum for their opinions.

Ever heard of free speech Bob? We're all welcome to have opinions and to write them down on paper or write them on the internet. It's a free world after all.

That is just a small taste of what Costas thinks about sports bloggers. There's more.

''Today, I saw on ESPN a poll about which Western Conference teams would not make the playoffs,'' Costas said. ``Well, 46 percent said the Denver Nuggets, which has zero percent influence on anything. No reasonable person who cares about the NBA should care about that. Who has the time or the inclination to do this, even if you're sitting on your computer? Why would you weigh in on it?''

Who would have the time or inclination? A NBA basketball fan after a hard day of work, they may want to prognosticate on who will make the next playoffs. Just a little over a month ago I wrote two posts on who I thought may make the NHL playoffs.

Why would we weigh in on it? It's a free world and we're sports fans.

Bob goes on.

''I understand with newspapers struggling and hoping to hold on to, or possibly expand their audiences, I understand why they do what they do,'' Costas said. 'But it's one thing if somebody just sets up a blog from their mother's basement in Albuquerque and they are who they are, and they're a pathetic get-a-life loser, but now that pathetic get-a-life loser can piggyback onto someone who actually has some level of professional accountability and they can be comment No. 17 on Dan Le Batard's column or Bernie Miklasz' column in St. Louis. That, in most cases, grants a forum to somebody who has no particular insight or responsibility. Most of it is a combination of ignorance or invective.''

First of all I don't live in Albuquerque, but Florida. My house has no basement, and my mother has been dead for 23 years next month.(Today is actually the 11th anniversary of my father's passing)

Are James Joyner and Steven Taylor, people both with a PHD, and James who served in the first Gulf War low-life losers? When did you get shots fired at you Bob? Or win a Bronze Star? Both Steven and James are Sports bloggers. They allow me, like Kevin Aylward the owner of Wizbang does, to write at their blogs. Kevin, James, or Steven am I low-life loser?

It seems to me Bob knows little about Sports bloggers. Should ignorant low-life announcers who are full of invective talk about us? Sure its a free world.

Bob isn't done yet.

What bothers Costas -- and he's not alone -- is Internet and talk radio commentary that ``confuses simple mean-spiritedness and stupidity with edginess. Just because I can call someone a name doesn't mean I'm insightful or tough and edgy. It means I'm an idiot.

Bob did you just call someone a name? Doesn't that make you an idiot?

``It's just a high-tech place for idiots to do what they used to do on bar stools or in school yards, if they were school yard bullies, or on men's room walls in gas stations. That doesn't mean that anyone with half a brain should respect it.''

Brain tumors or no brain tumors I have a brain. A fully functional one, that can point out the clear ignorance and stupidity of people in the mainstream media who know so little about bloggers but feel threatened by us. It is idiotic ignorant comments like those made this week, that makes Bob Costas today's Knucklehead of the Day.

I'm going to make some further non-Costas related comments on the Herald article this weekend.

The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Today's winners are The Dubliner magazine, and its publisher Trevor White. They get the awards for the following.

DUBLIN, Ireland - The wife of golfer Tiger Woods won $183,250 and an apology Friday from an Irish magazine that published an abusive article and a faked nude photo of her.

Trevor White, publisher of The Dubliner, conceded that the article — published in September 2006 when Ireland was hosting the Ryder Cup — "was cheap, tasteless, and deliberately offensive. It was also completely untrue."

The article visibly angered Woods during the opening day of competition, which the United States lost to Europe. His wife, Elin Nordegren Woods, welcomed the settlement in a statement Friday.

"The false and deeply offensive article in The Dubliner magazine, with the accompanying photograph of another woman wrongly claimed to be me, caused great personal distress to me and my family," she said.

*****

The September 2006 article's headline described the U.S. golfers' wives as "Ryder Cup filth." The story claimed that Woods' wife "can be found in a variety of sweaty poses on porn sites across the Web." It also insulted the wives of golfers Chad Campbell, David Toms and Jim Furyk, who did not sue.

"The photograph was not of Ms. Nordegren Woods. There are no such photographs of Ms. Nordegren Woods on internet sites or elsewhere. Ms. Nordegren Woods has never posed, or been photographed, nude. The story was utterly and comprehensively false," White said.

White and his magazine published things they knew to be false. That makes it easy for me to name Trevor White and his magazine The Dubliner today's Knuckleheads of the Day.

Linked to- Adam, Blue Star, Bright & Early, DragonLady, High Desert Wanderer, Leaning Straight Up, Pirate's Cove, Populist, Rosemary, The World According to Carl,

The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Today's winners are Dr. William Gray and Associated Press. They get the award for the following.

Unbowed by recent setbacks, a team of university forecasters Friday predicted that next year's hurricane season -- still nearly six months away -- would produce slightly above-average storm activity.

The team from Colorado State University, formed decades ago by scientist William Gray, is expecting 13 named storms that grow into seven hurricanes, including three intense hurricanes, with winds above 110 mph.

The long-term averages are 11 named storms, six hurricanes and two intense hurricanes.

For the last three years, the full-season forecasts issued by the CSU team and by a separate group of government forecasters have been well off the mark. Some experts view the forecasts with considerable caution and they worry that the errors could undermine the credibility of the generally more accurate forecasts of actual hurricanes and tropical storms.

I've been pounding Gray's fake forecasts for two years. Here are a few previous posts of mine.

At this rate
Impending Doom
and maybe the best of all showing how Dr. Gray is in part funded by a Insurance company
Conflict of Interest Hurricane Style

Here is a link to Gray's website.

Why would Gray put out predictions for hurricane season seven months ahead of time. It is well known weather forecasting is highly unpredictable past 96 hours out. I think I see the answer. Gray needs to put out these predictions because he got his latest payment from Lexington-AIG. They say jump, and Gray comes out with his latest predictions. What do you think? This theory of mine is as plausible as any other.



Why did AP get the Knucklehead also? It isn't because I'm tired of the press giving Gray credence or its failure to discover Gray's funding source, but rather that the wire service thought this was breaking news. Breaking news? I'm one of the most knowledgeable LPGA golf bloggers out there. If I come out with my 2008 US Open predictions 7 months ahead of time, will AP make me breaking news.

I will grant that the MSM is catching on to Gray. Look at this Sun-Sentinel political cartoon or read the Miami Herald article I excerpted above in its entirety. Gray is crying wolf and the press is catching on.

For giving importance to the unimportant, Associated Press is one of today's Knuckleheads of the Day. For being a crank paid off mad scientist, Dr. William Gray of Colorado State University is our second Knucklehead of the Day.

Linked to- Adam, Blue Star, Bright & Early, Church and State, High Desert Wanderer, Jo, Leaning Straight Up, Morewhat, Pirate's Cove, Populist, Pursuing Holiness, Right Voices, Right Wing Nation, Rosemary, Stop the ACLU, Stuck on Stupid, Third World County, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl,

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Spirit Airlines. They get the award for the following.

Act fast and you too can cash in on the "MILF" promotion.

The fire sale by Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Spirit Airlines promises "Many Islands, Low Fares" deals as low as $9 for future travel dates between Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas.

While the prices may be right, it's that promotional acronym that's raised eyebrows among customers and now has the company feeling "uncomfortable."

Before MILF became shorthand for a Spirit Airlines promotion, the acronym hit the mainstream as an obscene descriptor of a mother considered to be sexy.

The term was popularized in the raunchy 1999 feature film "American Pie," in which Jennifer Coolidge plays Stifler's Mom, an attractive, voluptuous woman who ultimately seduces a high school adversary of her son Steve, played by Seann William Scott.


In 2003, the band Fountains of Wayne released the song "Stacy's Mom," which ultimately peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard charts and became the No. 1 most downloaded song for iTunes. The song and accompanying video, which features an adolescent boy fantasizing about his mother's friend, rose to No. 1 on MTV's "TRL."

It's impossible to know exactly what percentage of Americans are familiar with the slang acronym, but Spirit Airlines maintains that the executive who authorized the MILF promotion did not know the connection.

"Not at all," Juan Arbelaez, the director of communications for the company's Latin American market, told ABC News when asked whether the airline was aware of the racy implications. "We started receiving some e-mails today."

Arbelaez said that Spirit's senior vice president of pricing is a British citizen who was unfamiliar with the MILF terminology and that the airline is not trying to offend customers.

I don't believe Spirit did anything intentional, but a screwup is a screwup. A US centered based using a British citizen to help write an ad campaign, could think it wise to have someone familiar with US slang, sayings, etc reading things to avoid episodes like this.

What does MILF stand for- Mother I like to f***. Pretty offensive, huh? Note this isn't the first dumb promo Spirit came up with. Last year it was 'Hunt for Hoffa', labeled#8 on CNN Money's 101 Dumbest Moments in Business.

The airline has a notorious record for customer service. Just google search the words 'Spirit Airlines sucks' and you'll know what I mean. Now Spirit Airlines will get another distinction, they are today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Rick at SOTP is also discussing this news.
Linked to- Adam, Leaning Straight Up, Morewhat, Populist, Right Voices, Right Wing Nation, Rosemary, The World According to Carl, Yankee Sailor,

The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Today's winners are W. Thomas Smith, Jr., Kathryn Jean Lopez and the National Review magazine. Mr. Smith a retired marine and milblogger has written pieces for NRO's website titled the tank.

Last September Mr. Smith wrote the following.

ON THE GROUND IN BEIRUT – Arrived here less than two hours ago (after 25-hours of travel and layovers). Now relaxing here in the Al Dekwaneh neighborhood-offices of the International Lebanese Committee for UN SCR 1559 (more on that later).

Between the airport and the committee's office, we (my escorts and I) passed by the sprawling Hezbollah tent city — some 200-plus heavily armed Hezbollah militiamen — positioned between the parliament and the Serail, basically the headquarters of the prime minister, his deputies, and all the cabinet members. Of course, today's presidential elections were thwarted — postponed until November — a result of recent assassinations and threats of assassination, as well as the fact that the assembled deputies failed to meet the required number to hold the election proceedings.

Beyond the Hezbollah camp, Lebanese soldiers can be seen guarding all major roads and intersections.

Time for food, sleep. More to come.

Only on November 30th did Mr. Smith correct himself. Michelle Malkin sums it up.

1) He claimed he had seen “some 200-plus heavily armed Hezbollah militiamen” at a “sprawling Hezbollah tent city” when, in fact, he hadn’t seen 200-plus heavily armed Hezbollah militiamen.

2) He reported that 4,000-5,000 Hezbollah gunmen had been “deployed to the Christian areas of Beirut in an unsettling ‘show of force,’” when, in fact, there is no evidence that a deployment of 4,000-5,000 Hezbollah gunmen to Christian areas of Beirut ever took place.

Sounds something like the Scott Thomas Beauchamp /The New Republic debacle, doesn't it. NRO editor Kathryn Jean Lopez wrote to NR readers about the Smith scandal.

Bottom line: NRO strives to bring you reliable analysis and reporting — whether in presenting articles, essays, or blog posts. Smith did commendable work in Lebanon earlier this year, as he does from S.C. where he is based, as he has done from Iraq, where he has been twice. But rereading some of the posts (see "The Tank" for more detail) and after doing a thorough investigation of some of the points made in some of those posts, I've come to the conclusion that NRO should have provided readers with more context and caveats in some posts from Lebanon this fall. And so I apologize to you, our readers.

I thank Smith for his good, brave work. He's a smart, reliable reporter with a great patriotic spirit and sense of service. We owe him and our readers better — we should have gotten you more context and information before a post or two went live. It's understandable how it happened — the nature of blogging being what it is — but given what an underreported tinderbox we're talking about, especially, we owed you more. We weren't blogging about Dancing with the Stars there.

So I'm grateful to the reporter who contacted Smith with questions. He brought them to my attention. We did due diligence. We've reported this back to him. And now we're reporting back to you.

I'm not going to compare NR's sins to TNR's. TFM reads and subscribes to both magazines. How many non-members of the MSM do that. I'm angry at both publications for letting me down. Note those who said TNR handled the Beauchamp affair worse, I'll note that NR knew they had a problem for over a month and never told readers. Kathryn Jean Lopez explained to Ed at Captain's Quarters(Who sounds very weird in his post. Ed writing 'For full disclosure, Kathryn has on occasion asked me to contribute to NRO for on-line symposiums on specific topics. I don't believe I've ever done anything for pay at National Review, although I may have.' Ed wrote something at sometime for a NR symposium, but don't know if he was paid for it? I'd know if I was paid by someone for my work. Ed comes off as sounding very wishy washy, and have to wonder why.) what probably happened. Sorry but I'm not totally buying it, the reasons are long. Including the elitist attitude NR editors take, in addition to the fact they just don't answer email. I've tried contacting Jonah Goldberg, his AOL mail never gets opened. Not opening email doesn't let a publication off.

In each case, TNR and Beauchamp and NRO with Smith, their shit stunk. Now learn your lessons, and don't do this again. But first, For failing readers with made up stories, W. Thomas Smith, Jr., Kathryn Jean Lopez, and the National Review magazine are today's Knuckleheads of the Day.

Linked to- Adam, Bright & Early, DragonLady, Leaning Straight Up, Mark My Words, Outside the Beltway, Pirate's Cove, Populist, Pursuing Holiness, Right Voices, Right Wing Nation, Rosemary, Third World County, The World According to Carl,

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is the Sun-Sentinel. They get the award for their latest screwup. A photo on the newspaper's website that says the Miami Dolphins are 12-0!

Does the website designer live under a rock? Hey does he read the Sentinel? Have I suddenly woken up in some alternate universe? If the answer is no to all those questions, then he'd know the Dolphins are 0-12. This is just the most recent mistake from the Fort Lauderdale newspaper. In October an idiot reporter known for her plagiarism reported about Jason Allen's 'almost' first career interception. Allen had intercepted a pass in the 2006 season.

For embarrassingly bad internet journalism, the Sun-Sentinel is today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Linked to- Big Dog, Bright & Early, DragonLady, Mark My Words, Pirate's Cove, Populist, Rosemary, Third World County, The World According to Carl,

The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Today's winners are Jason Coskrey and his employer The Japan Times. They get the award for the following.

Jason Coskrey of The Japan Times Online is our latest example of really bad golf journalism. The following article was written concerning the possibility of JLPGA golfer Momoko Ueda joining the LPGA Tour.

Japanese athletes have made strides on the world stage in a number of sports, including the Mao Asada-led Japanese dominance of the figure skating circuit, but Japanese golfers have yet to find any real consistent success internationally on the links.

Hisako Higuchi, who is in the World Golf Hall of Fame, did win the 1977 LPGA Championship and two other tour titles some 30 years ago, but achieved her status primarily based upon her 69 titles in Japan. She only played part-time on the LPGA Tour.

Isao Aoki, best known abroad for his runnerup finish to Jack Nicklaus in the 1980 U.S. Open, won one PGA Tour tournament, and is also enshrined in golf's hall. He won 51 JPGA titles.

While South Korea, led by Hall of Famer Pak Se Ri and 2006 LPGA Rookie of the Year Lee Seon Hwa, has prospered in the women's game, Japan has yet to produce any true crossover stars of its own.


Momoko Ueda, winner of five JLPGA tournaments in 2007, became the tour's youngest money-title winner ever this year at just 21.

Just a few years ago the hopes of the nation were placed upon Miyazato, a 14-time champion on the JLPGA. After a dominating showing in the LPGA Q-School, Miyazato was pegged by many to become Japan's first international golf sensation.

However, Miyazato has struggled at times and is winless in 54 tournaments

In the above article, Jason Coskrey was speculating about Momoko Ueda and whether she would join the LPGA Tour. Remember Ueda won the LPGA's Mizuno Classic earlier this month.

Coskrey makes a horrendous blunder in the above article. That no editor at the Japan Times caught the mistake, makes them co-winners today. There is a golfer Coskrey fails to mention.

She was born in 1951 in Hiroshima Japan

She won her first professional golf tournament in 1975. Ironically named The Mizuno tournament.

She won the JLPGA Championship in 1979 and won 8 JLPGA events in 1981 while topping the money list.

In 1982 this player won the first of her 17 LPGA Tour triumphs at The Arizona Copper Classic. Between 1983 and 1991 she finished in the top 10 LPGA money winners eight times.

She was 1987 LPGA Player of the year. The first international player to get that honor.

By the way she was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2005.

Who am I talking about? None other than Ayako Okamoto.

A person being paid to write about the history of Japanese professional golfers playing in the United States should have the name Ayako Okamoto roll off their tongue in two seconds flat. Forgetting Okamoto when talking Japan golf is like a baseball writer not mentioning Babe Ruth when talking all-time homerun hitters. Coskrey deserves to be fired for his omission, for he is totally clueless in addition to not being able to fact check. These four words(LPGA, Tour, Japan, Golfer) in a google search brings up Okamoto in the top five hits.

For the latest example of horrible golf journalism, Jason Coskrey and his employer The Japan Times are today's Knuckleheads of the Day.

Hat tip- Mostly Harmless
Linked to- Adam, Blue Star, Bright & Early, High Desert Wanderer, Leaning Straight Up, Mad Pigeon, Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson, Pirate's Cove, Populist, Pursuing Holiness, Right Wing Nation, Rosemary, Samantha Burns, Third World County, Woman Honor Thyself,

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Washington Times columnist Frank Gaffney. He gets the award for the following.

It is fitting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chose the U.S. Naval Academy for the venue of today's so-called Mideast peace conference. The reputation of that extraordinary institution in Annapolis has been sullied in recent years by a succession of rapes of young women.

Despite official efforts to low-ball its significance, Miss Rice's conclave is shaping up to be a gang-rape of a nation on a scale not seen since Munich in 1938, when the British and French allowed Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini to have their violent way with Czechoslovakia.

This time, the intended victim is Israel. As with the effort to appease the Nazis and Fascists nearly 70 years ago, however, the damage will not be confined to the rapee. The interests of the Free World in general and the United States in particular will suffer from what the Saudis and most of the other attendees have in mind for the Jewish State — namely, its dismemberment and ultimate destruction.

First someone give Gaffney a valium. These kind of diatribes are seen on the internet all the time. Heck I write them from time to time. A middle East conference or some golf writer forgetting a Hall of Famer isn't the end of the world, nor is it gang rape either.

Secondly, Israel isn't going to let itself be dismembered, nor would the United States permit it. Steps towards any kind of peace in the Middle East as James Joyner at OTB noted 'this is the Middle East. Progress is almost always made in baby steps, often followed by steps in the other direction.' It is absurb to correlate the lack of justice for a 19-year-old rape victim in Saudi Arabia, with the events of a regional peace conference. Yes I know the attitudes of many in that arab kingdom, but saying Israel is about to suffer gang rape is rhetorical excess, besides being far off the mark in regards to likely outcome of any peace talks. That's why I name Washington Times columnist Frank Gaffney. Get yourself a blog Frank.

Hat tip- Dr. Taylor at Poliblog
Linked to- Adam, Big Dog, Blue Star, Bright & Early, Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson, Populist, Right Voices, Right Wing Nation, Rosemary, Samantha Burns, Third World County, The World According to Carl, Yankee Sailor,

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is the Washington Times newspaper. They get the award for the following.

Fort Huachuca, the nation’s largest intelligence-training center, changed security measures in May after being warned that Islamist terrorists, with the aid of Mexican drug cartels, were planning an attack on the facility.

Fort officials changed security measures after sources warned that possibly 60 Afghan and Iraqi terrorists were to be smuggled into the U.S. through underground tunnels with high-powered weapons to attack the Arizona Army base, according to multiple confidential law enforcement documents obtained by The Washington Times.

[…]

According to the FBI advisory, each Middle Easterner paid Mexican drug lords $20,000 “or the equivalent in weapons” for the cartel’s assistance in smuggling them and their weapons through tunnels along the border into the U.S. The weapons would be sent through tunnels that supposedly ended in Arizona and New Mexico, but the Islamist terrorists would be smuggled through Laredo, Texas, and reclaim the weapons later.

Dr. Taylor at Poliblog made several good points when questioning this news on Monday.

Several things struck me as I read this. First, if there was evidence of a terrorist plan to attack a military base in Arizona, it would be all over the media. The 24/7 cable news nets live for this sort of thing. Second, and along the same lines, if such a plan had been found and halted, the Bush administration would be letting us all know of its success (not to mention the fact that Republican candidates for president would be jumping all over the story as proof that what we need is a strong defense and sealed borders). Third, why in the world would a Mexican cartel do business like this for a mere $20,000? That strikes me as chump change for even a low-level drug lord.

Terrorists getting help from drug cartels has been a subject of much fiction and Dr. Taylor is dead on perfect when saying what cartel would do this kind of business for $20,000? Especially since it would have negative ramifications for the drug smuggling business when uncovered or when the method of the attacks was discovered.

As we find out, the story is hogwash.

A plot by dozens of foreign terrorists who purportedly planned to attack Fort Huachuca with rocket propelled grenades and mines has proved unfounded, an FBI spokesman said Monday.

The threat, detailed by a local television station and The Washington Times after information was recently leaked to them, involved Iraqi and Afghan terrorists working with a Mexican drug cartel to smuggle themselves and weapons across the U.S. border.

*****

But the attack never occurred and was the result of bad information, said Manuel Johnson, an FBI spokesman based in Phoenix.

“A thorough investigation was conducted and there is no evidence showing that the threat was credible,” he said.

The Washington Times deliberately or accidentally published a fabricated story. A few conservative bloggers fell for it, Captain Ed(Granted Ed was skeptical to start with) for one, but since the truth came out no one is going after the Times. Rest assured if the NYT did this, there would be a mass gang tackle by conservative bloggers. No such thing is happening now, why is that? Could it be that the Washington Times is a conservative publication?

For perpetuating a journalistic hoax, The Washington Times is today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Note- A columnist at the Times is a candidate for tomorrow's award too. For this piece of work.

Linked to- Adam, Big Dog, Bright & Early, Commonsense America, Leaning Straight Up, Morewhat, Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson, Pirate's Cove, Populist, Right Voices, Right Wing Nation, Rosemary, Third World County, The World According to Carl, Yankee Sailor,

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is the Palm Beach Post. They get the award for the following.

As much as Florida needs more clean energy alternatives, giant windmills don't belong on St. Lucie County beaches that were bought with public money to preserve.

Florida Power & Light Co., whose representatives are lobbying county commissioners, wants to put five wind turbines on the company's property near the utility's nuclear plant on Hutchinson Island. FPL promises to assess the impact on migrating birds and other species that could be harmed by the windmills. No problem there. But FPL - at the invitation of some commissioners - also wants to place four wind turbines on public beaches, specifically at John Brooks Park and Frederick Douglass Beach.

Commissioner Doug Coward supports clean energy, but he correctly questions the legality of using public land for private profit. He also worries that the windmills could "change the character of the landscape" and prevent people from enjoying the rare South Florida experience of less-developed beaches.

First lets address of public land being used for profit. It is done every day. Has Randy Schultz and company ever heard of Yellowstone National Park. Inside the park are hotels and lodging for people to stay at. What happens there?(Ok, keep it clean). Profit! What makes Port St. Lucie Florida any different?

So far as the change the character argument goes, its the Post being nearsighted and having a bad case of NIMBY. Look at the beaches in South Florida now, we have condos everywhere. By the way if FPL can't harness wind power, how is the company supposed to meet the growing energy needs of the state of Florida? The Post is opposed to everything from Offshore drilling to nuclear power. Wind power would seem to have the fewest drawbacks, but the Post is opposed to it. What will FPL do in 20-30 years to meet energy demand? Gerbils on spinning wheels? I can the Post opposing that because of Animal Rights.

The rest of the Post editorial is below. For thinking only of today and their own backyard, the Palm Beach Post is today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Other commissioners say they haven't yet made up their minds, but having just approved state-ordered budget cuts, they love the tax money FPL's project might generate. Chris Craft estimates that the county could start with the revenue from FPL's "$40 million" investment. Paula Lewis said the windmills won't be an aesthetic problem because "people can just look at the water." Charles Grande, who invited FPL to consider the public beaches, is intrigued by "nifty" windmill features and hopes that the concrete pad beneath the structures could be used for beach parking. Joe Smith said that "many of our preserves are used for other purposes."

Parent company FPL Group, based in Juno Beach, has put $6 billion into wind power, and the investment is paying off. Usually, though, wind farms are in remote locations. When a 155-foot blade is pointing up from the turbine, the total height is about 40 stories. In sunlight, the turbine casts a giant shadow that the blade chops up, creating a "flickering" effect that could drive beachgoers nuts, even if they "just look at the water." That annoyance alone could clear out swimmers, fishermen and tourists. FPL representatives who have discussed the windmills claim ignorance of that problem - though it is discussed on the firm's Web site - and did not tell commissioners about it.

A Public Service Commission representative who met individually with commissioners this week pushed the need to use public property for clean, green energy projects. Some public property might be suitable for such projects. St. Lucie's beaches aren't on the list.

Linked to- Bright & Early, DragonLady, Leaning Straight Up, Perri Nelson, Pirate's Cove, Rosemary, Third World County,

All Knucklehead Day Award Nine

Today's ninth winners are Emily Badger and the Sun-Sentinel. They get the award for the following.

LONDON - The Dolphins' best defensive play of the game didn't actually make it into the stat book, but the way things are going during this winless season, the team might as well celebrate it anyway.

Former 2006 first-round draft pick Jason Allen started the first game of his career Sunday, against the New York Giants at safety. A converted cornerback who played sparingly last season, Allen was helping plug up a battered secondary, with safeties Renaldo Hill out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and Travares Tillman still sidelined with an injured knee.

Allen, who has offered little evidence of his first-round value, corralled a tipped Eli Manning pass early in the third quarter at the Dolphins' 35.

It was exactly the play the Dolphins, down 13-0 at the time, needed to jolt a second-half comeback. Until, it turned out, veteran defensive end Jason Taylor — this week's widely celebrated star of this historic international game — was flagged for a holding penalty.

"I didn't realize it until they said, 'Defense back on the field,' and I was like, 'Oh man…'" Allen said of his interception, which went for naught. "That kind of broke my heart."

What's wrong with this article?

The Sun-Sentinel ran this article in Monday's paper with the following headline.

Penalty negates Dolphin Jason Allen's first career interception

Jason Allen intercepted a pass vs. Chicago in the 2006 season. The article and the headline were corrected online by the Sun-Sentinel but of course, papers that went out that day had this idiotic careless in it and that couldn't be erased. Knowing the Sentinel may try covering its tracks, I caught a screen capture.



The Sun-Sentinel is still running the wrong headline at the article's comments page. The Sun-Sentinel tried to cover up its stupidity but didn't complete the job. They even make mistakes fixing their mistakes!

Before this screwup Emily Badger was best known for Plagiarism. Maybe she still is, but Emily Badger along with the Sun-Sentinel have the honor of being our ninth Knuckleheads of the Day.

All Knucklehead Day Award Eight

Our eigth winner of the day is the LA Times and its reporter Tim Rutten. Rutten recently wrote an article titled 'Drudge, New Republic battle over 'Baghdad Diarist'

He described the ridicule of a disfigured Iraqi woman, attempts to run over stray dogs with Bradley fighting vehicles...

Did Rutten even bother to read the articles in question? As Bob Owens at the Confederate Yankee writes-

The burned woman has never be described as being an Iraqi... Rutten is the first. Nor were the claims in the Bradley stories described as mere attempt; there were three successful and grisly killings alleged by the author.

As a TNR subscriber, I can verify that Owens is dead on. Rutten makes mistakes in consecutive paragraphs.

He's not done yet either.

The magazine determined that the incident involving the disfigured woman was concocted and corrected that...

Bob Owens again replies-

No, the editors of TNR did not admit that anecdote was "concocted." They shifted the story to another time, in another country, but still maintain that it occurred.

Rutten and the LA Times have made the out to be a complete imbecile. He's criticizing the blogosphere but can't apparently read. Here's one last doozy in article full of them.

Why has the Army kept Beauchamp in Iraq where it can control access to him and he's beyond the reach of any other jurisdiction?

Bob Owens reply-

Beauchamp is a soldier assigned to a combat unit in Iraq, and Beauchamp chose to remain with his unit in Iraq when given the option of leaving the Army.

Go and read the entire post at Confederate Yankee. Bob Owens has been doing excellent work on the Beauchamp story, not like this paid Knucklehead blogger who steals other people's work and lies to boot.

Rutten should ask the LA Times for a job as a golf reporter. Facts aren't considered important in that type of news coverage. They should be, as they should when writing about a media firestorm where a media outlet played loose with the facts. For failing to accurately report the writing in a controversial article, Tim Rutten and the LA Times are our eigth Knuckleheads of the Day.

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Stars and Stripes. They get the award for the following.

SEOUL — Five hundred condom experts will meet at South Korean’s Jeju Island next week to talk about condoms, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

The focus of the convention: quality and shelf life.

Condoms typically are in circulation for five years, but that period may be reduced to three to four years. The Chosun Ilbo said that could increase the effectiveness of condoms against AIDS, and increased quality standards could help South Korean condoms compete against cheaper condoms from China, Malaysia and India.

South Korea produces 30 percent of the 12 billion condoms manufactured worldwide each year.

The Chosun reported that condom sizes won’t really be an issue because global standards exist. According to the report, small condoms are 1.9 inches wide and 6.6 inches long; medium condoms are 2.08 inches wide and 6.6 inches long; and large condoms are 2.24 inches wide and 8.07 inches long.

What is this article doing in a military newspaper? Yes I know the US has troops stationed in South Korea, but what's the connection other than that?

Here's some other information.

Large condoms are typically sold in the U.S. and Europe.

The Chosun Ilbo reported that the most popular size of condom in South Korea changed from medium to small several years ago.

That's essential need to know information. LMAO, except one problem. The Chosun Ilbo reference is wrong.

The conference is expected to focus more on enhancing quality and safety of condoms rather than size, since there already exists a global standard for large, medium and small condoms. At present, condoms 49 mm in width and a minimum of 170 mm in length are small, 53 mm by 170 mm medium, and 57mm by 205 mm large. Large ones are generally being sold in the U.S. and Europe. In Korea, the most popular size changed to medium from small about five years ago.

See getting size right matters, as does getting your reporting factually correct. Stars and Stripes failed badly, and that is why I make them today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Hat tip- ROK Drop. Thanks GI for the Korean vocabulary lesson. I now know what a Gochu is.

Linked to- Big Dog, Blue Star, Bright & Early, DragonLady, High Desert Wanderer, Leaning Straight Up, Perri Nelson, Pirate's Cove, Populist, Right Voices, Right Wing Nation, Rosemary, Third World County, The World According to Carl,