Canitias - What gives on Ben Curtis?

[Goozer]

Did Ben Curtis and/or Kent State wax you good at some point during your Bowling Green days? Your takes bolf times Ben has won in the last 3 months have NOT waxed poetic. A local kid makes good and both times you decide to take backhanded slaps at Curtis and his alma mater.

I don't get it.

[pup]

I think this one had something to do with the choice to wear black and yellow and wear a Steelers visor in the final round.

[Goozer]

I hate the Steelers more than the Buckeye writer (is it Furls?) hates the Wolverines. Yes, I hate the Steelers THAT much.

But, if you know anything about golf ... and Ben Curtis ... and his endorsement contracts ... you surely should understand that he was obligated to wear what he was wearing. Frankly, I think his deal with Reebok is as cool as hell, not to mention that he is carrying on the legacy of Payne Stewart.

Secondly, if you watched or heard any of Ben's interviews during and/or after the tournament, he took many jabs at SteelerNation. Trust me, Ben Curtis is as much of a Browns diehard as many of us are, if not moreso. Did any of you see him doing This Week in the PGA from Browns' camp last month? As an avid golfer and an avid follower of the PGA tour, I'd love to be walking in this kids' shoes. He is 29 and has now won more times on tour than any other American golfer under the age of 30. He is local and is more grounded than any professional athlete that I have ever come across (granted, I haven't come across THAT many professional athletes, nor do I care to).

[swerb]

From what I know of Curtis's endorsement deal with the NFL, he is not forced to wear any specific teams colors at any certain tournaments.

I heard just one interview with Curtis this week, and what he said was along the lines of "Gotta go with the hometown team, need all the support I can get, wore brown and orange last year and got abused".

If he was not obligated to wear the black and gold, and did so just to pander, I lose a little respect for him. I couldn't do it if not forced to by the terms of some contract.

Im not about to start cheering against the dude; for all the reasons Gooz mentioned, it's easy to like the kid.

But I'll always hold it against him a little bit.

[BGSU]

First off I want to thank you Goozer for reading my article about golf. I think Ben Curtis is a very successful golfer (granted his two wins this year were in watered down events). It is just in very poor taste for him to wear Steelers gear as stated by Swerb. Obviously he couldn't take the heat of wearing Browns gear again. How about all us true blue Browns fans -- because our team is not winning and we have to travel to Pittsburgh -- should we wear a Steelers shirt. HELL NO!!!
About Kent State, I am glad to see there are people that will stick up for them. Almost everyone I know who went to Can't Read Can't Write Kent State was very apathetic. Saying all that, Ray's has got to be one of the Best Bars in the State.

[Goozer]

A couple of points:

(1) Below is a release regarding his contract with Reebok. Note that while Curtis did in fact wear Browns gear at Mystic Rock 2 years ago (not last year, Rich) it was an oversight on his part. Ever since that fubar, he has always worn the colors of the closest teams. In some cases he splits them if 2 teams are equidistant (like at The Memorial and Booz Allen).

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/15352 ... k-nfl-deal

(2) I'm not going to take the time to link an article, but I can assure you Rich, that the quote you posted was largely snipped on your part and not the entire response given the question. IIRC, the line went something along "I can't wait to put on my Browns hat ... but it was nice to have the home crowd behind me (because he was wearing the Steelers colors".

What's wrong with that?

Obviously any professional golfer would prefer to be cheered than jeered as happened to him 2 years ago. Shit, how many times have you seen a golfer booed at a PGA event? Try Hardly Ever.

(3) Your welcome, BGSU, but note given your smart ass follow up response it is obvious that you have an axe to grind and I'll stop wasting my time reading your blog. By the way, try to be a bit original in the write up next time beyond your first paragraph editorial. Beyond that I didn't see any difference between what you wrote and the AP write up. Nice.

[pup]

I decided to go find an ESPN article that I think Goozer is talking about, and he is correct. It seems that every time the crowd would cheer for the Steelers he had a noticeable frown on his face and did make the comment afterward about going and putting on his Browns hat.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2591860


This changed my mind and I no longer want to hang Ben Curtis from the scoreboard next to Mo Carthon. Thanks for pointing this out!

Although I still would not be caught dead in a Steelers outfit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[swerb]

I've got myself a controversial golf writer ... go try and find yourself one of those webmasters.