Bill Plaschke: In wake of Sandusky scandal, Joe Paterno must resign

In 46 seasons as the football coach at Penn State University, Joe Paterno appeared to create a culture of winning and decency he called "Success with Honor."

Now that the culture has been exposed as a haven for an alleged child molester, Paterno needs to do the honorable thing and resign before he coaches another game.

It's sad that the winningest coach in major college football history will end his career with a giant "L" in the human-being department, but not nearly so sad as the idea that boys may have been abused because football's most controlling boss did nothing.

Paterno is a simple man, a basic man, with his trademark black shoes and white socks and thick black glasses remaining unchanged for nearly half a century. Surely this fundamental approach can help him understand why he can no longer run a program whose legendary sparkling blue-and-white uniforms hid a dark sickness within its locker room walls.

On Saturday, Jerry Sandusky, 67, a longtime Nittany Lions defensive coordinator who was once thought to be Paterno's successor, was charged with sexually abusing eight boys during a 15-year period. The grand jury’s findings of fact in the case read like a horror story, except the location wasn't some haunted mansion, it was Joe Paterno's hallowed halls.

Bill Plaschke: Raffi Torres in blackface is a disgrace to the NHL

This year’s award for the scariest Halloween costume goes to the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, who dressed in racial insensitivity then masked it as fun.

Did you hear about Monday night’s team Halloween party? Forward Raffi Torres and his wife, Gianna, showed up dressed as rapper Jay-Z and singer Beyonce Knowles, which would have been trendy and cute, except both of them were wearing blackface.

For those who forgotten their history -- and these two folks clearly did -- blackface was a type of makeup worn by vaudeville performers in the 19th century as a parody of African Americans. It was degrading then, and it is degrading now, but Torres’ teammate, Paul Bissonnette, thought it was so funny he sent out a photo of the happy couple on Twitter.

An understandable wave of criticism followed, leading to the ignorant statement that makes this costume so frightening.

The Coyotes, you see, publicly defended Torres.

Al Davis, good or bad for the NFL? Plaschke and Simers discuss

Late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, who passed away earlier this month at age 82, was considered a bad guy and a villain by many, yet he was a pioneer who took his team to three championships.

Everything considered, was he good for the league?

Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers discuss the topic in their video series, L.A. Loud, moderated by Times sports reporter Melissa Rohlin.

MORE:

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Kobe Bryant play overseas?

Plaschke-Simers video: Are the Chargers the best NFL team for L.A.?

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Clayton Kershaw win the Cy Young award?

--Melissa Rohlin

Jerry West and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Plaschke and Simers discuss their recent issues with the Lakers

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jerry West are purple and gold lore, they are legends whose impact on the game continues to have profound reverberations today.

Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA's all-time leading scorer. The league's logo is West's silhouette. Despite their accomplishments, both men have felt like they haven't received their due respect from the Lakers organization after their playing days have ended.

Abdul-Jabbar gripes that he hasn't been immortalized with a bronze statue outside of Staples Center. West feels as though Coach Phil Jackson never truly appreciated him.

In their video series, L.A. Now, moderated by Times sports reporter Melissa Rohlin, Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers discuss the Lakers legends and what their legacy will be. Here are some highlights.

On Jerry West:

Both columnists said they think Jerry West is a bit "strange." Plaschke recounted how the former Lakers general manager left the gym during Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference finals against the Portland Trail Blazers to go see a movie.

"Jerry accomplished a lot in his life, but he also did it with some devils in him," Simers said.

Plaschke called him "one of the most fascinating characters ever in L.A. sports." He discussed how even though West helped build the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal dynasty, he felt overshadowed by Jackson.

 On Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:

Simers rembembers seeing Pat Riley approach Abdul-Jabbar at an All-Star game in an attempt to introduce him to his friends. The six-time NBA MVP refused to spend any time with them.

"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar feels alienated by everybody and it's basically his own responsibility," Simers said.

Plaschke said Abdul-Jabbar has made himself an unlikable figure in the eyes of Lakers fans.

"James Worthy, Rick Fox get more cheers," Plaschke said.

MORE:

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Kobe Bryant play overseas?

Plaschke-Simers video: Are the Chargers the best NFL team for L.A.?

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Clayton Kershaw win the Cy Young award?

--Melissa Rohlin

Jerry West and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Plaschke and Simers discuss discuss their recent issues with the Lakers

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jerry West are purple and gold lore, they are legends whose impact on the game continues to have profound reverberations today.

Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA's all-time leading scorer. The league's logo is West's silhouette. Despite their accomplishments, both men have felt like they haven't received their due respect from the Lakers organization after their playing days have ended.

Abdul-Jabbar gripes that he hasn't been immortalized with a bronze statue outside of Staples Center. West feels as though Coach Phil Jackson never truly appreciated him.

In their video series, L.A. Now, moderated by Times sports reporter Melissa Rohlin, Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers discuss the Lakers legends and what their legacy will be. Here are some highlights.

On Jerry West:

Both columnists said they think Jerry West is a bit "strange." Plaschke recounted how the former Lakers general manager left the gym during Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference finals against the Portland Trail Blazers to go see a movie.

"Jerry accomplished a lot in his life, but he also did it with some devils in him," Simers said.

Plaschke called him "one of the most fascinating characters ever in L.A. sports." He discussed how even though West helped build the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal dynasty, he felt overshadowed by Jackson.

 On Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:

Simers rembembers seeing Pat Riley approach Abdul-Jabbar at an All-Star game in an attempt to introduce him to his friends. The six-time NBA MVP refused to spend any time with them.

"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar feels alienated by everybody and it's basically his own responsibility," Simers said.

Plaschke said Abdul-Jabbar has made himself an unlikable figure in the eyes of Lakers fans.

"James Worthy, Rick Fox get more cheers," Plaschke said.

MORE:

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Kobe Bryant play overseas?

Plaschke-Simers video: Are the Chargers the best NFL team for L.A.?

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Clayton Kershaw win the Cy Young award?

--Melissa Rohlin

Bill Plaschke: Detroit Tigers, put a cork in the party

One of baseball’s strangest traditions was on display again Thursday night, and excuse me if I’m not all bubbly about it.

On the field, the Detroit Tigers did what tough baseball teams do, defeating the New York Yankees, 3-2, in a deciding Game 5 to win the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium.

Off the field, the Detroit Tigers then did what all silly baseball teams do, celebrating the series victory with a raucous, over-the-top champagne party that was far greater than the entirety of their achievement.
Three wins. They were throwing a New Year’s Eve party for three wins. Think about that.

They were spraying each other over wins that could have occurred over the course of a long summer weekend. They were pouring it on each other for wins that totaled less than 12 hours.

The Detroit Tigers just played three good games, yet felt it necessary to celebrate with countless cases of liquor and cigars, and it just makes no sense.

It isn’t just the Tigers who do this, of course, it’s every baseball team after every postseason series win, the constantly popping corks adding to baseball’s reputation as a big fraternity house while diminishing the parties that really matter.

A champagne celebration after qualifying for the postseason? Absolutely. It’s a triumphant end to a six-month marathon and is worthy of a date with goggles and plastic.

A champagne celebration after winning the World Series? Indeed, you are champions of the world, you should act like it.

But champagne celebrations after winning the division series and league championship series? Why? Such parties smack of an excuse for locker-room high jinks by big kids with too much time on their hands, and baseball is the only sport that tolerates it.

When NBA teams win early playoff rounds, they don’t celebrate with anything more than a handshake and a hug. Only the NBA champions will actually break out champagne and cigars, and when they do, it’s memorable and meaningful, as anyone who remembers the puffing and weeping Chicago Bulls will attest.

When NFL teams win early playoff rounds, they may linger a bit longer in the locker room, but nobody parties until they win the Super Bowl, and then they are often so weary, the bash feels more like a giant relieved embrace between those who have been bashed.

This perspective is shared by the NHL, which actually has the best celebrations of all sports, with the players simply lining up and shaking each other’s hands after every series like youth soccer players on a Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl. And, no, there is no champagne until one team can pour it in the Stanley Cup.

So what makes baseball different? The regular season is longer and more strenuous than other regular seasons, but what explains the nuttiness of the postseason parties?

The understated Mike Scioscia once told me that he didn’t mind when his Angels partied after every series because they had worked so long and hard to earn those parties. He noted that baseball was such an unforgiving sport, the players need to find joy whenever they can.

I get that, but do they need to do it by consistently turning the clubhouse into a Friday night kegger? Seriously, how strange and unsettling is it to see a wild-card team dousing itself in champagne after making the playoffs on the final day of the season ... and then doing it again a week later after winning the division series ... and then again a week later after advancing to the World Series?

By the time a baseball team wins a world championship, it will have thrown itself four champagne bashes in a span of about six weeks.  The true postseason MVP is no longer Mr. October, but Mr. Moet.

ALSO:

Jorge Posada gets emotional after Yankees loss

Matt Kemp: Bill Plaschke, T.J. Simers discuss paying the price

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Clayton Kershaw win the Cy Young award?

-- Bill Plaschke

Photo: Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Doug Fister, right, sprays closing pitcher Jose Valverde with champagne after the team defeated the New York Yankees, 3-2, in Game 5 of the ALDS. Credit: Kathy Willens / Associated Press

Matt Kemp: Bill Plaschke, T.J. Simers discuss paying the price

Matt Kemp finished the season with 39 home runs, 126 runs batted in and a very strong bid for the National League MVP.

After next season, he's up for free agency.

In a recent column, Bill Plaschke argued that the Dodgers must make Kemp the highest-paid player in franchise history in the next six months or he could jump ship. T.J. Simers called him the "Dodgers great hope ... for better days ahead."

But can a bankrupt team afford to pay the price for Kemp? And even if they can, should they make a roster change considering that the Dodgers were barely a .500 team (82-79) that missed postseason play?

Simers and Plaschke discuss the topic in their new video series, L.A. Loud, moderated by Times sports reporter Melissa Rohlin.

MORE:

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Kobe Bryant play overseas?

Plaschke-Simers video: Are the Chargers the best NFL team for L.A.?

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Clayton Kershaw win the Cy Young award?

-- Melissa Rohlin

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Clayton Kershaw win the Cy Young award?

In his final start of the season Sunday, Clayton Kershaw led the Dodgers to a 6-2 victory against the Padres. He went 7-1/3 innings, holding San Diego to two runs on four hits and a walk, and striking out six.

The 23-year-old leads the National League in earned run average (2.28) and strikeouts (248) and is tied with Arizona Diamondbacks' Ian Kennedy for most victories this season (21). Should he win the Cy Young award?

Times columnists T.J. Simers and Bill Plaschke disagree on the answer to that question.

Simers says no way. Kennedy deserves the award because he carried his team into postseason play.

Plaschke says team records are irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that Kershaw is the best pitcher in the league.

This is the second installment of a new weekly video series, L.A. Loud, moderated by L.A. Times sports reporter Melissa Rohlin. Check out the first video, in which Plaschke and Simers debate whether Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant should play overseas.

MORE:

 Dodgers-Padres box score

Clayton Kershaw makes his Cy Young closing statement

Dodgers statement: MLB trying to force distressed sale of the team

-- Melissa Rohlin

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Kobe Bryant play overseas?

Kobe Bryant has been offered $6.7 million to play for Italian club team Virtus Bologna for a season. Should he go?

Times columnist Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers disagree.

Plaschke thinks Bryant's loyalty is to the Lakers and he shouldn't risk jeopardizing his health and adding even more mileage to his long NBA career that began when he was just 18 years old.

Simers simply doesn't care. He argues that it's none of our business what a player does during the offseason.

Plaschke and Simers will be doing a weekly video, appropriately named "L.A. Loud." The video will be moderated by Times sports reporter Melissa Rohlin.

If Bryant plays overseas, other players will surely follow suit. Rohlin wonders if that could expedite the negotiation process since the owners don't want to risk their top players getting hurt.

MORE:

Kobe Bryant offered $6.7 million to play in Italy

Poll: Which side do you agree with more in the NBA lockout?

NBA postpones training camps, scraps some preseason games

--Melissa Rohlin

Should Kobe Bryant play overseas? [video]

Kobe Bryant has been offered $6.7 million to play for Italian club team Virtus Bologna for a season. Should he go?

Times columnist Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers disagree.

Plaschke thinks Bryant's loyalty is to the Lakers and he shouldn't risk jeopardizing his health and adding even more mileage to his long NBA career that began when he was just 18 years old.

Simers simply doesn't care. He argues that it's none of our business what a player does during the offseason.

Plaschke and Simers will be doing a weekly video, appropriately named "L.A. Loud." The video will be moderated by Times sports reporter Melissa Rohlin.

If Bryant plays overseas, other players will surely follow suit. Rohlin wonders if that could expedite the negotiation process since the owners don't want to risk their top players getting hurt.

MORE:

Kobe Bryant offered $6.7 million to play in Italy

Poll: Which side do you agree with more in the NBA lockout?

NBA postpones training camps, scraps some preseason games

--Melissa Rohlin

Bill Plaschke: Oakland Raiders need some brain with their brawn

They were great. They were gross.

They hit hard. They also hit late, cheap, sometimes without helmets, and often without conscience.

As always, I couldn’t stop watching them. But, as always, I could barely stomach what I was seeing.

The Oakland Raiders played perhaps the toughest football of the NFL’s first week Monday, overpowering the Denver Broncos with three forced turnovers and five sacks while rushing for 152 more yards in a 23-20 victory.

They also played absolutely the dumbest, most thuggish football of the first week with 15 penalties for 131 yards, more penalties than were assessed the New Patriots, Green Bay Packers and New York Jets combined.

The Jets, incidentally, had zero penalties while mounting a bruising comeback against the Dallas Cowboys, proving it is possible to use both your muscles and your brains, sometimes even at the same time.

Bill Plaschke: Baseball move over, the NFL has arrived

 

And once again, just like that, America’s dusty antique has been pushed to the back of the shelf, nudged into the shadows for much of the next six months, replaced by America’s hottest gem.

Hello NFL, goodbye baseball.

Thursday was opening day for what has become this country’s new national pastime, the magic of a chilly April afternoon on a baseball diamond replaced by the drama of a delicious night on a Lambeau tundra.

It was the Green Bay Packers hosting the New Orleans Saints, a howling hullabaloo of a game captivating a country that suddenly didn’t care so much about the Boston Red Sox chasing the New York Yankees, or is it the other way around?

There was no bunting, but an entire stadium dressed up like the American flag. There was no first pitch, but the sight of a former great quarterback throwing out the first tear. There was no walk-off homer, but there was a stagger-off goal line stand that ended the Packers’ 42-34 victory and all doubt about what the rest of autumn will bring.

Sorry, baseball, but your face has just been decorated with a shaving cream pie.

From this moment forward, most of America will care about baseball only in moments. The final moments of the regular season. The final moments of a playoff comeback. The final cold, soggy, midnight moment when somebody wins a World Series. 

Baseball is my first and true and forever love, but even I find it increasingly difficult to maintain my embrace when the NFL starts tugging me with more drama, more parity, and better TV. Millions apparently agree as last season, for the first time, a regular-season NFL game attracted more viewers than a World Series game, and the gap is only widening. Compare this year’s NFL opener to a premier baseball contest, and there’s little comparison.

Thursday’s football game was filled with scoring, yet continued at a good pace, starting and ending at a decent time. That’s not baseball.

Thursday’s game was filled with folks wearing helmets, yet the NFL marketing machine has turned them into stars, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees being among America’s most recognized athletes. That’s not marketing-bereft baseball.

Thursday’s game was also the start of a season which will count until the final snap, and in which any team can end up as a champion, and that’s not baseball. There are nearly three weeks still remaining in this year’s baseball season, and the Angels' chase of the Texas Rangers is the only drama left.

Worse yet, the teams that are dominating are the same old teams, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies, giving little hope for a compelling World Series.

Baseball needs to allow Commissioner Bud Selig to reconfigure the divisions and add a wild-card playoff team. Baseball needs to figure out a way to put a clock on the pitcher to shorten the games. Baseball needs, as always, to start the season earlier so its best games aren’t played in Northeastern snow storms.

Meanwhile, buoyed by the sort of gambling interest and fantasy leagues that baseball cannot match, the NFL need only to keep being the NFL.

I must confess, on Sunday, the first full day of the NFL season, I plan to be at a baseball game, as I will be covering what could be an important swing match between the Angels the New York Yankees. However, sitting in the press box, I will frequently check my computer for NFL scores and highlights. You never know, this year’s Fall Classic could be a football game.

MORE:

Packers win shootout in opener, 42-34

Peyton Manning could be out for the season

It's back to basics and buzz as NFL starts up in Green Bay

--Bill Plaschke

Photo: Aaron Rodgers. Credit: Tannen Maury / European Press Agency.

Bill Plaschke: Rex Ryan should be punished for recent comments

The NFL season hasn’t even started yet and officials already need to throw a flag.

Can somebody please penalize Rex Ryan for illegal procedure of his mouth?

Ryan, the giant coach of the New York Jets who talks like he eats -- in huge quantities, sometimes making a huge mess -- has crossed the line from dumb to dangerous.

On Wednesday afternoon, talking about the Dallas Cowboy fans who are expected to show up at MetLife Stadium on Sunday for the season opener, Ryan said, "I don’t know why they’d be here. They’re coming into our stadium. It’s probably not recommended that you wear Cowboys stuff, I would think."

The published account of his quote notes that he, "joked," but this is about as funny as a brain injury.
Amid the current climate of fan violence, Ryan essentially just put out a hit on Cowboy fans.

In warning Cowboy fans to stay away, he’s inciting Jets fans to punish them for showing up, and you have to wonder how Rex Ryan has been able to coach his team while living on another planet.

Did he not see the recent chaos in San Francisco, where fights between fans of the 49ers and Oakland Raiders resulted in 70 ejections, 12 arrests, two parking-lot shootings and one restroom beating that left a man unconscious?

Was he not aware of the violence outside Dodger Stadium last spring, where two Dodger fan beat Bryan Stow into a coma simply because Stow was wearing a San Francisco Giants jersey?

With the economy tanking and unemployment peaking, fans are increasingly coming to games to blow off the steam. Dressed in their team’s jersey, they can scream with the players, celebrate with the players and essentially spend three hours pretending to be a player.

This includes their desire to compete with the opposition like a player. Only, sadly, the opposition is some poor fan in a visiting jersey and the competition is conducted with physical violence.

In the grainy, black-and-white world of George Halas and Vince Lombardi, football coaches could truly joke about visiting fans while attempting to fire up their home fans, and Ryan has always been a grainy, black-and-white sort of coach.

But the sports world has changed, it’s now colorful and caustic, and Ryan should have known better than to urge Jets fans to defend their turf against fans who just happen to cheer for the other team.

Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner, needs to immediately fine Ryan for these comments and issue an edict warning NFL coaches against issuing similar statements.

Seriously, Ryan said he doesn’t know why Cowboy fans would be at Sunday’s game? I don’t know, maybe to watch the game?

MORE:

The NFL is here, and resistance is futile

Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers can settle this matter too

It's back to basics and buzz as NFL starts up in Green Bay

-- Bill Plaschke

Photo: Rex Ryan. Credit: Jeff Zelevansky / Getty Images

Bill Plaschke: Cam Newton and the tattoo controversy

 

I love watching Cam Newton. I love watching his pure ability, his unfiltered excitement, the blank slate of his potential.

And I’ll admit it, I love that we can watch his football artistry without being distracted by any skin artistry. I love it that the Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback and Heisman Trophy-winner does not have any tattoos or body piercings.

Yet this love makes me a hater?

That is how Panthers owner Jerry Richardson is being painted these days after he conducted an interview on the "Charlie Rose" show and noted that he had asked his No. 1  overall draft pick whether his body contained any ink or trinkets.

Newton reportedly told Richardson, "No sir, I don’t have any."

Richardson then reportedly replied, "Good. We want to keep it that way. We want to keep no tattoos, no piercings and I think you’ve got a very nice haircut."

And boom went the racially charged dynamite, critics everywhere ripping Richardson for acting like some sort of overstuffed plantation owner demanding control of the bodies of his largely African American team.

Seriously? This entire debate is as silly as that drawing on the side of Mike Tyson’s face.

Jerry Richardson is a business owner who was simply making a dress code request of his highest-profile, million-dollar employee. It happens every day in the real world; why can’t it happen in sports?

In many places, it is expected that the new vice president of finance won’t suddenly show up with a set of lips tattooed on his neck, or the new marketing manager won't suddenly put a ring through his lip. It's not about culture. It's not about restraint. It's about business.

The owner of any company has a right to monitor the appearance of his employees, and how is Jerry Richardson any different? All he’s doing here is asking Newton to refrain from altering his body in a way that the owner obviously dislikes.

He’s not ordering Newton. He’s not threatening Newton. Heck, Richardson’s team is filled with players bearing tattoos, and he’ll certainly hire players who are famous for tattoos, witness his off-season signing of tight end Jeremy Shockey.

The owner is just hoping that his clean new star will remain that way, and what’s wrong with that? When asked about the Richardson quotes, Newton reportedly shrugged and said the incident was overblown, and he’s right.

Upon being named the Panthers' opening day starting quarterback, Newton has every right to run out and get "I Love Jerry" tattooed across his chest.

And Jerry Richardson has every right to hate it.

MORE:

Toughness runs in the family of Chargers safety Bob Sanders

Michael Vick agrees to six-year, $100-million contract with Eagles

Analyst casts doubt on economic benefit of downtown L.A. stadium

-- Bill Plaschke

Photo: Cam Newton. Credit: Andrew Weber / U.S. Presswire

Bill Plaschke: Golf wins as Tiger Woods loses at PGA Championship

The thought settled in my mind at approximately the same time Keegan Bradley’s 35-foot birdie putt settled into the 17^th hole, highlighting his humid, howling charge toward a PGA Championship.

I don’t miss Tiger Woods.

The idea pounded through my brain when, a few minutes later, I watched Jason Dufner graciously pump fists with fans before beginning the painful process of coughing up that PGA Championship.

I don’t miss Tiger Woods.

I don’t miss sullen when I can watch joy. I don’t miss aloof when I can watch engaging. I don’t miss plastic when I can watch real.

There will be much discussion today that rookie Bradley’s playoff victory over Dufner in the PGA Championship in Atlanta on Sunday capped a summer that was a major bore. The four biggest tournaments had four different anonymous winners, none of which were named Woods, and isn’t golf going to hell in a head cover?

Wrong. Golf grows. Golf wins. This transformation to younger, unaffected champions is the best thing to happen to golf since, well, Tiger Woods.

It’s fun to watch new faces. It's inspiring to feel a different energy. Charl Schwartzel overcomes Rory McIlroy’s collapse to win the Masters. McIlroy rebounds to dominate the U.S. Open. Darren Clarke rolls out a big-bellied win at the British Open.

Bill Plaschke: Hall of shame is more like it for Dennis Rodman

With his garish appearance, freakish statements and outlandish attitude, Dennis Rodman certainly belongs in a museum.

That museum is Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.

It is not the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Yet the Worm will burrow his way into the hallowed grounds of Springfield, Mass., Friday night, entering basketball’s ultimate destination along with the likes of Chris Mullin, Artis Gilmore and Tex Winter.

Seriously. What is Rodman doing there? And he’s entering with Tex? Can you imagine? One guy who tore apart the Lakers enshrined with a guy who helped rescue them?

"I don’t know what’s more shocking," said Chris Winter, Tex’s son, to reporters. "That they didn’t put Tex in 30 years ago, or they didn’t make Dennis wait another 30 years."

Bill Plaschke: Take a bow, Steve Williams ... now go away

All praise Steve Williams, the golfing celebrity who fought through controversy and disappointment last weekend to hear thousands of fans chanting his name as he won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and … wait a minute.

Steve Williams didn’t win. Adam Scott won.

Steve Williams only carried the clubs.  Adam Scott actually swung them.

Yet it was Williams who heard the loudest applause, it was Williams who conducted the main post-match interview, it was Williams who stole the show from a golfer who won with the lowest tournament score in 11 years.

And it is Williams who should now shut up and disappear.

Please. This caddy needs to be shacked. Long considered one of golf’s most classless figures, Williams outdid himself Sunday by using the furor over being fired by Tiger Woods to overshadow his new golfer’s success.