I Call the Shots — by Johnny Miller
Published October 22, 2004
If you watch golf on television, you can't help but notice the difference in coverage between the networks. It's not a technical difference — camera angles, replays, super slow motion. It's the guy in the booth.
Johnny Miller has been NBC's golf pro in the booth for fourteen years — and he's always been much more honest/critical/opinionated/harsh (take your pick of the adjective) than the golf pros in the booths of the other networks. He'll come right out and say that a player choked or that he hit a bad shot, where others may just say so-and-so caught a bad break.
If you are a fan of Miller's approach, then you may want to read his bookI Call The Shots — Straight Talk About the Game of Golf Today . (Guy Yocom, a senior writer for Golf Digest, gets a cover credit, too, and is the one who took Miller's tapes, notes, etc, and turned them into a book.) Not surprisingly, Miller names names — he calls out particular players for criticisms (even Tiger), along with course designers, rule makers, and the tour today.
The are also a number of chapters that are the "Best Of" — his own list of the best courses, the best players now, the best players he's ever gone up against. He picks the 70's (which is when his career was also at its peak) as golf's Golden Age, and tells you why. He's also honest about why his own career tanked because of the "yips" (for non-golfers, that's when you start choking on the short putts.)
If you think Johnny Miller is overbearing when he's on the air, you probably aren't going to like reading the book. (There's probably something by Ken Venturi on the market for you.) On the other hand, if you like his more honest commentary, and want to read at greater length what he thinks is good and bad about the game, then give it a read.
- I Call the Shots — by Johnny Miller
- Published: October 22, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Books
- Filed Under: Books: Nonfiction, Books: Sports, Video: Sports
- Writer: Bruce Kratofil
- Bruce Kratofil's BC Writer page
- Bruce Kratofil's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Commentators frequently describe a golf course as "good" or "great golf course". What are the criteria you use to decide whether a course is good, bad or indifferent? Risk / reward might be one. Visual impression from the tees might be another. Subtlety of the greens yet a third. What would your list include?
Arden Brummell
Fred --
First, I'm not a friend of Mike Weir, Johnny Miller, or any other golfer.
My guess is that the birdies by Weir were ignored not because he is Canadian, but because he wasn't in contention. Those two birdies only got him to +8, which for most of the time the leaders were on the back nine, was at least five shots back.
TV did not ignore foreign golfers. I believe we were treated to extreme close-ups to just about every grimace of Colin Montgomerie, for instance, and Oglivie was covered as well.
I'll try not to say this too loud...I watch golf on TV...shhhh...
Sometimes, the stuff Miller says can get me a little pissed. He seems to remind me of Venturi, who always wanted players to go for the safe shot.
Listening to Miller during the Open, especially during Phil's collapse on 18, asking why he didn't take out a 4 iron or something along those lines just bothers me.
I have no problem with his honesty when he's playing commentator...but I bet when he shot his 63 in the final round of the open in '73 he didn't pull out a freaking 4 iron on 18!
One of the best lines in Tin Cup is when Roy says..."This is for Venturi up in the box saying I outta lay up". I felt the same way listening to Venturi back in the day and sometimes now when I listen to Miller. I think armchair golfing might be even easier than armchair quarterbacking!
Just tell me this...does he badmouth Robert Trent Jones Jr. as the most sadistic golf course designer to ever live? If he does...he's...as Mona Lisa Vito said in My Cousin Vinny...dead on balls acurate! It's an industry term!
Andy --
"but I bet when he shot his 63 in the final round of the open in '73 he didn't pull out a freaking 4 iron on 18!"
Don't know how old you are -- but I watched that. Actually, coverage wasn't so extensive in those days -- and Miller was on 18 just as ABC came on the air, breathlessly talking about Miller's round .
He couldn't afford to play it safe that day, because Nicklaus, Trevino, etc still had many holes to play. It was an entirely different situation than Phil's.
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Believe you are a friend of Mike Weir.Back 9 of US Open, Mike birdied 16 and 18.Not many others did this.Never saw it on TV.Is it because he is Canadian or what?
Canadians have complained about this before.Don't object to cheering for your own, but in North America we have the same advertising.
Hope you will look at this.
Sincerely Fred Zeggil [Personal contact info deleted]