Golf Digest’s Survey on the Best and Worst Announcers!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
This is the most in-depth survey I have ever seen on golf announcers. How we watch golf on TV and who we love and who we hate! Kudos, go to Golf Digest for such an interesting survey, and thanks must go to Alex Myers for putting it all together! Don’t forget to use the link below to see this entire survey. You will not find it boring!
If Johnny Miller is reading this, we hope he’s sitting down.
Preferably, in the comfort of his home, while wearing his favorite pair of houndstooth-pattern pants. Johnny, there’s no easy way to say this, but when it comes to golf analysts, you’re not the people’s choice anymore.
Nick Faldo overtaking Miller was one of the most noteworthy findings in Golf Digest’s latest survey of TV viewers. It wasn’t a blowout, but Faldo, the six-time major champion, received 58 percent to Miller’s 53 percent in the favorite-analyst category.(Respondents could choose multiple options.) In previous TV surveys (2002 and 1996), Miller was the dominant winner among analysts.
But was it a fair fight? Miller still had plenty of support and was widely praised for his “brutal honesty.” But Faldo has four more majors and that distinguished English accent. More important, he gets to call the Masters, the runaway favorite event among viewers. (66 percent to 12 percent for the Ryder Cup) As well as a second major, the PGA Championship. Meanwhile, NBC didn’t broadcast the U.S. Open for the first time in two decades, and it wasn’t a Ryder Cup year.
Regardless, there’s no contest when it comes to hosts/play-by-play announcers.
As was the case in our last comprehensive survey, Jim Nantz emerged an easy winner among respondents, who were 83 percent male, had a median age of 59, and averaged watching 19 tournaments last season. In other words, these weren’t just bandwagon Masters fans. To be sure, Nantz’s popularity isn’t hurt by his ubiquitous presence at CBS’ biggest sporting events, from the Super Bowl to the Final Four. Still, his 65 percent (nearly doubling ESPN’s Mike Tirico, at 33 percent) versus just 8 percent of viewers naming Nantz their least favorite, is impressive.
Joe Buck and Greg Norman were panned by viewers, but Fox gets year 2 in 2016 to bounce back.
It wasn’t all smiles and “Hello, friends” for CBS, as the network said goodbye to one of its star personalities, David Feherty.
An overwhelming choice for favorite on-course reporter (74 percent), Feherty ended a 19-year relationship with the network in September and is adding NBC to his Golf Channel duties. CBS will gain Dottie Pepper (No. 5 at 35 percent) in 2016, but Feherty seems irreplaceable.
In fact, a comedic touch can go a long way. Another CBS jokester, Gary McCord (52 percent), was the most popular hole announcer, followed closely by Peter Jacobsen (50 percent) on NBC. And Faldo’s sense of humor played a big part in him edging Miller. Also, when viewers were asked to pick which celebrity they’d most like to see on a golf telecast, comedian Jimmy Fallon was the overwhelming choice at 43 percent, and unintentional comedian Donald Trump took second at 14 percent.
David Feherty and Gary McCord won their categories but are no longer together.
In addition to losing the game’s top funnyman, CBS also lost its grip as favorite golf network for the first time since Golf Digest started this survey in 1988. Golf Channel, which finished its 21st year of being the only 24-hour golf network, took that category (38 percent to 29 percent) and benefited from a deep, balanced roster. The polarizing Brandel Chamblee finished as the sixth-favorite analyst and tied for second-most disliked.
Golf Digest’s Survey on the Best and Worst Announcers!
Interestingly, he was less popular than rookie teammate David Duval. Kelly Tilghman’s 28 percent was good for fourth among hosts, and Charlie Rymer was a surprising favorite member of “Morning Drive,” Golf Channel’s flagship show. Golf Channel’s Tim Rosaforte came in second to NBC’s Jimmy Roberts in the reporter/interviewer category and finished No. 2 to Rymer among “Morning Drive” cast members in the first year of the post-Holly Sonders era.
Speaking of Sonders, she finished No. 3 among reporters.
But not even her presence or a star-studded booth duo of Joe Buck and Greg Norman translated into a good first impression by Fox at the U.S. Open. In fact, Buck and Norman were the least favorite in their respective categories. Buck got bad marks for a lack of golf knowledge and Norman getting poor marks for a surplus of arrogance. It wasn’t quite a Brent Musburger level of disdain. The former ABC golf announcer received 43 percent of our worst-host vote in 1996—but 39 percent named Buck their least favorite, and a quarter of those polled gave the Shark a biting review.
Not surprisingly, there was a huge difference in how today’s fans watch pro golf and which players they follow most closely.
Jordan Spieth, after his monster season, was a clear favorite player to watch (viewers were 83 percent more likely to watch when he was in contention), and Tiger Woods fell from first in 2002 to sixth, at 55 percent.
All participants said they watched at least 10 events on TV in the past year. But 69 percent reported they have watched golf tournaments using mobile apps. Which didn’t exist when Golf Digest last conducted this survey. Yes, a lot can happen in 13 years—and it’s not all bad, Johnny. We hear houndstooth is making a comeback.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Golf is in a great place right now, even in the White House.
I read part of an interview by GQ magazine where the President was asked to name his ‘guiltiest-pleasure TV show.’
Obama made my day when he replied that watching The Big Break was his guiltiest pleasure.
We know that the President loves to golf when he gets the chance, and that reinforces a positive image of our sport. It really ticked me off when some people indicated that golf was not politically correct, following the financial collapse in 2008. Fortunately, most opinions have come around again, as golf continues to reveal itself as the most healthy and highly philanthropic sport, globally.
Thanks, POTUS, for your great ‘guilty pleasure’ pick!
Top Turkeys we don’t give thanks to in 2015 on this Thanksgiving Day!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Are you having turkey this Thanksgiving Day? I know I am. So, at the same time, let’s give thanks that we are not on this ignominious list of the top turkeys of 2015! There are definitely some on this list that doesn’t deserve to be here. Rory’s injury was no fault of his own, but then Robert Allenby is definitely the #1 Turkey of 2015! Thanks to Golf Digest for putting this fun list together!
1. Robert Allenby
It wasn’t a great year for the Aussie. First he claimed that he had been kidnapped and robbed in Hawaii, only to have stories surface that, in reality, Allenby sustained his injuries during a drunken fall. Then his caddie quit on Allenby mid-round at the Canadian Open. While Allenby counters that he actually fired his caddie, we are taking the looper’s side, given Allenby has run through 24 caddies in his professional career.
2. Suzann Pettersen
Not even a dramatic Sunday rally by the U.S. could make this year’s Solheim Cup known for anything other than “Gimmegate.” At the center of the controversy was Alison Lee, who gave herself a short putt prematurely. And Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, whose decision not to give the putt despite pleas from her teammates and even a request from her captain, fell on deaf ears. Pettersen would offer a heartfelt apology the following day on Instagram but didn’t sound nearly as contrite in a Golf Channel interview the following week. This was a missed tap-in at sportsmanship.
3. Steve Williams
As Golf Digest’s Jaime Diaz noted, the former caddie’s new book Out Of The Rough provided a compelling window into the game by detailing his time working for Tiger Woods and others. But the book was severely undermined by Williams’ reference to feeling “like a slave” when working for Woods. The characterization did seem woefully out of touch when comparing it to the real definition of slavery. Even more so when considering Williams was made a wealthy man carrying a bag and reading putts.
4. Pathetic Craigslist club seller
Plenty of people hawk their clubs on Craiglist, but it was the depressing, spineless nature of this guy’s post (Note: We don’t have an actual photo of the pathetic sap) that earns him turkey status. A man in Wilmington, Del., sold his Mizuno irons for $500 because “I got married a year ago and my wife no longer lets me play golf.” We’re not sure who we’re angrier at, the men everywhere who expect more resolve out of one of their own, or the wives who have long fought this sort of killjoy reputation.
5. Rory McIlroy
Congrats to Rory for winning at the DP World Tour Championship and securing the season-long European Tour money title and player-of-the-year honors. However, the victory only makes his mid-year soccer mishap—and subsequent five-week layoff—all the more frustrating. Just as McIlroy and Jordan Spieth were setting up for an epic clash at the British Open at St. Andrews (defending champ vs. winner of the year’s first two majors), McIlroy goes out ruptures ligaments in his left ankle fooling around with his mates. Despite the injury, McIlroy managed to win four times in 2015. Yet the year will still go down as one that McIlroy unnecessarily kicked away.
Happy Thanksgiving – 28 things golfers need to be thankful for.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! As we all give thanks for the great things we have in our lives, friends, family and this wonderful country we live in, warts and all, it is time to see what we are really thankful for in golf. Thanks to Joel Beall and the hard working people at Golf Digest, here are 28 things we golfers need to be grateful for!
We’ve become an ungrateful bunch. Instead of cherishing the good, we belabor the bad. We complain about the Wi-Fi stalling out, oblivious to the miracle of the Internet. Talk crap about our jobs without referencing its steady income. Traffic, sports, politics: moan, moan, moan. And God only knows the struggle of sitting on an airport runway.
Which is why Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year. It’s a respite from groaning, where gratitude takes center stage. That attitude applies to golf, for I’ve been guilty of bellyaching just as much as anyone.
In keeping with Thanksgiving tradition, here are the things I’m most thankful for from the world of golf:
1. Gimme Putts
And we’re guessing Alison Lee does, too.
2. Online tee-time reservation sites
For those too poor to afford a country club (me) and/or procrastinate in making a tee time earlier in the week (me, again), these websites are a gift from the golf gods. It can be a roll of the dice; in many ways, it’s like TJ Maxx: If you’re trying to find a specific, particular item, you may be disappointed, but if casually browsing, you’ll likely find something that fits your fancy. As long as you don’t mind the spontaneity of the process, booking a time online should be right up your alley.
And no, this wasn’t a paid, sponsored content endorsement.
3. Masters week
Where to begin? It’s the best golf course in the world, and the same sentiment can be applied to its condition. Forget sporting events; it’s the most efficiently run event in this country PERIOD. Every element of Augusta is draped in tradition; the Par 3 Contest has more history than most tournaments. The small field all but guarantees a big-name winner, and the course layout ensures an exciting finish.
In short: If there is a heaven, then the Pearly Gates are located at 2604 Washington Road.
4. Breakfast balls
How to know your friend’s a keeper: He/she motions for a reload after your first shot of the day finds the parking lot. As Euripides said, “Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.”
5. Weekday outings
The snow days of adulthood. Bonus points if they reside on a Friday.
6. Night Golf
If you’ve only swung a club in sunlight, you’re missing out.
Amateurs competing in majors
While Jordan Spieth was the main storyline at St. Andrews, the competitive showings of Paul Dunne and Jordan Niebrugge were right up there in narrative excitement. Granted, these guys are professionals-in-training, yet there’s undoubtedly a romanticized feeling when an “(A)” name designation appears on the scoreboard.
It even inspires the ephemeral hope that you, too, watching at home, can compete with the big boys. All you need is a little practice around the greens, more mental focus, a better diet and stretching regimen, and — BOOM — you’d be walking up the 18th fairway as Jim Nantz pontificates a Nantzism on your historic victory (which, in my case, would be along the lines of, “An Un-BEALL-ievable moment!!!).
Then you remember you couldn’t break par at the member-guest and think, “Na.”
7. 16th hole at Phoenix
The antithesis of golf etiquette, decorum and civility…and, remarkably, it’s universally beloved by everyone in the game.
8. Cart girls
Admittedly, I always resented this profession growing up, due to making minimum wage on maintenance duty while those manning carts would pull in $35 per hour off tips. But this summer, most of my golf was played at a course without coolers, and on the days I forgot to pack my own water bottle — which was often — seeing the silhouette of the snack truck approaching from the distance turned me into Andy Dufresne after his Shawshank escape.
9. eBay
Be it equipment, books, programs, clothes, tickets, even vacations, eBay is the Elysium of golf memorabilia. If you’re ready to go down this rabbit hole, Matt Rudy’s work is a weekly source for these finds.
10. John Daly
The big guy gave us a scare this summer, collapsing at an event in Mississippi. From his outlandish ensembles to his penchant for belting out “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” the game is always a bit more colorful when Daly’s around. Moreover, there’s something to be said for a person who can energize a gallery with his mere appearance, and in terms of treating fans, Daly has no peer on the PGA Tour.
Here’s hoping for a clean bill of health for JD for 2016.
Happy Thanksgiving – 28 things golfers need to be thankful for.
11. Club Pro Guy Twitter account
Crass, irreverent, offensive, demeaning. Our kind of guy.
12. Televised golf at bizarre hours
The British Open is the annual model for its early-morning showcase on the East Coast, but 2015 gave us a prime-time U.S. Open and a deep-into-the-night Presidents Cup broadcast. Even the British Open got into the act — albeit briefly — with its 1:30 a.m. EST Saturday-morning start.
13. Scrambles
There is nothing better for a golfer’s confidence than a scramble . It’s easy to dismiss awful shots (“Well, clearly I was just being overly aggressive because of the format, you guys”), putting transforms from the bane of your existence to a shared struggle and every decent knock is treated like MacArthur returning to the Philippines.
Harry How/Getty Images
14. Dash Day
Fact: Golf viewership among females audiences has soared 784 percent, strictly at the prospect of seeing Lil’ Day running across the 18th green. EvenKeely Levins, who makes the Grinch look amicable, lights up like a Christmas tree at Dash sightings.
The greatest untold story in golf – Finish College debt-free!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
While researching another story I was writing, I came across this intriguing story that I felt I had to share! This is the greatest untold story in golf! Going to college on a scholarship that is available to all. And the best thing is, you can finish college debt-free! Why is this such a secret? Thanks so much to Golf Digest and Bob Carney for bringing this to our attention. I hope this story gets the coverage it deserves!
Even in the well-buffered world that is golf—even in our world, in other words—it’s a wonder that some kids make it.
Malachi Zeitner, son of an Iowa golf professional and the nephew of another, lost his mother to drugs and jail when he was not much more than a toddler. When he was 8, his father, Brandon, got married to another woman and moved to Chicago, where he took a job as an assistant pro, and, when the marriage failed, succumbed to an alcoholic habit he’d kept secret from his family. He died in 2007.
Malachi, then 12, moved back to Sioux City, Iowa, to live with his grandparents and might still be there if it weren’t for a meeting about caddies his uncle attended in Ohio, and the conversation it inspired.
“So I’ve come back from this Evans Scholarship selection meeting,”
Says Brad Zeitner, head professional at Brookside Golf and Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, “and I’m telling my wife, Beth, how cool an experience it was listening to these kids who are applying for the scholarship, how I had tears in my eyes and all, and I finish, and she says—give her the credit—’Well, I don’t know much about caddieing, but based on what you’re telling me, what about Malachi? What if he came here and lived with us and caddied at Brookside?’ That pretty much set the ball rolling.”
Ari Rexhepaj at the Miami of Ohio Evans Scholarship house.
It continued rolling through three summers of caddieing, strong grades, and a selection meeting at the Maketewah Country Club in Cincinnati much like the first one Malachi’s uncle had attended. The adults at the meeting—donors, scholarship directors, many former caddies themselves—wanted to know if Malachi, in addition to his strong caddie and academic records, was a solid kid, a kid with character. They were also curious about why he’d chosen dentistry. Malachi told them he decided to be a dentist about the time he moved back to Iowa from Chicago, when things got rough. “I’d heard somewhere that dentists got more free health care than any professional. I needed that.”
‘It would mean I could give my kids the things I didn’t have.’
“The last question they asked him was what getting this scholarship would mean to him,” recalls Uncle Brad. “Malachi said, ‘It would mean I could give my kids the things I didn’t have.’ As everyone took that in, the room went absolutely silent. One of the gentlemen stopped it there. ‘Malachi, I think that’s enough,’ he said. Mal tells me later, ‘I didn’t get a chance to thank everyone.’ I said, “No, you thanked them. You just didn’t know it.”
In 2012, Malachi Zeitner won the Evans Scholarship, a full ride, including housing, to Miami University in Ohio (where tuition runs about $31,000 a year), and he has lived without charge in a house of 40 former caddies for the past three years. He’ll graduate this May, dental school ahead.
“To be honest, I probably wouldn’t be in college if it weren’t for the scholarship,” Malachi says. He’s also a big fan of the communal living that’s part of the Evans experience. “I got to school the first week, and I felt like we had a family in the house.”
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
The golf course is one place where healing is available for all.
It places you in nature’s gorgeous environment and it makes you forget about everything else, except how to get the ball in the hole.
This is especially important for those who have served their countries in military conflict. Golf is almost a form of meditation for them.
With November 11 Veteran’s Day events last week, I am reminded of the debt we owe to all those in the service. All of us in the golf industry must continue to support them with equipment, instruction, green fees, etc. I constantly read stories on how golf helps these heros regain hope, overcome depression, and even improve physical impairments, such as loss of balance.
My own experience of working with a physically challenged Marine Corps vet who golfs from a ParaGolfer cart (allows paralytic golfers to ‘stand up’ to hit the ball), was fantastic. This young man is definitely not a quitter, has a terrific sense of humor, and inspires everyone around him to “suck it up and go play!”
Ask your golf facility what they are doing to give back! Remember, golf heals!
2 top caddies to become part-time reporters at the RSM Classic!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
This is a really great idea!
To let 2 experienced caddies, Jim “Bones ” Mackay, Phil Mickelson’s caddie, and John Wood, now the caddie for Matt Kuchar, commentate during the RSM Classic at the Sea Island Resort in GA. I’m sure we will get a completely different perspective from these 2 caddies than from the glib, polished jargon of NBC golf reporters. Looking forward to hearing what they have to say!
Growing up, your parents always told you to have a back-up plan.
In the cut-throat world of professional caddies, that mantra holds especially true as players and caddies break up regularly, often for no better reason than the player needs a change of scenery. Next week at the RSM Classic at the Sea Island Resort — formerly the McGladrey Classic — Jim “Bones” Mackay, Phil Mickelson’s longtime caddie, and John Wood, Matt Kuchar’s loop, will try out a back-up plan of their own: on-course reporting.
A Nightclub – Putt-Putt Course and WWII Bunker all in one!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
This is the type of place that golfers are going to swarm to!
A bar, restaurant, and putt-putt in a great setting of an underground WWII bunker! The perfect place for a corporate outing or upscale birthday party, the uses are endless. The next time I am in London, I will definitely seek this place out!
Thanks to Matt Grech-Smith for the video and Swing by Swing for the interesting article. Be sure to check out the link below to see additional pictures of this establishment!
Swingers – the 9 hole crazy-golf pop-up – was the first venture brought to you by the Institute of Competitive Socialising. Located at Factory 7, Hearn Street, London E1, it ran from September 2014 to February 2015.
This putt-putt course that’s coming to London in early 2016 may be one of the coolest we’ve ever seen. Housed in an old WWII bunker, the 16,000 sq. foot venue will feature:
Did you know why golf balls have dimples – Read this!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
The reason golf balls have dimples is a simple one.
Balls would not fly very far with no dinples.
The ball would not fly at all without them. If a golf ball was smooth like a billiard ball, the ball would fly less than 50 yards when hit with a driver. Great if you don’t want to lose a ball, but not great if you are playing a 7000-yard course! Find out through the United States Golf Association (USGA) about the science of ball flight.
NBC Learn, in partnership with the United States Golf Association and Chevron, explores the Science of Golf. Here, Steve Quintavella, USGA equipment standards operations manager, illustrates why golf balls have dimples and what they do for distance. Visit www.NBCLearn.com for more.
My favorite golfer of all time turns 80! A Talk with Gary Player.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
I have been fortunate to call Gary Player a friend, but far more than that he was and still is a huge inspiration.
Gary has conducted his life with honesty and integrity and is a fierce competitor, but at the end of the day will shake your hand and say “Well played!” I was thrilled when Brendan Mohler interviewed Gary and published the outcome on GOLF.com because I think Gary always has interesting stuff to say!
My favorite golfer of all time turns 80! A Talk with Gary Player.
Deep Thoughts: Gary Player Recalls His Worst Golf Moment
Gary Player has had no shortage of career highlights, but ask him to pick a lowlight and one memory stands out.
Not many people have gotten more out of their lives than Gary Player, regardless of his nine major championship victories. A few days before turning 80 (which, if you’re Player, is closer to half-time than it is the end of the third quarter) the Black Knight spoke from his West Palm Beach home, reflecting on his life’s work and opining on anything from retirement (he doesn’t know what that’s like) to America (he talks like he’s running for office, which wouldn’t be a bad thing).
You’re a few days away from your 80th birthday. There must be a big party planned…
There is, but not until the 11th of November. I’m going to be on a flight to China on my birthday for a sight visit at a course we’re building. But on the 11th we’re throwing a party at Sun City Resort in South Africa. My friends are coming from all over the world and we’re playing golf the day before the party and the day after.
Considering what you’ve accomplished, what’s left for you to do that’s more exciting than what you’ve done?
What’s so exciting about turning 80 is that I have so much energy. I work as hard at 80 as I did at 25, and I keep telling people that retiring is a death warrant. People that retire, they sit around, they do nothing and they die within three years. You have to keep moving, you have to keep working.
Your intense workout regimen is no secret. But what’s your diet like?
I had nothing for breakfast this morning except a glass of pomegranate juice and some green juice—just a bunch of vegetables put in a blender. I’m not a big meat eater. I’m 70 percent vegetarian. I try to have a good breakfast in the morning and a good lunch. I try some nights to have no dinner. When I do, it’s a very tiny dinner. I don’t eat a lot of bread, alcohol, or things like that at night. They say that you don’t put gas in your car when you park it in the garage. You gas it up during the day. The same applies to your body.
In your travels, what place or person has influenced you the most?
[Former Prime Minister of Singapore] Lee Kuan Yew is probably the greatest leader I can remember in my lifetime. He passed away recently, but to take a country of such a small size that had virtually nothing and turn it into No. 1 in the world in education is impressive. Singapore has no killings of people, no graffiti, no garbage in the street. And he did it by enforcing the principles that are necessary for everyday living.
You’re as big of a supporter of America as a U.S.-born citizen. What can we learn here?
I’ve been reading one of Lou Dobbs’ books, and I learned that in math and science America is ranked 51st in the world. We’re rated 28th in overall education! We’ve got to get the young people to realize that they live in the greatest country in the world. America used to have a monopoly, but now you’ve got China, India, Africa and Europe as competitors. The young people have got to work harder to keep America as No. 1.
I’ll never forget having dinner with President Eisenhower. He told me that you need to have the strongest army in the world because you get peace through strength. He said, ‘It’s my job to make America safe. When you’re safe others around the world invest in you.’ He said, ‘We’ve got to have discipline. We have to get people to honor this great country.’
In your travels, what place or person has influenced you the most?