Welcome to the Grill Room. With this week’s NBA All-Star Weekend under way here in Orlando, Fla., the Golf Guy decided to put together his own all-star team from the golf world. Pretty sure this squad couldn’t beat the Washington Generals, but nevertheless, would be fun to watch. Plus, we get a special visit from Hank Haney, whose show ‘The Haney Project’ kicks off its new season Monday at 8 p.m. ET. As always, rum and Cokes are on the house.
Point guard: Tiger Woods
The Ups: Can do it all. Complete take-charge quality. Experience.
The Downs: No longer friends with Charles Barkley. Possible coach killer.
Shooting guard: Sergio Garcia
The Ups: Good all-around athlete. Fellow Spaniard Ricky Rubio could ‘assist’ him with plenty of pointers.
The Downs: Doesn’t care for media spotlight. And our point guard (Woods) probably wouldn’t ever pass him the ball.
Power forward: Phil Mickelson
The Ups: Has the body and size to bang down in the low post. Craftiness with the ball exceeds all other big men.
The Downs: Seeing him in shorts and basketball tank top.
Small forward: Dustin Johnson
The Ups: Can actually dunk a basketball. Has intimidating swagger just walking onto the court.
The Downs: Has trouble producing in fourth quarter (see ‘10 PGA Championship, ’11 British Open and … LeBron James).
Center: Robert Karlsson
The Ups: The tallest golfer I can think of.
The Downs: Sweden not exactly a hotbed for hoops.
Bench
Jeff Overton: He’s a Hoosier. And he gets arrested for things like celebrating college basketball. I want that fire on my squad.
Gary Woodland: Played college ball. Granted, it was D-II, but still.
Jaco Van Zyl: Just want a player on the team named Jaco Van Zyl. Would be good for jersey sales.
Coach: The Golf Guy
The Ups: A player’s coach. Great in the team room. And in the hotel bar.
The Downs: (see hotel bar).
Happy Hour Special Guest: Hank Haney!
Renowned golf instructor Hank Haney was kind enough to pull up a stool at the bar and answer some unimportant questions – which are the kind we in the Grill Room want answered:
Favorite all-time movie: Tin Cup (no kidding?)
Funniest fellow golfer: Woody Austin (slamming putter up against one’s head is funny stuff)
Favorite meal on the road: Five Guys (Overrated!)
Favorite all-time band: Maroon 5 (hmmmm, a publicity stunt/answer?)
Favorite thing about golf: Hitting good shots (honestly don’t know the feeling)
Grill Room Haney appetizers: Predicting upcoming book ‘The Big Miss’ will go straight to No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list; could spend an entire evening with the participants of the latest ‘Haney Project’ – shadow boxing with Sugar Ray Leonard and talking about his beatdown of Marvin Hagler; then a nice meal with chef Mario Batali; then a fun, private concert with Adam Levine and Maroon 5; then the rest of the night/morning with Angie Everhart. Hello!
Random Thought
I love the match-play format for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. If only they would invite the top 15 players in the world and one fan/captain’s picks (Tiger Woods).