To celebrate Dan Jenkins’ induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame tonight, I thought it would be appropriate to dig up some excerpts from an interview I did with him in 2008. I spoke with the great one at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. We discussed his latest novel The Franchise Babe, and branched out to Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods and the profession he helped define.
One of the first items that came up was pants. Or rather short pants. He said there never has been a great sportswriter who wore shorts. Wearing his trademark khaki slacks, he said:
Who is the best the sportswriter who wore shorts? I keep trying to envision Grantland Rice or John Lardner in shorts. It never occurred to me to wear shorts. I’d look too silly to wear shorts.
Thankfully, I wasn’t wearing shorts on that day. But I do break out the shorts more often than not on those hot days during a tournament. Guess that disqualifies me as a great sportswriter.
Not that I, or anyone else, would be in his class.
Anyway, enough from me. Here are some excerpts from my interview:
One-liners: The best humor is bound with truth. I never wrote a line in my life I didn’t believe. I never wrote a joke I didn’t believe. It wasn’t a question of being funny. It comes natural, the way I see it.
On his idols: I was greatly influenced by my heroes, Runyans, Lardners. I wish I had John Lardner’s talent to tweak but not bleed. A few times, I drew blood and didn’t mean to. I don’t think these guys in here (current sportswriters) ever read that stuff.
His novels: I write the same book every time, just change the names. I’ve never been in a war. I couldn’t write about that. I worked in press boxes. I knew athletes. I wrote about that.
Access back then: I knew everybody. I knew Hogan better than anybody. Knew Jack, knew Arnold. I was friends with them. We had dinner with them. They would tell you things they knew you wouldn’t write. There was a relationship.
Let’s say it was a regular tour tournament. The Jackie Gleason. You’d go into the coffee shop and you might see Sam Snead sitting by himself. You’d join him. He’d enjoy the company. That doesn’t happen anymore. You miss a lot of good stories. You miss a lot of deep background. You miss knowledge.
There was a camaraderie We were always in the lockerroom. You don’t have that anymore. I miss the connection.
Covering Ben Hogan: He was misunderstood to the extent he was shy. Very shy. He didn’t suffer fools. If you didn’t understand the game, he didn’t want to talk to you. He knew I understood the game. When I went to a tournament, I’d write two stories. The main story and Hogan, no matter what he did.
I’d walk all 18 with him. He knew I was there. If he had a bad round, he knew I’d be there to ask him about it. It was fun. A great privilege. I was very lucky. If he wasn’t around, I might still be in Waco.
Covering Tiger Woods: I can’t talk to him. I don’t know him. I tried for 10 years to get a one-on-one. You know what (Woods’ agent) Mark Steinberg says? ‘We have nothing to gain.’ I said Mark, ‘You can read it before you print it. We’ll take things out.’ He says, ‘We have nothing to gain.’ Can you believe that?
Covering college football: (When he joined Sports Illustrated in 1962) They asked why do you want to cover college football? I said because I know more about it than anyone here. If you grew up in Texas, it was either college football or drowning.
I changed the way they cover college football. In those days, when Sports Illustrated covered college football, it was Yale-Harvard. It was a social thing. I said there’s this thing called No. 1. And we should gear our coverage to the big game of the week.
Success of Semi-Tough: It was good news, bad news. I made some dough. It helped my lifestyle. But it was the reason why they (SI) moved me to pro football. They said, ‘You’ve got this fuckin’ best-seller on pro football. You’ve got to cover pro football for us.’ I hated it. I didn’t respect it. It wasn’t as much fun to me as college football.
On daughter Sally becoming a noted columnist: We had two boys and Sally. They were all interested in sports. I didn’t say anything to Sally. She was covering the Final Four one year when she was a rookie. She told (legendary Dallas sportswriter Blackie Sherrod), “I’m going to be a sportswriter.” Blackie said, “You can go to a doctor and have it cut off.” A great line.
I love reading her column. I hardly ever find myself disagreeing with her. I say she’s the best writer in the family. Hell, she went to Stanford and I went to TCU.
His main goal: I’ve always been a beat guy. I covered college football, pro football, golf. Ruling out the seamheads in baseball, it’s hard to find anybody who wants to be a caretaker of the sport. I always wanted to take care of the sport. I wanted to caretake golf. I wanted caretake college football. Tell things to people they didn’t know. Inform them.
Last word: To the people who say I’m an old curmudgeon, I say you’re right.