Columnist Ron Kantowski: Stodgy PGA decides to cut caddies a break

Thursday, July 22, 1999 | 10:03 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's notes column appears Tuesday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

Viewers who tune into this weekend's John Deere Classic in Illinois will witness history being made on two fronts.

First, they'll get a chance to look in on the only PGA Tournament named for a piece of farm equipment. Second, they'll be watching half of the participants roaming the fairways in their short pants.

Hang onto your driver, Jean Van de Velde. The half-dressed ones won't be the players, which is too bad, because I'd certainly put off cutting the rough in my backyard to something less than Carnoustie length were Craig "The Walrus" Stadler playing golf on TV in his Bermudas.

It's only the caddies who will have that option. For the first time ever, the staid PGA will allow the guys carrying the sticks to show a little leg, if they so choose.

Temperatures in the 90s combined with typical Midwestern humidity should cause many of the bag men to utilize that option.

"It's a test," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem told the Des Moines (Ia.) Register. "We asked our board to approve a test policy for the next three weeks to see how it would work."

How it would work? Well, commissioner, I think I've got it figured out. You put your left leg in, you put your right leg in, and you shake the Coppertone all about. Other than zipping up, that's about all there is to it.

But let's not give the PGA too much credit for forward thinking. The United States Golf Association earlier this year allowed caddies to wear shorts at the U.S Open and also at the USGA-sponsored U.S. Senior Open at Des Moines Country Club earlier this month.

No report whether the caddies also wore black socks and sandals at that one in an attempt to make the gallery feel more hip.

In a related note, there was a report Wednesday that Van de Velde, a.k.a. Hapless Gilmore, has committed to play in next month's PGA Championship outside of Chicago. But instead of shorts his caddie is bringing Speedos, just in case his guy builds another insurmountable lead heading into the 72nd hole.

* AROUND THE HORN: If the guys who are running our IBL basketball franchise did their homework, the dog must have eaten it. The defunct Las Vegas Silver Streaks, our franchise in the equally defunct World Basketball League that had a short run at the Thomas & Mack Center during the late 1980s, tried to build a following by employing ex-Rebel stalwarts such as Freddie Banks, Mark Wade and Anthony Jones. In terms of drawing cards, they proved to be deuces. ...

When I heard the MGM was going to issue wristbands to advance ticket buyers for its upcoming ice show, I figured they had talked Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band into lacing up the skates. I must be missing something, but if you insist or purchasing (way) advance tickets for a (way) meaningless NHL exhibition skate between the Kings and Coyotes, wristband distribution at the MGM Grand box office begins at 10 p.m. Friday. Hockey tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday. ...

For a guy who has never come close to winning a race since leaving the Indy Racing League for a driving career in the rival Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series, Henderson's Richie Hearn sure has become a media darling in recent weeks. He was the subject of a feature story in "On Track" magazine last week and again in this month's slick "Racer" magazine. Part of the reason for Hearn's popularity with the press: He's totally accessible and showed undying loyalty to the equally pleasant John Della Penna, his mentor and under-financed car owner, when many of CART's well-heeled teams approached him about switching teams. Incidentally, Hearn, who this weekend will be racing in the always-breathtaking Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway, will have a new teammate after this season ends, although the arrangement has nothing to do with racing. H e plans to marry longtime girlfriend Brenda Neilds in November. ...

Las Vegas Motor Speedway chief Bruton Smith has been wheeling and dealing even more than usual this week. In addition to announcing he's going to build the best and baddest drag racing facilities on the planet both here and at Texas Motor Speedway (which he also owns), he has added Las Vegas' Integrity Dodge automobile dealership (and nine others across the country) to his bulging business portfolio. ...

While Lake Speed or former Las Vegas resident Racin Gardner are quintessential names for a race car driver, Mike Stoner might not be the guy you'd want patrolling your outfield. But the buzz around the league is he's enjoying his new assignment as a member of the PCL's Edmonton Trappers. ...

And finally, when I was a kid, my heroes were either ballplayers, astronauts or British rock musicians. I wanted to be Ron Santo, Alan Shepard or the guy who played the saxophone for the Dave Clark Five.

Santo recently had a heart attack, Shepard is dead and the sax guy -- I think his name was/is Lenny Davison -- might be the only musician who has never been featured on VH1's "Behind the Music." So I thought the days of hero worship had passed me by.

Until Tuesday.

Moving forward three decades, perhaps it was the uplifting musical score or dramatic cinematography used on HBO's "From Earth to the Moon" recounting of the historic Apollo 11 mission, exactly 30 years to the day that Neil Armstrong left his boot print on the moon, that moved me so. Or maybe the small embellishments the writers made to the script made the achievement seem even more monumental. Or that as an adult, I'm better able to comprehend the courage and vision of men such as Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, and everybody wearing the cheap headsets back at Mission Control.

All I know is that as I watched TV in my darkened living room Tuesday night, I felt awfully proud to be an American. And it had nothing to do with winning a women's soccer match.

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