Chokin' Freakin' Dogs

by Mulligan Stu on Sep 15, 2007 7:48 PM EDT

You can't stop Dottie Pepper. And no matter how badly you want to, you can't contain her, either.

Or perhaps I should say, she can't contain herself.

She probably wishes she could tonight, after the comment she inadvertently blurted out on the air during the Solheim Cup telecast on The Golf Channel this morning. Just a few days ago we talked about all the controversy Pepper caused in this event when she was playing it. And here she is announcing it, and still causing trouble.

The comment came at the end of the morning foursomes session, when the U.S. blew late leads in two matches, losing both leads on the 18th holes (the matches were halved). The second lead lost happened when Sherri Steinhauer missed a 3-foot putt.

It was shortly after that when Pepper struck. Thinking The Golf Channel had gone to commercial, Pepper uttered those three little words:

Chokin' freakin' dogs ...

The Associated Press story picks it up:

... though that telecast was seen only in North America, word spread quickly to Sweden. Suddenly, the lightning-rod of a player whose likeness was once fashioned into a punching bag by the Europeans at the Solheim Cup was serving up material that could rile her own former team.

"I'm too involved with the Solheim Cup to worry about it," American captain Betsy King said. "Afterward, I'd be happy to comment about it."

But many American players were said to be miffed by the comments, and European captain Helen Alfredsson wasn't pleased, either.

"I think it's totally inappropriate, no matter what," she said. "We're all together in this. At the end of the day, it's all for women's golf, and she, if anybody, should know how tough things are."

I'm sure Alfredsson was upset by the comment, although perhaps for reasons not as altruistic as she indicated. She may have been thinking, "Great, all I need is for 'Snottie Dottie' to rear her head and say something stupid ... that gets the Americans fired up."

On the other hand, I'm not sure most of these Americans could get more fired up, what with all the face-painting and personalized hair ribbons ...

One thing I am sure of is that Pepper is absolutely mortified that her comment made it onto the air, and terribly embarrassed. Those are her friends she just called "choking dogs" on national television. I can't imagine how angry Pepper herself would be if an announcer had applied those words to her.

But hey, at least she used the word "freakin'" rather that the word it stands in for ...

Update: Tiger Woods was asked about Pepper's comment because ... well, because he's Tiger Woods. Here's what he said (quoted in an update to the AP story linked above):

Told about her comments at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, Tiger Woods said, "I don't think she's going to get a lot of interviews from the players."

"I think everyone makes mistakes, and she's been great for women's golf," Woods said. "She's promoted the game, was a great champion, and I'm sure as time passes, people will forget it."

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Wow,

just, wow. If the US wins, I wonder if some of the US women will go after her with comments like the men did with Johnny Miller at Brookline? Of course, Miller made his comments on-air, when he knew the cameras were rolling.

You know why divorces are so expensive? They're worth it - Willie Nelson

by Shank You very much on Sep 15, 2007 9:52 PM EDT reply actions