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Mickelson gambling stories make rounds again
Don Bauder, Read my comment again. I couldn't care less whether or not Mickelson gambles, how often he gambles , or how big he loses or wins. I have been a subscriber to SI, Golf and Golf Digest for many, many, many years and have read all of the stories before. As I clearlty stated, I was taking issue of your characterization of the 2004 Ryder Cup and your clear inference, at least to me, that because of Mickelson's change in clubs, he played poorly, that poor play to his benching and subsequently contributed to America's loss in the 2004 Ryder Cup. Again, I quote "He only played the Callaway clubs once before the Ryder Cup, did poorly, and was benched. America lost. " Mickelson was not benched. He sat out 1 match. In his entire Ryder Cup career, which started in 1995 if I remember correctly, Mickelson has played in all 5 matches only twice, in 2006 and 2008. And to his poor play, well that fact that Mickelson has the all-time most losses in the history of the American Ryder Cup team speaks for itself. In his 9 Cup appearances, last year and his rookie year are he ONLY times he has had a winning record. In his last 5 cup appearances, including that 2004 Cup which you refer to, he is 7-16-3. Mickelson is hardly a world beater when it comes to his participation in the Ryder Cup and why he continues to be chosen escapes me. And as for my "assumptions" you referred to, I'm not assuming anything. That's not mine. It came straight from Larry Dorman in the very same column you quoted. In that same column, Dornan also said "The surprise signing and the proximity of the Ryder Cup combined to cause quite an uproar in the media. Baseless rumors arose in some quarters, questioning Mickelson’s motivation for signing. When I say baseless, I mean totally unfounded, manufactured rumors alleging gambling debts that had no basis in fact." It's OK if you want to sensationalize something to take up space, which is what you're doing because this story is quite literally old news. But you could at least TRY to get some of the facts correct.— January 30, 2013 9:30 a.m.
Mickelson gambling stories make rounds again
"He only played the Callaway clubs once before the Ryder Cup, did poorly, and was benched. America lost. " First of all let me repeat what I said previously: I can't stand Mickelson as a golfer. That said however, I take issue with your characterization of the 2004 Ryder Cup. First of all, he didn't get "benched". He played in 4 of the 5 of the matches missing only the Sat. 4ball and since only 4 teams play, I hardly call that a benching. Did he suck? Yeah he did, but also give him credit for being the only winner on Sat afternoon. And since the US lost 18 1/2 to 9 1/2, It's pretty safe to say that everyone pretty much sucked. BTW, Larry Dorman said in that same article, that all the information was checked out by Callaway’s head of investigations, a former head of counterintelligence for the U.S. Army, and no evidence was found to support the claims, either of gambling debt or any other charge. Again, can't stand Phil the golfer. I'm just sayin'. PS, don't hear any gambling rumors about Rory, even though he didn't even make the cut in Abu Dhabi with his brand spankin new NIKE's. Again, I'm just sayin. LOL— January 29, 2013 10:05 p.m.
Task force formed on San Onofre restart plan
Interesting that nearly half of those"great comments" are yours. That leads me to ask you the same question that I have asked you before and you have yet to answer. My involvement in the anti-nuclear movement goes back to the Diablo Canyon protests in 1981 and the 1977 protests at San Onofre during the construction of units 2 and 3, as I have documented in the Reader previously. Since your fascination with the issue of nuclear power plants seems to have begun with the most recent problems at San Onofre, I will ask again. Have you actually attended any meetings or hearings? Have you participate in in demonstrations? Have you actually done anything other than just post comments on websites? Have you actually gotten involved, or do you just like to comment? I ask this in all seriousness. Are you an actual participant that can be counted on or are you just a hanger on?— January 25, 2013 3:50 p.m.
Mickelson threatens to leave over taxes
Perhaps you should read the book "How Money Walks".— January 24, 2013 11:02 a.m.
Mickelson threatens to leave over taxes
Don Bauder you really need to start paying closer attention to what we post here. These are NOT LAT calculations. The calculations are clearly identified as coming from the CBO: "The Congressional Budget Office calculated". Perhaps an eye exam is needed?— January 23, 2013 11:04 a.m.
More bad news for Fresh & Easy stores
I haven't been in a fresh and easy in so cal for at least a year, probably longer. How are they handling alcohol sales since AB 183 went into affect last year?— January 23, 2013 7:42 a.m.
Mickelson threatens to leave over taxes
"He should only have to pay a little over 50%, I understand (but I haven't, and won't, put the pencil to it.)" That's been done for you (from LAT): The Congressional Budget Office calculated that after deductions, exemptions and other tax-minimization techniques, the typical member of the 1% paid 24.2% of his or her earnings in federal income taxes in 2000, the last year before the Bush-era tax cuts lowered the top marginal rate from 39.6% to 35%. Throw in all other federal levies, such as self-employment and excise taxes, and the total federal burden rose to 33%. Add in his Ca tax liabilities, and he is less than 50% probably closer to 46%. Just another whiny rich guy.— January 23, 2013 7:35 a.m.
Mickelson threatens to leave over taxes
Can't stand Mickelson as a golfer.Don't know him personally, so I really don't care.— January 22, 2013 10:11 p.m.
Mickelson threatens to leave over taxes
Actually, I don’t believe there is a concern with the IRS. His federal taxes aren’t determined by which state he claims to be his official residence; they get their cut no matter which state he lives in so I would imagine they couldn’t care less. That said, I suppose he would have to be careful about claiming business expenses when traveling to Ca. But all he would have to do is talk to his good friend Mr. Woods about that. Tiger resides in Fl, but he still has at least 1 home in CA. It’s really the State of Ca that he would have to worry about. But his occupation gives him a built in advantage. The first 2 official PGA events are in Hawaii, but 4 of the next 5 are in Ca, and 3 of those are in So Cal. It’s a perfect opportunity to use a second, west coast home for business reason. From there it’s a match play in Tucson and then every US PGA event is east of the Rockies until August in Reno, which he rarely plays and then it’s back east for the rest of the season. He would only need to show residency in FL for 6 months and 1 day. The PGA season runs from early January until late September/early October plus there are several high purse overseas tournaments between the end of the PGA season and Christmas. With the amount of traveling required, most of it in the eastern US and overseas, it would be fairly easy to claim Florida as his home base, at least on paper, for residency purposes. Along those lines, he could easily justify keeping a second home in San Diego, as necessity for R&R during a long PGA season. Not to mention the fact that he still has familial and business ties to the area. Or "reside" in Reno or wherever. In fact, he would have to be pretty sloppy and stupid NOT to be able to get away with it. Last year, Mickelson made just over $48 million, with his golf winnings amounting to only a little over $4 million. Like you, I have absolutely NO sympathy for someone who has an after tax income of close to $30 million and is whining about his taxes being too high. And as one can see by the statement issued by Mickelson, even he realizes that he has managed to put his entire size 12 in his mouth.— January 22, 2013 7:09 p.m.
Mickelson threatens to leave over taxes
Mickelson normally plays around 20-25 tournaments, including a handful of non PGA tournaments in Europe. There are 42 or 43 PGA tournaments this year with only 4 of those in Ca, one of which is at Torrey. With 20-25 tournaments and a myriad of sponsorship and endorsement appearances, he is easily on the road for half the year. That would make it easy for any golfer who wanted to maintain "residency" in another state while maintaining a residence in Ca. It’s just not that tough. Then they can live that "California lifestyle" that some people like so much. BTW a couple of years ago, I read that more pro golfers had residence in Florida than any other state.— January 22, 2013 1:25 p.m.