A long time ago, Greg Norman was a very good golfer with a flashy nickname who was best known for losing major tournaments in the worst way possible.
Today, he is something else entirely: the despicable epitome of unabashed greed, a man apparently with neither soul nor conscience who just uttered one of the most reprehensible sentences ever heard in the world of sports.
As he fielded questions about the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi on Wednesday at a media day for his Saudi-backed LIV Golf’s inaugural event in London next month, Norman said this:
“Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.”
That’s the quote, word for word, according to The Times of London. “We’ve all made mistakes,” Norman, 67, said about the country and the man — his business partner — who ordered the kidnapping and assassination of another human being.
Human rights organizations and intelligence services have said that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman sanctioned the killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018. Bin Salman is chairman of the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund. That fund is bankrolling Norman’s LIV Golf.
If we as a society have any sense of collective outrage left in us, Norman as a pitchman, figurehead and aging public figure should be finished. Done. Gone.
His golf tour funded by Saudi blood money should join him. Finished. Done. Gone.
Greg Norman downplayed the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at a media day for his Saudi-backed LIV Golf’s inaugural event in London.
Any golfer who still talks about playing in tournaments on the Saudi series — to date, that’s the likes of Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood — should be ostracized and punished for their selfishness and arrogance. Any sponsor still hanging onto those players should cut them loose. Finished. Done. Gone. Why not? This is that bad. The golfers know better, yet they cannot stop themselves from wanting to take money from the worst among us.
Mickelson hasn’t played competitively since his Norman-esque comments in February trying to explain why a guy like him would want to join a tour like the one being run by the Saudis.
“They’re scary (expletive) to get involved with,” Mickelson said, according to author Alan Shipnuck. “We know they killed Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”
It was terrible when he said it, but paired with Norman’s comment, it looks even worse now. My goodness, how history will judge these people. Mickelson apologized and disappeared, but his quote speaks for itself in all its cravenness: “A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
These multi-millionaires want to be freed from the tour that has made them so rich so they can get richer being associated with this: On March 12, Saudi Arabia put 81 men to death in a mass execution.
Norman was asked about that by journalists Wednesday in London and answered by saying he didn’t want to be bothered thinking about it.
“I got a lot of messages but quite honestly I look forward,” he said. “I don’t look back. I don’t look into the politics of things. I’m not going to get into the quagmire of whatever else happens in someone else’s world. I heard about it and just kept moving on.”
For decades, Norman was called “The Shark” because of his blond hair, rugged profile, aggressive play and Australian roots. It always seemed like the perfect nickname. And it still is. Just remove “the” and replace it with “a.” A shark, through and through.
Many fans remember the punch delivered by Nia Jax (Lina Fanene) to Becky Lynch on a November 2018 edition of Raw during a segment to further promote WWE Survivor Series. It was an accident that changed the course of history as it nixed the first-ever singles match between Ronda Rousey and Lynch, a match that still hasn’t happened.
Jax and Lynch had been friends outside of the ring, but their friendship appears to be over. Jax took part in an Instagram Q&A session where the former WWE star was asked whether she was in good friendship with Lynch.
Jax replied, “Lol I don’t think she has a good friendship with anyone.”
Jax was also asked whether she will ever work for AEW or ROH. She plugged her match with CJ Perry (Lana) to crown the first-ever Women’s World Champion of Wrestling Entertainment Series (WES), a new promotion launched by The Authors of Pain, on June 4th at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England. The event will be available to stream on FITE.
Stephanie McMahon surprised many with her announcement that she would be taking a leave of absence from most of her duties with WWE on Thursday. The daughter of Vince McMahon had been reducing her involvement in WWE as of late ahead of the announcement.
McMahon has received a lot of support from those in the company following the announcement and there is not any bad blood involved as she cited spending more time with her family as the reason behind the decision.
Fightful Select reports that much of McMahon’s team that she worked with directly was dismantled during recent rounds of office layoffs. One source stated they weren’t surprised by her decision but didn’t have any reason behind it.
WWE President Nick Khan will take over most of McMahon’s duties going forward. As previously reported, Triple H has returned to work full-time for WWE after being away for many months following his medical situation last September.
After working in the company since she was a teenager, she has earned the right to take some time for herself.
WWE has pulled the official Facebook pages for Sasha Banks and Naomi after it was announced during SmackDown that they have been indefinitely suspended.
Their Facebook pages are separate from their personal accounts and are run by WWE staff. Banks’ official page had almost 3 million followers and Naomi’s page had over 1.8 million followers.
As was noted last night, WWE also pulled all of their WWE Shop merchandise, essentially cutting off all potential royalties. Banks and Naomi are still technically with the company and have not been released but both women had been in contract negotiations before walking out on Monday.
Their deals are said to be up within a couple of months so it’s possible that they may never return if things don’t get worked out between both sides. Banks was seen in Minnesota yesterday with Snoop Dogg’s son Calvin on the way to hang out at the late Prince’s house.
For those of you that missed it, here is Michael Cole announcing their indefinite suspension:
Sasha Banks and Naomi have been suspended indefinitely. There will be a future tournament to crown the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. pic.twitter.com/8xhJe0l5bV
