Another Michelle Wie Agent is Gone...

[littlepingman]

Interesting Article from Brian Hewitt

Brian Hewitt Article

Wie's Parents at the Center of Controversy

October 15, 2007

The Monday resignation of Greg Nared, Michelle Wie’s agent, can not be seen as anything but a setback to the Wie camp.

The story broke Monday morning and by the time I reached Nared by phone around lunch time he was already packing his bags in Los Angeles and getting ready to return to Oregon where he lived when working for Nike and Tiger Woods.

Nared is widely respected and trusted inside the golf industry. And he did not want to elaborate on the resignation statement he had released earlier in the day to the Associated Press.

But he did say he wanted nothing but the best for Wie. “She’s a wonderful kid,” he said. Nared also said he probably will not return to Nike. Rather, he said, he expects to start his own business.

Meanwhile, a source close to the Wie situation told me Nared’s problem was the same one that prompted—exactly one year ago—the resignation of Ross Berlin, her previous agent. “Everybody in the business knows the deal,” the source said. “It’s just very hard for her parents to accept advice.”

Apparently it’s also very hard for Bo and B.J. Wie to be apart from their daughter. And this has not gone unnoticed at Stanford, where Michelle has just begun her first year. “Most normal freshmen don’t have total helicopter parents like Bo and B.J.,” one school official told me. “Her parents follow her around so closely you could throw a little (pup) tent over the three of them.”

Stanford Gof Course officials already are requiring Wie to pay the student rate of $25 every time she plays the course there. Plus, they are charging her parents a cart fee to ride along and follow their daughter.

Calls from GOLF CHANNEL to B.J. Wie have not been returned.

Jesse Derris, of Sunshine, Sachs & Associates, released a statement on behalf of Michelle Wie and her team at the William Morris Agency concerning Nared’s resignation:

“While we are sorry that Greg will no longer be handling the road management of Michelle, we wish to thank him for his work and wish him the best going forward. The core group of agents handling Michelle’s business relationships remains intact, as it has from day one of her professional career.”

____________________________________________________________________

Associated Press Article

Another Loss: Wie's Agent Quits

By Associated Press - October 15, 2007

The losses for Michelle Wie keep piling up even though her LPGA Tour season is over. The latest came Monday when her agent resigned after less than a year on the job.

Greg Nared, a former Nike business manager whom the William Morris Agency hired a year ago to manage Wie, resigned as vice president of golf. His announcement came one day after Wie finished 19th in a 20-player field at the Samsung World Championship.

"After careful consideration for my future, I have resigned effective immediately," Nared said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. "I'm very grateful to the William Morris Agency for the opportunity to work with world-class athletes. It has been an invaluable experience and I'll forever cherish (it)."

Nared declined to elaborate when contacted before flying home to Oregon. Jill Smoller, to whom Nared reported at William Morris, did not immediately return a call.

Wie, a Stanford freshman who celebrated her 18th birthday Thursday, played her eighth and final LPGA event at Samsung. She ended her season with a 76.7 scoring average. broke par only twice, failed to record a single round in the 60s and made only three cuts.

Wie turned pro in October 2005 and was managed by Ross Berlin, a former PGA TOUR executive hired by the William Morris Agency as Wie's agent.

Berlin had disagreements with Wie's parents on her schedule, particularly in late 2006 when Wie was taken out of her senior year at Punahou School in Honolulu to play a European Tour men's event in Switzerland, then the following week outside Pittsburgh on the PGA TOUR at the 84 Lumber Classic. She finished last in both events.

Berlin resigned after the Samsung last year and returned to the TOUR. He was replaced by Nared, a former Maryland basketball player who had been a constant presence around Wie when he worked at Nike and was well-liked by the teenager and her family. Wie signed endorsement deals with Nike and Sony when she turned pro.

Nared quietly endured the heavy criticism that followed Wie during her most tumultuous year.

He was the in middle of her biggest controversy at the Ginn Tribute in South Carolina in the spring, conferring with her on the 16th tee moments before she withdrew. Wie was 14 over par through 16 holes when she quit, and it appeared as though she was trying to avoid the LPGA's "Rule 88," in which nonmembers are ineligible for one year if they shoot 88 or higher.

Wie then showed up at Bulle Rock two days later to practice for the McDonald's LPGA Championship, and Annika Sorenstam harshly denounced the move as disrespectful.

[Paul Stewart Jones]

10% of wie's winning this year clearly isnt enough to live on!

 

On a serious note, Wie's dad clearly whats control of everything, rather than letting people who know what they are doing.

[danpass]

Control freak parents.

 

 

Who are always right even when wrong.

 

 

 

RUN, MICHELLE, RUN!

[DavidR]

It is unfortunate for Wie that she is to young to realize she is ruining her career. I hope her parents don't spend all of her money so she may have a chance one of these days.

[golfebj]

I just pray that they see the example of the Woods family and how Earl backed off when it came to areas where was not an expert and allowed Tiger to come to him when he needed advice.

 

I just see Jennifer Capriatti all over again here, unfortunately... :good:

[juansky]

I think Wie is going to eventually hate golf instead of love it, and you can blame her control freak parents. She's far better off without her leechy parents for now. She's already a nervous wreck on the course, just way too much pressure being put on such a young prospect. Time will tell the tale.

[tbowles411]

I think Wie is going to eventually hate golf instead of love it, and you can blame her control freak parents. She's far better off without her leechy parents for now. She's already a nervous wreck on the course, just way too much pressure being put on such a young prospect. Time will tell the tale.

:good: :cheesy: :cheesy:

 

True. So True. She needs to take a couple steps back, be 18 and a college frosh and practice.

[littlepingman]

I think Wie is going to eventually hate golf instead of love it, and you can blame her control freak parents. She's far better off without her leechy parents for now. She's already a nervous wreck on the course, just way too much pressure being put on such a young prospect. Time will tell the tale.

:good: :cheesy: :cheesy:

 

True. So True. She needs to take a couple steps back, be 18 and a college frosh and practice.

 

I definitely agree she needs to learn to be herself. You don't have to ditch your parents to become your own person. However, having your parents follow you around campus during your college years is ludicrous. I know I didn't want a parental unit anywhere near me during those years. I have a hard time feeling sorry for Michelle Wie because she signed a contract a couple of years ago that gave her more money than I will earn in my lifetime, but as human being to human being I do feel sorry for her in many ways.

[wkuo3]

They're chocking her to death with their "love", certainly chocking her growth and her career.

[juansky]

I think Wie is going to eventually hate golf instead of love it, and you can blame her control freak parents. She's far better off without her leechy parents for now. She's already a nervous wreck on the course, just way too much pressure being put on such a young prospect. Time will tell the tale.

:good: :cheesy: :cheesy:

 

True. So True. She needs to take a couple steps back, be 18 and a college frosh and practice.

 

I definitely agree she needs to learn to be herself. You don't have to ditch your parents to become your own person. However, having your parents follow you around campus during your college years is ludicrous. I know I didn't want a parental unit anywhere near me during those years. I have a hard time feeling sorry for Michelle Wie because she signed a contract a couple of years ago that gave her more money than I will earn in my lifetime, but as human being to human being I do feel sorry for her in many ways.

 

I have a feeling Wie signed the contract with her parents blessings....not necesarily on her own. The parents are too much and she's trying to make her parents happy. Those are the type of parents that ruin children's lives for sure.

[oukk]

Wie's parents need to find something to do other than follow michelle everywhere!!

I don't like MW that much but I truly sorry for her.

 

I really wonder what the parents do other than following michelle.

btw, when's MW's contract over with Nike?

[8thehardway]

I wrote some golf humor blogs a year or so ago. Here's part of one that might fit in. If it's in the wrong place, moderators please move it. If you like it, I'll post the rest here or wherever appropriate.

 

The Psychological Theories of Golf Series: Power Fables

 

 

When mankind learned to speak, men began to dream. There were the night dreams of sleep, resolving the day’s conflicts between survival and the terrors of primitive existence, and the day dreams of power and achievement. Out of the world of day dreams came the creation myths and then the striving sagas, where heros fought against powerful forces and impossible odds. Beowulf vs. Grendel, Ulysses vs. Troy, and Michelle vs. Men. Often the heros prevailed; sometimes they did not...

 

The Terrible Task of Byung ‘Holio’ Wie

 

Once Epon a time a young, untested warrior was given a terrible task by her father: invade the land of Men and defeat the best among them. “If you succeed, wealth, fame and honor will be your reward,” he told her; “do not fail me, as I have never failed you.” He filled her Tour bag with the most expensive clubs, and she set out from her island fortress to do their bidding. Though she bested many, she lacked the skills to overcome the best among men but her father would not free her from her mission, as he was under a spell. His daughter was TaylorMade for Scratch golf but after many battles her swing became forced, then frenzied until even her competition winced in sympathy whenever she’d slam a $300 iron in the approximate location of her ball. She wanted to fulfill her father’s task so badly, but eventually her temperament and technique were no longer suited to the game. Still she continued to clash with Men until injuries forced her to retire from the field of battle.

 

Endo story? Just the beginning. If Michelle Wie’s parents don’t lighten up and shift direction, here’s what will happen and why.

 

The Distant Past

 

The fabulous fable of the Little Engine That Could is an inspiration to 5 year olds everywhere, featuring a plucky young engine performing an amazing feat of strength that bigger and older engines couldn’t manage by repeating the powerful mantra “I think I can, I think I can.” Michelle’s daddy would read this story to her every night before bed; gradually he came to believe it himself.

 

The Recent Past

 

Michelle’s competitive streak was fueled by her father’s emerging philosophy of achievement. Byung Wie knew his daughter was golf-gifted and he found ways to make play and practice attractive. By age 13 she was deeply into golf’s solitary essence while her friends were off to the beach. “It’s Hawaii, for christsakes, and her dad’s always got her on a golf course,” her Beavis & Butthead-watching friends would mutter. They started calling her father The Great Byung Holio.

 

When he learned what the nickname meant, Byung created a different one – BJ. The press decided BJ was the slightly more printable appellation, but Michelle’s friends knew which one was the better fit. As they grew, her friends also learned the other things normal teens on sandy beaches learn – the difference between love and infatuation, momentary versus meaningful and other stuff that prepares an adult for a 50 percent chance at marital success, a considerably higher percentage than sheltered Michelle would have.

[willamette]

I don't know Wie personally, I don't know her parents, I don't know her agent, and I don't friggin care. All I know is her golf, and (right now) it sucks. She's 18, she's no longer special (um....we have under-20-somethings winning majors women's golf...Wie can barely break par). Sick of hearing about her. Again, nothing against her personally (because I don't know her), but the media needs to shift the spotlight to deserving players.

 

Now, Tad Fujikawa, that's a different story.

[italian71]

What's really sad is that her parents are supposed to be highly educated. I thought I read that the father teaches/taught at Hawaii U as a professor. Considering their educational background, you would think that he would not be so insecure about letting his daughter grow up on her own. Although I feel for Michelle right now, I really feel for the parents. One day she is going to wake up and really hate them for what they have been doing to her.

[oukk]

....I thought I read that the father teaches/taught at Hawaii U as a professor....

 

 

I heard that too.

Does her father still work there? or work anywhere?

[danpass]

....I thought I read that the father teaches/taught at Hawaii U as a professor....

 

 

A professor huh? That would explain a lot.