Pablo Torre Needs to Chill Out

There was a time when I found Pablo Torre to be a funny, smart and entertaining personality at ESPN. He was different than your typical 2010s ESPN, plug and play, sportscaster. He was part of the LeBatard universe (when they were still funny) but could also be serious and informative when needed.

When his contract ended he followed LeBatard out of ESPN and joined him at Meadowlark (founded by LeBatard and former ESPN President John Skipper) which has allowed him free reign into whatever strikes his fancy, which seems to be investigative journalism.

His show, Pablo Torre Finds Out (PTFO), started as a goofy “investigation” type show poking fun at strange celebs and athletes (like the early episode titled “Is Russell Wilson and Undercover Alien Running for President of the United States”). It wasn’t blowing the doors off anything but could be a funny listen if you were all caught up on your typical pods. He has since gotten WAY more serious in the topics he's investigating. It all started with Bill Belichick and his strange relationship with a girl 50(ish) years younger than him. Then, it was the Kawhi Leonard story that opened the flood gates. Good for him! I couldn’t have cared less about either of these stories and they rocked the sports world for a few weeks respectively.

Then he came at my guy, Phil Mickelson. I’m sure it started because Phil and Pablo are on opposite ends of the spectrum politically (like most hit pieces do). Admittedly, Phil might be a little far out there but he’s seemingly a nice guy. A guy’s guy (gambler, shit-talker, rocky, etc) but a nice guy. He’s not gonna sugarcoat shit but I don't really want him to.

So Pablo does what anyone would do for a hit piece, bring in that person’s enemy. In this case, that loser Alan Shipnuck. Shipnuck still holds a vendetta against Lefty from back when he printed a quote from Phil that was supposedly off-the-record (FWIW only the two of them know the truth). But now Shipnuck is trying to get back to relevance and spouting stories on PTFO about how Phil is a dickhead of epic proportions.

Fuck that! I have personally seen and “met” Lefty on 2 occasions and he couldn’t have been a nicer guy. Nice enough to stop in the clubhouse st RTJ and take a picture with 12 year old me in the clubhouse. In front of everyone! This could’ve derailed his day, having to sign and take pics with everyone else. At least that’s what Tiger Woods told me when I tried to get a picture with him a couple of years prior (saying this while no one was around us I might add). The second time was a much quicker interaction. Our entire high school golf team was at Congo watching an event, sweating our asses off and probably being dumbass high schoolers. Phil and Bones were walking in between holes, looked directly at me and Kenny and said, “pretty hot out here, huh guys". He didn’t have to acknowledge us, let alone speak to us. (I may have Mandela effect and remember him also giving us a bottle of water, but that could’ve also never happened and just added it to my memory because he was so cool).

Anyways….

Phil might be a weird, degenerate, cocky, crazy, guy. He’s real though. He’s not some fucking robot like most of the guys in professional golf. It’s guys like him and Spieth that make golf relatable to the everyday hack. They think, act, and speak like we do; all while playing world class golf.

So Pablo, lay the fuck off my guy. This is the shit that takes the personality out of sports. This is the shit that will have your favorite athletes spouting “coach speak” the next time they have a mic in their face.