Remembering Arnold Palmer and Celebrating Les Miles: Two Class Acts

I was very saddened to hear of Arnold Palmer's passing. Sure, he was getting on in age and his golden era was behind him, but he was my dad's personal favorite golfer. Arnie was the guy who convinced him to pick up the clubs himself. Arnold Palmer was a name we treated with reverence in our house.

Dad and I talked on the phone last night. It was a crazy weekend. He didn't immediately hear that Les Miles had been fired, but he couldn't have been too surprised. As Dad put it, "Miles made promise after promise that things were going to be different, and it was more of the same."

The mood of most of the people in my hometown is the same: Miles is a good guy, he had a great run, the greatest run anyone ever had at LSU. Simply, his time had run out. The consensus is one of finality and gratitude. Miles never stopped being a classy guy. A personable guy, too: at his very first installment of his weekly radio show, Coach Miles went from table to table introducing himself to the restaurant patrons who came to see him and hear his show in person. Whatever he does next, he'll be okay.

Among golfers, that's the same attitude everyone has about Arnie. Class act all the way, totally dedicated to the sport.

My dad first saw Arnold Palmer play in the early 1950s when the PGA Tour made an annual stop in his home town. Dad told me a story involving his long-time golfing buddy Sweet Ol' Bob and Arnold Palmer at a critical point in Arnie's career. Bob was in the parking lot of the local country club (there was only one club back in those days) of which he was a member. Bob, who is now deceased, was much older than my dad. Anyhoo, Bob is walking to his car and sees in the parking lot a young man who looked a lot like Arnold Palmer. Bob went over and introduced himself, and it turns out it was indeed the famous Arnie. They traded pleasantries, then Bob asked at which hotel Palmer was staying.

Palmer stunned Sweet Ol' Bob when he said he wasn't staying anywhere. Whenever he drives into town, he parks near where he will be playing and sleeps in his car. Remember, this was 1953 or '54 when the top prize in a PGA tournament was $5000.

Bob was having none of this. He invited the young golfer to eat dinner and stay the night in his family's home. Palmer accepted, humbly.

We have no way of knowing but given the success he obtained in the world of sports, perhaps this act of kindness stayed with Palmer because he was very active in charity work up to the end of his life.

There's a lot to be said about taking the high road.