11/23/24
July 29, 2013
Golfer in Lead Quits Tournament for Wife's Labor: On Saturday, Hunter Mahan was on top of the leaderboard at the Canadian Open when his wife Zoe unexpectedly went into labor. He left the tournament, giving up a chance to win $1 million, and Brandt Snedeker won the event. "Zoe will be getting a very nice baby gift from me," Snedeker said. "I can't thank Kandi enough for going into labor early."
Heard a couple jackass morning DJs talking about this as well as an MLB player leaving the team to be with his wife when she delivered their baby. Tey were screaming about how (1) Mahan was an idiot for walking away, and (2) the MLB player had betrayed his team and his contract by doing the same thing. This, of course, confirmed for me that most, if not all, morning DJs are idiots (RIP Kidd Kraddock). First of all, Mahan has made more money on the golf course than many of us will see in a lifetime. The choice that his wife and child were more important to him than money at that moment, whether you agree with the decision or not, was his to make. I also applaud him for having his priorities in order.
posted by tahoemoj at 04:34 PM on July 29, 2013
the MLB player had betrayed his team and his contract by doing the same thing.
Four things:
1) It was Joe Mauer.
2) The Twins are 12 games under .500, and are nowhere close to being in the running for a playoff spot.
3) They have a specific rule on the books about putting players on temporary paternity leave (3 days), and Mauer took that time and then volunteered to go on the restricted list to take an extra 3-days off. Those three days were unpaid, and considering the Twins are not in a playoff hunt...
4) Joe Mauer saved the Twins over $250,000 in salary.
posted by grum@work at 07:23 PM on July 29, 2013
The real question would be if a golfer who was struggling to hang onto his PGA tour card and living on ramen noodles would have walked away from a chance to win (and the prize money).
posted by grum@work at 07:25 PM on July 29, 2013
grum, I would add:
5) Joe Mauer has earned the right to take the time off if he believes it is appropriate. The dude has been the face of the franchise, and nothing but a class act, for a long time.
Thanks for reminding me who it was.
posted by tahoemoj at 07:32 PM on July 29, 2013
Dustin Pedroia also left a Sox's game last year. Yahoo Sports
posted by umrlax at 01:38 AM on July 30, 2013
The real question would be if a golfer who was struggling to hang onto his PGA tour card and living on ramen noodles would have walked away from a chance to win (and the prize money).
Lots of regular joes miss stuff like the birth of their child because they're trying to put food on the table for their family. My grandfather would've risked being fired years ago from the warehouse he worked at - it was temperature sensitive stuff, so needed to be unloaded quick. He usually ended up finding someone to cover off for him the day of, but he missed the actual birth of one of his kids by a couple minutes.
If you think over the long-term what's best for your child, if you are living on ramen, $1m is going to let you do things you couldn't before. Mahan doesn't need it the way someone scratching for a card might, which is why his choice is both admirable and a choice not available to everyone.
posted by dfleming at 06:49 AM on July 30, 2013
I neither have kids nor intend to, so I guess my angle is skewed. I do have a friend who attended the birth of his first child and refused to be there for the next one. "Intense" and "unforgettable" are words that he used, but not in a positive way like I took Howard to mean them; more in a post-traumatic stress kind of way.
All of which is irrelevant really. Hunter Mahan used to play golf for a living, but unless he's got a serious drug problem or gambling habit that no one knows about, he'd have done well to not now have more money in the bank than he's likely to ever need. Therefore, he now just plays golf and I'm not in the least surprised that he flew home. Aside from anything else, the birth was a month early, so he was supporting his wife's medical emergency!
As for the guy sponsored by Ramen Noodles and Sofa Surfing... that guy'd have been a mug to attend the birth of his child. The child won't remember whether you were there or not, but it will remember whether or not you could afford to buy it some shoes and send it to school.
posted by JJ at 08:28 AM on July 30, 2013
I do have a friend who attended the birth of his first child and refused to be there for the next one.
That's pretty bad, since the mother of his child didn't get the same opportunity.
I attended all three births, the first after 54 hours of labor. I remember hearing other parents check in, have their kids and leave, and the sun coming up and down three times. That kid still doesn't like to get moving almost 18 years later.
Childbirth is an amazing, disturbing, miraculous experience. I wouldn't have missed it for a million dollars either.
posted by rcade at 09:07 AM on July 30, 2013
I attended all three births, the first after 54 hours of labor.
With our first due in November, maybe save these tales for an end-of-the-year campfire chat?
posted by yerfatma at 12:20 PM on July 30, 2013
I wonder how many former Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders have married ramen eaters?
Date a ramen eater, marry a leader.
posted by beaverboard at 12:51 PM on July 30, 2013
I do have a friend who attended the birth of his first child and refused to be there for the next one.
That's pretty bad, since the mother of his child didn't get the same opportunity.
This is my nominee for comment of the month! Good one, rcade.
By the way, I was fortunate to have made it for the birth of my kid. I was released from my job on USS Midway on a port visit in Hong Kong on 1 April, got back to NH on 3 Apr, spent the rest of the week trying to get over jet lag and debriefing at work, went to my father-in-law's place in CT over the weekend to pick up some of our stored belongings, and then had to set a new land speed record to get back to NH in time. Of course, the speed wasn't really necessary, wife started labor at about 0900 and didn't deliver until about 0300 the next day. Still, we both think the kid was worth it (although we've had our doubts over the past 24 years).
posted by Howard_T at 02:22 PM on July 30, 2013
My pal's argument has always been "Yeah, but she got drugs and hormones to get her through it; all I got was a gnawing certainty in my gut that she wasn't going to survive and I was able to do nothing about that but watch."
Seriously, rcade? A million bucks? That's saying something. I guess I'm wired wrongly.
posted by JJ at 02:34 PM on July 30, 2013
Seriously, rcade? A million bucks? That's saying something. I guess I'm wired wrongly.
If my girlfriend was having a baby I'm sure she'd send me away for much less than that. 25,000, probably. For a million she might have me whacked.
posted by justgary at 04:37 PM on July 30, 2013
It's a harrowing thing to experience, but being there for your partner and the new arrival is an irreplaceable memory. For our third, our first came in after and cut the cord.
Money is just money.
Sorry, Yerfatma. Assuming your doctors and/or midwife are not staggeringly incompetent, you won't get anywhere near that long a labor.
posted by rcade at 06:32 PM on July 30, 2013
I've already suggested as my wife's labor coach I'm going to show up in full tracksuit with a whistle & clipboard, yelling "Give me 5 good ones MEAT!" The sad thing is out of all the men in our childbirth class, you'd want me every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Unless you'd prefer the guy who's one question so far has been about the logistics of ordering a pizza in situ.
posted by yerfatma at 07:00 PM on July 30, 2013
I was there for the birth of my child in May. It was intense, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything.
Not even for a Maple Leaf Stanley Cup finals game.
posted by grum@work at 09:46 PM on July 30, 2013
Not even for a Maple Leaf Stanley Cup finals game.
Luckily, fate isn't strong enough to challenge you on this one.
posted by dfleming at 06:03 AM on July 31, 2013
the logistics of ordering a pizza in situ
Wait now, you're moving the goalposts on me. There's going to be pizza? I might have to reconsider.
posted by JJ at 08:33 AM on July 31, 2013
The sad thing is out of all the men in our childbirth class, you'd want me every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
I went to a comprehensive multi-session childbirth class before our first was born (then quick refresher sessions for the other kids as they came along). There was a hysterical couple in the class. The guy was an impish devil. He kept asking for trouble, and the woman kept slugging him throughout the classes. Really giving it to him in the ribs and shoulder - switching to the fist when the elbow wasn't effective enough.
First five minutes of the first class, he wants to know if it's OK to have sex right up until the time her water breaks. Then, how soon after she's discharged can they go back at it again. He would have asked about doing it in the hospital, but realizes that there's not much privacy in an L&D ward.
He said he wanted to ask the instructor to get the official word on these matters because when he asked his wife at home, she ran him out of the room.
The next class, the instructor had us watch some VHS tapes (yes, those things). The class after that, he brings in his own tape for a little show and tell. Sitting beside his massively pregnant wife, he hands the tape to the instructor. It's "Best of Baywatch".
I often wonder if their child grew up to be the next Ralph Kramden or the next Billy Crystal.
posted by beaverboard at 08:57 AM on July 31, 2013
At this point, I'd take someone that's at least aware of what's going on. The pizza guy is a gruff-looking mechanic from the sticks who's spent most of the time trying to inculcate a persona like the manager from Major League but, once a class, he comes out with something so weird you stop and say, "Are you serious?" First week was the pizza. He asked, people laughed, but then he quietly took the men aside (we were touring the palatial birthing center) to ask about the nearest pizza place. Last week, after the instructor explained that in a prolonged early labor they sometimes give the mother Ambien so she can rest up for the day ahead, he seriously inquired, "Is that gonna make my kid a junkie?"
And out of the 6 couples, he's probably right in the middle. Or "dead-center average" as the instructor insists on repeating because she's clearly an old-school baseball fan trying to enrage me. You laugh, but she also used median and average interchangeably.
posted by yerfatma at 09:27 AM on July 31, 2013
Not sure anyone is going to have an appetite for pizza once the placenta is delivered.
posted by holden at 12:25 PM on July 31, 2013
You're a better man than I, yerfatma. I'd have walked out.
Next week, hit the instructor with the old average number of legs conundrum to teach her that caution needs to be used when dealing with averages.
The vast majority of people in the world have two legs. A relatively small number of people have either one or no legs. A smaller number still have an extraneous leg. Ergo, the average number of legs for a human is ever so slightly less than two. Therefore, the vast majority of people in the world have more than the average number of legs!
posted by JJ at 12:37 PM on July 31, 2013
On average, every person has one testicle and one breast, as well (but, sadly, only half of a vagina).
posted by tahoemoj at 01:20 PM on July 31, 2013
If there's an evaluation form at the end, mine will look something like:
"dead-center average" as opposed to what?OTHER COMMENTS:
posted by yerfatma at 01:55 PM on July 31, 2013
Money is just money.
Eh, money is food and shelter. I'm not bagging on the experience. I'm sure it's amazing, and I'd want to be there. But it's easier to leave the money on the table if you're not worrying about next month's mortgage. For some people that would still be an easy call, others... not so much.
posted by justgary at 09:46 PM on July 31, 2013
Seeing your wife or significant other shit on the delivery table is worth $1 million in blackmail/embarrassment/hush/STFU money, amirite?
Kidding aside, to each his/her own. I witnessed the birth of each of my three sons (although number one was only 30 hours, so I got nuthin' on rcade), and would not trade it for anything -- but, to justgary's point, I live reasonably comfortably. Wonderful experience for me, but could see how it could be traumatic for some/most. We took some hippie birthing class that probably brainwashed me into thinking this this was a more low-key experience than it was.
posted by holden at 11:36 PM on July 31, 2013
Being in the delivery room when my son was born was the most intense, unforgettable experience of my life. It was worth more than a million bucks. Good for Mahan and his excellent judgment. He'll have more opportunities to win money on the golf course, but the birth of your child doesn't happen all that often.