{"id":2642,"date":"2019-01-30T17:02:34","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T17:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/?p=2642"},"modified":"2019-01-30T17:02:35","modified_gmt":"2019-01-30T17:02:35","slug":"how-johnny-miller-almost-became-a-headliner-at-the-wm-golf-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/golf\/instruction\/2642\/how-johnny-miller-almost-became-a-headliner-at-the-wm-golf-show","title":{"rendered":"How Johnny Miller Almost Became a Headliner at the WM Golf Show"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Johnny<\/a>

Johnny Miller<\/p><\/div>\n

With the news that this Saturday will mark the end of Johnny Miller\u2019s celebrated career as a TV analyst and announcer for NBC, I remember when he almost became a headliner for the West Michigan Golf Show which I owned and managed at the time. Here\u2019s the story.<\/p>\n

After the success of the first West Michigan Golf Show in March, 1989, I rested up and began pondering what to do for the second annual edition. First, I reserved space at the Ford Fieldhouse in downtown Grand Rapids on the campus of GR Community College. Second, I mulled over headliners for the Show. The debut show had a strong collection of talent which featured National Long Driving Champion Big Cat Williams, PGA Teacher of the Year Mike Hebron from NY and celebrated teacher Hank Haney, known for his work with Mark O\u2019Meara.<\/p>\n

In my mind, I wanted to equal if not top that roster for the 1990 Show. I picked up the phone and called Johnny Miller in late fall of 1989. At that time, Miller was playing sparingly and doing exhibitions. Miller answered \u00a0his phone at his home office. I introduced myself, told him I was a long time admirer, and started pitching him on being the featured headliner at the West Michigan Golf Show. Miller listened politely and said, \u201cI\u2019m opened to doing it, Terry, and I\u2019ll even give you a break on the price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller proposed a sum that was still far in excess of what I had budgeted but then he added, \u201cTake off 20% and deal directly with me instead of my agent. That\u2019s the best I can offer, but I\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

I gulped at the amount but said, \u201cJohnny, that\u2019s fair, but give me a few more days to get back to you.\u201d He readily agreed.<\/p>\n

After that conversation, I commiserated with my spouse and we listed the pros and cons of contracting with Miller as a headliner. The pros still outweighed the cons and I decided the money issue could be handled by adding some new sponsors to help with the costs. I hadn\u2019t made any final sponsor proposals yet but I was confident about their prospects. The Golf Show was the new kid on the block and had attracted widespread attention.<\/p>\n

Mustering up some courage, I called Miller back and once again he answered his phone. \u201cJohnny, let\u2019s do it. I\u2019m happy to pay your appearance fee.\u201d<\/p>\n

I waited for Miller to say yes and ask for more follow up details.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Terry, that\u2019s very nice of you but I have unexpected news on my end. Yesterday, my agent informed me that I\u2019ll be the new analyst for NBC golf and my first tournament will be at the Bob Hope Classic. I\u2019m sorry, but it just won\u2019t work now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crestfallen, I thanked Miller for his kind consideration and being open originally to my invitation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, in January 1990, Miller made his debut at the Bob Hope Classic in Palm Springs, In fact, he immediately gained a certain notoriety for describing a shot during a final round by Peter Jacobsen as \u201cthe kind of shot\u2014a downhill lie over water\u2014you can choke on.\u201d Vintage Johnny.<\/p>\n

Miller said that Jacobsen didn\u2019t speak to him for six months afterwards. Nowadays, they\u2019re trusted colleagues and friends on the NBC golf team.<\/p>\n

Anyway, that\u2019s how Johnny Miller almost was a headliner for the West Michigan Golf Show.<\/p>\n

Oh yes, the headliners that year at the Golf Show were teacher Wally Armstrong and Muskegon native Jack Hamm, World Record holder for the longest drive at 437 yards. They were great guys and did a fine job on stage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But they weren\u2019t Johnny Miller.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

photo courtesy of NBC Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the news that this Saturday will mark the end of Johnny Miller\u2019s celebrated career as a TV analyst and… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":2646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,18,7],"tags":[6725,476280,975981,1132],"class_list":["post-2642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-instruction","category-lifestyle","category-personalities","tag-west-michigan-golf-show","tag-nbc-golf","tag-terry-moore-and-golf","tag-johnny-miller"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2019\/01\/johnny-miller.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2642"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2645,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642\/revisions\/2645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}