Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Mayor Luke & Tiger: The Video. An Invitation?


Two Snapshots From The Video

A reader of 2 Political Junkies turned up this YouTube video from the day of the encounter between Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Tiger Woods. Above are the two fleeting glimpses of the mayor in the crowd following Woods. They last for only seconds.

The Trib's 'Whispers' first reported on this back on May and Jon Delano gave the story new life with fresh details this week.



PG's Dulac Says Mayor Had Invite To Tiger Event?

Here's another version to check out. The Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac said in a PG online chat in May that "Mayor Luke did not crash the party, as you suggest, but he was there -- with an invitation. And the party was getting to walk the fairways when Tiger played a practice round. I know, I saw him there and walked a couple holes with him. He's a big golf fan." It's the fourth question-and-answer down from the top.

The Burghosphere is hopping with discussions about this.


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8 comments:

Maria said...

He was "invited" to stay after he crashed the event.

Ravenstahl admitted himself that he called and asked to attend and that they said that they would get back to him but he didn't wait and went anyway. What was AMEX/Oakmont supposed to do at that point? Make a scene and have him escorted out?

Others paid $900 to attend, by the way.

Maria said...

Try freezing 3:32 - 3:33 and 2:02 -2:05 (far right on screen) on YouTube's counter. I believe they show Luke also. Unfortunately when I use the pause function on YouTube, the picture is pretty blurred.

Tim Murray said...

Maria has it all wrong. The Mayor WAS invited, it's just that he invited himself. Let's not split hairs: an invitation is an invitation. The mayor's incident reminds me of the time an elderly Groucho Marx went to the movies and explained to the young woman in the ticket booth that he shouldn't have to pay because "I'm Groucho Marx, a living legend." The young woman called her manager over, who just shrugged his shoulders and let Groucho in for free. THAT was funny; the present incident is pathetic.

EdHeath said...

The Mayor says he called and didn’t wait for the return call. Isn’t it possible that when the Mayor arrived at Oakmont, the country club people said something to the effect of “We got your call, right this way”.

I remember coverage of this a couple of months ago. Maybe it should be part of a general investigation into the Mayor’s acceptance of non-monetary (but still reportable) favors. But really, seems like a lot of furor over very little. I haven’t looked, but I haven’t seen any indication that the Country Club was particularly upset about what happened. In fact, I’m sure the Country Club is happy the Mayor is doing commercials for the Golf Channel or ESPN or whoever.

Anonymous said...

This is just another fine example of young Luke's lack of maturity...using his political position to empower himself...I can do anything...hey, he's been on Letterman...that must account for something...just embarrass the City some more, Luke...

Anonymous said...

Wow. Whispers and Delano. Think I'll wait for the facts.

EdHeath said...

So this was a surprise event for American Express cardholders? I seem to have gotten the impression they weren't expecting Tiger Woods. So we can assume someone at the USGA or Amerian Express or Oakmont tipped the Mayor off, or someone recognized TIger Woods at PIA. Otherwise why would the Mayor have been in such a hurry to go to Oakmont, that he couldn't wait for a return call?

Maria said...

We can assume that Luke knew Tiger would be there, but not that he was necessarily tipped of by anyone with an official capacity from the organizations that you sited. Seems to me like anytime that Tiger has been to Oakmont, it's in the sports news.

Besides, if Oakmont/USGA tipped him off, then why did he call them asking for an invite? If AMEX did, then why would Oakmont/USGA need to give him their OK to attend?