Ann Ligouri, Author, sports radio and television personality - Afterhours Encore
The principal focus of this podcast episode resides in the compelling conversation with Ann Liguori, who introduces her latest literary endeavor, "Life on the Green: Lessons and Wisdom from the Legends of Golf." Through an engaging dialogue, we explore various facets of golf, including its accessibility for women and the evolving relationship between professional golf and amateur players. Liguori articulates her vision for the future of golf, advocating for course designs that accommodate female golfers while also emphasizing the importance of fostering a positive and supportive golfing community. We delve into the significance of mentorship and the role of golf as a rehabilitative tool for individuals facing personal challenges. Ultimately, this episode serves as a profound reflection on the transformative power of golf, underscoring its potential to unite and inspire across diverse demographics.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- LPGA
- U.S. Open
- Stand up and Play Foundation
- Max Togasella
- Anthony Netto
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcript
Welcome to Grilling at the Green After Hours.
Speaker A:The conversation that took place after the show ended.
Speaker A:Hi, everybody, it's JT and this is a special version of Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:Grilling at the Green is brought to you in part by Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker A:Beef you can be proud to serve your family and friends.
Speaker A:That's Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome to After Hours.
Speaker A:I'm jt.
Speaker A:Today we've got Ann Liguori with us.
Speaker A:Ann's got a new book out, Life on the Green.
Speaker A:Lessons and Wisdom from the Legends of Golf.
Speaker A:And if you haven't listened to the regular show yet, I recommend that you do it.
Speaker A:It was a great interview, but as usual, we make people suffer here.
Speaker A:There's her book.
Speaker A:There's her book again, Life on the Green.
Speaker A:And these are questions that sometimes are a little irrelevant, nothing too personal.
Speaker A:And we go from that.
Speaker A:So are you ready, Anne?
Speaker A:You ready for this?
Speaker B:I can't wait.
Speaker A:Okay, we'll start with something simple.
Speaker A:If you could dine with a historical figure, who would it be and what would be on the menu?
Speaker A:And they don't have to be upright breathing anymore.
Speaker A:It can be anybody.
Speaker B:Babe Saharius.
Speaker B:I'd love to get to know her.
Speaker B:She seemed like such a character.
Speaker B:Probably Babe Saharius and Babe Ruth.
Speaker B:How about the two Babes?
Speaker B:And anything could be on the menu because I'd be so engaged in conversation, it wouldn't matter what I was eating.
Speaker A:I was going to say, that might be a hell of a bar bill.
Speaker A:I just.
Speaker B:That's okay, too.
Speaker A:If we made an supreme leader of golf for one day, what would Ann decree as supreme leader of golf?
Speaker B:I would make the golf courses reachable in two for women amateurs.
Speaker B:I think a lot of golf courses aren't routed for women.
Speaker B:I have a lot.
Speaker B:I have a friend who is, you know, a.
Speaker B:Who does this.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And she says the same thing.
Speaker B:She's a very good golfer.
Speaker B:And no matter how good of an amateur female you are a player, there are a lot of holes where you just still can't get on the green and two.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:I would kind of redo and rethink, you know, the.
Speaker B:The course architecture, course design, and where you put the tees for.
Speaker B:For women golfers.
Speaker A:Well, this kind of ties in with that.
Speaker A:If you've got my type of brain, which most people don't.
Speaker A:Do you think professional golf is getting further removed from the everyday golfer?
Speaker B:Well, that's a loaded question.
Speaker B:I could spend an hour talking about this on Talking Golf with Ann Liguorian.
Speaker B:The fan.
Speaker B:Well, the, the professional golfers are so good from an ability level.
Speaker B:The, the depth of talent is unbelievable from a viewing standpoint.
Speaker B:It is often hard to find coverage of what you're looking to.
Speaker B:And it moves around a lot now because of the streaming services and, and you're jumping around.
Speaker B:And I don't think the LPGA gets the TV coverage that they deserve still.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker B:On primetime, on, on.
Speaker B:On, you know, network tv.
Speaker B:So, yeah, in a lot of different ways, it is getting more removed.
Speaker B:I mean, it's become so popular, more and more popular as a sport, I think.
Speaker B:But then again, with all the live versus PGA Tour controversy and all the talk about money, money, money, money with both entities, I think that's turned off a lot of fans, and so ratings are down.
Speaker B:So, as I said, it's a loaded question, and it depends what segment of golf you're talking about.
Speaker A:Yeah, I, I would agree with you that I think a lot of people have, much like they have the national news, no politics here, but it's been so divisive and stuff that they just turned it off.
Speaker A:They don't want to hear.
Speaker A:They don't want to hear about it right now.
Speaker B:I do not watch the news hardly at all.
Speaker B:You're absolutely right.
Speaker B:And again, getting back to my book, Life on the Green, the reason I kept it so positive and uplifting, Jeff, is because our society is so divisive.
Speaker B:I didn't want anything negative.
Speaker B:I didn't want anything political in the book.
Speaker B:I wanted it to be a feel good, very uplifting, positive.
Speaker B:I wanted all great messages so people could really, you know, embrace positivity and wisdom and use it to be.
Speaker B:To better their lives, basically.
Speaker B:None of it is negative.
Speaker A:I think you did a phenomenal job with that.
Speaker A:I really do.
Speaker A:I get.
Speaker A:I read a lot of books.
Speaker A:I read like three to five books a month.
Speaker A:A lot of them have to do with the shows, but I've always been a really voracious reader since I was a child, and I tend to like to read the.
Speaker A:Either things that make me laugh or things that make me think in a good way, you know, and, and you did that both in your book.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:If you could play around a golf with one of your golfing heroes, who would it be?
Speaker A:Perhaps somebody you.
Speaker A:Not.
Speaker A:You've played with a lot of people, a lot of notable people.
Speaker A:Who would you want to play with?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, I played with Jan Stevenson a couple months ago.
Speaker B:That was a lot of fun with one of my heroes, you know, it wouldn't be anybody famous.
Speaker B:It would be with my parents.
Speaker B:My parents were my heroes.
Speaker B:My mom and dad were not golfers.
Speaker B:I wish they were still around.
Speaker B:It would be just such a joy and such a treasure if they had played.
Speaker B:And we could spend a ton of time on the golf course just having fun and laughing.
Speaker B:So that's what it would be.
Speaker B:It would be spending more time with my mom and dad.
Speaker B:And they certainly drove me to enough tennis lessons and softball games through the years when I was a kid.
Speaker B:But I wish they were still around so I could enjoy golf with both of them.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So it might be your folks.
Speaker A:I have no idea.
Speaker A:But you'll tell us here who was the biggest influence on you personally, do you think?
Speaker B:Well, certainly my parents were great role models and I come from a very solid foundation, which I think is key, you know, to, to succeed and to.
Speaker B:Or if not, you know, it gives you obstacles to overcome, which so many champions have done as well.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:But honestly, the people who influenced me, there was a woman named Ruth Lyons, and she was a talk show host, a pioneer talk show host in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Speaker B:I was three years old in.
Speaker B:I must have been in a high chair.
Speaker B:My mother watched her show every day.
Speaker B:It was noontime and so I was eating.
Speaker B:My mother was watching her show.
Speaker B:And this woman was a true pioneer.
Speaker B:She had a variety show in Cincinnati.
Speaker B:She played the piano, she sang, she interviewed all the most fascinating people that came into Cincinnati.
Speaker B:She had them in her studio.
Speaker B:And boy, it's amazing the impact somebody had on me when I was three.
Speaker B:But she was my first role model.
Speaker B:And from my earliest days, that's all I wanted to do, is do what I'm doing now, interview people and host shows.
Speaker B:And Ruth Lyons, they wrote a book about her.
Speaker B:What a legend.
Speaker B:And she did it back in the 60s.
Speaker B:So, yeah, wow.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Okay, here's a little show and tell Annie, what's the biggest mistake you've ever made on the air?
Speaker A:Now, you only had a seven second delay when you're live.
Speaker A:So, you know, yeah, we've all made them.
Speaker B:You know, I can't remember.
Speaker B:I can tell you that I corrected Howard Cosell when he made a mistake with a commentary.
Speaker B:And I thought I was going to lose my job.
Speaker B:Do you know who I am, young lady?
Speaker B:This is Howard Cosell.
Speaker B:I don't make mistakes.
Speaker B:I had a call at home, much to the chagrin of my engineer, who said, nobody calls Howard at home.
Speaker B:It was my first week on the job at ABC Radio and Sports Sports Network.
Speaker B:But, you know, I'm just trying to think about a mistake.
Speaker B:I'm sure through the years I might have said something wrong in a report covering the U.S.
Speaker B:open or covering, you know, a golf event or hosting five hours of live.
Speaker B:But nothing glaringly comes to mind, which I think is a good thing.
Speaker B:But I do remember how I felt when I called Howard Cosell at home and told him that he had made a mistake.
Speaker B:He said this, and he meant to say that.
Speaker B:Could he redo that one line so I could edit that in?
Speaker B:And there was a long pause, and then this voice, you know, this legendary voice just comes out.
Speaker B:And I'm like, wow, what am I going to say to that?
Speaker B:And I said, well, Mr.
Speaker B:Cosell, normally you're perfect, but in this case, you said this, and you meant to say that.
Speaker B:Why don't you just redo that one line and you'll be flawless as usual.
Speaker B:He never forgot my name after that, for sure.
Speaker A:Well, good for you.
Speaker A:Good for you.
Speaker A:I know I've thought the mic was off.
Speaker A:When I used to do live radio, I thought the mic was off very early in my career.
Speaker A:I was in college, and the mic was not off.
Speaker A:So I'll just leave it.
Speaker B:That's not good.
Speaker A:I'll just leave it at that.
Speaker A:What's the dumbest thing you think you've ever seen while covering a tournament?
Speaker A:Not you being dumb, but something that you just shook your head at.
Speaker B:Well, I don't know about dumbest things, but I've seen a lot of players mounting down.
Speaker B:Bad sportsmanship.
Speaker B:You know, I won't pinpoint any one athlete, but, you know, at the US Open, tennis, I've seen some crazy meltdowns and misbehavior and yelling at lines, judges and umpires.
Speaker B:And, you know, you tend to lose a lot of respect for those champions who do that.
Speaker B:So that's what I recall mostly because, you know, you hold some of these, Most of these champions in such high esteem, and you.
Speaker B:You feel like they should behave comparable to their performances, their winning performances.
Speaker B:But, you know, when you see somebody just be a bad sport and act so asinine, it really is disappointing.
Speaker B:So I've seen many of those.
Speaker B:Not just meltdowns, but just lashing out and bad sportsmanship, for sure.
Speaker A:If we put your skills to music, and what would the music be?
Speaker B:What would the music be?
Speaker A:Think of it as a soundtrack to your life.
Speaker B:Yeah, you know, that's a great question.
Speaker B:Hans Zimmer is just such an incredible genius.
Speaker B:I don't want to compare my genius to his genius but if I were to aspire to be, you know, any composer or any musician, I just think what he's done, you know, the theme song for oh, Gosh, now, I can't think of it.
Speaker B:Gladiator is just brilliant.
Speaker B:And if you listen to that, it's so moving and it is just so powerful.
Speaker B:And boy, if I'm going to compare myself to anybody, that song would be, that soundtrack would be an honor to live up to, truly.
Speaker B:Because he's a genius and all the work that he's done and that theme song to the Gladiator film is just incredibly genius.
Speaker A:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker A:What's one thing you miss about your twenties?
Speaker A:If in fact you miss anything at all about your 20s?
Speaker B:Say that again.
Speaker B:You cut out there for a second.
Speaker A:Oh, sorry.
Speaker A:What's one thing you miss about your 20s?
Speaker B:Well, I have one thing I miss about my 20s.
Speaker B:Um, I will say I wish I would have learned golf when I was young.
Speaker B:I didn't learn golf until I was in my 20s.
Speaker B:I played every other sport.
Speaker B:I was very athletic when I was a kid.
Speaker B:But what, what do I miss about my 20s?
Speaker B:You know, I, I came to New York City right out of college and I caught the tail end of Studio 54 days, and that was a, that was a blast.
Speaker B:I got into Studio 54 and oh, my God, what a rude awakening for a small town kid from Ohio.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:That was awesome.
Speaker B:I'm so glad that I can talk about that history because New York City was great back in the day.
Speaker B:I loved living there.
Speaker B:I lived in the city, in Manhattan for 25 years.
Speaker B:But yeah, I loved my 20s because I was covering every team in New York.
Speaker B:Going to the 21 Club for press conferences, the Plaza, going to parties, going to discos, just having a blast.
Speaker B:So my 20s and 30s were, were a riot.
Speaker A:That sounds like a good, good.
Speaker A:A very good time.
Speaker B:It was a great time.
Speaker A:If you were an animal, what animal would you be, Ann?
Speaker B:I'd be a golden retriever like my golden, who is not here right now.
Speaker B:I'm surprised he's not jumping on me right now.
Speaker B:My, my husband Scott must be keeping him intact.
Speaker B:Gussie, where are you going?
Speaker B:To retrievers.
Speaker B:They're so lovable and smart.
Speaker A:Yeah, they are.
Speaker B:He's beautiful.
Speaker B:They love to swim, they love to run.
Speaker B:They're very athletic.
Speaker B:I've had three goldens in my life, and they're the best dogs on the planet.
Speaker B:So they say owners look like their dogs, and that's true.
Speaker B:I mean, how many times do you see an owner look just like their dog.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:I never forget being in Central park and my dad and I were talking about this years ago and there we saw this, this.
Speaker B:I don't know if it was a man or woman, but they had one of the.
Speaker B:Oh gosh, a boxer.
Speaker B:And you know, those, those faces on the boxer and the, the owner looked just like the face of the dog.
Speaker B:It was hysterical.
Speaker A:Tell us if you, if you remember any of this stuff.
Speaker A:A lot of, you know, I grew up about the same time you did and some of these things I don't remember the best and worst concerts you ever attended, huh?
Speaker B:I remember going to a Led Zeppelin concert at Richfield Coliseum when I was in high school and that was wild because, you know, I was a straight lace kid and I was up in a loge and all the smoke was like kind of coming up toward us and I think I got high just smoking everybody else's smoke.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker B:So I don't know if that's, you know, a worse concert.
Speaker B:And I actually did I see them.
Speaker B:I saw out and John at Wembley Stadium, which was awesome.
Speaker B:You know, there's just been so many.
Speaker B:I'll tell you, I do want to see Coldplay.
Speaker B:That would be a concert I'd love to go see Train.
Speaker B:I love.
Speaker B:I don't know, I don't think I've ever been to a bad concert.
Speaker B:I see good in everything.
Speaker A:I've noticed that about you.
Speaker A:Okay, only a couple more here as you, as you progress through your career.
Speaker A:Did you have a favorite sports writer?
Speaker A:Now when I grew up, sports writers were those curmudgeonly guys in the corner of the newspaper office that had a cigar and, you know, whatever, they're kind of stereotyping them.
Speaker A:But did you have a favorite sports writer?
Speaker B:Sure, I had a lot of them and they used to guest on my shows all the time.
Speaker B:George Vessey from New York Times Sports.
Speaker B:Dave Anderson.
Speaker B:You know, award winning Dave Anderson.
Speaker B:I think you want to.
Speaker B:Pulitzer Prize.
Speaker B:Peter Alfano.
Speaker B:I mean, the New York Times sports section was so great.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:I'm so sad that Harvey Ayrton, he was, he, He's a great writer.
Speaker B:I just admired so many of them.
Speaker B:They were great.
Speaker B:Philip Bondi, Lupica.
Speaker B:I saw just at the Writers vs Artists softball game, the legendary game that's been going on in East Hampton for, gosh, 75 years now.
Speaker B:Just a lot of different sports personalities, sports journalists that I admired.
Speaker B:Ian O'Connor, he just came out with a book on, you know, the jets quarterback.
Speaker B:Just.
Speaker B:There's so many of them.
Speaker B:And they all have guested on my shows.
Speaker B:I just respect them so much.
Speaker B:And they're so knowledgeable.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Well, yeah, they've got a.
Speaker A:They're a walking encyclopedia between their ears there, actually.
Speaker A:Like that.
Speaker A:Here's kind of an abstract question, but you do a lot with your foundation and stuff.
Speaker A:Do you think golf can help kids that have trouble with math and or social skills?
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Golf is a great vehicle for everyone, no matter what skills you have.
Speaker B:I just think it gets you out to a beautiful, you know, space.
Speaker B:If you can take lessons and learn how to hit the ball technically, properly, even if you don't.
Speaker B:You know, I brought a lot of my tennis swing to my golf game, and right now, you know, all the years later, it's just hard to have.
Speaker B:I certainly don't have a textbook golf swing, but.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I mean, you know, I do a lot of work with adaptive golfers.
Speaker B:I interview a lot of adaptive golfers.
Speaker B:Max Togasella, who just repeated his title in the seated division of the U.S.
Speaker B:adaptive Open.
Speaker B:He's been on my show several times.
Speaker B:Anthony Netto, who runs a great foundation, the Stand up and Play Foundation.
Speaker B:They all use golf and introduce golf to veterans and to, you know, people with disabilities, whether it's physical or mental.
Speaker B:And it gets them off the sofa, it gives them new life.
Speaker B:A lot of people will swear that it saves golf has saved their lives.
Speaker B:So definitely, golf is a great outlet for everybody.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Okay, last.
Speaker A:Well, you got two questions.
Speaker A:One is, this is one that makes people scratch their head once in a while.
Speaker A:What would be your last meal if Ann Liguori was on death row?
Speaker B:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:I'm gonna go have some lobster tonight.
Speaker B:But you know my husband, Scott.
Speaker B:Scott, Valerie is a great chef, and every night he comes up with the most incredible meals.
Speaker B:He loves to cook.
Speaker B:So I would say anything that Scott would cook for me, hopefully it wouldn't be my last meal, but anything he would make would be great.
Speaker B:He's really good at Italian dishes.
Speaker B:But I probably would say it'd be an Italian pasta, whether it's linguini with clams and shrimp or another pasta with mozzarella, basil, and maybe a penne pasta with red sauce.
Speaker B:I would say it would be a pasta dish.
Speaker A:So, Ann, what time is dinner is what I want to know.
Speaker B:Well, tonight we're going out.
Speaker B:A friend of mine has a birthday.
Speaker B:We're celebrating, and we're going to go to a place called Dockers.
Speaker B:It's right out here in the Hamptons.
Speaker B:And it's on the water, so it's kind of a seafood place.
Speaker B:So I always get lobster at this place.
Speaker B:But normally dinner is about 6:30, and you're welcome anytime.
Speaker B:Chef Scott will really impress you.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker B:I have my own chef in the house.
Speaker A:We can talk cooking.
Speaker A:Because I'm known as the cowboy cook on TV out here.
Speaker A:Here's the last one.
Speaker A:This is your opportunity here.
Speaker A:What would Ann Liguori's message to the world be?
Speaker B:My message to the world would be, love one another, be kind.
Speaker B:We only live once, and I think, you know, good needs to prevail over evil.
Speaker B:So have goodness in your heart and focus on goodness and being good and being kind and love one another.
Speaker B:I think that's an important message always.
Speaker B:But certainly, as you and I mentioned, in these crazy, divisive times, these times of turmoil, I just think we need to put our differences aside, work together, and really love one another.
Speaker A:I think that's a great message.
Speaker A:Anne's new book, Life on the Green.
Speaker A:Lessons and Wisdom from Legends of Golf.
Speaker A:There.
Speaker A:She's got it up again.
Speaker A:She knows what she's doing there.
Speaker A:Find it on Amazon and you can find out on her websites and all the social media stuff there and track her down and find out about her foundation.
Speaker B:Come here, Gus.
Speaker B:Cookies.
Speaker B:I wanted to get my dog here.
Speaker B:Look what I got.
Speaker B:Come on.
Speaker B:He's looking at me like, come on, cookies.
Speaker B:Oh, man.
Speaker B:Normally he'd be jumping on top of me.
Speaker B:Oh, here he comes.
Speaker B:Here he comes.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker B:I just want you to say hi to Gus.
Speaker B:Come on.
Speaker B:Up, up, up, up.
Speaker A:Hey, buddy.
Speaker B:There he is.
Speaker A:Hi, Gus.
Speaker A:Everybody say hi to Gus there.
Speaker A:What a beautiful.
Speaker B:He's Augusta.
Speaker B:Augusta.
Speaker A:Augusta.
Speaker A:I like that look.
Speaker B:He's a good boy.
Speaker A:Does he eat pimento and cheese?
Speaker B:Oh, man, he'd love that.
Speaker B:Definitely.
Speaker A:He's big.
Speaker B:He's a big boy.
Speaker B:He's almost £80.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Well, yeah, when he goes through the doorway, you give him leadway, you know?
Speaker A:And thank you so much.
Speaker A:I'm going to shut all this off, but thank you for taking the time to be with us today.
Speaker A:I really do appreciate it so much.
Speaker B:Jeff.
Speaker B:Thanks so much.
Speaker B:I really appreciate being on.
Speaker B:It was a lot of fun.
Speaker A:A lot of fun.
Speaker A:We'll be back next week.
Speaker A:I have no idea who's on the show next week, but call me next week if you want to find out and then I'll tell you.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Till then, go out, play some golf, be kind, have fun, and take care, everybody.
