Charles Barkley never has a problem letting loose but he was at his Charles-being-Charles best while talking about Tiger Woods on 790 the Ticket in Miami.
What has Barkley most annoyed is the over-analysis of Tiger's apology. He also says he'll understand if Tiger can't take up again with some of his old friends. As for some of the media talking heads that have said Barkley might be part of Tiger's problem, well, Charles would like to punch their lights out.
You can hear the whole thing at SportsRadioInterviews.com, but here are the highlights:
On analyzing the Tiger apology:
"The reason that I hate that is because you've got all these idiots who come on TV or radio and try to tell whether you were sincere or insincere. It drives me crazy. They showed a poll today where 60-something-percent thought he was sincere and 40% thought he was insincere. Then you got a couple of these people -- ESPN, who I love to death -- bring these people on there, these body language experts, who say he's not looking at the camera and he's looking down at the paper. That's because he's reading it you damn idiot. The next time I screw up -- because human beings, we're all gonna screw up -- what I'm gonna do when I apologize, I'm just gonna start shooting the bird so people know whether I'm sincere or not."
On the possibility that Tiger may have to separate himself from some old friends:
"I think a lot of guys who have been there for him are not going to be his friend . . . I understand that. I guarantee you that I had no idea that this stuff was going on, but I understand when he's trying to make amends with momma he might have to quote-unquote excommunicate some friends. The most important thing is him getting his family back and his kids. That's by far and away the most important thing."
On ESPN's Erik Kuselias and Marcellus Wiley, and others, saying Tiger needs to stay away from Barkley:
"These guys are throwing me under the bus like I knew what was going on with Tiger and it pisses me off. In my old days I would just walk up to them and beat the hell out of them. But I'm trying to grow up and mature and not fight all the time."


