Are You Kidding Me?: The Story of Rocco Mediate's Extraordinary Battle With Tiger Woods at the US Open Read Online Free PDF

one night at a dance club. “In those days everyone went dancing,” she said. “That’s
     how we got to know each other. He asked me to dance one night, and we just kept going out to dance clubs after that. He was
     fun and he was sweet.”
    She was second generation — German and Irish on her father’s side, Italian on her mother’s, and the fourth of seven children.
     She had grown up on a farm on the south side of Greensburg and was just out of high school when she started dating Tony.
    They were married in July of 1960, and their first child, Rocco Anthony, was born on December 17, 1962. Soon after that, the
     growing family moved into Rural Oaks, a new development outside town. It was so new that the Mediates were the first family
     to move there. The community grew quickly, though, with young middle-class families moving in as the suburbs continued to
     expand.
    “It was a perfect neighborhood for kids,” Donna Mediate remembered. “Every family had kids and they all played together. They
     would play together right there in the neighborhood, and when they were older they could walk to the neighborhood pool during
     the summer and the ice-skating rink in the winter. It was pretty close to ideal.”
    Tony and Donna’s second child, Vincent, was born in 1964. But unlike Rocco, who was a lively, healthy boy from the start,
     Vincent was born with brain damage, and as an infant he frequently had seizures. Tony and Donna took him to specialists, finally
     settling on a doctor in Media, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia), who ultimately recommended surgery to try to relieve pressure
     on the brain. It didn’t work. Two-year-old Vincent suffered an aneurysm during the surgery and never woke up.
    Rocco was four when his brother died and he says now that he doesn’t remember much about him or about his death, but it is
     apparent that his death deeply affected him — and still does to this day.
    “I remember my parents coming home without him,” he said. “They told me he had died, but I’m not completely sure I understood.
     My mom took me to the funeral home, and I remember trying to open his eyes. I thought he was just sleeping. He looked so beautiful
     lying there, and I wanted him to wake up.
    “I’m not sure if his death is the reason, but I’ve never been able to go to funerals. I didn’t go to either of my grandmas’
     funerals, and I know that upset my parents, but I couldn’t go. I don’t think I’ve been to a funeral since my brother died.
     It’s just too upsetting for me, I guess. I can’t even tell you that I remember that much about him, because he was so young,
     but I guess it’s fair to say that, even though we never talked about it, his death deeply affected my family. I would have
     loved to have had a little brother; I know that. I don’t think my parents ever completely got over it.”
    At first, Tony and Donna thought they didn’t want more children, Vincent’s death making it too painful for them to contemplate
     the idea that something could go wrong with another child. They changed their minds, though, and Nicki was born in 1967, Gina
     two years later. By then Rocco was seven and spending most of his time hanging out with other kids in the neighborhood.
    After his baseball career ended, Tony turned to golf as his sport of choice when he wasn’t working. His business was growing,
     and he joined Hannastown Golf Club, a small nine-hole club not far from Crestview Drive, where the family lived. He had become
     a good player, a three or four handicapper, and he would frequently take Rocco with him to the club — sometimes to play a
     few holes, sometimes to caddy.
    “He didn’t like golf,” Tony said. “Sometimes when he would caddy for me we would get to the sixth hole, which is right by
     the front gate of the club, and he’d just say, ‘Dad, I’m going home.’ He’d drop the clubs and walk home. It wasn’t much different
     when I let him play. He’d play a few