i don't know what rhetorical means, so i'll answer the question ;)
say if someone other than hank haney broke a confidence with someone other than tiger woods. do you think rick smith would've commented on it, and it would've received the publicity it did on the sports newswires? i don't think so. of course, no precedent has been set, but everyone here seems to think smith is the pope for what he said.
do you honestly think he meant what he said that he would be penniless before he would break a confidence? honestly? do you think as a result of his comments, a year from now, he might have a little bit better stable than he has today? are you going to say that no competition exists among the top golf coaches? don't you think rick smith secretly envies or even resents butch harmon, for example, for what he has accomplished? the only people i'm aware of (without looking) that smith has worked with are justin leonard and john daly. and we've seen the relationship daly had with harmon. not exactly the most cordial, or confidential.