Was anyone else as tired as I was of hearing non-stop Tiger Woods updates for the past week? I mean...yeah, I get that he was the "Big Story" leading up to the Masters and that him speaking to the Golfing/Sports Media on Masters monday was a big deal. And it was an interesting listen.
Sure, we get the curiosity factor but I really believe they covered him ad naseum because they thought a fan or tabloid clown would do something stupid. Nope, wasn't going to happen, not at Augusta National. Zero chance.
((Phil and Amy Mickelson//Courtesy: AP))
After that...he's as important as any other golfer out there. But if you get things like Sports texts from a certain 4-letter network (ESPN) or watched any of CBS's coverage, 99.9% of the week, there were no other golfers either on the course or worthy of mentioning.
Heck, my 4-Letter sports texts on Sunday...the final round, almost the entire day "Tiger Woods is a 9-under par. Tiger Woods bogeyed the 9th hole". Not a mention of who was leading. Not a mention of Lee Westwood or the guy who was the best golfer out there Phil Mickelson. Not a mention of "His" story which was a whole lot more interesting, no...we got all Tiger all the time.
Is there anyone...at either network that can explain why?
Mind you the coverage wasn't the over-hyped, over-blown discussions of his transgressions. No, neither network wanted to piss off the Lords of Augusta, so they kept it vague...and brief. Rather they endlessly slobbered over his golf game.
Did he play well? Yeah, not bad for someone who hadn't competed in 5 months. But he didn't win. He wasn't the best golfer on the course.
It was comical on Saturday reading on the Twitter feed and on various websites the "Stunned Criticism" that came with Woods uttering "Tiger Woods, you suck. Goddamit Tiger" after a bad shot. Please enlightened fools, SHUT UP. If that is such an egregious transgression then nobody should be allowed to play golf. Every one of us have said far, far worse when we hit a bad shot on a golf course. He who lives in Glass Houses...remember that quote? Think about it.
No, the best story of the week was Tiger's chief competition. Phil Mickelson was the epitome of class, the quiet and humble one, the actual "Fan Favorite". He didn't do much other than what he does best, play golf. All the while knowing that his wife and mother in law both were battling breast cancer.
Eventually (the back 9 on Sunday), CBS finally realized that there was an actual good story happening...and it wasn't going to involve Woods.
How cool of a moment was it to see Mickelson's wife, looking as though she was struggling to be there, trying to stay composed. To see his reaction to seeing her before going into the scoring trailer: Priceless.
That folks is why you cover events. That is why you tell stories. That is why despite there being a Tiger in the crowd you tell the best story. Tiger Woods at no time this weekend was the best story. Sorry CBS, nay 4-Letter Word (ESPN), you should both be ashamed of your coverage this past week.
Yeah, it was overkill, in the extreme. Does it mean you should have ignored Tiger? No. Should you have shown all 18 holes of him at the expense of the other golfers....absolutely not.
Everything that needed to be said about Woods had been said and said more times than any viewer can count. Since you weren't going anywhere near the scandal, then why follow him all the time? Unless he is the leader, he is a sidebar, not the main story. You did the viewers and fans a complete and utter dis-service with your over-hyped under-performing coverage and for that you should be ashamed.
Unfortunately, this was the only video that I could find of Mickelson winning outside of the 4-letter. So try and watch and enjoy
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