I don’t want this in the pit because I’m not really mad about it, just sorry. But I must share this mundane and pointless subject.
For those who don’t know, the “Crosby,” now AT&T, tournament is a pro-am with various celebrities and high and mighty teamed up in with 3 of them to one professional golfer.
I didn’t watch the first two days but recorded it today (Saturday) and took a look. The first thing I saw was Bill Murray mugging for the camera, then Rush Limbaugh then Ray Romano and then some other amateur. I watch the golf tournament to see the game played as it should be. I can see all the bad golf I want with me and the group I play with and most of those around us. I could go a long time and never miss seeing the Chairman and CEO of Charles Schwab play golf. I’m told that most of the pros don’t even watch the amateurs swing for fear that it will get their swing out of kilter. I’ll tell you, the Charles Schwab CEO could ruin even my swing.
In addition, CBS spends an inordinate amount of time hawking its TV performers. Ray Romano, probably a nice guy and a good show-biz talent but a lousy golfer, is an example. Every time you turn around Romano is on camera. Bill Murray is another one who is always “on.” Whenever he sees the camera’s red light pointed at him he goes into his act and it got old for me long ago.
I’m not even going to tape tomorrow’s final round and just count this as a lost weekend as far as good golf is concerned.
Well, with those cheery thoughts I’ll say so long for now.
I agree. It’s not so bad watching the celebs hack around. It’s that CBS turns this into a 3 hour season preview for their TV shows as well as a shameless spotlight on CBS executives and their friends.
It’s possibly the most painful thing to watch if you’ve tuned in expecting a golf tournament. Then there’s Jim Nanz (ugh!) and his smarmy, reverent tones about the execs, politicians, etc. And the icing on the cake is the relentless shots of rocks, surf, wind-surfers, boaters, and so forth, described in tones usually reserved for the Sistine Chapel.
On Thursday and Friday I saw on average, about two golf shots from pros between commercial breaks. The rest of the time was a fawning, mugging, pandering, circle-jerk.
There’s another problem. The amateurs slow the rounds down so much that there’s too much dead time. I don’t know exactly how long Mike Weir’s round was yeaterday, but I think at one point it took 2 hours to play 3 holes. So, they can either show golfers who are out of contention and that no one has ever heard of (except die hard golf fans like you and me), or they can show celebs. Kind of a no brainer for them, even thought it’s maddening for us.
BTW, I was down there yesteday and you almost couldn’t ask for nicer weather. Carmel is like nowhere else on earth. I’m still watching today’s round now (recorded), and it’s not nearly as bad, of course, since only the good amateurs remain. Still, Weir and Oberholser both have their partners playing, which spreads out the coverage of them even further. Gotta love Tivo for stuff like this!
Go, Oberholser! And quit giving up shots you don’t have to!!!