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YOU try it. Randy
If I could, I’d have Ben Wright and Gary McCord following just about anybody. Uncensored. At least that way, I’d be entertained. Network TV golf has become pathetically boring, and too politically correct. Sorry folks, but I used to love to watch golf on TV. Now it’s like watching ice melt. In a nutshell, TV used to cover the golf event. Now TV is trying to make golf an event. Sorta like the network News makes it’s own news. Ain’t gonna happen. Let me put it another way. I have a feeling that those of you that don’t agree with what I’ve said above liked the 90 minute coverage of OJ’s white Bronco driving down the street. The people that may agree with what I’ve said above would have rather watched the major golf event OJ’s white Bronco pre-empted.;-)
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snip If I could, I’d have Ben Wright and Gary McCord following just about anybody. Uncensored. At least that way, I’d be entertained. Network TV golf has become pathetically boring, and too politically correct.
resnip My wife and I felt today’s early round coverage on USA was far superior to anything that ABC did. We actually saw golfers hitting shots as opposed to someone going on and on about extraneous garbage.
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The main problem I had with the ABC coverage is that they failed to notice that there were more than about 6 golfers playing. While it is important to show the leaders and those in close pursuit, there were probably 50 others playing as well. The recent majors in Australia had excellent TV coverage. They
generally concentrate on the last 5 or 6 groups, with constant updates on completed scores / hot shots etc. Great stuff !!! Jim. — PLEASE visit our website for detailed information, including prices and how to order any of the products from the St Andrews Golf Gift Shop http://www.ult-standrews-golf.com
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Cool! Can I come over and watch? Got beer? —–Original Message—– Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 1998 8:19 AM We are all very good at criticising television coverage, but what would everyone do to improve it?
Hmmm, Dreaming…. Let’s start with fully interactive TV, and make the golf viewing experience able to parallel attending a tournament, and then maybe surpass it in some ways. Start with a menu allowing me to choose 5 or 6 players I am interested in, then I can direct video of each player to a different ‘window’ on my TV screen. I can put the ‘leaders’ feed in one window, John Daly in another, Fred Couples in another, etc. Also available are feeds for a particular view – I can choose a camera perched above the 12th green, or on the tee on the finishing hole. This is like the choice at a tournament – do I pick a vantage point and watch different golfers, or do I follow a particular group – except I can do both! And I can follow multiple groups! Of course I can manipulate the windows however I like – expand to full-screen mode for shots that are important (to me!), with a smaller window showing the leader prepare for his shot – if he gets ready in time, I can expand that window instead. At the top of each window (in the title bar for instance), is the player name, yardage to the hole, what hole he is playing, etc. I can call up the player’s statistics if I like – is he likely to reach this par 5 in two? I can show the player on one half of the screen hitting the ball, and watch the ball come flying into the green on the other half – just like that ‘puter game! I can pop up a map of the course, or a 3-D graphical representation of the hole, or the green, or… Maybe I can even zoom in on that lovely spectator in the front row over there (now that would be just like the real thing). There is one sad, lonely unused feed, of the talking heads, repeating themselves repetitively and redundantly – that button rusts from misuse (except at Randy’s house where he sits in rapture glued to the TV listening to ‘he can’t give the hole away; he can’t give the hole away’ 
just needling you Randy! ). Oh, and maybe I can have a ‘killfile’ – filter out shots of the blimp along with its fascinating statistics… Dear CBS, please have this all implemented in time for the Masters — — — David "Thor" Collard — http://ttsoft.com/thor
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How about a mic and on-course speaker so, right after the player swings, you can shout, "YOU DA MAN!". Heh. And my fantasy would be a remote-conrol fist, so I could punch the youdamaners in the nose from the comfort of my sofa.
ROFL!!! YoYo da man! Randy
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: Hmmm, Dreaming…. <fabulous description of a mindblowing interactive multimedia golf viewing fantasy deleted and I add: How about a mic and on-course speaker so, right after the player swings, you can shout, "YOU DA MAN!".
Heh. And my fantasy would be a remote-conrol fist, so I could punch the youdamaners in the nose from the comfort of my sofa. — E Pluribus Unix
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: Hmmm, Dreaming…. <fabulous description of a mindblowing interactive multimedia golf viewing fantasy deleted and I add: How about a mic and on-course speaker so, right after the player swings, you can shout, "YOU DA MAN!".
Hmmm, another item for the ‘killfile’ feature, methinks. — — — David "Thor" Collard — http://ttsoft.com/thor
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This doesn’t just apply to ABC, but to most of the other networks as well. How about just showing some shots? I know it’s radical, but I think it might work. On the otherhand for those that enjoy the way golf is currently covered, perhaps ABC, CBS, NBC, etc. could start applying their "golf format" to their other sports coverage. For instance during a football game, in the middle of a drive, they could cut away to a feature on the running back. Perhaps after the first out in the fifth inning of a ball game they could do a feature on rules. Maybe as Jordan comes down the court on a Sunday afternoon they could cut away and do an instructional piece on 3 point shots. This could go a step further as well. Instead of covering the entire hockey game, the camera could focus in "do isolations" on Gretzky for most of the game, because we don’t really want to watch those other guys anyway. I think I’ll start my own network….
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i’d show as many golf shots as possible. i would NOT show players walking down the fairway, checking the wind, discussing clubs (though that is interesting IF you can hear the player and caddie talking), going through
ABC did catch a little conversation between player and caddie. The moron who finished 2nd (not Lenard, Toms I think) missed a short birdie on 15 and let the f-word fly while berating his caddie for misreading the putt. If you watch the replay, the idiot pushed it. He owes his caddy an apology. they sure could show an awful lot of shots in 38-42 minutes.
I never watch live. That’s what fast forward is for. They might think they’re making us watch more commercials, but I bet a lot of people are actually watching fewer ads. Bob Dietrich
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: Hmmm, Dreaming…. <fabulous description of a mindblowing interactive multimedia golf viewing fantasy deleted and I add: How about a mic and on-course speaker so, right after the player swings, you can shout, "YOU DA MAN!". Robbie
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My rule is if it’s on ABC I don’t watch it. Almost the same for NBC. CBS is consistently good .. despite the inane promos. Then there’s little slice of heaven…The Masters on CBS. Makes me want to go out and buy a Caddilac…if the cars were worth a damn.
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Is it me or does anyone else feel the ABC coverage has gone to pot? Item: cut away to news after Duval sunk his putt.
I didn’t mind them cutting away cause it was over. What bugs me is they made such a big deal about having to cut away because there were more important things happening in the gulf. Then they put on 6 commercials AND the local news before we got to the ‘more important things’ on the national news. Tell it like it is. Say you’re cutting away cause it’s over and you need make some more money. Bob Dietrich
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We are all very good at criticising television coverage, but what would everyone do to improve it? Here’s a few things I’ve seen recently, at least in Australia, that I thought were good. 1. The 3-D green views. The system for this comes from Melbourne company Pineapplehead (http://www.pineapplehead.com.au). I like being able to see how the green slopes and breaks, especially as a lot of greenside views are from high above the green, which flatten out the perspective. 2. The satellite relay of the ball position, combined with an overhead diagram of the hole. This might be old hat or common, but at the Canon Challenge here last weekend, they had this guy with a backpack who’d run over to the ball when it landed, and he’d relay the ball position via a GPS type system for overlay onto the hole diagram. You could see where each player had driven their ball to and the shot they had to play. 3. Better fly-bys of the hole. I don’t really like the high helicopter shots with a metre-meter(?) ticking away at the side. You can’t look at both easily and the perspective seems wrong. For the Canon Challenge, they had a virtual 3-D type near-to-ground view of each hole, and it was like actually walking up the fairway. You could see the mounds, swales bunker depths and rolls in the fairway that you can’t perceive from an aerial view. There were metreage signs every 50 metres that were "stuck" in the ground. I think this was another Pineapplehead job. 4. Knowledgeable, unbiased, rational commentators with good voices. I really like those who know what the players are confronting and how to explain it. The occasional simple rule explanation doesn’t hurt either. They’re often ex-golfers. Here, Jack Newton and Ian Baker-Finch come to mind as good examples. We even had Brad Faxon for a short while in the Greg Norman Challenge after he missed the cut. He wasn’t bad, particularly as he had very recent experience of the course and event! What would I like to see? 1. It may not be technically possible, but I’d like a better view of the ball’s flight path, preferably from behind the player, i.e. see what he sees. Too often you see the stroke, the ball disappears out of view, then there’s a cut to a ball by itself in the air, then it plops onto the green. You get no idea of how the shot was shaped. It would be good if you could follow the ball from behind the player into the green, so you could see the height, fade, draw etc. 2. A few slo-mos of player’s swings, especially when they make a really good or a bad shot. That way you could see why they pulled the ball badly left, or put it to within a metre of the pin. It would be instructive for the golfers watching. 3. More cameras at a major like the British Open 
. That way we could follow more players. BTW, I’ve got no interest in Pineapplehead, other than being a graphic artist who is interested in what’s happening in 3-D rendering. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – : Every time someone posts on this subject, it becomes the same old : criticism. Just once, I’d like to get you guys in the production truck : and see how well you’d do it.
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Is it me or does anyone else feel the ABC coverage has gone to pot? Item: frequent cut always for previous b-ball coverage Item: frequent comments on the car, van, blimp – mini commercials without end? Item: frequent cut always for up coming coverage? Item: cut away to news after Duval sunk his putt.
It’s not just ABC or even all golf coverage. Broadcasters of most sporting events have come to believe that their efforts are more important than those of the participants in the event they are covering. The Olympics coverage was a prime example. They seem to be aiming at an audience that is more interested in controversy, personalities and background information than in the competition. This may work in events such as the Olympics where advertizers are aiming at a broad based audience, but they should realize that only active golfers buy golf equipment. I cringe when I think of the deluge of extraneous verbiage they will inflict on us at the Masters. — Don Cameron "The Crowd has never thirsted for the truth" – Gustave Le Bon
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We are all very good at criticising television coverage, but what would everyone do to improve it?
Hmmm, Dreaming…. Let’s start with fully interactive TV, and make the golf viewing experience able to parallel attending a tournament, and then maybe surpass it in some ways. Start with a menu allowing me to choose 5 or 6 players I am interested in, then I can direct video of each player to a different ‘window’ on my TV screen. I can put the ‘leaders’ feed in one window, John Daly in another, Fred Couples in another, etc. Also available are feeds for a particular view – I can choose a camera perched above the 12th green, or on the tee on the finishing hole. This is like the choice at a tournament – do I pick a vantage point and watch different golfers, or do I follow a particular group – except I can do both! And I can follow multiple groups! Of course I can manipulate the windows however I like – expand to full-screen mode for shots that are important (to me!), with a smaller window showing the leader prepare for his shot – if he gets ready in time, I can expand that window instead. At the top of each window (in the title bar for instance), is the player name, yardage to the hole, what hole he is playing, etc. I can call up the player’s statistics if I like – is he likely to reach this par 5 in two? I can show the player on one half of the screen hitting the ball, and watch the ball come flying into the green on the other half – just like that ‘puter game! I can pop up a map of the course, or a 3-D graphical representation of the hole, or the green, or… Maybe I can even zoom in on that lovely spectator in the front row over there (now that would be just like the real thing). There is one sad, lonely unused feed, of the talking heads, repeating themselves repetitively and redundantly – that button rusts from misuse (except at Randy’s house where he sits in rapture glued to the TV listening to ‘he can’t give the hole away; he can’t give the hole away’ just needling you Randy! ). Oh, and maybe I can have a ‘killfile’ – filter out shots of the blimp along with its fascinating statistics… Dear CBS, please have this all implemented in time for the Masters — — — David "Thor" Collard — http://ttsoft.com/thor
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Yep, Yep, Yep, Yep, Yep, Yep and Yep. Those are all great ideas, Colin! Anybody from ABC listening? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – We are all very good at criticising television coverage, but what would everyone do to improve it? Here’s a few things I’ve seen recently, at least in Australia, that I thought were good. 1. The 3-D green views. The system for this comes from Melbourne company Pineapplehead (http://www.pineapplehead.com.au). I like being able to see how the green slopes and breaks, especially as a lot of greenside views are from high above the green, which flatten out the perspective. 2. The satellite relay of the ball position, combined with an overhead diagram of the hole. This might be old hat or common, but at the Canon Challenge here last weekend, they had this guy with a backpack who’d run over to the ball when it landed, and he’d relay the ball position via a GPS type system for overlay onto the hole diagram. You could see where each player had driven their ball to and the shot they had to play. 3. Better fly-bys of the hole. I don’t really like the high helicopter shots with a metre-meter(?) ticking away at the side. You can’t look at both easily and the perspective seems wrong. For the Canon Challenge, they had a virtual 3-D type near-to-ground view of each hole, and it was like actually walking up the fairway. You could see the mounds, swales bunker depths and rolls in the fairway that you can’t perceive from an aerial view. There were metreage signs every 50 metres that were "stuck" in the ground. I think this was another Pineapplehead job. 4. Knowledgeable, unbiased, rational commentators with good voices. I really like those who know what the players are confronting and how to explain it. The occasional simple rule explanation doesn’t hurt either. They’re often ex-golfers. Here, Jack Newton and Ian Baker-Finch come to mind as good examples. We even had Brad Faxon for a short while in the Greg Norman Challenge after he missed the cut. He wasn’t bad, particularly as he had very recent experience of the course and event! What would I like to see? 1. It may not be technically possible, but I’d like a better view of the ball’s flight path, preferably from behind the player, i.e. see what he sees. Too often you see the stroke, the ball disappears out of view, then there’s a cut to a ball by itself in the air, then it plops onto the green. You get no idea of how the shot was shaped. It would be good if you could follow the ball from behind the player into the green, so you could see the height, fade, draw etc. 2. A few slo-mos of player’s swings, especially when they make a really good or a bad shot. That way you could see why they pulled the ball badly left, or put it to within a metre of the pin. It would be instructive for the golfers watching. 3. More cameras at a major like the British Open . That way we could follow more players. BTW, I’ve got no interest in Pineapplehead, other than being a graphic artist who is interested in what’s happening in 3-D rendering. : Every time someone posts on this subject, it becomes the same old : criticism. Just once, I’d like to get you guys in the production truck : and see how well you’d do it.
– Barry Smith Binary Data Services – http://www.looksee.com/bds Buy Sell Trade Golf Clubs – http://www.looksee.com/barry Internet to Alphanumeric Pager Services – http://www.AlphaBeeper.Com
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We are all very good at criticising television coverage, but what would everyone do to improve it?
[good stuff snipped] Great ideas! 1. It may not be technically possible, but I’d like a better view of the ball’s flight path, preferably from behind the player, i.e. see what he sees.
There are technical problems with this, as you suspected. The camera can’t follow the ball against the bright sky. The best way to follow the ball so you can see the "shape" of the shot is the blimp shot of the ball’s flight (or from a crane). The problem with that is that you lose perspective as to the height of the shot. (Unless you have 3D TV.) But other than that, I like ALL your ideas! Randy
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Maybe, maybe not. And even if those shots are "interesting," they’re clearly not relavent to the storyline of the tournament. How many
Only one comment here – there are many storylines to every tournament. And I agreed that they have to show all shots related to the most prevalent story line… but my post was lamenting the repetetive droning of the talking heads, not the coverage that showed the golfers in contention like Duval and Leonard, or indeed the talking that actually concerned the story line (168 yards to the pin, Duval is playing quickly, etc). they have to cater to whoever the viewers are, not to the things *I* like. And I, for one, respect your opinion. But it’s a business. Electronic
Absolutely – and YES, I think they are losing viewers by showing basically nothing when they should be showing golf. media generates revenue through advertising sales. Rates for those spots are determined based on how many viewers there are. Do you really think they’d have MORE viewers if they concentrated more time on the guys who are hopelessly out of contention? Unless it’s Tiger, Jack, Write them, don’t waste your time posting here. If you want to get their attention, write directly to ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN (or whoever). But I’ll warn you ahead of time, ONE letter from ONE viewer (when they have millions) won’t make a difference. You can’t please all the people all the time, y’know?
Yes I know. And those you don’t will complain, then eventually turn off the TV. Even real golf fans. they had a blowout on their hands. And what do networks do when they have a blowout NFL game? They cut away to a different game in the 4th quarter (unless it’s your local team and you’re watching in the local market).
Well, golf is very different than football, and of course, maybe their ‘market research’ supports the way they cover the event, but I do know many golfers are watching to see their favorite player, not that concerned about who actually ‘wins’. As evidence, at the Memorial every year, there are many fans that follow groups that are not ‘in contention’. You attend many tournaments, I gather, so I am sure you have seen the same. In any case, again, my point is that I would rather see golf than hear talk about golf… and I would rather play golf than watch golf, and I would rather play golf than eat, or drink, or even post to rsg :-) — — — David "Thor" Collard — http://ttsoft.com/thor
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Loved ABC coverage. By channel switching during commercials and slow times I was able to watch NCAA basketball, NBA basketball, and some Olympic coverage. Can CBS do that? <smile – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it me or does anyone else feel the ABC coverage has gone to pot? Item: frequent cut always for previous b-ball coverage Item: frequent comments on the car, van, blimp – mini commercials without end? Item: frequent cut always for up coming coverage? Item: cut away to news after Duval sunk his putt.
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Is it me or does anyone else feel the ABC coverage has gone to pot? Item: frequent cut always for previous b-ball coverage Item: frequent comments on the car, van, blimp – mini commercials without end? Item: frequent cut always for up coming coverage? Item: cut away to news after Duval sunk his putt.
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The main problem I had with the ABC coverage is that they failed to notice that there were more than about 6 golfers playing. While it is important to show the leaders and those in close pursuit, there were probably 50 others playing as well. — — Don’t sweat the petty things and DON’T PET THE SWEATY THINGS!
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The main problem I had with the ABC coverage is that they failed to notice that there were more than about 6 golfers playing. While it is important to show the leaders and those in close pursuit, there were probably 50 others playing as well.
Every time someone posts on this subject, it becomes the same old criticism. Just once, I’d like to get you guys in the production truck and see how well you’d do it. You’d find out how these decisions are made–that it boils down to one question: "what is the story of this golf tournament?" On Saturday, the only story was Duval, who appeared as though he was going to lap the field. Sure, ABC could have shown us shots by players, and the announcers could have said, "…and his putt goes in, to bring him to within 14 shots of the lead!" Boy, now THAT would have made for some compelling television! Just remember, there are only 60 minutes in an hour, subtract the commercial minutes, subtract the "promos" of "tonight on ABC/CBS/NBC/ESPN (whatever network, they all do it)," and the sponsored features (tip of the week and the like), then you subtract the time spent on the obligitory interviews with tournament directors, the CEO of the title sponsor, and now you’re down to about 38-42 minutes of live golf. Now, every shot you cover of some guy who’s trying to move up into the top 20 is a shot you could have seen from someone who’s play is RELAVENT to the storyline of the tournament. YOU try it. Randy
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: Every time someone posts on this subject, it becomes the same old : criticism. Just once, I’d like to get you guys in the production truck : and see how well you’d do it. i’d show as many golf shots as possible. i would NOT show players walking down the fairway, checking the wind, discussing clubs (though that is interesting IF you can hear the player and caddie talking), going through their 2 minute pre-shot routine, reading putts, etc. i’d simply show golf shots. sort of like they do many times on thursday and friday when it’s still anybody’s tournament to win. : the title sponsor, and now you’re down to about 38-42 minutes of live : golf. considering that the actual golf swing takes one or two seconds to complete, (round it up to 10 seconds so we can see it land and the player’s reaction) they sure could show an awful lot of shots in 38-42 minutes. : Now, every shot you cover of some guy who’s trying to move up into the : top 20 is a shot you could have seen from someone who’s play is RELAVENT : to the storyline of the tournament. my way, you could see almost EVERYBODY’s shots. those in contention and those not. : YOU try it. if i could, i would. do you think abc will hire me as a producer/director with no television experience? — charlie please post all responses. my email address on this post is incorrect in hopes of thwarting the efforts of the bulk-emailers to send me unsolicited and annoying email. if you must email me, my correct address is charlie at dolphins dot ssc dot nasa dot gov
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That guy making his putt to get within 14 strokes of the lead is *infinitely* more interesting than some voice going on and on
Maybe, maybe not. And even if those shots are "interesting," they’re clearly not relavent to the storyline of the tournament. How many tournaments can you name the player who finished 12th? Nobody cares. Alot of those guys hitting shots who are 14 strokes off the lead are 14 strokes off the lead because they’re MISSING putts, not making them. It’s a tough call. But to be fair, remember, when you’ve got a guy who started Saturday and Sunday 7 shots clear of 2nd place, there weren’t many who had a prayer of getting into contention. Go back and check your videotapes of tournaments in which there were several in contention and you’ll find that many more shots were shown of many more players. they have to cater to whoever the viewers are, not to the things *I* like.
And I, for one, respect your opinion. But it’s a business. Electronic media generates revenue through advertising sales. Rates for those spots are determined based on how many viewers there are. Do you really think they’d have MORE viewers if they concentrated more time on the guys who are hopelessly out of contention? Unless it’s Tiger, Jack, Arnie or some other "icon" of the game, I don’t think so. And believe me, with millions of dollars on the line, they’ve done their research. And I, as a viewer and customer of ABC/NBC/CBS, can only complain and hope somebody decides that there are enough like me to target US as an audience, before we completely take our leave.
Write them, don’t waste your time posting here. If you want to get their attention, write directly to ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN (or whoever). But I’ll warn you ahead of time, ONE letter from ONE viewer (when they have millions) won’t make a difference. You can’t please all the people all the time, y’know? Does *anybody* out there prefer to listen to Curtis Strange (or any ‘analyst’ – pick one) babble on and on, rather than watch great golfers golf, in contention or not?
As a matter of fact, I WOULD rather hear Curtis Strange, who just came off the golf course and knows exactly how the course is playing, knows which way the wind is blowing, knows how fast the greens are, knows how hard some of the greens are, etc., and I find insight like that to add far more to my appreciation of the shots I see from the leaders than I would enjoy seeing some guy three-putt another green to fall 17 shots off the lead. When was the last time you watched a basketball game and had it interrupted to show 10 minutes of golf? Maybe it happens (does it? I don’t watch basketball, so I don’t know), but it certainly is annoying to me, who cares not a whit for basketball or other sports.
On this we agree. But again, remember, this weekend’s tournament was something of an abberation. Duval was wayyyyyyy out in front, threatening to make it a runaway. The fact that there was a 4-shot swing on the 13th hole was, in itself, a remarkable turn of events (it virtually never happens), so the network can be forgiven for assuming they had a blowout on their hands. And what do networks do when they have a blowout NFL game? They cut away to a different game in the 4th quarter (unless it’s your local team and you’re watching in the local market). To be fair about it, it didn’t look like it was going to be much of a tournament until Duval tripled #13, and by that time, many of the players who were brought back into contention were nearly finished, so there weren’t that many contenders to go to by then. Consider what transpires: Golf is taking place all over the course, many players are hitting shots at the same time. There are only so many tape machines available to tape shots for later playback. You use ‘em to get the shots of the players closest to the lead, and you try to get the leaders on LIVE whenever possible. By the time you’ve played back one or two other shots, it’s time for the leader to hit again. There’s really not as much time as you think, considering that the broadcast would lack continuity if you didn’t give the announcers time to set the scene for each shot, "he’s got 168 yards, that tree is in his way, he’s either got to hit a big fade or hit a low runner under the branch, but that brings the bunker up at the green into play." You don’t just show the 2 seconds it takes for him to swing and the 4-seconds of hang time the ball is in the air. It takes a bit of scene setting to give the viewer a sense of perspective and a feel for what the player faces. Are the broadcasts perfect? Never. Randy
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The main problem I had with the ABC coverage is that they failed to notice that there were more than about 6 golfers playing. While it is Every time someone posts on this subject, it becomes the same old criticism. Just once, I’d like to get you guys in the production truck [...] Just remember, there are only 60 minutes in an hour, subtract the commercial minutes, subtract the "promos" of "tonight on ABC/CBS/NBC/ESPN (whatever network, they all do it)," and the sponsored features (tip of the week and the like), then you subtract the time spent on the obligitory interviews with tournament directors, the CEO of the title sponsor, and now you’re down to about 38-42 minutes of live golf. Now, every shot you cover of some guy who’s trying to move up into the top 20 is a shot you could have seen from someone who’s play is RELAVENT to the storyline of the tournament.
Well Randy, while I agree 100 percent that the network has to show the leaders (or whatever the main ’storyline’ of the tournament is, be it Tiger or the current ‘in the news’ golfer), as much as possible, I don’t think that is the main problem. My beef is, if they can’t show those few golfers, they show talking heads INSTEAD OF GOLF. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah I don’t even know or care what they are saying, and I know there is golf taking place and some of it should be shown instead. That guy making his putt to get within 14 strokes of the lead is *infinitely* more interesting than some voice going on and on about information I can much more readily get elsewhere, or has been said 10 times in the last XX minutes (can’t spin the ball out of the rough…), or a 10-minute replay of the shots WE JUST SAW 20 minutes ago. And, it is getting worse and worse every year. I used to watch every time golf was on TV, and watch less and less every year, almost always taping it anyway so I can zoom past the talking heads as well as the commercials. I am not saying I can do better, but that is not my area of expertise, and of course they have to cater to whoever the viewers are, not to the things *I* like. I *will* say that it USED to be better (from my point of view), and I have the videotapes to prove it. And I, as a viewer and customer of ABC/NBC/CBS, can only complain and hope somebody decides that there are enough like me to target US as an audience, before we completely take our leave. Does *anybody* out there prefer to listen to Curtis Strange (or any ‘analyst’ – pick one) babble on and on, rather than watch great golfers golf, in contention or not? … As an aside, as long as I have gripe mode turned on When was the last time you watched a basketball game and had it interrupted to show 10 minutes of golf? Maybe it happens (does it? I don’t watch basketball, so I don’t know), but it certainly is annoying to me, who cares not a whit for basketball or other sports. — — — David "Thor" Collard — http://ttsoft.com/thor
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As Ben Curtis was walking up to the 18th green Curtis Strange said in referring to Ben Curtis, "Even though he didn’t win". At that point it did look like it was Bjorn’s tournament but he still some holes to go. Years ago Brent Mussberger gave a game to the Celtics with a few seconds to go in the game. He started backtracking when the last few seconds took minutes to finish out and the Celtics almost lost the game. James Jackson
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Does anyone else find ABC’s coverage as irrating as me? Show three putts, then 4 minutes of commercials. No tee shots, no approach shots…no feel for who is swinging well and who is not.
But golf on any commercial channel is frustrating to watch. Virtually the only tournaments worth watching here in the UK are the ones shown on the BBC. They covered the final day of the Open from 10.00am until after the presentation at 6.30pm, without a single break for commercials, news, or anything. We get the US tour on Sky satellite TV and the best way to watch a tournament is to record it and fast-forward through all the commercial breaks. – Michael (UK)
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ABC has maybe 9 cameras (at a normal state side event they’d have 40+) covering the Open. Most of the pictures you see are from the BBC
I could sure tell the difference. I could hardly ever see the ball on Thursday and Friday.
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Maybe it wasn’t the best but just be happy we got coverage at all. There were days when "coverage" was only in the newspapers and/or radio–no TV.
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – internet.com says… Does anyone else find ABC’s coverage as irrating as me? Show three putts, then 4 minutes of commercials. No tee shots, no approach shots…no feel for who is swinging well and who is not. Such is life when you don’t control the cameras… ABC has maybe 9 cameras (at a normal state side event they’d have 40+) covering the Open. Most of the pictures you see are from the BBC which is more interested in catering to it’s home viewers than it is viewers in the States. ABC is doing the best it can with what it has to work with.
The BBC is actually interested in covering the tournament, not eliminating 80% of the leaderboard so it can show only TW and well-known PGA players. It is not the pictures that were the problem – it was ABC taking a event with one pace (and covered by the BBC as such) and trying to make it like an NBA game, jamming in commercials, and those ghastly on-screen schills for their crappy fall program line-up. I was surprised ABC hadn’t managed to get a few of September’s stars onto the players bags, a la World Series. So ABC is doing what it wants with the pictures it gets – it just happens to be completely out of tune with the golf watching viewer. William Clark
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At least you were able to watch it live. Here in Hawaii it was on a two hour delay.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone else find ABC’s coverage as irrating as me? Show three putts, then 4 minutes of commercials. No tee shots, no approach shots…no feel for who is swinging well and who is not. And Ben Curtis is a great story so far, but I don’t give a shit how excited his father is watching the tournament in Ohio. What was he supposed to say, "Oh, is Ben playing well…I wasn’t watching, I was outside mowing the lawn".
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My gripe: when fishing for something to compare with this story, they couldn’t come up with the year’s other great Cinderella story from just a couple of weeks ago, when Lunke won the U.S. Women’s Open. Ben Curtis’ win is right in line with that one. Captain Slice
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The Women’s Open was an NBC thingee. You should know by now if it didn’t happen on their network, it didn’t happen.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My gripe: when fishing for something to compare with this story, they couldn’t come up with the year’s other great Cinderella story from just a couple of weeks ago, when Lunke won the U.S. Women’s Open. Ben Curtis’ win is right in line with that one. Captain Slice
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At least you were able to watch it live. Here in Hawaii it was on a two hour delay.
Hell, you guys are so laid back everything in Hawaii is on a two hour delay.
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That’s the best observation I’ve heard in a long time and it did not occur to me.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My gripe: when fishing for something to compare with this story, they couldn’t come up with the year’s other great Cinderella story from just a couple of weeks ago, when Lunke won the U.S. Women’s Open. Ben Curtis’ win is right in line with that one. Captain Slice
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You are probably right. And who cares what network things were on… ? I hate those logos on the screen. I hope some network starts running ads "We’re the network that doesn’t advertise during programming."
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The Women’s Open was an NBC thingee. You should know by now if it didn’t happen on their network, it didn’t happen. My gripe: when fishing for something to compare with this story, they couldn’t come up with the year’s other great Cinderella story from just a couple of weeks ago, when Lunke won the U.S. Women’s Open. Ben Curtis’ win is right in line with that one. Captain Slice
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The final putt had barely settled into the cup before that idiot Curtis Strange started blathering on about how Tiger Woods hasn’t won any Majors when trailing going into Sunday. So how many Majors did Curtis win when trailing after 54 holes? The answer is 1, and that was the year that Tom Kite folded up like a cheap lawn chair and shot 78.
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I was very excited watching Ben Curtis win the tournament over Tiger, Love and all the rest of those Great Guys. I can’t wait to see him win lots more tournaments. HL
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That’s the best observation I’ve heard in a long time and it did not occur to me. My gripe: when fishing for something to compare with this story, they couldn’t come up with the year’s other great Cinderella story from just a couple of weeks ago, when Lunke won the U.S. Women’s Open. Ben Curtis’ win is right in line with that one.
In a way yes but a big difference is I think Curtis was really hitting some good shots. Lunke was getting it up and down from everywhere. But both came out of nowhere to win a major, no doubt about that. — You are in control until you are out of control.
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Does anyone else find ABC’s coverage as irrating as me? Show three putts, then 4 minutes of commercials. No tee shots, no approach shots…no feel for who is swinging well and who is not. And Ben Curtis is a great story so far, but I don’t give a shit how excited his father is watching the tournament in Ohio. What was he supposed to say, "Oh, is Ben playing well…I wasn’t watching, I was outside mowing the lawn".
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internet.com says… Does anyone else find ABC’s coverage as irrating as me? Show three putts, then 4 minutes of commercials. No tee shots, no approach shots…no feel for who is swinging well and who is not.
Such is life when you don’t control the cameras… ABC has maybe 9 cameras (at a normal state side event they’d have 40+) covering the Open. Most of the pictures you see are from the BBC which is more interested in catering to it’s home viewers than it is viewers in the States. ABC is doing the best it can with what it has to work with. And Ben Curtis is a great story so far, but I don’t give a shit how excited his father is watching the tournament in Ohio. What was he supposed to say, "Oh, is Ben playing well…I wasn’t watching, I was outside mowing the lawn".
Get over it and get used to it… Warm, fuzzy, feel good, schlock is all the rage these days. — Cheers- Jeff Setaro http://people.mags.net/jasetaro/ PGP Key IDs DH/DSS: 0×5D41429D RSA: 0×599D2A99 New RSA: 0xA19EBD34
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – nternet.com says… Does anyone else find ABC’s coverage as irrating as me? Show three putts, then 4 minutes of commercials. No tee shots, no approach shots…no feel for who is swinging well and who is not. Such is life when you don’t control the cameras… ABC has maybe 9 cameras (at a normal state side event they’d have 40+) covering the Open. Most of the pictures you see are from the BBC which is more interested in catering to it’s home viewers than it is viewers in the States. ABC is doing the best it can with what it has to work with. And Ben Curtis is a great story so far, but I don’t give a shit how excited his father is watching the tournament in Ohio. What was he supposed to say, "Oh, is Ben playing well…I wasn’t watching, I was outside mowing the lawn". Get over it and get used to it… Warm, fuzzy, feel good, schlock is all the rage these days. — Cheers- Jeff Setaro http://people.mags.net/jasetaro/ PGP Key IDs DH/DSS: 0×5D41429D RSA: 0×599D2A99 New RSA: 0xA19EBD34 Michael Eisner ( he of the gazillion
dollars and " honored member of the media ) is responsible of course…ABC tv another failure ( the chump e un ship net work ) so chincky incredible… When it c comes to yelling on the set between dumbass sports folks….yep they win that " champi0nship " As for coverage..i believe it sucks Before you complain, remember how it was – before you got on the internet.
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Anybody else think that Steve Melnyk is the best golf announcer out there? Great pipes, knowledge and disposition. OTOH, Curtis Strange’s accent is about to DRAHWV me crazy! Henway
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I think he’s the worst. His ego shows brightly through, and his affected talk makes me sick to my stomach. Obviously, I don’t like him.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anybody else think that Steve Melnyk is the best golf announcer out there? Great pipes, knowledge and disposition. OTOH, Curtis Strange’s accent is about to DRAHWV me crazy! Henway
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Anybody else think that Steve Melnyk is the best golf announcer out there? G
Johnny Miller is the best announcer. He is not afraid to tell it like it is.
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Anybody else think that Steve Melnyk is the best golf announcer out there? Great pipes, knowledge and disposition. OTOH, Curtis Strange’s accent is about to DRAHWV me crazy!
Actually, I was thinking that I believe I’d rather listen to Curtis Strange than Johnny Miller. Curtis knows just as much as Johnny Miller, but he’s much better composed– he’d never lose it like Miller did at the last Ryder Cup. — Jeff Rogers http://www.rogersnetwork.com/
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To the person who first posted the thread, amen. It’s been 15 minutes, I’ve seen, 5 shots by Tiger Woods, tee shot and approach by David Toms, but neither putt interestingly, and a putt by David Duval. I never really thought about it until I saw it posted….these guys suck!!!
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I also forgot, on the 2nd hole, Woods hit a two iron in good position…and Ian Baker-Finch enlightenened us :"Perfection from Tiger Woods" A 2-iron in the fairway? Would there be *any* redeeming quality to the telecast without Peter Alliss? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – To the person who first posted the thread, amen. It’s been 15 minutes, I’ve seen, 5 shots by Tiger Woods, tee shot and approach by David Toms, but neither putt interestingly, and a putt by David Duval. I never really thought about it until I saw it posted….these guys suck!!!
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To the person who first posted the thread, amen. It’s been 15 minutes, I’ve seen, 5 shots by Tiger Woods, tee shot and approach by David Toms, but neither putt interestingly, and a putt by David Duval. I never really thought about it until I saw it posted….these guys suck!!!
Yes, but at least it’s live, unlike the NBC "coverage" of Wimbledon, when they tried to con us by saying the women’s final was "coming up in a few hours", when it had been over for quite some time. My biggest complaint is the usual one. Not enough of the field, too much concentration on Tiger (and Duval today). I love that talkSPORT radio thing. Going back and forth from TV to radio works well. -Eric Ramon Portland, Oregon
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To the person who first posted the thread, amen. It’s been 15 minutes, I’ve seen, 5 shots by Tiger Woods, tee shot and approach by David Toms, but neither putt interestingly, and a putt by David Duval. I never really thought about it until I saw it posted….these guys suck!!!
On top of that, Woods was shown watching Toms put out on several occasions with no shot of Toms. Utter shit! All I can say is that I’m glad it’s not close or we would have to listen to Jim McKay spouting his ridiculous "mano-a-mano" crap throughout the telecast. — Rancher
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My biggest complaint is the usual one. Not enough of the field, too much concentration on Tiger (and Duval today). I love that talkSPORT radio thing. Going back and forth from TV to radio works well.
talkSPOTR Radio thing? You’ll have to fill me in…I’m not sure what your talking about…
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talkSPORT Radio thing? You’ll have to fill me in…I’m not sure what your talking about…
There was a nice post the other day about this. Here’s the link. http://www.talksport.net/asx/talksport.asx
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Anybody else think that Steve Melnyk is the best golf announcer out there? G Johnny Miller is the best announcer. He is not afraid to tell it like it
is. maybe rick reilly will re-think his NFL job and come and do some golf:)
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Peter Alliss is THE best. Johnny Miller? Can he talk without slurring his words or stammering and stuttering? As far as ABC goes, I’m surprised we didn’t see Tiger coming in and out of the port-a-potty after 5. That’s much more interesting to see than Fred Couples or Tom Lehman or Thomas Bjorn. Wish we had a BBC feed. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I also forgot, on the 2nd hole, Woods hit a two iron in good position…and Ian Baker-Finch enlightenened us :"Perfection from Tiger Woods" A 2-iron in the fairway? Would there be *any* redeeming quality to the telecast without Peter Alliss? To the person who first posted the thread, amen. It’s been 15 minutes, I’ve seen, 5 shots by Tiger Woods, tee shot and approach by David Toms, but neither putt interestingly, and a putt by David Duval. I never really thought about it until I saw it posted….these guys suck!!!
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On top of that, Woods was shown watching Toms put out on several occasions with no shot of Toms.
"put out"???? Ewww. No wonder they didn’t show that. Just how intently was Tiger watching? ; )
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Anybody else think that Steve Melnyk is the best golf announcer out there? G Johnny Miller is the best announcer. He is not afraid to tell it like it
is. Nor, to spout every other thought that rambles through his confused brain. He says some brilliant, informative things, but they don’t justify his constant motormouth. Seriously, there’s something wrong with the guy. It’s either a lack of, or too much medication. He can’t shut up and it ruins the broadcasts. Sort of a Tim McCarver. Venturi is lovable, but a bit past it. Melnyk is happy to let the game dominate instead of turning it into his show. I rarely notice the guy, which means he’s doing a good job. And his voice is perfect. Of course, every announcer I think is brilliant gets fired (Joe Namath, Oscar Robertson) and every one I think is a retard (MADDEN!) becomes a broadcast legend. So, I guess I am the only one that thinks Melnyk’s the best one out there these days. Good luck, Steve!
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Wish we had a BBC feed.
So do I. JC
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Wish we had a BBC feed. So do I. JC
The feed, yes. Don’t know about the commentary! Rob — RSG Rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/hamiltonr.htm
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Wish we had a BBC feed.
But then you’d have to listen to Jerry Pate who is unfortunately unable to string a logical sentence together. Nevermind the others who seem to think that if Tiger lands his second shot to a par four more than three inches from the whole, he’s experiencing major disaster Rachel. Time’s fun when you’re having flies – Kermit the frog.
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more than three inches from the whole
argghh, that’d be *hole* wouldn’t it? :-p Rachel. Time’s fun when you’re having flies – Kermit the frog.
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I’ve hated the way ABC has covered golf for many years. I watch a event to see players hit shots. You see about one shot a minute the way ABC does it. And if a player isn’t right on the lead, then you won’t see him. They try to make every thing so damm dramatic. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Peter Alliss is THE best. Johnny Miller? Can he talk without slurring his words or stammering and stuttering? As far as ABC goes, I’m surprised we didn’t see Tiger coming in and out of the port-a-potty after 5. That’s much more interesting to see than Fred Couples or Tom Lehman or Thomas Bjorn. Wish we had a BBC feed. I also forgot, on the 2nd hole, Woods hit a two iron in good position…and Ian Baker-Finch enlightenened us :"Perfection from Tiger Woods" A 2- iron in the fairway? Would there be *any* redeeming quality to the telecast without Peter Alliss? To the person who first posted the thread, amen. It’s been 15 minutes, I’ve seen, 5 shots by Tiger Woods, tee shot and approach by David Toms, but neither putt interestingly, and a putt by David Duval. I never really thought about it until I saw it posted….these guys suck!!!
Before you buy.
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Yes I agree, Tom Lehman was on about 3 times today, and he finished what 4th and hes a past champion. They spend too much time watching the last 2 players walk to their ball, and forgot totally about the rest of the field.