19^th Hole

February 12, 2006

An Eye Into the Future

I was watching the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (can we shorten it up a bit?!) and realized that I’m going to hate golf coverage soon.  CBS Sports, who was telecasting the event, kindly reminded me that for eight straight weeks during the spring they will be the PGA Tour broadcaster.  My eyes rolled into the back of my head at the thought of eight consecutive weeks of the same old thing…and Jim Nantz.

Opening Sunday’s final round telecast, Jim Nantz told the audience that “20 something kid” Aaron Oberholser was primed to win his first Tour event.  As it turns out, Oberholser turned 31 this week.  Giving him the benefit of the doubt, his proclamation was at least two years wrong.  How hard could it have been for Nantz himself, or some production assistant, to look up Oberholser’s age in the media guide?  It might have taken twenty seconds to get that right.

Aside from the blatant mistakes that Nantz and company make on a regular basis, it is the general hokiness of the broadcasts that just grate me.  The theme music by Yanni instantly tells the viewer that CBS thinks this telecast is very uncool, or at the least, effeminate.  In recent years, ABC has at least tried to incorporate some modern popular music into its golf telecasts.  I can remember hearing Coldplay, Pearl Jam (though they’re barely modern nowadays), and Outkast on my TV during ABC’s golf broadcasts.  Get with the times, CBS!

Along with the unchained melody of a soundtrack, the whole aura of the broadcast is annoying.  This week, they tried to make the AT&T seem as magical as a springtime wedding – a moment to be forever etched in our memories.  Pardon me for having a hard time in perceiving an event where Bill Murray is wearing a USA beret as special.  Hell, half of the world’s top ten players were 8,000 miles away in Australia.  If this event had the special stature that it used to, they would have been in Monterrey. 

I’m going to watch the golf, anyway, so there really is no use in convincing me that what I’m watching is worth my time.  The cross-programming is NBA basketball or Daytona 500 qualifying – you have my full attention, trust me.

Finally, what gets to me most is that this golf team has been essentially unchanged for my entire life of watching golf.  Save for Ken Venturi’s retirement, I have heard from and seen the same crew for years!  I know that many people really like the consistency of having Clampett, McCord, Oosty, and Nantz bring you home every week.  For me, the MTV generation, I have a short attention span.  I need something new and refreshing every once in a while – and Bill Macatee taking the B-list events does not count.

With the advances in TV, statistical, and other technologies, the art of broadcasting golf on TV should improve.  If CBS refuses to inject some new blood into their personalities, then please make golf more interesting through technology.  Give me more live stats and explain what the numbers mean and why they’re important to the golf consumer.  Interview more players – either on course or just after their rounds.  Throw me a bone here.  I’m a golf enthusiast.  How in the hell do you think casual fans feel?

Since I’m going to be seeing a lot more of CBS staring in 2007, I fully expect there to be an upgrade in the telecast.  I’m a little too old and way too lazy to turn the TV on mute and do my own commentary.  Get your facts right, play some better music, and switch up the order every now and then.  Just remember:  consistency is only a good thing when it’s excellent.

Ryan Ballengee is host of The 19^th Hole Golf Show, found at The Golf Newsnet.com.  You can also get The 19^th Hole on the go through podcasting by clicking here Feedburner.com - The 19th Hole Golf Show.  Contact Ryan via e-mail at the19thholeshow@hotmail.com.

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