Dear LPGA Tour, Covering Yourself Works. Love, ESPN

ESPN has made a BIG bid to get the Bowl Championship Series bowl games and college football's national championship game.  They bid $25 million more than the nearest bidder for the contract that starts in 2010. 

Do you know where I learned that?  ESPN.COM!

Other companies do this, too.  Golf Channel does it all of the time.  They also work with bloggers like me, but I digress.  The PGA Tour does it.  Tiger Woods does it.

It works.  I wouldn't have paid much attention to the story had I not seen it on ESPN, mainly because I didn't know it was up for negotiation yet.  Now, I'm going to go read Sports Business Daily tomorrow to go find out more.

I am constantly frustrated by the lack of people consistently covering the LPGA Tour inside the ropes, at tournament sites, and in the press tents.  Blogs like this one and Hound Dog's cover the tour.  Lisa Mickey does a great job with the Duramed Futures Tour - the LPGA's developmental tour.  But the LPGA Tour really does not cover itself.  It should.  It has to do it. 

With how major newspapers and even golf magazines are cutting back employees, sports media outlets will certainly start the cuts at the least known sports and leagues.  Enter the LPGA Tour.  PGATour.com has been very smartly picking up many of these writers that are victims of the economy and the death of the newspaper.  Vartan Kupelian, Craig Dolch, and others have joined the force.  I wouldn't be surprised if Tom Bonk joined.  Dave Seanor is writing a blog for the Examiner papers' website.

The LPGA Tour should get together and hire one or more of these free agents.  It would do wonders for how the Tour covers itself.  I hate to drive home the point constantly, but examples like ESPN's today scream to me again and again just exactly what the LPGA Tour can do to improve its media coverage.