Let's Quit this Ryder Cup Crisis Stuff
by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 12, 2008 10:47 AM EDT
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PrintJohn Hawkins is only the latest person to pen a column saying that the Ryder Cup absolutely has to be close or the US is going to take its ball, go home, and never play it again.
It took the Ryder Cup 50 years to grow up, a full half-century before it matured into a competitively balanced contest worthy of considerable public interest. Now, at the sprightly age of 81, it is mired in a mid-life crisis. The last two gatherings have been frighteningly one-sided—we haven't seen a meaningful shot in the Sunday singles since Paul Azinger holed out from a greenside bunker to keep America's dim hopes alive in 2002.
Without the fervor factor, a Ryder Cup can take on silly-season insignificance. Its relevance grew exponentially from 1983 to 1995, when five of the seven outcomes remained a mystery deep into Sunday. The two that didn't became landmark victories for Europe, and on the back end of that 12-year stretch, a rapid boil of pride and passion precipitated prickly relations between the sides.
And why would it lose relevance? TV ratings. You know, the same TV ratings that most of the golf media is complaining are killing the Tour, should compel the players to suck up to media demands more, and provide the death knell of the FedEx Cup that still has players playing post-PGA Championship.
It is hard to imagine the American sports fan renewing his tolerance for underachieving losers, and besides, nothing annoys the TV folks more than when a three-day duel held once every two years gets a verdict after six or seven hours. Because the Ryder Cup competes against the NFL for viewers, it rarely puts up good ratings. In a weak golf economy, this year's numbers are sure to be low.
So what? Golf ratings are anemic anyway in September. ESPN knew that and still paid big bucks for a piece of the coverage of the matches! It's not about ratings anymore for the big sports networks. It's about the total approach of exploiting programming for all its worth - something ESPN does better than anybody between its website, TV programming, and radio outlets.
The reports of the Ryder Cup's death are greatly exaggerated from a sponsor standpoint. It's not a big deal that Americans are underdogs. Really, it's a bigger deal that Tiger isn't playing since he's the only guy that really moves ratings higher by his mere presence. Even if the US manages to reverse its recent thumpings and administer one of their own to the Euros, most people won't see it.
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I agree...
…except for the golf ratings being anemic. golf is what it is – a niche sport. to expect Tiger at the US Open or Masters ratings every week is ludicrous.
gloom and doom is the game the modern media likes to play. it’s just a shame that there aren’t more people like WaggleRoomers who these people for what they are.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Unfortunately, golf doesn’t have the luxury of putting on choice match-ups week to week like the NFL or MLB do. Those sports benefit from the fact that there are several games on and TV coverage is sometimes adjusted to feature a certain game.
With golf, if a tournament isn’t particularly compelling, it’s unfortunate but people simply tune out.
I agree with you, though. Nothing has really changed, but the media likes to paint a gloomy picture. How many times have we heard that Tiger Woods being out is killing the sport. Meanwhile, we forget that in 2006, Tiger played only 15 events and only 16 events in 2007. Contrast that with Vijay Singh who played 27 events in both of those years. That’s 23 more events. It seems to me that we’ve already gotten used to golf without Tiger (in small doses, at least).
by Double Eagle on Sep 12, 2008 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions
The best show in golf of the last five years
You’ll rarely hear it mentioned. It was the 2006 LPGA Championship.
Two hall of Famers, Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak, go to a playoff. Pak wins by nearly holing out a 3-wood(or was it a utility club.
HOFer Annika Sorenstam had a legitimate shot to make the playoff but came up short.
Who was Pak’s playing partner on Sunday? Lorena Ochoa. She had as much a chance as Se Ri when play started Sunday but never contended.
Others who had a legit chance to win
Mi Hyun Kim
Cristie Kerr
Michelle Wie
Pat Hurst
Ai Miyazato
Shi Hyun Ahn
That’s a heck of a supporting cast. At least 3 of whom came to 18 needing a birdie to tie.
Yet few people remember it. When talk of t he best 2006 tournament was done by the golf media, it was almost always the 2006 US Open. That mostly because of Phil Mickelson’s blowup at 18. Last holes chokes by Phil and Colin Montgomerie didn’t come close to the 18 hole drama that was the 2006 LPGA.
good news from the JLPGA
Bill, you’ll be happy to know that both Momoko Ueda and Ai Miyazato are in the top 10 in the JLPGA’s 2nd major, while Sakura Yokomine (-5) is trying to chase down the JLPGA’s Hyun-Ju Shin (-10) and the KLPGA’s Ji-Yai Shin (-6). One nice thing about the thinner talent pool on the JLPGA—even with all the parity this year in wins—is that you get showdowns among the best-known players more often than on the LPGA.
I’m so wondering who’s in the Venic Q-School qualifier. If Oyama and Saiki do well in Mission Hills next week, we culd see a lot more JLPGA stars deciding to join them in trying for the big leagues.
by The Constructivist on Sep 13, 2008 3:31 AM EDT up reply actions
It is just easier
for the media to predict doom and gloom. Don’t get me wrong. The ratings are AWFUL. But ratings aren’t everything any more. The NBA has never been healthier but the ratings on network TV have never been worse.
tv schmee vee
I don’t have any and I can follow any sports I want. So long as I’ve got friends with NFL Sunday Ticket, I’m happy (especially if I can convince them to channel surf on over to the LPGA once or twice)…. Go Bills!
by The Constructivist on Sep 13, 2008 3:33 AM EDT reply actions
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