The Crusade Continues: Another Lazy Golf Column About Tiger
by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 11, 2009 2:39 PM EDT
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PrintYou know Lesley Visser, right? She's a reporter for CBS Sports for time to time. She was more prominent in the 80s and 90s, but still works for the network. Well, apparently she decided to dip her pen into the ink well to write a golf column this week about Tiger's return at Doral. She shouldn't have wasted her time.
The whole premise of the several hundred word column was actually made in the final paragraph. To save you from reading the whole thing, here it is:
Golf without Tiger was not refreshing. It wasn't more interesting. He stands above his sport like Mount McKinley over North America. This is a perfect time to pull up a chair with some chips and dip, watch his return and call yourself a fan.
Yup, cause all golf fans only care about Tiger. She wonders if anyone cares about Camilo Villegas, AK, Sergio, or Vijay. The answer is: yes. Unfortunately, it is this kind of propagation and lazy reporting that precludes the sport from having other names recognized, even in Woods' lengthy absence.
The only thing I enjoyed about the piece was Davis Love III's honest assessment of what Woods' time off could mean to the sport:
"Now that he's back, you can say, 'I wonder if Camilo (Villegas) can beat him on a Sunday or if Dustin Johnson can out-hit him.' You have to have him back to take a shot at him."
That's why Tiger's absence wasn't the death knell for golf. Several names became the household variety in Woods' time away from the Tour. Now, they have an opportunity to prove that they can compete with Woods - even if he has some ring rust.
I am on a personal crusade to point out and exploit writers that are too darn lazy to actually write about golf. They're happy to use the subject of golf to segway into a conversation about Tiger Woods, but not the other way around. Those kinds of writers should not even bother.
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wow - such insight !
“You have to have him back to take a shot at him.” How did sports reporting do without this level of depth and understanding ?
Pssst – hey Leslie – maybe there’s a sale going on at your favorite shoe store.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Be nice, CG. That was a quote from DLIII. 8-)
Ryan, your critique would be valid if the article appeared in GolfWeek, but it didn’t. It’s on the CBS Web site where Visser is trying to entice average viewers to watch their golf coverage. For the non-addicted golf fan, Tiger Woods is golf. Don’t believe that? What percentage of time do you think Golf Channel devoted to him during the eight months he wasn’t competing? I don’t know either, but you could hardly check their program guide without seeing at least a couple of hours each day devoted to Tiger’s past glories.
Those of us who pay attention when Woods is missing have been delighted by the likes of Geoff Ogilvy (prettiest swing on tour) and Camilo Villegas, but Tiger is the money guy because everyone else will pay attention now.
Truth has a well-known liberal bias.
If that’s the case – why Visser ? She has nothing to do with golf – she barely knows anything about the sports she used to cover every week. Her article was lazy and basically useless. CBS doesn’t need help during the weeks Tiger is playing – they need help when he ISN’T playing – and this doesn’t help.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I would agree, though NBC has the coverage this weekend at Doral. CBS will certainly have its share of Tiger later.
And I think we’ve all come to the conclusion that Tiger is golf, so I should be somewhat more aware of that when I criticize a piece. I guess my thinking is that if you’re going to write a column cheerleading for Tiger, then just make it a quick blog post or something.
by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 11, 2009 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions
hmm
I really hate the phrase “Tiger is golf” – Tiger is the most popular and best golfer – but he is not golf. He is the biggest tournament and TV draw in golf – but that makes him good business – not golf. He is not bigger than the game – golf was here before Tiger and it will be here when he hangs up the spikes.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
the problem is that “Tiger is golf” is the message sent by these kinds of pieces.
by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 11, 2009 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions
agreed
I should have written, For the non-addicted golf fan, Tiger Woods is the face of golf.
Truth has a well-known liberal bias.
You said it
I could not have put it better myself. Ryan and courtgolf - you’re dead on.
with you all the way
I’m picturing Leslie Visser on a Segway! (Did you mean “segue” or were you trying to put that image in my head?)
by The Constructivist on Mar 12, 2009 3:07 AM EDT reply actions
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