Three Anchors Let Go at Golf Channel
by Ryan Ballengee on Jan 25, 2010 9:54 AM EST
in Golfiness
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PrintYou may have noticed that some of the familiar faces at Orlando, FL-based Golf Channel are no longer on the air. Vince Cellini, Inga Hammond, and Iain Page had contracts that were not renewed by the network.
Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins confirmed their releases to Waggle Room via e-mail.
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I can understand Hammond and Paige…honestly, I didn’t know Paige was still there at all. Hammond was a horrible choice from day one, and Paige was hired because he looked good in a suit and wasn’t white. (but they hang on to Scott Walker, who still sounds like he’s doing high school speech class reports) He’s a really nice guy, but didn’t fit xxx Golf Channel.
But dumping Vince Cellini ? He was the best non-live golf guy they had, and he could have run circles around Tlighman AND Lerner in the host chair for tournaments.
Guess Tilghman and Lerner didn’t share copies of whatever pictures they have of the big boys doing the hiring and firing with Cellini.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I agree with you, court, about Cellini, but we don’t know what his contract was. It must have cost plenty for TGC to lure him away from TBS/TNT several years back. A guy like Cellini surely lands on his feet.
This was the second incarnation for Cellini at xxx Golf Channel. Remember the Big Breaks that didn’t have him as the host ? He had been let go during that period of time, then brought back. Someone realized that the people they had doing it were really bad and brought him back.
His brother works at a local radio station here in Atlanta – this is a talkative family.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Does his brother talk about Vince’s contract? I have to believe that Cellini was not dumped for performance reasons but rather for money reasons
he hasn’t today – I’m sure there will be mention of it this week. Vince was all class the first time they let him go – never a bad word, but he and Nick are hilarious together.
no doubt you’re right on the reasons. they keep hiring cheap and the broadcasts show it. the producers have this bizarre idea that they can hire nice looking mannequins, put them in nice suits, and “produce” them into good broadcasters.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
lmao@mannequins
Lerner looks like a mannequin with a Hair Piece. LOL Sometimes he forgets to dye his side burns to match it. He needs to lose those Sansabelt Slacks also.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
I am extremely disappointed that xxGC has once again let go of Vince Cellini. He was one of their best and most reasonable voices, and they’ve now let him go twice. He should have been in Tilghman’s seat a long time ago, but for some reason, either people like KT or like Court says, she has some pictures somewhere.
I liked Iain Paige as well, but like Court says, he’s been MIA for a long time.
As for Inga Hammond, she was good at some stuff, not so good at others. I honestly think that they should have kept her and let others go, for example, the uber-knowledgeable Stina Steenburg.
All I know is that THANK GOD CBS picks up golf coverage this weekend so I don’t have to listen to xxGC’s crew after Friday.
Months ago
I commented in TGC web blog about the upcoming “shake up” over there. I would have never suspected the release of Cellini. Hammond yes. Keeping Lerner and Tilghman, they gotta be kidding ? A lot of these decisions where made pre-TW accident and for reasons of non-conformance to TGC agenda. I agree with court that Lerner is the worst choice for on-air reporting. Just watch him later today as he just sits there with his hands folded on the table while Frank Nobilo and others converse about players and the tournament. Lerner only got the job because he was a former Comast marketing guy with friends on the inside. I’m told from some “not so reliable sources” that there is more “kicking to the curb” coming in 2010.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
Hmmmmm.
Cellini??? Doesn’t make sense, but that TGC for you. Not much they do makes sense. It will be interesting where Cellini lands. I had forgotten about Paige and Inga…..well lets leave that one alone.
The Saints are in the SUPER BOWL....WHO DAT!
My very uninformed guess is that Cellini was expensive provided his wealth of experience. Comcast is on the verge of buying NBC Universal, they’re probably getting creamed on ad buys at GC, and they need every penny of cushion they can get to pull off a deal like this. It’s the flow of business.
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Jan 25, 2010 10:57 AM EST reply actions
I suspect that your
Uniformed Guess is pretty close to correct Ryan. Keep up the good work here at waggleroom, "US NEW COMMENTERS "and refugee’s from TGC really like it here no matter what ONE EYE says about us. LOL
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
No way a Vince Cellini was more expensive than a Rich Lerner or Kelly Tilghman – but I’m sure you’re right – Lerner and Tilghman have become the Chris Bermans of xxx Golf Channel – too close to “icon” status to take off the air.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Icons ?
Maybe to the uniformed “fringe fans” that believe everything they hear as reported on TGC. Not saying you court. Berman is in a much higher standard of educated sports broadcasting than either of those to talking heads will ever be.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
just speaking of how long they have been on the channel – not their talent level.
Berman has become a caricature of himself, but he keeps getting air time – screwing up golf broadcasts and home run contests.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
You’re right on, court. I personally like Lerner, but I know I’m in a minority here. I like Kelly as an anchor, but not as a PBP person.
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Jan 25, 2010 11:28 AM EST up reply actions
I’m with you on Tilghman as a news reader, but I made the mistake of introducing myself to Lerner – left me scratching my head with the “how dare you speak to me….begone underling” attitude.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Very true court
About Lerners attitude. I got that same impression from him as well as many others I know that are working at the tour events on all levels. Last year I noticed many a tour player head in the opposite direction when they saw Lerner approaching thenm with a microphone.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
Somewhat surprised you called
Lerner an “underling” to his face, but them’s the facts. J/K
I had a blast interviewing the guy in person, so that’s my experience with him
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Jan 25, 2010 12:09 PM EST up reply actions
Funny juxtaposition -- golf has kinda become
a home run contest. Length, length, length.
And I could sure could’ve done without decades of sixth-grade-level nicknames from Chris “You’re Killin’ Me” Berman, yet he’s likable.
But keep him out of the golf booth, by all means.
OMG…court says…“No way a Vince Cellini was more expensive than a Rich Lerner or Kelly Tilghman”…and no one challenges him? Allow me then to state the obvious…Cellini was not only more expensive than a Rich Lerner or a Kelly Tilghman but probably more expensive than both of them combined.
Niblic ?
Your argument would only hold true if you could back up your statement with facts. I’m curious now myself about the earnings. I’m gonna do some research when I get back to Fla. later today. " Now don’t make me separate you two "
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
But progolf/jumpn, no one has the “facts” about how much each TGC anchor makes, that shouldn’t stop us from having an opinion about the matter. So court states his opinion, and I would fight to the death for his right to do so, and you don’t say a word. But I post a rebuttal to his opinion and all of a sudden I must have “facts”? I know that you must have absorbed a lot of heat shots as a boxer, but this must even seem unfair to you also?
you think so, nibs ? Tilghman and Lerner have been there since day one – lots of seniority. Cellini was doing recorded shows like Big Break, and occassionally hosted Golf Central or a talk show. Not saying you couldn’t be right, but seniority and air time tells me Lerner and Tilghman got the bigger checks.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Yeah, I think so but I must admit my view is skewed by the fact that VC was on TBS/TNT/CNN and I just assumed that TGC paid big bucks to lure him. I’ll be interested in what progolf finds out about their salaries. Hey, not a bad discussion for us…lol.
ALLLLLLLLLLRIGHTY THEN !!!!
Niblic, didn’t mean to single you out about “fact finding” . I should have said, Both of you need to show some salary facts regarding et al. I’ll do my best to find out when I get back to Florida, which now looks like it’s going to be tomorrow due to windy weather delays in Boston/Logan. I’m going to find a hotel in Beantown and watch the rest of the tournament.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
Hey, jumpn/progolf, take a look at my fanpost about Tiger and Elin in sex rehab….there’s going to be a guy named Posner on HLN Joy Behar’s show today who has some information(speculation for courtgolf) on the whole Tiger/Elin saga….very interesting(I posted a link to the daily beast with the full story)
Damm,
I have been keeping my fingers crossed that Inga would be doing the Cialis ads…I liked Vince’s sometime off the wall humer…It put sort of an irreverent attitude on some of the programs, but that’s just my goofy sense of humer….STUB
TGC decisions often don't make sense...
at least, not to us viewers. Personally, I liked both Inga and Vince, and I thought Iain did ok too. (Although he may not have been perfect, I thought Iain had some “presence” that others at the station lack.) But I’m getting used to TGC making hiring and firing decisions that seem to have more to do with internal conflicts than how well they do the job. Remember how they dropped Peter Kestler several years ago, and he had sort of been the “face” of TGC.
Mike Southern
www.ruthlessgolf.com
TGC
I’ve never been a big fan of the people on TGC, but I could never understand the unrelenting animosity toward them. I can’t remember a show I enjoyed on TGC, except for the one they did on black golfers. The reality is they are the only game in town. For the most part the networks( only two now) do a couple of hours on Saturday and Sunday. TGC gives us several four round tournaments, the first two of all the rest, LPGA and Nationawide as well. To me that’s a major improvement over what I grew up with. Why not abide by that wise old saw, " If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all."
Being the only Game
In town gives them the right for poor journalism and one sided opinion. I think not. T
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
have to go with pro on this one – it just seems like they don’t even try to do a good job. being a player, you know how important shot information and sound is, so you can’t just turn the sound off – which means you have to listen to bad analysis and inane yammering. the production people think they can take all this roughness and polish it up with a nice suit instead of going out and finding more people like Steve Sands and Vince Cellini.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Web site vs. TV
Good point niblic, there is a distinction there. Their tournament coverage will never win a Pulitzer. I get tired of hearing the same old lines, but I found an inventive way to get me through the broacasts. If I correctly predict what’s going to be said, I drink a shot of bourbon. So, when that downhill putt races by the hole I get ready for, “ooooh he hit that a little hard” or the ever popular, “he’s got some work left to do.” After 15 or 20 minutes, I smile for the rest of the broadcast…. I’d give Billy Andrade a very liberal “C” for his “insightful” commentary…. I’d take Judy Rankin any time, anywhere.
Or how about the sometimes eloquent Peter Oosterhuis
I noticed last season Peter jumped on that peverbial GC TW bandwagon with the rest of the grovelers. When any player NOT named Tiger Woods putted in for a par, Peter chimed in and said. “JUST A PAR” This did not hold true when it was Tiger putting for a par. Peter would say. " A lovely par indeed for tiger". I am not the only one who noticed this throughout the season. Because I was at many of the touraments and didn’t see many of the broadcast, I had others report the above facts to me. jes sayin. jumpn/progolf
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
PG -
You display the classic symptoms of Hyper-Tiger sensitivity….. If you wonder what that looks like read any of 3irons comments over the last two years….
by pingforever on Jan 26, 2010 12:22 PM EST up reply actions
he does make a point, though, ping. Tiger makes a shot, albeit a great shot, and the TV guys fall off their chairs praising him – but someone else makes a similar shot and get almost nothing.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
And it’s not just Peter Oosterhuis, it’s all of TV’s golf announcers/analysts. The best example is when Tiger’s not even playing in that present televised tournament and yet he still gets more airtime coverage than the present tournament winner!
Agreed. And it's so blatantly wrong,
yet if the other players whine about that, they get criticized.
PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING
And I say to you Sir, regarding your comment, ""JUST A PAR""
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
When Tiger plays the British open,
Peter Allis tells it like it is. When Tiger gets a crazy par, he will say Tiger was lucky as well…I have never heard any American announcer use the work luck when Tiger gets out of jail. They are so far up you know where, they forgot what the sun looks like.
You nailed it, Easing.
Groaner alert: Allis is never in blunderland.
According to progolf/jumpn, here are the salaries of some of TGC anchors…
Salaries: Faldo 865,000 Tilghman $485,000 Cellini $ 435.000 Lerner $275,000
…I stand corrected but I still insist KT is grossly overpaid. Court was wrong about Lerner making more than VC…I’ll apologize for him since he is busy in the gym getting ready to deck me.
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