Swinging in the rain and other not-ready-for-prime-time stuff

In continuing to honour a tradition that goes back weeks, here are the left-over observations gathered during a week spent watching television when I should have been weeding the garden and staining that damned deck.

GOLFING IN THE RAIN, JUST GOLFING IN THE RAIN: Worst cross-promotion of the week came when NBC used its morning weather guy to bring us up to date on U.S. Open rain patterns. Just show us golf and forget about warm fronts. ... Maybe it's just me, but hearing ESPN's Chris Berman doing golf makes me think of Fred Flintstone announcing the ballet. ... Great line by NBC's Johnny Miller after noting that even a guy as strong as Tiger Woods was having trouble with the deep Bethpage rough: ``The rough has biceps, too." ... How many times did NBC guys bring up Torrey Pines when Tiger faced a long putt or a tough chip-in? About as many times as they showed clips of his great Torrey Pines shots. ... How many NBC guys were almost overcome by the sight of a split screen showing Phil Mickelson and Tiger lining up key putts? How many had angina attacks when they both missed? 

STUFF THAT ISN'T GOLF: The NHL met Las Vegas last week and oh and was it ugly. No matter how the CBC and NHL try to dress up its annual awards show, it still ends up looking like a North Bay Legion smoker with better clothes. Instead of trying to copy the Academy Awards, right down to the stage-struck presenters reading (badly) off cue cards, just hand out the awards and get it over with. And where did they find Chaka Khan? ... When Alan Ashby first landed on the Blue Jays radio broadcasts, he struck me as a pretty conservative guy who provided good analysis without much flair. But lately, I've been hearing a lot of great stuff from the former catcher. Example: When the Jays continued to stumble around the basepaths and flail away with runners on base last week in Philadelphia, Ashby noted that even though the Jays were likely to finish with a good road trip, ``Manager Cito Gaston is probably watching a lot of his hair go down the shower drain." ... During a Confederations Cup soccer game on CBC Sunday, a technical problem meant viewers could hear the crowd but not the announcer. As far as I know, no complaints were lodged. ... During TSN's The Reporters show on Sunday, there was the inevitable Jim Balsillie talk. Accompanying it were several candid shots, including one of the BlackBerry Billionaire slurping something into his mouth at dinner (it looked like an entire octopus.) That wasn't the first time that awful shot has been aired. The question I have is: Why would it ever air unless you wanted to make the point that billionaires can look like slobs just like the rest of us?

Comments

[Mike S]

Another golf major, another round of criticism by Mr. Zelkovich about showing too much Tiger & Phil..........I don't remember him criticizing CTV when they used to show all of Mike Weir's shots at the Canadian Open even though he was more than 10 strokes back..........given the fact that Tiger & Phil almost always end up being a factor towards the end (like they did today and at the Masters) I'm not sure it makes sense to complain about them getting too much exposure

[chris]

It IS too much exposure when Tiger and Mickelson aren't in contention, Mike. The fact that they both made charges late shouldn't dull the criticism. And yes, it IS too much coverage of Mike Weir when he's off the pace at the Canadian Open. The TV networks, no matter what country they're in, shouldn't be putting all their eggs in one basket.

[Rob Janssens]

Nearly everything the golf announcers say about Tiger and Phil and what they neglect to say about the many other interesting stories reminds me of the local sports media fawning over the Leafs throughout the regular season. I can't remember what they say about them during the playoffs...it's been 5 years, of course.

[Clarkie 90210]

Even better was that after Alan's line about Cito's hair going down the drain, Jerry quipped "I know how he feels". They're great to listen to!

[baseballfan]

NBC is right on the money. The bottom line in golf coverage: Tiger and Phil are more likely to pull off a dramatic shot than the likes of Lucas Glover and Ricky Barnes.

Besides, the cameras are rolling on the other guys and nothing is missed -- even if they have to go back on tape to show it.

[Josh]

I have to disagree. If I tune in, I want to see the majority of Tiger's shots. He is the reason the majority of the audience tunes in. NBC realizes this, why can't you as well Chris?

[Bob Raiser]

What - no comments on the debacle that was the NHL awards show? Oh my gosh what an embarassment. Glenn Anderson reading off a prompter that was obviously well to his right of the camera was in no way evident. The seats away from the main floor being fully occupied by invisible people was nice too! If the NHL is not going to be considered big-league, then at least have these events in a city that will support it.