I’ve read several comments and a couple of articles regarding the video posted on Tiger Woods’ web site this week. Rather than doing a press conference before the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, Woods did a fan question and answer video on his web site.
This particular video has elicited some interesting reactions from media and fans, both positive and negative. The reactions expose the bias of the viewer. The fans obviously like hearing the answers to their questions and the critics are saying that the questions are softball questions. With anything regarding Tiger Woods there are the fans and the haters. No doubt Tiger has become quite a polarizing figure.
Critics
I can see the logic for the critics, especially those critics in the media. Their point is that by doing this format, Tiger’s camp is filtering the questions. They are right. The questions are certainly filtered. The media scribes must feel a little miffed because they’re not getting to ask any questions.
Another critique about the video is the obvious product placement questions. Yes, once again I agree. It is quite obvious with the back to back questions about the Fuse drink and Nike Golf clubs. Hardly a seamless insertion of PR there.
Fans
From a fan standpoint though, there are some interesting and informative comments from Tiger. I find the answers about his game, what gear he uses in certain situations or tournaments and what he is working on to be interesting.
There are also several questions about Tiger’s favorite shot, best putt etc. From a fan perspective that stuff is interesting, though it is very softball.
Final Comments
This Q&A was far better than the first one, which had an odd ending which is up for interpretation (Tiger throwing paper and obviously excited to be done with the video). Tiger’s demeanor is much improved this time around.
I can feel the argument for the fans and critics on this one. Fans are always going to love whatever TW does and the haters are always going to hate.
It is tacky to slip in those obvious product PR comments.
I’d say a few of camp TW’s “goals” were accomplished with this video. Those would include not having to deal with the media, not having to field questions they don’t want to field, mentioning Tiger’s sponsors and driving traffic to Tiger’s web site. I’d like to hope that another one of the goals is to connect better with fans, though some may criticize the way it is being done. At least they’re trying. Tiger may need a few more reps on that, but it is getting better.
What I’d really like to see is a list of the questions they chose not to answer. I’m sure that would be entertaining. I’d love to hear a funny answer from Tiger on the recent “hot dog incident.” Some humor would be good.
I’ve been reading several accounts of the story about the 75 year old golfer who survived an attack by a nine foot alligator last week at Lake Ashton Golf and Country Club in Florida. The player had knocked his ball in the water on the 15th and was looking for it when the alligator launched out of the water and grabbed him by the left knee. After being trashed, then dragged into the water to his waist the alligator let go, perhaps because of the resistance it encountered as the golfer’s friends held on to him.
It took 40 stitches to patch his knee back together.
Following the incident the golfer said,
“He let me go. I was three feet from my life. He had me submerged up to my belt buckle. That was my miracle of the month.”
Miracle of the month? I’m curious then, what was the miracle of the month for last month? Perhaps did he survive a fall from the observation deck of the Empire State Building? Maybe he survived a session of listening to John Daly’s music?
I was just about to write a review on a new golf towel when I saw that the last post was #3,999. Welcome to post #4,000! Wow. I figure the 4,000th post deserves some sort of fanfare blogfare.
I’ve squeezed 4,000 posts out of my cranium since December 2004, and I think maybe one or two of them are good too!
HOG Time Capsule
While we are at it, lets do a little time capsule for May 1st 2012:
Total posts: 4,000
Total comments (approved): 3,991
Total spam comments that never saw the light of day: millions
Total hits April 2012: 3,753,674
Unique visitors in April 2012: 218,731
HOG YouTube Video Views: 4,358,349
Total images in the HOG Photo Gallery: 18,713
HOG Twitter followers: 1,113
HOG Tweets: 2,971
TGS (my personal and The Golf Space) Twitter followers: 2,583
TGS tweets: 6,096
HOG Facebook Likes: 936
Back To It
I’d sit here and talk more about this subject, but I need to get working on the next 4000 posts…
It has been a year since my last book review (or so it may seem) so by default it is time to do my next one. I don’t get a lot of time to sit down and read books. If I’m not writing about golf I’m playing it. Thanks to a nice little break by a pool in Las Vegas this past weekend I was able to bust out an enjoyable read about Gary Player: Gary Player: Golf’s Global Ambassador from South Africa to Augusta.
John Boyette is the author of this book. Boyette is the sports editor for the Augusta Chronicle and thus the book covers a lot information related to the Masters Tournament and Augusta National. Perfect for my interests as I’m such a Masters fan and history buff.
The book is a timeline chronicling the career of Gary Player from his humble beginnings as a child in South Africa and finishing at the Masters as Player joins Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as honorary starters. In between are all sorts of great stories, quotes and inside information about Player’s career and the Masters.
There are some nice nuggets in the book which are interesting, for instance Player’s involvement with the beginnings of IMG management. IMG was perhaps the first real sports management group, setting the foundation for the lucrative contracts athletes like Tiger Woods enjoy today. I also like the recounting of Player’s rounds with a young Seve Ballesteros and how Seve told Gary he “showed him how to win Masters.”
Conclusion
This is a very easy and enjoyable read. The book is supported by some great photos, with an assortment of color images in the center section.
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