Filed under bogey rants…
I touched on this a couple of days ago. I was driving home from a vacation during Saturday’s round of the U.S. Open. (Congratulations to Angel Cabrera by the way. Great performance…) I’m picking up Fox sports radio and ESPN radio.
ESPN
The ESPN announcers should perhaps research the players’ names before they attempt to say them. They stumbled over Niclas Fasth’s name terribly. They pronounce it like a three syllable “F-ah-seth.”
FOX Blunders
Fox announcers Dan Moriarty and Denny Hawking mention Aaron Baddeley. Their pronunciation is “Bad-uh-lay.” If they knew a damn thing about golf they’d know how to pronounce Badds’ name eh?
“Below” Par?
Hawking and Moriarty are commenting on how the U.S. Open isn’t a typical shootout. They said (paraphrasing) “It’s not a the kind of tournament where they shoot 20 below par.” Um, guys I suppose it’s not terribly incorrect to say “below” par but the common terminology in golf for this is “UNDER” par. I’ll give you an example: “He shot five under par.” It sounds like you don’t know what you’re talking about. Oh wait, perhaps you don’t.
Hey Fox announcers: Make sure you know WHO is playing OK?
These same two announcers are attempting to do some play-by-play. They describe how fast and tough the greens at Oakmont are etc. Then they say (paraphrasing) “Wow these greens are tough. Sergio just missed a 2-3 foot putt and now it’s rolling to about 30 feet away.” That’s great guys. But did you know that SERGIO MISSED THE FREAKING CUT AND WASN’T EVEN PLAYING SATURDAY??? When I got home and watched Saturday’s round on the DVR I figured they saw Pablo Martin. He missed a short putt like that which rolled and rolled away. Nice play-by-play of players who weren’t even on the course. I’ve give you a little clue guys. Usually the TV coverage posts a little graphic on the screen with the guy’s name when he’s hitting a shot. Read that. It may help. I realize you’ll still have to guess on the pronunciation (and you’d certainly not get Pablo Martin’s name right) but give it a try.
Just who IS under (I mean “below”) par?
The last Fox blunder I picked up was when they were describing Tiger’s current Saturday round. Once again paraphrasing: “Tiger is the only player below par today…” Then 20 seconds later: “Steve Stricker posted a 68.” Then another 20 seconds later: “Tiger is playing great. He’s the only player below par today.”
Um, if Steve Stricker posted a 68 then isn’t HE under (I’m sorry, “below”) par too? Gag me.
Let’s get to something important now
The final straw which caused me to bail completely on their radio program and drive home listening to CD’s was when they decided to end their golf segment and go to baseball. Their quote: “Let’s get to something important now.” Well guys I realize I am in the minority but I don’t care about baseball and this IS a major. It IS our country’s national championship.
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
OK Tony, I dig your comments, but isn’t it better to have any coverage out there than almost no coverage like here in Germany? It is like living behind the iron curtain of golf coverage!
I’m pretty sure PGATOUR.com has a live leaderboard and I think they or pga.com have webcasting of most of the tournaments…
Tony,
I don’t think you drive as much as I do but it might be time to get XM. Then you don’t have to deal with those stations any longer. XM 146 covers all events with a bunch of golf geeks like us who really seem to enjoy what they are doing. A member of the XM team, Jay Randloph Jr can even be found on the The Golf Space.
This is also simulcast for free at PGAtour.com.
Tom Gov
Yeah I work at home so I don’t drive a lot unless I’m on a trip… Still I think you can get xm’s which you can use both at home and in the car.
@Tony: Live Leaderboards we have, but most of the webcasts can’t be seen with an IP-Adress from outside the states. THe video summaries of the various websites help a lot, though.