Masters: You're NOT with us, leather

And, let's add this as well, so that markvid understands this: Hootie isn't running Augusta. Billy Payne's been the man for the last 4(?) years. When the Martha Burk flap went down, Hootie was, de facto, the official spokesman for Augusta, not the one making the decision. That's where the perception that Hootie was a good ol' boy got out of hand. His job was to relay to everyone that The Masters, as a tournament, has traditionally been a tournament for men. No one ever said that Augusta would not let women be there. If that was the case, then why there are so many women who show up to watch The Masters? It's the fucking club members that you'll never hear about were the ones whining about admitting a woman to the club.

Burk didn't help herself or her cause, because it backfired. You haven't seen her there since then, have you markvid?

BTW, markvid, those good ol' boys love Tiger's ass so much, they know better than to get on his bad side. They don't want to end up in Rae's Creek, with strangulation marks on their necks, made by Stevie Williams.

 

Ok, D-3, I'll take your point about the members being the ones whining about women.
I just see the whole culture of that place being too 1950's South and it stinks.
And Luggie, I don't think there is more to this. The club has proven before that irreverent commentary has no place in their scheme of things.
I cannot remember where I read once, but it was circulated that ABC, once they got Jack Whitaker had joined the network, was told that if they wanted to bid on the rights, had to make the promise that Jack would not be allowed on the telecast. ABC, to their credit, refused, so they always got shafted on bidding.
Let's see, Jack Whitaker is still alive and receiving awards to this day, and I bet a whole lot more people could still tell you who he is as opposed to Hootie and Billy. I think it's bordering on censorship to ban him and Gary McCord because they didn't worship at the altar.

 

Whitaker and the Masters: Whitaker was calling the action in 1965 or so and said, as the crowd rushed after Nicklaus (I think on 18), "Here comes the mob." Clifford Roberts, then the boss, said to CBS, "There are no mobs at Augusta, and Whitaker's not welcome back." CBS complied.
Eight years or so later, someone else on the crew was ill, and Frank Chirkinian, CBS' golf producer, went to Roberts and said they needed Whitaker. Roberts said fine.
So CBS didn't stick by Whitaker, and ABC had nothing to do with it. Whitaker didn't move to ABC until 1982. ABC's only Augusta connection was to offer to telecast, on tape or film, the action from Amen Corner in the years before CBS reached that far back on the course. (For years, coverage started at the 15th fairway.)

 

One of the most significant oddities I noted in the two Masters I covered is that the number of black people in the galleries was WAY higher than attend any pro sports events in Boston and most other American cities.
Like most Southern towns, Augusta, Ga. has a well-established black power structure that is part of and also parallel to the overall white-dominated one. And they get Masters tickets which could easily go to the friends of the rich white members.
Augusta National is a more complex institution than most folks think. Not a whit progressive mind you, but complex.
PS: Censorship is wrong. So is having baseball's opening day in Japan at 6 a.m. our time for a few extra bucks. I don't always like what they do with it, but I admire the club's insistence on running its major sports event as it sees fit.

 

And in the post right before yours ...

HA HA! [/NelsonMuntz]

Don't have a problem with it ... seems like most sanctioning bodies and/or franchises either have veto power over broadcast assignments or employ the broadcasters themselves. McCord's career isn't hurting and as I recall, he's had it written into his contract that he will not cover The Masters. Would it be more interesting if he did? Sure, but neither he nor the event are hurting for the lacking.

This is not going to send Berman out to pasture. (Never mind that ESPN would be immeasurably improved by such an occurrence.) That said, the odds of me watching the tournament improve dramatically when you take Berman off the set. He is not as money as some people seem to think he is.

 

Guess what? They don't care if you think it stinks. It's a private club. They'll let you know if they want you as a member.

 

Maybe I am in a time warp, but didn't ESPN have coverage last year, sans Berman?

I don't know anything about the structure of Augusta National, but they allow four minutes of commercials per hour. Four minutes.

That scores points with me.

 

The Masters is the most overblown, full-of-itself golf tournament in history. And this is from someone who has been watching it for over forty five years--or as long as they've had it on TV,

Give me The British Open any day.