Masters TV coverage

[Wayne_Kozun]

What is wrong with CBS? I am bothered that CBS has not gone digital yet, and my coverage of the masters and also the NCAA Tourney were terrible.  It comes across worse than my former analog / tube tv.

You are WAY off the mark here!  You have an issue with your cable/sat company or you were tuned to the wrong channel.

I have had an HDTV(s) for just over 6 years so this is my seventh Masters in HD.  CBS was the leader in showing sports in HD.  Back when I first got my set in 2002 the Masters was the only golf event in HD and the only sporting events in HD were the Super Bowl plus CBS' three biggest sporting events - the Masters, the Final Four and US Open tennis.  CBS was about three years ahead of the other networks when it comes to HD.

[Kirk Gill]

I agree Jim.  Would it really be a diminishment of the mystique of the ANGC, if they had some sort of disclaimer when presenting all this idyllic conditioning, if they said, "don't try this at your home course.... your superintendent undoubtedly works hard to give you the best conditions your budget can afford... but the Masters, and the way we present our toon-a-mint is for one week only... you can't expect results like that all the time with far less resources than we have..."

I think it would actually enhace the toonamint unlike any others perception.  To come out and say matter of factly that to be invited into this field is to be allowed to experience conditions... unlike any other, provided by a budget... unlike any other, and that the course will be closing in a couple weeks... unlike any other... would in effect be transparency and a benefit to the game as a whole, you guessed it, unlike any other.

I would also like the same kind of disclaimer whenever they show the Victoria's Secret "fashion show" on TV.

[Art Roselle]

I did love the rebroadcast of the '78 final round, before the coverage started.  Instead of one of those canned highlight reels that the Golf Channel plays all the time, we got the real coverage, complete with the old fashioned graphics and Jack Whitaker and Vin Scully on the mike.  The few seconds of scenes from the old Champions Dinner made the whole hour worth watching.  Also, Gary Player's step-forward follow-through was incredible.  

I had forgotten that Watson three putted 14 from 5 feet and then jacked it into the TV tower on 18 for bogey and lose by 1.

[Ed Oden]

Art, I watched the 1978 re-broadcast as well and the thing that really jumped out at me was the speed (or lack thereof) of the greens.  They were still taking some pretty big cuts on putts back then.  Does anyone know when the greens reached today's pace?

Ed

[Art Roselle]

I believe they switched from Bermuda to Bent grass in 1981.  I assume that was the big watershed.  By 1986, they were clearly very fast.  That famous Nicklaus putt on 17, looked about as fast as the current setup.

It is also interesting how many short putts were missed back then.  I don't know if that was due to the Bermuda, or just pressure, or instruction/technology, but there were some God-awful strokes made on short putts.  People still miss short ones all the time, but they usually don't look quite so doomed right from the start (think Doug Sanders at TOC).
 

[Ed Oden]

I believe they switched from Bermuda to Bent grass in 1981. 

I didn't realize the switch occurred that late.  Thought it was in the '70s.   

[Jordan Caron]

When it comes to the actual coverage of the GOLF, the camerawork and the angles they used were often stellar. I felt like they keep giving a better and better sense of the hilliness of the course, although I'd appreciate more ground-level shots of the greens, especially 16. I still feel like I don't have a strong sense of that green. I'd love a ground-level shot from the area where Tiger made his famous recovery shot, as the typical overhead shot that they have always used doesn't reveal the contour.

I agree that they are getting better at showing us how undulated the course is.  It would be really neat if they could use the computer generated graphics to show us exactly how sloped the shot a player faces.  For example yesterday when Casey hit it long left on 14, I want to see how steep of a slope it is back up to that pin on the back left.  Same case with the approach from 100 yards on 15.  I want to get a better idea of how sloped that shot is and the a lack of green the players must see on shots headed towards the pins on the bottom left on that green.  What i'm looking for is virutal reality!!! I suppose I could just go there to watch one year.

[Jim Thompson]

I agree Jim.  Would it really be a diminishment of the mystique of the ANGC, if they had some sort of disclaimer when presenting all this idyllic conditioning, if they said, "don't try this at your home course.... your superintendent undoubtedly works hard to give you the best conditions your budget can afford... but the Masters, and the way we present our toon-a-mint is for one week only... you can't expect results like that all the time with far less resources than we have..."

I think it would actually enhace the toonamint unlike any others perception.  To come out and say matter of factly that to be invited into this field is to be allowed to experience conditions... unlike any other, provided by a budget... unlike any other, and that the course will be closing in a couple weeks... unlike any other... would in effect be transparency and a benefit to the game as a whole, you guessed it, unlike any other.

I would also like the same kind of disclaimer whenever they show the Victoria's Secret "fashion show" on TV.

Yeah, but Kirk, you could actually play ANGC someday.

[Tim_Cronin]

I'm glad another Chicagoan is on here for this analogy.  The Masters today is the United Center.  Before these changes, it was the Chicago Stadium.

EXACTLY!

Remember the roar!

[MargaretC]

...I still would like to see a Women's Major played there, just to break that barrier, but I was overall fairly satisfied.

Doug

With all due respect, Doug, there is no real barrier to break at ANGC in terms of legitimate women's issues.  Martha Burke would like you believe it's an equal rights issue, but that doesn't make it so.  She tried hard to create a faux issue purely for her own self-promotion.  Her efforts fell flat because because people recognized it as a sham.  Hootie will always be a hero in my book because he had the stones not to cave-in.

Would I like to be invited to become a member at ANGC?  Sure, as would my husband and the majority of folks who post here.  

I hesitated to comment 'cause IMO Martha Burke is a class-less phoney who's name shouldn't be mentioned in association with a wonderful event.

[Doug Siebert]

But, having reserved Sundays for one sermon, I really couldn't watch the opening 5-10 minutes of the broadcast. I literally turned off the TV; CBS has gone off the deep end with its reverence for the place and its coverage.

That's why you should never watch any golf tournament without a Tivo, I fast forward through all that crap, through the commercials (which are minimal at the masters though) and through the interminable Tiger coverage while they show him lining up a putt for 40 seconds when they could have shown several shots by other golfers.  It doesn't hurt that the sound is off while I'm fast forwarding so the time I have to listen to the useless prattling of the announcers is minimized as well!

I started watching the Masters at 3:45, over two hours after coverage had begun, and 'caught up' to the live coverage at about 5:30.  Watched the news for a bit then back to the Masters at 6 and caught up right as Immelman made his putt on 18.

I guess for some people fast forwarding through Masters coverage and watching it in less than half the time it was actually on would be considered akin to playing a three hour round at Cypress Point, but they waste an amazing amount of time broadcasting stuff I don't care to see.  There may be fewer commercials at the Masters, but there is just as much wasted time where there is no golf action, and amounts to essentially 10 minutes an hour of commercials advertising the Masters itself!

[Jason McNamara]

TiVo here too, on much the same schedule.

Btw, a few "GET IN THE HOLE!" meatheads made it onto the grounds this year.  Is security slipping in Augusta?

[Phil Benedict]

I'm not sure what's worse: Jim Nantz's idolatry of Augusta National and their membership or the nauseating commentaries offered by Jim Huber and Rich Lerner on other networks.

WW

Augusta National is the only secular institution I know of that takes the view that it is entitled to be treated with reverence.  There is no other explanation for how all of their media partners treat them.  It's just awful.  We're talking about a golf course, not the Supreme Court. 

On the other hand, it was good to see Stevie Williams get slapped upside the head for not wearing the official caddie cap on Saturday.  Most everyone else lets Williams get away with this crap.

[tlavin]

There are many things wrong with the television coverage.  First and foremost, as many have mentioned, the overly reverent tone of the broadcast is offensive.  The playing of music during any replay (which drowns out the commentary) is surplusage personified.  The constant reference to the trees and shrubs is annoying.  The fact that they have to name any bridge any time somebody crosses it is stultifying and boring.  The fact that they can't say the ball went into the water or hit the creek, but rather have to say that it went "into Rae's creek" or into "a tributary of Rae's creek" is also irritating.  In short, the editorial control that ANGC puts on the television coverage turns a great annual rite of spring into an overly saccharine experience.  The mute button gets worn out in my house on Masters weekend.

[Mike Bowline]

Despite the over-concentration of coverage on the leaders and Tiger, at the Masters I really like the fact that every shot of the leaders is shown, including tee shots on non-par 3s. Other networks often neglect showing tee shots on par 4s and 5s, yet these shots must be shown to fully capture the rhythm of the leaders' play.

Oh, gotta go, there  are a few patrons in my driveway - nope, they are just the mailman and the paperboy walking through the second cut on my yard.

[Paul Stephenson]

Despite the over-concentration of coverage on the leaders and Tiger, at the Masters I really like the fact that every shot of the leaders is shown, including tee shots on non-par 3s. Other networks often neglect showing tee shots on par 4s and 5s, yet these shots must be shown to fully capture the rhythm of the leaders' play.

Oh, gotta go, there  are a few patrons in my driveway - nope, they are just the mailman and the paperboy walking through the second cut on my yard.

I was actually surprised to hear the announcers use the word "gallery" a few times.  Has CBS come to its senses or will there be some behind the scenes words with the announcers?

[Chris Tritabaugh]

Why are so many complaining about the coverage Tiger received?  I have read, "the leaders and Tiger", or something to that effect a couple of times.  Tiger was a leader!  The runner-up is usually a leader aren't they?  The guy is the best player to ever play the game, in my opinion there is no reason not to show every single shot he hits.  Leader or not.