Sorry to be negative but ABC's coverage

[Greg Beaulieu]

I may be among the handful of people that miss ABC covering golf. It is hard to believe that during the '70s and '80s they were arguably the best in the business at that art, with Jim McKay as anchor, Dave Marr as analyst, and a crew of on-course reporters that included Bob Rosburg, Judy Rankin, Andy North and (later on) Jerry Pate, with Jack Whitaker and Peter Alliss arriving on the scene later as well. They did a good job. Watching them at The Open is a bit of a throwback to those days.

Before they lost the rights to PGA Tour broadcasts, they had a 3-man booth of Tirico, Azinger and Faldo, after they moved Curtis Strange out of the analyst role. Azinger and Faldo attracted some attention for their bantering and duelling analyst role. They also had Ian Baker-Finch on their announcing staff. The problem now is that this is their only full event all year, and they are rusty. I didn't hate the coverage - I'm old enough to remember how bad NBC used to be in the'80s and early '90s, and they were nowhere near that low level - but there is lots of room for improvement.

I think Azinger might be OK if he was paired with someone other than Strange, but they are a bad mix together. I like Mike Tirico. I am not a fan of Scott Van Pelt, going all the way back to his Golf Channel days, or of Tom Rinaldi. Judy Rankin and the estimable Dottie Pepper are great, and Bill Kratzert does a good job on-course. Peter Alliss made a few token appearances, but he is more of a character than an announcer these days, and his appearance makes me think he is not 100% these days. I don't know for how much longer they have the rights to The Open, but I do hope they find a way to up their game in the years to come.

[Dan Herrmann]

I bet ESPN doesn't even bid for the rights the next time they're up.  They dropped ice hockey and I think they'll drop golf soon too.  Why have a staff for 1.5 events per year (the other .5 is the first two rounds of the US Open).

I wish they'd push Strange onto the Champion's Tour and never let him back on TV in an announcer role.

[Mark Woodger]

i had the bbc feed on the laptop and the tv coverage. it was night and day in the coverage. the bbc feed probably showed 3 times as much golf. didnt waste anytime showing replays. and showed shots as close to live as possible and a wide variety of golfers.

one example was when westwood was playing 16. BBC showed the tee shot, the bunker shot and the putt all live and then the tee shot on 17. the usa tv coverage showed the tee shot and didnt return to the other shots until after the the bbc shown the tee shot at 17. and this was the last guy on the course who had any chance of catching phil. instead they chose to interview phil and re show the 18th putt and him hugging his family. all great moments but not at the expense of watching the final putt that meant he won.

I can't comment on the announcers as i dont listen to the usa guys but in terms of the actual images espn/abc should be ashamed of what they put out. it is utter rubbish from start to finish.

i bang on about this every year and know it will never change but it makes me sick that people this what they offer. are most americans really happy with this type of coverage?

[Joe Bausch]

I can't comment on the announcers as i dont listen to the usa guys but in terms of the actual images espn/abc should be ashamed of what they put out. it is utter rubbish from start to finish.

Can you please comment on the above further?  I'm not doubting your beliefs, but just want more details about the "actual images" etc.

[John Kavanaugh]

Network sports coverage this year has been free and entertaining.  I wish it was all pay per view so you little bitches could get your due.

[Bill Gayne]

I thought the promos done by Tom Rinaldi and Ian McShane were great (especially the "Turn Home"):

http://vimeo.com/70699995

http://vimeo.com/70653687

http://vimeo.com/70526375

[Dan Herrmann]

Joe Bausch  - I had the BBC and ESPN coverage, and I sure think ESPN used mostly BBC video feeds.  ESPN may have showed the clips at different times, but I think they were the same pictures.

[John Kavanaugh]

I am very thankful for this years Golf, NBA, Hockey and even Wimbleton coverage. Missed out on Boxing, MMA and Wrestle Mania.  This has been the finest few months of sports that I ever recall. I hope it's just not me.

[BHoover]

Network sports coverage this year has been free and entertaining.  I wish it was all pay per view so you little bitches could get your due.

You call Muirfield boring, yet you praise the television coverage? That makes ZERO sense to me.

[Mark Woodger]

certainly Joe.

i am not commenting on the camera angles/camera work or the quality of the hd images etc. they were pretty good and i can see how my original post could read like that. I am commenting on general quality of the content and how they waste so much airtime with things other than showing golf shots. things like watching golfer and caddy discuss a shot for x minutes, watching tiger stalk a putt for x minutes, watching players walk up the fairway, interviewing players after their rounds without Picture in Picture showing golf shots, showing replays, commercials, going back to the studio for pointless conversations.

I am british so maybe i am biased and like what i grew up with but any golf coverage should in my opinion be roughly as follows and the bbc deliver a quality product in approximately this format:

announcer sets the scene: here is henrik on 15 with a 6 iron, having just birdie 14 to share the lead.
silence as golder hits shot and crowd responds.
announcer: oooh that is a good shot, he has a good birdie chance there as that putt is straight up the hill, lets go to Sergio at the 14th.
screen cuts to sergio on 14th green
and repeat. with a few moments here and there for more in depth analysis/or discussion in certain spots.

[Chris DeNigris]

I may be among the handful of people that miss ABC covering golf. It is hard to believe that during the '70s and '80s they were arguably the best in the business at that art, with Jim McKay as anchor, Dave Marr as analyst, and a crew of on-course reporters that included Bob Rosburg, Judy Rankin, Andy North and (later on) Jerry Pate, with Jack Whitaker and Peter Alliss arriving on the scene later as well. They did a good job. Watching them at The Open is a bit of a throwback to those days.

Before they lost the rights to PGA Tour broadcasts, they had a 3-man booth of Tirico, Azinger and Faldo, after they moved Curtis Strange out of the analyst role. Azinger and Faldo attracted some attention for their bantering and duelling analyst role. They also had Ian Baker-Finch on their announcing staff. The problem now is that this is their only full event all year, and they are rusty. I didn't hate the coverage - I'm old enough to remember how bad NBC used to be in the'80s and early '90s, and they were nowhere near that low level - but there is lots of room for improvement.

I think Azinger might be OK if he was paired with someone other than Strange, but they are a bad mix together. I like Mike Tirico. I am not a fan of Scott Van Pelt, going all the way back to his Golf Channel days, or of Tom Rinaldi. Judy Rankin and the estimable Dottie Pepper are great, and Bill Kratzert does a good job on-course. Peter Alliss made a few token appearances, but he is more of a character than an announcer these days, and his appearance makes me think he is not 100% these days. I don't know for how much longer they have the rights to The Open, but I do hope they find a way to up their game in the years to come.

Balanced and rational review of the TV coverage...agree with just about all of it.

How did you manage to do it without using the word "Asshat" even once?

[Chris DeNigris]

i had the bbc feed on the laptop and the tv coverage. it was night and day in the coverage. the bbc feed probably showed 3 times as much golf. didnt waste anytime showing replays. and showed shots as close to live as possible and a wide variety of golfers.

one example was when westwood was playing 16. BBC showed the tee shot, the bunker shot and the putt all live and then the tee shot on 17. the usa tv coverage showed the tee shot and didnt return to the other shots until after the the bbc shown the tee shot at 17. and this was the last guy on the course who had any chance of catching phil. instead they chose to interview phil and re show the 18th putt and him hugging his family. all great moments but not at the expense of watching the final putt that meant he won.

I can't comment on the announcers as i dont listen to the usa guys but in terms of the actual images espn/abc should be ashamed of what they put out. it is utter rubbish from start to finish.

i bang on about this every year and know it will never change but it makes me sick that people this what they offer. are most americans really happy with this type of coverage?

Mark,

What was the point of covering Westwood on 16 once he put his tee shot in the bunker??

He needed to finish birdie x3 to force a playoff- Phil was already in at -3 by then. He was essentially irrelevant at that point- as was everyone else still playing.

Up until then they showed every one of Lee's shots.

They covered all the relevant shots-including all of Poulter as he was making his brief run.

[Mark Woodger]

Chris, westwood could have holed the bunker shot, or got a par and finished eagle birdie. both unlikely as the result showed but i believe in showing those shots live just incase something happens.

ESPN probably did show all the relevant shots, as well they should but in the time where they are not showing relevant shots i want to see other golf shots, not studio chat or replays. Particularly on The Open week because its one of the few times we see links golf on tv.

[Tom Forsythe]

In Canada, up to a few years ago we were treated to the BBC feed over the first 2 days of The Open, at least for the first few hours of coverage each day. It was truly enjoyable to watch. I don't know why TSN doesn't buy those rights for the whole telecast, unless their relationship with ESPN requires them to use the ESPN feed now.

Greg: I suspect the 20% ownership ESPN has in TSN pretty much guarantees they will be using the ESPN feed.

[Bill Crane]

Van Pelt really rubs me the wrong way.  He has moderately toned down his cynical attitude on golf TV from a few years ago, but I just find him egotistical and negative.  He is too jive for golf, even toned down.

He made snide little jokes the first three days that the announcers all enjoyed with guffaws but I suspect not the viewers - like me.

It did seem like Strange is basically negative.  Zinger is all right but just talks a little too much.

Tirico is harmless, at least he is positive.

Interesting to hear David Duval a few days, but the team of regulars talked over him if he hesitated.


Wm Flynnfan

[Matthew Sander]

I may be among the handful of people that miss ABC covering golf.

You know, I do too, however not so much this current group.

Jim McKay, was a bit before my time and I wasn't too big on their choices for the 18th tower. However, I always thought their supporting cast was really good. Steve Melnyk was a matter of fact voice that I really miss. Also, it was great when they had Peter Aliss doing regular tour events.  He seemed to bring some additional weight to events like Memphis and New Orleans.

[Sam Morrow]

I may be among the handful of people that miss ABC covering golf.

You know, I do too, however not so much this current group.

Jim McKay, was a bit before my time and I wasn't too big on their choices for the 18th tower. However, I always thought their supporting cast was really good. Steve Melnyk was a matter of fact voice that I really miss. Also, it was great when they had Peter Aliss doing regular tour events.  He seemed to bring some additional weight to events like Memphis and New Orleans.

Melnyk was very good, I had forgotten all about him.

[Joe Sponcia]

Tirico calling Louis Oosthuizen, Oost-high-zen...it would be like Azinger calling Charley Barkley, Bark-lay repeatedly.

[RJ_Daley]

Steve Melnyk always seemed a bit drab and dispassionate to me.  I'm not trying to exaggerate with this -  but I honestly can't tell the difference from Melnyk and Al Gore's voice, cadence, and accent.  

Speaking of voice quality and identity, did anyone else hear a difference in Dottie Pepper's voice.  I almost thought she was experiencing a throat infection.  She didn't sound the same to me at all. Also,  I think someone probably talked to her about toning down the off-the-cuff critical comments since she spoke her "bunch of choking dogs" comment at the Solheim.  

All and all, I think everyone involved in these broadcasts does their best.  They all bring their own accomplishments to allow them to relate what they know to the viewer - with mixed success. Each network and team of broadcasters from producers to on course commentators have constraints based on network policies, to commercial demands and time management.  That leads to different team cultures.  The audience is a lot wider in their tastes, focus, and golf knowledge than our little select GCA.com clique.

I wonder if the ESPN crew have a post event wrap-up party before they all get on the plane to come back to the States.  

[Sam Morrow]

Steve Melnyk always seemed a bit drab and dispassionate to me.  I'm not trying to exaggerate with this -  but I honestly can't tell the difference from Melnyk and Al Gore's voice, cadence, and accent.  

Speaking of voice quality and identity, did anyone else hear a difference in Dottie Pepper's voice.  I almost thought she was experiencing a throat infection.  She didn't sound the same to me at all. Also,  I think someone probably talked to her about toning down the off-the-cuff critical comments since she spoke her "bunch of choking dogs" comment at the Solheim.  

All and all, I think everyone involved in these broadcasts does their best.  They all bring their own accomplishments to allow them to relate what they know to the viewer - with mixed success. Each network and team of broadcasters from producers to on course commentators have constraints based on network policies, to commercial demands and time management.  That leads to different team cultures.  The audience is a lot wider in their tastes, focus, and golf knowledge than our little select GCA.com clique.

I wonder if the ESPN crew have a post event wrap-up party before they all get on the plane to come back to the States.  

I think Dottie Pepper has the same thing I've got, sounds like sand paper is in her throat. I didn't recognize her until they said her name. Of all the networks I think I'm most a fan of The Golf Channel crew.

[Tim_Cronin]

i had the bbc feed on the laptop and the tv coverage. it was night and day in the coverage. the bbc feed probably showed 3 times as much golf. didnt waste anytime showing replays. and showed shots as close to live as possible and a wide variety of golfers.

one example was when westwood was playing 16. BBC showed the tee shot, the bunker shot and the putt all live and then the tee shot on 17. the usa tv coverage showed the tee shot and didnt return to the other shots until after the the bbc shown the tee shot at 17. and this was the last guy on the course who had any chance of catching phil. instead they chose to interview phil and re show the 18th putt and him hugging his family. all great moments but not at the expense of watching the final putt that meant he won.

I can't comment on the announcers as i dont listen to the usa guys but in terms of the actual images espn/abc should be ashamed of what they put out. it is utter rubbish from start to finish.

i bang on about this every year and know it will never change but it makes me sick that people this what they offer. are most americans really happy with this type of coverage?

What you're looking for is what Frank Chirkinian used to produce and direct for CBS. Golf shot, golf shot, golf shot. Not a lot of context – and if you think Mickelson wasn't worth interviewing in the minutes after finishing, you're wrong. Mickelson's surge was the story. ESPN got to Westwood, and probably would have gotten to him earlier if, say, he'd holed the bunker shot, perhaps with Mickelson still in the interview studio to get his reaction. Chirkinian used to do that at The Masters. Sometimes it made great sense.

Did ESPN not do this this morning when so many golfers were within a shot? I'll have to watch again, but it seems they did.

BBC has one great plus, of course, in being commercial-free.

[Andrew Brown]

Joe Bausch  - I had the BBC and ESPN coverage, and I sure think ESPN used mostly BBC video feeds.  ESPN may have showed the clips at different times, but I think they were the same pictures.

Dan,

I watched the BBC feed online. Overall, a very good broadcast, with just a tad too much rooting for Westwood (Aussies snicker here).

You comment - I just watched the Sportscenter summary on Shack's blog. Even on just the 18th, the camera used for Phil's approach was different for ESPN, and they had an additional green side camera to show (on replay) his putt. So I think the two broadcasts might have been night and day as to the pictures used and order they were broadcast....

Final comment - I thought the embrace by PM and Bones said a lot about what they had just achieved together. A good golfing image...

[David_Tepper]

I do like the "shot tracker" feature. It was interesting to see the trajectories of various shots and how the players were choosing to work the ball. I found it a little difficult to follow the balls as they were bounding along some of the browned out fairways.   

[Joe Bausch]

I think the picture-in-picture was not used properly:  while a tee shot was bounding along the ground, that should have been put into a tiny frame in a corner of the screen, then three more short irons and/or putts could have been shown in sequence on the main part of the screen.

[Tim_Cronin]

If you ever get the chance to sit in the truck during a golf telecast, take the opportunity. There's a lot going on in there.