On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 9:40 AM, Joe Hass <hassgoc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > (I apologize for briefly turning this into a sports board to the rest of > the panel) > > The problem is that the Rule 33 interpretation is designed for situations > where a golfer could not have reasonably known that the rule had been > violated. Woods deliberately dropped that ball in that location. And once > Woods opened his cake hole after the round, it changes from a "I didn't > know how fast I was going, officer" to "I was going 50, but I thought the > speed limit was 55, not 35." > > Here is my guess as to what happened: the Rules Committee got the call and > did nothing about it. They did not notify Woods about what was happening > (which should have happened because, if they really think there's something > there, the golfer should be allowed the opportunity to withhold signing a > scorecard). Once Woods admitted it, the Rules Committee actually went back > and reviewed the tape and discovered they had cocked up and he did violate > the rule. But now they're stuck, because if they DQ him at this point, they > have to admit they didn't do a good job of reviewing the evidence > originally (because the video evidence is *really* obvious). So they split > the baby and gave him the penalty but not the DQ and hid behind the Rule 33 > interpretation. > > The catch is that golf, at its core, is about the honesty of the > contestants. For Woods to admit that he broke the rule even indirectly > flies in the face of the sport (you can call it ridiculous or silly, but it > is what it is). There's a reason Faldo (and a lot of other golfers) went > nuts about this. His comments this morning on Golf Channel cut to that > core: that you have to be honest, even when you're the only one who know > about it. I don't believe for a second Woods didn't know his drop was that > bad, especially when the damn divot *was still right there.* Neither, I'm > willing to wager grandma's china, does any golfer on that tour. And I'm not > surprised he's not going to withdraw, because that would imply he gives a > shit about anything that's not himself, including the sport he rides the > gravy train on. > > He's gonna regret it now. > I don't think the apology is necessary - at its core this thread is about the impact of televising an event on the outcome of a sport. This does not happen if the 2nd round of the Masters is not televised on ESPN. Undoubtedly something like this happened often in the Masters before the modern (i.e. Tiger Woods) era of golf, and nobody ever lost any sleep over it. I disagree with you on a couple of specific points. 1. I think we know that the Masters officials did investigate this - while Tiger was playing the 18th hole. They looked at the video tape. You say it is obvious - but I was watching it "live" (2 hour DVR time-shift) and I did not notice it, nor did anyone on the ESPN telecast. Of the millions watching I don't know how many noticed it, but only one person actually called it in. Though the point here is not if he knew he had moved the ball back, but if he knew that it was illegal for him to move the ball back that much. 2. The new rule specifically states that if in the judgement of the tournament the player did not know, and should not reasonably have known, he had broken the rule before signing the card, he should not be DQ'd. Tiger clearly did not know - if he had known, certainly he would not have mentioned it in his ESPN interview. It is hard to argue that he reasonably should have known, when 99.9% of the people watching the incident did not know it, and nobody working the telecast noted it even after Tiger said he had moved back his ball to get an advantage, and the tournament officials who reviewed it before he signed his card did not know it. By the way, I think the key to all of this is not how far back the ball was from its original divot, but the player's intent to get an advantage by moving the ball back - an intent which we only know because Tiger freely admitted it. Your example confuses two different things. Ignorance of the law is no excuse in golf, and that is why, whether he knew that it was illegal to move the ball back or not, he still gets the penalty. But ignorance is, specifically, an excuse when it comes to getting DQ'd for signing an incorrect scorecard. Tiger did move his ball back to gain an advantage, and the penalty for that is 2 shots, which has been assessed, and which he has accepted without complaint. But he did not knowingly sign an incorrect scorecard. Up until 2 years ago, ignorance was no excuse for that either, but the PGA (correctly) decided, after an incident that had nothing to do with Tiger Woods, that it was unfair to disqualify a player who in good faith signed when he believed to be an accurate scorecard, and changed the rule. What I think is bullshit about golf is what you repeat near the end, that gold is at its core about honesty (and somehow other sports are not about honesty). This has always struck me as an absurd conceit in golf. Golfers do exactly what they think they can get away with; professional golfers can get away with less because so much is televised. I do agree with you that Tiger is not withdrawing (at least as of this writing, he still has a couple of hours to change his mind) because he is one of the few golfers who does not give a shit about what other golfers think (of his many character flaws, I don't count that among them). If I were advising him I would tell him to withdraw, and issue a statement to the effect: "While I did not knowingly sign an incorrect scorecard, and so under the rules show not have been disqualified, I am trying to tie the record for most Major wins, and in that quest I hold myself to a higher standard than the literal rules of the game. If Jack Nicholas had done what I did yesterday, he would have not been able to continue, so in an attempt to bend over backwards to honor his legacy, I have decided on my own not to continue in this year's Masters". -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. 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