I had a really, really long post written, but I now have to go to an event, so I'm going to close with noting four things:
a. I only watched the first eight minutes of the broadcast (as part of writing this long post), but it's worth noting that everyone talked about Rule 33-7 as the committee's excuse, what *no one* on the broadcast mentioned was Decision 33-7/4.5 ( http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Golf/Decision-33/#33-7/4.5), which is also part of the rules of golf. That decision contains the following: "A Committee would not be justified under Rule 33-7 in waiving or modifying the disqualification penalty prescribed in Rule 6-6d if the competitor's failure to include the penalty stroke(s) was a result of *either ignorance of the Rules or of facts that the competitor could have reasonably discovered* prior to signing and returning his score card." (emphasis mine) You cannot take Rule 33-7 under consideration without looking at Decision 33-7/4.5. The fact that Tiger Woods admitted what he did (deliberately not play the ball at the spot of the initial shot) to the rules committee as Fred Ridley told Jim Nantz destroys any credibility anyone with this farce has. b. Sure enough, Faldo proceeded to win (and there will be no need for any other entries) the "Greatest Chicken-Shit Broadcaster Of 2013" award by completely flip his opinion during the broadcast (http://deadspin.com/in-a-bizarre-flip-flop-nick-faldo-changes-his-mind-on-472809222) and, yet again, not reading Decision 33-7/4.5. c. I know CBS is in the tank for Augusta National, but just when I thought they couldn't lose any more credibility after the Super Bowl blackout fiasco, they managed to look even worse after just the first eight minutes of the telecast today. I don't know how anyone can trust anything put out by that organization. d. I used to love The Masters. Literally, it is the only golf tournament I watch each year. March Madness for me is just a reminder that the tournament is a month away. After this, it's dead to me. On Saturday, April 13, 2013 12:06:26 PM UTC-5, PGage wrote: > 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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