US Masters 2008 Blog - View from the sofa
Friday 11th of April 2008 05:21:00 PM
By Neil Tappin
Reading the Golf Monthly forum before leaving the Augusta press centre last night, I sensed a certain disquiet (I'm being diplomatic here) regarding the BBC's coverage of the 2008 Masters. The last time I checked, the post entitled 'dodgy Masters coverage' had 26 angry responses attacking everything from the fractious coverage to Gary Linker's role as anchorman.
Knowing that all was not well at home I took the opportunity to see for myself exactly what CBS (the lead US broadcaster) had to offer. So after a day on the course and in the media centre I went home, ordered a pizza (seriously, you can't find ANYTHING healthy to eat out here) and settled down to watch the day one highlights.
I discovered that there's more cheese in the US Masters coverage than on my Hawiian pizza – and that's saying something. Half way through the coverage, CBS took a time-out to offer a montage that illustrates the beauty of the course. As the pictured melted between views of the azalea's, Rae's Creek and the tall pines the description used by the commentator was as follows, “Augusta National, a place where nature's quest for renewal meets golf's drive for immortality.” What? Answers on a post card please…
He continued to say that many poets have attempted to depict Augusta's beauty but nothing has quite captured the sights and sounds. This begs the question – why the hell are CBS trying?
The American armchair viewer is also forced to endure Nick Faldo's trans-Atlantic tone, Mike Tirico's (I think he might work for ESPN) slippery interview style and Jim Nantz's toothy delivery.
So the verdict from where I'm sitting is this - the BBC might not be perfect, you're probably yearning for Steve Ryder and you're sick of staring endlessly at the leaderboard but it could be worse. You could be getting the host broadcaster's sound as well as their sights. Trst me, you don't want that!
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