Pete McDaniel
Contributing Editor
African American Golfer’s Digest
Blog: April 2014
“Appreciating Tiger Time”
That thunderous noise you heard was the golf world making a radical shift from Tiger Time to Time Minus Tiger in the wake of Woods’ announced absence from the PGA Tour due to recent back surgery. Executives at all of TV’s acronyms (NBC, CBS, ESPN, BBC and TNT), plus NBC’s offspring, Golf Channel, are in scramble mode in an attempt to answer a singular question: How do we ease the pain in our backsides (and wallets) caused by Woods’ bad back?
One of the golf industry’s well-masked fears has always been life without its most transcendent player ever. Sure, various media types blast Tiger for misbehaving on and off the course. Some question Tiger’s veracity and temerity by reporting that a few of his close buds call him a “drama queen’’ insinuating that he’s some kind of hypochondriac who just might fake injury. But, just like this blog, that critical analysis usually comes with a disclaimer from the folks writing checks. Sacrificial lambs are easy to replace but the powers that be aren’t about to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.
Next week at the Masters I predict those TV execs will see just how fragile that egg is—too fragile to entrust in the care of a Tiger-less field. Tiger’s back, however, has made that a moot point. Those hoping to be sized for this year’s green jacket will show up, tee it up and get it on. Fans will watch in the galleries and on TV.
Attendance will not suffer because of Tiger’s absence. The Masters is, after all, a happening. Most patrons won’t even miss him. Those prone to nursing a cold one or a hot one, for that matter, while glued to the flat screen provide the question mark.
I don’t know if Masters TV ratings are going to plummet faster than a side piece’s neckline on date night, but there are a few irrefutable facts about those ratings during the Tiger Era.
Number one, the mythological champion that is Tiger Woods was created in the 1997 Masters when the 21 year-old trampled a helpless field in winning his first of four green jackets. All of a sudden folk from eight to 80 of all races and many cultures were interested in what all the fuss was about. So, they tuned in expecting the miraculous and he delivered often enough to keep them thirsting for more.
The ratings for every tournament Tiger committed to went off the charts.
Number two, increased exposure for Tiger meant lesser-knowns were recipients of the spillover. Mike Weir and Zack Johnson should still be kissing his ring.
Number three, the tour itself moved into the limelight, becoming much more than just a bunch of button-downed non-athletes with courtesy cars and platinum membership cards to a variety of hotels, motels and Holiday Inns. They were considered cool dudes playing a cool game with the coolest cat as their leader.
Finally, the TV money made millionaires out of Average Joes who often attained that status without benefit of a first-place finish.
That’s just a short laundry list of benefits during Tiger Time.
So, while the golf world is putting on its best face for the first major championship of the year, those of us who have Tiger’s welfare at heart are glad he put his pride and stubbornness aside for once, had the surgery and shut it down. So what if the TV ratings take a hit. That might be a good thing. Perhaps the golf world needs a gentle reminder of how much Tiger has meant to the overall health and prosperity of the game.
Maybe now it can be a little more considerate of the goose’s health and appreciative of how good Tiger Time has been.
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Pete McDaniel is a veteran golf writer and best-selling author. His blogs and books are available at petemcdaniel.com
Comments on this topic may be emailed directly to Pete at: gdmcd@aol.com
