Hey Squonk......I'll try to keep it short too and address each point:
1. Correct, I don't think TGC is totally anti-Tiger but it has changed in it's scrutiny in terms of length of time they have spent on one subject even though I would agree with you on Tiger's status. But I don't believe after over 2 years this should be an ongoing thing, like Micelli today on Haney's book after the moderators giving the jounalists the rules about not talking about the book a few still did, they were polite, Tiger answered and then along came Micelli - Tiger had already told 3 reporters it had already been discussed at the HSBC and he wouldn't be talking about it. During the time this broke (I was recovering from back surgery) I watched them a lot to include the European tour and found that there was always some rather unkind words by some of their commentators and players. I will say that I believe even some of the commentators themselves were getting a little ticked at Chamblee - it seems apparent to me that Chamblee really has a problem with Tiger and an affinity for Phil. For me, having watched them for years now I have never seen them get stuck on an issue longer than a 3 day news cycle. And, personally over the course of their years until 2009 I did feel they were reputable but will have to disagree with you now regarding their anti-Tiger coverage. Correct me if I'm wrong but we do agree that many of the married pros are not saints and although Tiger did in fact cause this, his personal life is none of my business and honestly the knee jerk reaction that this caused and TGC carried just relentlessly went after any story related to Tiger when Elin was still thinking about reconciliation, not wearing rose-colored glasses here either that it would have worked but had it not been pasted everywhere on their site, there might have been some hope. If I were Elin and saw all this 24/7, much of it speculation or rumor, honestly I wouldn't have known what to do and certainly the kids will see all of this someday, let their parents explain it to them instead of constant infusion of speculation on the subject. And, there certainly is speculation going on. I would expect this stuff coming from TMZ or elsewhere but not TGC. And, frankly my own brother (who is not so innocent himself) jumped on every word coming from TGC that was piling on Tiger regarding the infidelities. Some benign comments made from them would start a flurry of action perpetuating this evil vs. good for example: when TGC first came on air we never saw the families come onto the green for their Daddy who just won. Although there was some of that it became very pronounced during 2009. Before that what did we see......Tiger hugging his father so IMO, it has become a staple now just to seperate Tiger from the good boys and all their little children. Deep breath, it's not going to be as short as I thought - sorry!
2. Personal Problems - when I said "personal problems" I was referring to Lucas Glover and TGC's comment about how great it was to see him back after some personal problems, which happened to be his wife walking in on him with another woman. That along with TGC constantly creating Tiger's image to be a family man - he certainly didn't do it, TGC did and in fact Elin and the kids often didn't show up to his tournaments. It was just recently mentioned that Paul Casey is going through a divorce but nothing more than that. And this is my point, what would make them stop at Tiger - doesn't matter now that you have gone this far that you don't treat the same behavior the same way. Heck Glover probably didn't play much in fear of what TGC might do with that info, which brings up another issue with me......this has always been a white mans' sport (I'm a caucasion woman) and is there an underlying ethnicity problem here. When Hootie came out and gave his announcement regarding Tiger and requesting an apology, ridiculed his behavior, it was done before Tiger gave his apology speech. Guilty until proven innocent, I think you and I both know if it had been Phil, Hootie would have said we have no comment until we have all the facts or it is not part of our rules what someone does in his private life. Bottom line for me, they escalated it prematurely, it is any pros private life (unless it is criminal like Every) and I don't think we would find anywhere in the rules that the PGA has control of your private life.
3. I can understand to a point the interest in the story but it certainly would seem to me that, regardless of your status, over coverage is just compounding the problem and by TGC it did become more about what Tiger was doing on and off the course. Imagine getting vulgar e-mails sent to you for stating your support for Tiger. Well, several of us did get some quite x-rated, belligerent email sent to us. I have since removed mine and that is unfortunate because I have made many friends from all over the world, some of whom call on a regular basis.
4. And sadly, the outright ridicule from some of the commentators about Tommy Gainey and the outright, uncontrollable laughter on air regarding him. In all appearance to me that was nothing more than exploiting what these stuffed shirts would view as trailer trash.
5. Finally Squonk, yes I have always agreed Tiger brought it on himself but enough is enough and it is long overdue that they just cover golf. It did catch everyone by surprise, but not enough to warrant the time spent on it. No matter who is at fault an unbiased TV channel whose sole purpose is to cover and analyze a golf really has no place in speculating what occurred in someone's private life. Yes, it has improved as Tiger gets closer and closer but stunts like Haney coming out with his book before the Master, TGC over coverage and the haters have reached the point of saturation and I would view that as just another means of getting this phenom to hang it up and Jack's record would stay intact. An exceptional golfer averages about 4-5 wins a year with 1 or 2 of those being majors. Tiger is the best hope for Jack's redord to be broken and maybe that is the point, the masses don't want it to be. Read the entire thread again and I think you will be surprised that at least one of the persons that you mentioned as being a GC hater really isn't. We just want them to cover golf. And here at Tiger's fan club.....we have been raked over the coals going on 2+ years now. This truly is a community that are die hard Tiger Fans and are tired of the harrassment to include what comes out of the mouth of some GC commentators along with one person who keeps changing his username, changes tactics ultimately ending up with the same phraseology that is obvious and recognizable. You said you play golf, I do as well and before the back surgery was about an 8 handicap but have been told i am not intelligent, know nothing about golf, etc. If the Golf Channel had handled this as they did Lucas Glover's issues I believe just watching Tiger struggle t
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