The PGA Championship just became No. 2 on my golf viewing agenda.
Set your DVR. Larry David is the guest on the season finale of Feherty (Golf Channel, Monday, 9 p.m. ET).
For the first time ever, David Feherty won’t be the funniest man on his show. Here’s a clip in which David says, “There’s no reason for me to be golfing at all…All I do is get unhappy.”
In case you missed it Tuesday, In Play with Jimmy Roberts aired a powerful piece by Tim Rosaforte about a group of golfers making a goodwill trip to Israel. Unfortunately, the golfers got a dose of reality when bombs started to fall on Tel Aviv.
Below is Rosaforte’s piece, plus video of bonus coverage from the Golf Channel. Definitely worth your time.
Players reactions.
Rosaforte’s view.
In 1993, I went to Israel for the first time. To decompress after the long flight, we went to a resort town outside Tel Aviv.
What was the first thing I saw in Israel? We drove by a golf course.
Holy Land, indeed.
Unfortunately, my wife quashed any notion of playing on the course, one of the two in Israel at the time. She didn’t come all the way to Israel to watch me hit wicked slices into the Mediterranean.
Turns out it was a different story for Hunter Mahan. The latest edition of In Play with Jimmy Roberts (Tuesday, 10:30 p.m. ET, Golf Channel) features a Tim Rosaforte report on a trip Mahan, Amy Alcott and other golfers made to Israel last fall. During the goodwill mission, the golfers found themselves close to the violence that plagues the region.
Molly Solomon making history at the Golf Channel is the subject of my latest column for the National Sports Journalism Center site at Indiana.
From the column:
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Molly Solomon never was into the notion of role models until she went on a trip to New York this spring.
Last summer, Solomon made history when she was named executive producer for the Golf Channel. The appointment made her the first woman to assume that role for a sports division.
Initially, Solomon downplayed the distinction. She insists she never saw herself as a female sports producer.
“I just wanted to be known as a producer,” she said.
Solomon’s attitude, though, changed a few months ago. During a trip to the Sports Emmy Awards in New York, Solomon visited her former staffers at NBC.
Solomon said she had “an epiphany.”
“I was talking to these young women at NBC Sports,” Solomon said. “They were saying how much I meant to them and how they missed me. It really meant a lot to me.
“Now, I get it. It is important to have role models. To be there and show them that there are no barriers based on gender.”
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Solomon on Dick Ebersol and the need to “over perform”:
Looking back on her career, Solomon credits former NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol for always pushing her to do more.
Recently, she thought of Ebersol while reading Sheryl Sandberg’s bestseller, “Lean In.”
“Sandberg said (to women), ‘Just raise your hand,’” Solomon said. “If only somebody gave me a copy of that book when I was 22. Girls don’t raise their hands. Dick forced me to raise my hand.”
It wasn’t always easy. She admits being a woman in a male-dominated field might have pushed her to greater heights.
“You do feel like you have to over-perform,” Solomon said. “You don’t want to stop. You have to work even harder. It propels you. You are determined not to fail.”
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Solomon on another epiphany:
In 2010, she made a presentation for NBC to the International Olympic Committee.
At the end of the meeting, a woman from the IOC approached and presented her with a scarf.
“I said, ‘What’s this for?’” Solomon said. “She said, ‘I’ve never heard a woman give a major presentation in this room before. I’m very happy about that.’
“Wow. Sometimes you really don’t know. You’re just doing your job. Then you realize how meaningful it is to someone else.”
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Also, Solomon’s new job comes with a unique challenge. She is working just down the aisle with her husband, Geoff Russell. The former editor of Golf World now is the Golf Channel’s senior vice-president and executive editor.
“I feel closer to him than ever, but it’s harder than you think,” Solomon said. “We never fight, but we have had some spirited discussions. Our biggest problem is turning it off when we get home. We’re so passionate about the Golf Channel. We have it on all the time. Finally, one night, our daughter said, ‘Can we stop talking about golf.'”
It is Tuesday of U.S. Open week, which means the Golf Channel is well into its 45,026 hours of live coverage this week.
And why not? If golf is all you do, you throw everything into covering the U.S. Open.
The Open should add more ratings power to what already has been a big year for the Golf Channel. The network has posted five straight months of record growth.
At this point, all Golf Channel has to do is put out a standard press release, changing only the date and the number of months of consecutive growth.
“Sounds good to me,” said Golf Channel president Mike McCarley.
Why is Golf Channel having as much success as Tiger Woods in 2013? Well, some of it has to do with Woods. He elevates everything in golf TV.
However, there’s more. Here is my Q/A with McCarley in which talks about programming, Brandel Chamblee, and his lunches with Arnold Palmer, one of the founders of the network.
How often do you get together with Arnold Palmer?
We’ll have lunch from time to time. If you ask a question, he’ll give you an answer. As a guy who is the founder of the channel, and pretty much the biggest name in golf, he’s got great advice. But he’s also very careful to only give advice when he is asked for it. He does not weigh in on things unless I ask him to.
You cherish the time you get with him. What you see is what you get. We’ll be at Bay Hill for lunch, and somebody will come over for his autograph. He always has time for everyone.
He’s told me the history of this place and some of the decisions they had to make. It’s just terrific to be with him.
What is driving the ratings?
The programming philosophy is getting back to a pure and more authentic form of the game. At its base level is show more live golf. Whenever you can, show live golf.
The ratings success is due to a lot of things.There are micro aspects. One thing that people haven’t picked up on is that we changed the commercial breaks for live golf. We cut them from 3 minutes on average to 2 minutes to 2:15, somewhere in there. (NBC golf producer) Tommy Roy and I had a long conversation. The average time between golf shots is about 2:15. So instead of going from a tee shot to a commercial to a taped shot of his approach shot to a live shot of him putting, you’re going from a tee shot to a live approach shot and then follow him into the green from there. The flow and pacing is more of what you would see at a live event if you were there.
Those small little format changes are helpful.
How about the programs that the Golf Channel has developed beyond live golf: Morning Drive, Feherty, Big Break, The Haney Project? What has been that impact?
In this business, there’s a scorecard every day. Your viewers are telling you what they want. You can adjust to what they’re responding to. Feherty was a 30-minute show; now it is a hour. Haney was 30-minutes, now a hour. We’ve gone seven days a week with Morning Drive, and it has evolved into all aspects of the game, not just pro golf. That’s been important.
We had great feedback on our re-airing of the 1971 U.S. Open playoff at Merion. Jason Dufner was one-man promotional machine for us. He was tweeting about it and telling his followers.
The kind of feedback we’re getting is reassuring that we’re on the right path.
What about Brandel Chamblee’s rising popularity as a must-listen studio analyst?
The role of a studio analyst is to have well-informed and strong opinions. Brandel studies and prepares as much as anyone in the business. He’s like a coach preparing for a game. When it comes time, he’s able to deliver a well-informed opinion. He can argue either side of an issue. He probably should have been a trial attorney. He also can communicate it in an interesting way. It probably has a little bit to do with the Texas twang. He has the homespun feel. But beneath the twang is a well-researched opinion.
We have developed a niche for him where you want to hear his take. Whether you will agree with it or not, it’s always well informed.
What about the Tiger Woods impact on your ratings? He’s having a big year.
Without question, Tiger always helps drive ratings. Tiger does move the needle. It’s the combination of Tiger and some of the young stars coming up. It’s exciting to see the emergence of young stars as personalities.
Thanks to Comcast’s ownership, how has the branding of the Golf Channel on NBC impacted your network?
Here’s an example. When we signed Michael Phelps (for the Haney Project), we did the deal on a Saturday morning and he was swimming that night (in the Olympics). That would not happen without NBC’s Olympic connection.
The brand consistency has definitely helped. Our viewers tell us that consistency is important – one of the first pieces we put into place once the companies came together was a common look for golf on Golf Channel and NBC. The audience sees the same logo, graphics, commentators with NBC Sports’ unique approach to storytelling and commitment to quality production shared on both networks. We have seen a significant lift when switching audiences from Golf Channel to NBC and NBC to Golf Channel compared to similar circumstances with other networks in golf.
The day our email and switchboards light up are the days that golf is being played and viewers can’t find the tournament on Golf Channel; it seems to be the first place they look. We know the audience feels very comfortable moving between the two networks.
David Feherty rarely breaks from wise-cracking character, but when it comes to supporting U.S. troops, he is all business. The native of Northern Ireland, now an American citizen has gone above and beyond the call of duty with his tireless work with this country’s wounded warriors.
The latest edition of Feherty (Golf Channel, Monday, 10 p.m. ET) features Tom Lehman.
This is a treat. Even though Jack Nicklaus was the top player of his era, or any era, he had plenty of great Hall of Famers challenging him, including Lee Trevino.
Here’s the rundown from the Golf Channel:
The 1971 U.S. Open at famed Merion Golf Club featured one of the more dramatic battles in U.S. Open history when Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus went toe-to-toe in an intense 18-hole Monday playoff to crown that year’s national champion. For the first time since the tournament’s original airing in 1971, viewers will have the opportunity watch the drama and excitement unfold on television on GOLF’S GREATEST ROUNDS, Tuesday, May 28 at 8 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.
Golf Channel on NBC’s Dan Hicks will take viewers through the dramatic showdown between Trevino and Nicklaus at Merion Golf Club, featuring action from Sunday’s final round and Monday’s 18-hole playoff. Missing a six-footer on the 72nd hole to win in regulation, Trevino fell into a tie with Nicklaus and forced a Monday playoff. The tension on the first tee was thick but soon lifted as the ever-playful Trevino pulled a rubber snake from his golf bag, held it up for the gathered crowd to see and tossed it at Nicklaus, who broke out laughing.
GOLF’S GREATEST ROUNDS will return to Golf Channel after the U.S. Open on Tuesday, June 18 at 8 p.m. ET with Open Championship specials, beginning with Seve Ballesteros’ second Open Championship victory in 1984.
Tonight at 10 p.m. ET. A most interesting conversation between two unique men.
Here are a couple of clips.
Golf Channel’s version of Real Sports, In Play with Jimmy Roberts, got off to a terrific start with its debut show in March. Tonight is the next installment.
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Here’s the rundown from the Golf Channel.
In Play with Jimmy Roberts returns Tuesday, April 23 at 10:30 p.m. ET on Golf Channel with a new slate of real-life stories that encompass the game of golf in this critically-acclaimed newsmagazine series.
Tuesday’s new episode features Al Geiberger – the first player in history to shoot a record-low score of 59 in a PGA TOUR sanctioned event – watching his achievement for the first time; former Atlanta Constitution editorial page editor Reg Murphy recalling how golf helped him survive a 1974 kidnapping; and Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner taking viewers on a fun-filled tour to some of the most unusual golf tournaments imaginable.
Host and managing editor Jimmy Roberts, a 13-time Emmy Award-winner, has drawn critical praise for telling some of sports’ greatest stories during his distinguished career at NBC Sports, ESPN and ABC News and ABC Sports, which includes covering 14 Olympics. Described as “an enterprising new original series” by Sports Illustrated and a “gorgeously shot magazine show” by CableFAX Daily, In Play with Jimmy Roberts is a monthly series that chronicles stories ranging from celebrities to everyday people who are all unified by golf.
Scheduled features on the Tuesday, April 23 episode:
– Al Geiberger’s Historic 59 Revealed – Al Geiberger was the first player to record a 59 in a PGA TOUR sanctioned event during the second round of the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic in 1977. The tournament did not air on any broadcast networks. However, a local news crew from WMC-TV in Memphis captured this historic achievement, but Geiberger never saw that evening’s news. Unfortunately, a few weeks later, a fire destroyed the station, which housed the only known video footage. In Play chronicles how the video resurfaced and surprises Geiberger and his family by showing them the historic 59 for the first time.
– Kidnapped: But Golf Helped Me Survive – While serving as an editor for the Atlanta Constitution, Reg Murphy was the victim of a kidnapping in 1974. He credits golf with helping him survive while being locked in the trunk of a car during the 49-hour ordeal. He visualized a recent round, shot by shot, at Augusta National, home of the Masters. With contributions from NBC News’ Tom Brokaw and longtime Atlanta Journal-Constitution editor Jim Minter, Murphy shares his harrowing tale with Jimmy Roberts.
– Unusual Golf Tournaments – Rich Lerner takes viewers on a journey to some of the most unusual golf tournaments and profiles the characters that make these “off-the-track” events so popular. The Mustache Open, the Cow Pasture Open in Montana, the National Hickory Championship in West Virginia, the Snow Golf Tournament at Alpine Meadows, and the annual Bobby Jones Open, where all participants are aptly named, “Bobby Jones,” are featured.
Bob Knight isn’t one to volunteer for interviews. However, he requested a session with David Feherty. The former coach is featured on tonight’s edition of Feherty (The Golf Channel, 10 p.m. ET).
In the clip below, Knight, an avid golfer, talks about playing a round with his fellow Ohio State Buckeye, Jack Nicklaus.
From the Golf Channel:
“These days the polarizing bear of a coach is a lot more cuddly than he was in his growling, grizzly days on the bench … he’s actually now just one big, lovable teddy bear … usually. But he still scared the living crap out of me.” – Feherty introducing the show
As the college basketball world prepares for the Final Four, legendary coach – and often the game’s most notorious personality – Bobby Knight joins David Feherty for a candid conversation about his life, career and love of golf on the next episode of Feherty,Monday at 10 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.
Ohio native Robert Montgomery Knight coached college basketball for 45 years and tallied 902 NCAA Division I wins, the most in history at the time of his retirement in 2008. Those victories now stand third only behind his former player and current Duke head coach, Mike Kryzyewski, and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse. While one of the game’s most innovative coaches and greatest teachers – having graduated most of his student athletes – Knight also was one of its most controversial and abrasive, often known for his combative nature with referees and the media.
Short on basketball acumen, Feherty got up to speed quickly, using his trademark uncanny interview style to engage Knight and bring out answers in the coach both honest and revealing.
“There’s actually a depth and genuine realness to the man though that I suspect many people, even those that know him best don’t often see,” Feherty said during the show’s introduction.
He also got a quick lesson from Knight on the proper technique on how to throw a chair, spoofing Knight’s infamous incident during a 1985 game against Purdue when Knight, frustrated by an official’s call, flung a plastic chair across the court.
Their ensuing conversation covered Knight’s coaching philosophy – which often was compared to a military leader – his days as a player at The Ohio State University with the likes of future NBA superstars John Havlicek and Jerry Lucas, and his regret for never having coached at his alma mater; his fondness for fellow Buckeye Jack Nicklaus; his coaching records; his feelings about the NCAA; and the way he wishes to be remembered.
On coaching style/philosophy:
“I felt my job was to get the most out of you. No matter how difficult it was for me to bring that out of you, that was my job as a teacher.”
“I have a responsibility here to see that these 12 or 14 kids that I’ve got playing basketball go through the experience with a much better opportunity to life than they would had they not had this experience.”
“The dribble has overcome the game, like in golf in a way, the drive has overcome the game.”
On Jack Nicklaus:
“When Jack was playing, I always rooted for him. There was something about him that I felt that very, very few great athletes had, and that was a real humble approach to the sport and a great individual humility in what he accomplished.”
“I think that competitive drive in those two sports really helped him as a golfer. I always felt that he had an advantage over a guy that had never played any sport except golf. Any time I watched him I thought, you know, this isn’t a golfer playing golf, this is an athlete playing golf.”
On regret about never coaching at Ohio State:
“The two days we spent in Columbus, the way they reacted to me during the introduction going into the Hall of Fame at the halftime of the football game, I said, ‘You know, I am really sad that I never went there to coach.’ And I had opportunities to do so over the years. But at this point in my life, I wish that I would have gone there to coach when I had the opportunity to.”
On the NCAA:
“I’m probably number-one on the NCAA hit list.”
“The NCAA has allowed college basketball to become a minor league for the NBA.”
On his legacy:
“He was honest in what he did and he tried to make kids better. And if I could have people that felt that way, then I think I would die happy.”
As a surprise, Feherty uncovered some old video excerpts from a local golf show Knight hosted with longtime Indiana University golf coach Sam Carmichael, which features expletive outtakes of a frustrated Knight trying to hit out of a bunker. The antics live on as popular viral video for Internet surfers. “My hope always was that my mother never saw me in that sand trap,” Knight said.
Knight also complimented Feherty on his Season Two interview with basketball legend Bill Russell sharing his thoughts on Russell, “As long as I’ve been in coaching, Bill Russell was not the best basketball player, but Bill Russell was the most valuable player ever to play a sport. I don’t care what the sport is, Russell’s the most valuable,” said Knight. He expounded on Russell’s NCAA championships during his junior and senior years, his Olympic gold medal and 11 NBA championships with the Celtics. “That’s 15 years and 14 major championships and there’s nobody in the history of sport – King Kong wasn’t that good – nobody in the history of sport that has won like Bill Russell has,” he said.