Tag Archives: Ryder Cup

Post-Ryder Cup press conference an embarrassment for golf; winners too far into ‘celebration’

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For a sport that guards its image with such zeal, you have to wonder why golf allows the Ryder Cup press conference for the winners to resemble a college frat party.

Sunday, the comeback Europeans seemed to be intoxicated with more than victory when they finally met the media at Medinah Country Club. In fact, they made no effort to hide it, with Sergio Garcia passing along beers to his mates. At one point, he even spit out some brew while trying to take a gulp. Lovely.

Meanwhile, Lee Westwood was making siren noises and interrupting his fellow players. It appeared he was well into his enjoyment of the victory.

Now, I’m not advocating Prohibition here, but you tend to view things differently when you have two high school age boys. You become more sensitive to scenes of big-name athletes drinking on television.

The problem is the timing of the press conference. The players didn’t come in until after 8 p.m. Central, more than three hours after Martin Kaymer made the clinching putt.

They had their wild celebration in front of the fans, spraying and drinking Moet. Garcia was swilling it as if the champagne were Gatorade on a 95-degree day.

You only could assume the party continued as the players dressed for the closing ceremonies. Then the Europeans waited even longer while the glum Americans appeared first in the media room. More time to “celebrate.”

Finally, it was Europe’s turn for a session that aired live on the Golf Channel.

Name me another sports where the winners do a formal session with the press three hours after the end of game? If they did, you would get the same type of sloppy scene from the World Series and Super Bowl champions. And I shudder to think what it would be like for the Stanley Cup champions.

The closing ceremony for the Ryder Cup does complicate matters, as far as doing a press conference right away. I don’t know what the solution is. That’s for others to figure out.

However, I do know that golf goes to such great effort to present their players in the best light possible. That didn’t occur for the victorious Europeans Sunday, and it was embarrassing for the game.

Their press conference belonged in a pub, not the media center.

******

The press conference for the Ryder Cup loser is easily the most awkward in sports. All 12 players, plus the captain, appear together, seated across a large table.

The set up creates a situation in the players who sucked have to answers about why they sucked in front of their teammates. It couldn’t have been easy for proud veterans like Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker to explain their shortcomings during this Ryder Cup with the rest of Team USA looking on.

Officials should examine this format too.

 

 

 

My First Job: Roger Maltbie tells off producer during first Ryder Cup; Thought his NBC career was over

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Roger Maltbie will be working his 11th Ryder Cup for NBC.

However, back in 1991, Maltbie feared his broadcast career was over after his first Ryder Cup.

In today’s My First Job, an on-going series on people’s first forays in the business, Maltbie discusses why he decided to leave the PGA Tour even though he still was exempt to play for several more years.

And Maltbie talks about how he told off the producer in the aftermath of Mark Calcavvechia’s meltdown at Kiawah in 1991. When the confrontation happened, he didn’t expect to be on hand for a second Ryder Cup.

*****

Roger Maltbie: Announcing came out of the blue. In 1987, NBC tried out a bunch of us at Kapalua. Koch was there. Johnny Miller. Dick Stockton. Irwin. They offered me a job, but I said, ‘No thank you. For what you’re offering me, it doesn’t make sense.’

They asked me again in ’89. They had a big schedule of events. I wasn’t interested. I wanted to play more golf.

By 1991, I had two shoulder surgeries. I had won the World Series of Golf in 1985. That gave me a 10-year exemption through ’95. I could still play, but I wasn’t the same.

They asked if I wanted to do the Bob Hope. I said, ‘OK, but only if you give me the Ryder Cup (later that year in Kiawah).’ The Ryder Cup was getting big, and I wanted to be there.

I remember on the last day Mark Calcavecchia lost the last five holes of his match. (Producer Terry O’Neill) said, ‘Leave your match and go find Calc to get an interview.’ Calc was in a TV trailer. Peter Kostis was trying to console him.

Mark was in no condition to talk. He thought he just cost the U.S. the Ryder Cup. He was physically ill. His eyes were swollen shut from crying. I walked in, took one look. Peter shook his head. I said, ‘I get it.’

I walked back to the compound, and O’Neil was in the doorway. I said, ‘I found Calc, but he can’t speak.’

He said, ‘I told you to stay with him. Stay with him and he’ll talk.’

I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, pal. Why don’t you stay with him and maybe he’ll talk to you. I’m not doing it.’

I wasn’t going to be the reporter standing outside the house that’s burning down trying to interview the people who own it.

I figured, ‘Well, so much for the TV thing.’ I thought, there’s no way they’re going to hire me now.

Thankfully, they did.

 

How the Ryder Cup went from nothing to coveted TV property for NBC

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It’s Ryder Cup week, one of the biggest weeks in golf. The event will get wall-to-wall coverage on NBC and the Golf Channel.

It wasn’t always that way. During the 1980s, the Ryder Cup barely registered with the networks.

It might have stayed that way if NBC hadn’t lost its Saturday afternoon baseball package. But it did, and the network found itself looking for sports programming in September.

NBC took a flier on the 1991 Ryder Cup at Kiawah. However, it generated little interest from sponsors, and the network had low expectations.

Well, it turned out to be the greatest Ryder Cup ever, captivating the entire country. Suddenly, the event became a hot TV property.

NBC Sport Jon Miller, president of sports programming for the NBC Sports Group, tells how the Ryder Cup became the Ryder Cup.

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Jon Miller: The Ryder Cup had been on USA Cable with a taped version on ABC. It never was a big event. It took place in the fall. ABC had college football. We had baseball. There was no home for it.

NBC baseball made a decision not to extend baseball deal in 1989. We needed to fill 26 weeks of programming.

Since we were out of baseball, we made a deal with Joe Steranka (of the PGA of America) for the Ryder Cup. We had two sponsors: Cadillac and IBM. We wanted to create a Masters feel.

The plan was to show three hours a day on Saturday and Sunday, and three hours on USA Network on Friday. It was big deal at the time.

In Jan., 1991, Operation Desert Storm happened. The economy suffered greatly. There were management changes at IBM and GM, and both companies walked away from the deal. In the spring of ’91, we had no advertisers and were facing big production costs.

Suburu was exclusive car advertiser for $500,000. We went to Wally Uihlein (the president of Titleist). He said nobody is going to watch a golf tournament in September. He offered us 25 cents on the dollar.

We ended up with major, major leakage. There was no way we came close to breaking even on it.

We get to Kiawah. The first day’s matches were exciting. Seve and Azinger get into it.

Then there was fog on Saturday morning. Nobody could play until 9:30. When we come on the air at 3, the afternoon matches just started. By the time we got to 6, all four matches are on the course. Great matches.

We ran all of our commercials. We knew we had an hour to 90 minutes left. I called (NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol), and we decided we’d stay on the air. Since we ran all of our commercials, we ran last 90 minutes commercial-free. The matches were terrific. It was amazing television.

On Sunday, it came down to the last putt (Bernhard Langer missed to give the U.S. the victory). The next thing you know, Kiawah became “The War by the Shore.” The overnight numbers were OK, but it didn’t come anywhere close to showing the kind of passion and heat that the event generated (among viewers who watched). People talked about it, and the Ryder Cup went to another level.

I don’t think American TV viewers had seen golfers get this nervous under this kind of pressure. It was so compelling.

For the 1993 Ryder Cup in England, we changed our strategy. We increase the number of hours. We sold five advertisers and we’re were off and running.

It’s been a great marriage ever since.

******

For more, Classic Sports Network has a complete breakdown of TV and the Ryder Cup.

 

Feherty, former European Ryder Cup player, will be rooting for U.S.

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David Feherty grew up in Northern Ireland and was a member of Europe’s Ryder Cup team in 1991.

So naturally, Feherty said he will be rooting for the U.S. during the Ryder Cup at Medinah.

Actually, it makes sense. Feherty, a resident of Dallas, loves the United States so much, he became an American citizen. When he’s not working, which nearly is all the time, he spends countless hours with wounded veterans.

Said Feherty of his choice and how it would go with his good friend, Sam Torrance, Europe’s captain in 2002:

Well, to be honest, I’ve been leaning in that direction for quite a while now.  You know, since my first visit toIraqback in 2006, I’ve felt like ‑‑ well, that was the instant that I knew I had to be an American.  I’d wanted to be one for a while, but my wife had always wanted to be married to an Irishman, and I wasn’t going to win that argument.

But she knew things had changed for me when I came back from down range there with our armed forces.

Sam was fine.  He knows.  He’s the greatest friend I’ve ever had, and he knows that I’m an American.  Yeah, he gave me a hard time afterwards, and he’ll give me a hard time again most of the week, but that’s what you expect from your friends.  If he were kind to me about it or say, you know, hey, I understand, I’d be seriously worried.  There’s a plot going on somewhere.

 

Saturday flashback: Sergio’s tree shot at Medinah

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Sergio Garcia returns to Medinah Country Club next week for the Ryder Cup.

It is fitting that he qualified for the European team because Medinah was the scene of his most famous shot. During the 1999 PGA Championship, the 19-year old found his ball up against a tree on the 16th hole.

He closed his eyes and….

By the way, Garcia won’t find the tree for his return trip to Medinah. It died a few years ago. However, the memories remain.