Was Peggy Lee playing during CBS's coverage of the PGA Championship this weekend? TV viewers could be excused for asking "Is that all there is?" while watching the scramble for the final major title of the year. Unknowns Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley took it to extra holes at the Atlanta Athletic Club course; the biggest "name" player in the last groups was Steve Stricker, the Mitt Romney of the PGA Tour.
Is this how the 2011 PGA Tour narrative ends, with a vanilla assembly of aspirants to the crown? No offence to winner Bradley but think about the plot lines heading into this season: Tiger Woods's comeback with Canadian swing instructor Sean Foley; Phil Mickelson looking for another major that immortalizes his rep; Lee Westwood seeking any major; Rory McIlroy's coming-out as a star; Dustin Johnson's redemption; South African Louis Oosthuizen and German Martin Kaymer on the brink of global dominance; U.S. hot shots Hunter Mahan and Rickie Fowler ready to break out.
As Bradley's winning putt dropped Sunday, only McIlroy's U.S. Open triumph will likely grab the memories of golf fans and sponsors this winter. Despite CBS's lame attempts to play up the wonderfulness of the finish (the first major for a player using a belly putter, exclaimed Ian Baker-Finch), the unpredictability of the PGA Tour – different winners in the past 13 majors – eliminates star power for TV ratings. Bad news with a new TV contract being negotiated this season.
Yes, Stricker was blandly efficient this year, but Woods flopped. Mickelson dithered, Johnson flailed. Until Bradley, Americans crashed and burned in the face of McIlroy, Charl Schwartzel and Darren Clarke, the other major winners. Young players such as Bradley, Brendan Steele and Gary Woodland look great, but do they have more staying power than Anthony Kim or John Rollins?
Will sponsors and networks buy in again to lotto leader? The PGA Tour needs McIlroy and Jason Day to build a rivalry of young guns. It needs improved play by Woods to prod Mickelson. The TV product is based on John Daly, not Shaun Micheel. It needs fewer Cinderellas and more Prince Charmings. Till it gets there, "Then let's keep dancing. Let's break out the booze and have a ball. If that's all there is."
Non-Appointment Viewing
Legendary sportswriter Dan Jenkins was unimpressed with more than the golf front-runners. "A word about the CBS PGA telecast: I've never seen so many promos for shows I don't care to see this fall," he tweeted.
TAKE HIM DOWN A PEG
The reborn Winnipeg Jet have yet to play a game in anger, but there's already a healthy media debate over how long they can last in a small market with challenging weather. In the blue corner, tossing grenades in the direction of the Peg is Sportsnet Radio The Fan 590's Bob McCown. "I have first-hand knowledge of no less than three members of the Atlanta Thrashers, no fewer than three, who are now Winnipeg Jets, who are actively pursuing alternatives," McCown told his listeners.
"Not the least of the problems, there's no place to live in the style that an NHL player has become accustomed to. Are there upscale homes? I'm sure there are. But they're not available, and they're not for rent."
That nettled Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press in the red corner. "Name an NHL roster that doesn't have three disgruntled players looking for a new address," Lawless wrote. "Sorry, you can't. The bottom line is there are going to be players that like it here and players that don't. Winnipeg has assets that places with more housing options like Phoenix and Atlanta can't boast. Fifteen-thousand fans willing to fill the building for 40 nights or so is a good start. It's a little early for this kind of talk. The franchise hasn't even played a game, and McCown has rats fleeing the ship."
McCown is the champion of going 100 in a 60 zone whenever he acquires a juicy morsel of info. It's fair to assume the Toronto-based provocateur has never set foot in Winnipeg. And Lawless is right to ask for time for the dust to settle. But the assumptions McCown makes are widespread in the NHL community. The only way the Jets can thrive with fickle players is to become a destination team that wins big, negating the city's perceived drawbacks.
Look at the Ottawa Senators' current dilemma (losing team, harsh weather, limited promotional opportunities) to see what Winnipeg faces if it marries losing 40 games with -40 Celsius. In parlance a Manitoban can understand, that dog won't hunt.
RIP TED TEVAN
To Montrealers of a certain age, sports talk radio was epitomized by the gravel-voiced Ted Tevan on CFCF late nights. "You're a straight arrow" or "You're gone" were his signature calls. A throwback who'd shoot down listeners, flirt with women callers and soothe the frustrated Expos fans, Tevan passed away this week in Montreal at 78. Favourite memory was hearing our uncle Frank getting shot down by Ted when he suggested Tim Wallach reminded him of Ted Williams.
But Tevan also talked people out of suicide while he was live on air. There's an NFB documentary on him expected out next year. They don't make 'em like that any more.
SQUEEZE PLAY
Must be a CBC thing. Jimmy Arias couldn't resist the opportunity to do a Ron MacLean when a patron at the Rogers Cup men's tennis final on Sunday received the Heimlich treatment in the stands, Arias noted, "That's not the type of choking we're used to seeing in the finals of Masters event."
AND ANOTHER THING
New York Giants VP of communications Pat Hanlon has taken to Twitter to drum up support for his team. Nothing new there. But Hanlon has decided to use the trope of tweeting to handle rabid Giants fans. His profane, frank tweets "get to the very heart of New York, New York". Doubt they'd play in Peoria. Courtesy of the New York Daily News, here's a sampling of Top Ten Hanlon tweets.
10. Hanlon: The last proclamation out of Philly that meant anything was a Declaration in 1776.
8. @bbhkf78: All teams need to rebuild at one point, I'm not going to panic until the season begins.
Hanlon: Rebuild my ass! I got your rebuild.
7. @Ste"enMurray10: Can you say definitively the Giants are better than last year?
Hanlon: Can you say we're worse, knucklehead?
6. Hanlon: This is great. We usually get to play two regular season games before people tell us we aren't worth a s---.
3. @moltisanti5: sorry pat no way u can put a positive spin on what went down with smith! (I)n 29 years never been so disappointed.
Hanlon: Sleep it off.