Monday, January 21, 2008

Bring Out The Noose

As everyone knows, The Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman was suspended a couple of weeks ago because of a comment she made about “lynching Tiger”. Of course, she meant no harm by the comment and probably just wasn’t thinking about her choice of words. There were actually people (Rev. Al Sharpton) that called for her firing. How ridiculous!


And, when the story almost became a non-issue, leave it to Golfweek to sensationalize it even more by putting a picture of a noose on its cover. Well, that did get someone fired. Because of the image, longtime Golfweek magazine editor and vice president Dave Seanor, was replaced.
If you ask me, that is well deserved. It is COMPLETELY obvious that Tilghman’s words were just a mistake, one she apologized for. Ever Tiger’s group said it was a “non-issue”.
A statement from Golfweek says, "We apologize for creating this graphic cover that received extreme negative reaction from consumers, subscribers and advertisers across the country," said William P. Kupper Jr., president of Turnstile Publishing Co., the parent company of Golfweek. "We were trying to convey the controversial issue with a strong and provocative graphic image. It is now obvious that the overall reaction to our cover deeply offended many people. For that, we are deeply apologetic."

Even the PGA Tour’s top dog, Commissioner Tim Finchem, sternly criticized the publication. "Clearly, what Kelly said was inappropriate and unfortunate, and she obviously regrets her choice of words," Finchem said in a statement. "But we consider Golfweek's imagery of a swinging noose on its cover to be outrageous and irresponsible. It smacks of tabloid journalism. It was a naked attempt to inflame and keep alive an incident that was heading to an appropriate conclusion."

The whole incident started during Golf Channel's broadcast on Jan. 4 of this year when analyst Nick Faldo joked that the young players of the PGA Tour may have to gang up on Tiger Woods in order to compete with him. His co-host, Kelly Tilghman, ageed and suggested with a laugh that Tiger's young rivals "lynch him in a back alley."

Tilghman later apologized on the air and also directly to Tiger. Tiger Woods's agent (Mark Steinberg), dismissed the incident, saying that Woods and Tilghman were friends and the comment was not malicious. Still, the network suspended Tilghman for two weeks after the controversy became a story outside the golf world.

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