USA Today was quite complimentary of ABC's
coverage of the British Open (but why have they
started using the British designation of the
tournament, The Open?). Nick Faldo was
especially good (and I agree), getting off some
lines like comparing the excitement of the
tournament with the first camping trip with one's
girlfriend. Mike Tirico, OTOH, seemed a bit snappish;
when a fan shouted the cliche "Get in the hole," he
said, "Oh, shut up," and remarked that a kid who
brought the new Harry Potter book with him "should
put a bookmark in it." He also made a few basic errors,
like confusing a birdie and a bogey at one point.
I also got tired of seeing the replay of Jean Van de
Velde's 1999 meltdown, which Padraig Harrington almost
duplicated on the final hole of regulation.
But in all, I thought ABC's crew was very loose, seemed
to be enjoying themselves, and were less
prone to paint the sport and location as something sacred.
And the tournament itself, especially the final round, was
so full of surprises that it would have been difficult not to
get a good performance out of ABC's, or anyone else's,
team.
One major goof: USA Today reported that Peter Alliss,
on the BBC, attributed Tiger's less-than-stellar play to
"missing mommy, daughter, and son." Son?
coverage of the British Open (but why have they
started using the British designation of the
tournament, The Open?). Nick Faldo was
especially good (and I agree), getting off some
lines like comparing the excitement of the
tournament with the first camping trip with one's
girlfriend. Mike Tirico, OTOH, seemed a bit snappish;
when a fan shouted the cliche "Get in the hole," he
said, "Oh, shut up," and remarked that a kid who
brought the new Harry Potter book with him "should
put a bookmark in it." He also made a few basic errors,
like confusing a birdie and a bogey at one point.
I also got tired of seeing the replay of Jean Van de
Velde's 1999 meltdown, which Padraig Harrington almost
duplicated on the final hole of regulation.
But in all, I thought ABC's crew was very loose, seemed
to be enjoying themselves, and were less
prone to paint the sport and location as something sacred.
And the tournament itself, especially the final round, was
so full of surprises that it would have been difficult not to
get a good performance out of ABC's, or anyone else's,
team.
One major goof: USA Today reported that Peter Alliss,
on the BBC, attributed Tiger's less-than-stellar play to
"missing mommy, daughter, and son." Son?