Thursday, August 31, 2000
Ratings reveal Tiger as one-man
show
By Barry Horn
The Dallas Morning News
For every action in the world of sports
media, there is an equal and opposite reaction, hence the invention
of remote control:
Action: A year ago, Tiger Woods was “mired”
in a sixth-place tie after two rounds of the NEC Invitational
before coming back to win the tournament. He was two shots off
the lead. Other names on the first page of the leaderboard included
Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III, Hal Sutton, Nick Price and Carlos
Franco.
This year, Woods led Mickelson by seven
strokes going into Saturday's round.
The tournament's ratings on CBS were up
65 percent over last year.
Keep in mind that last week, Woods' playoff
victory over Bob May at the PGA Championship turned in record
numbers.
Reaction: Woods winning by one stroke or
11 stokes is hardly news anymore. Woods is the story. Imagine,
then, the fascination with watching him the next time he goes
out and shoots 79 in a major or other big-time event. Right now,
that has more must-see TV potential than watching him blowing
away the field or shooting just another 61.
Action: Rangers TV ratings on Fox Sports
Net have been higher in the dog days of August than they were
when hope still sprang eternal in April, May and June.
Reaction: Folks will endure anything while
waiting to get their nightly report from Cowboys training camp.
Action: In the October issue of Playboy,
Bob Costas, who will be NBC's main man at the Sydney Olympics,
has this to say about John Tesh, who will not be back next month
to call the action at the Games' biggest ratings-grabber:
“I think most reasonable people would
say that, at times, the gymnastics coverage was beyond parody,”
Costas told the magazine.
Reaction: There is no better place for a
broadcaster to undress a former colleague.
Action: At tennis' U.S. Open, the draw has
Venus and Serena Williams bracketed so they have a chance to meet
in the women's final.
Initial reaction: Williams vs. Williams
is the most intriguing matchup their game has to offer and, as
proven at Wimbledon, a ratings-grabber. CBS and the USA Network
are fortunate that fate served up such an ace.
More thoughtful reaction: Coincidence? I
think not.
Action: They held an auction at Ralph Strangis'
charity golf tournament Saturday. The winning bid for four tickets
to a Stars game, four dinners at the Stars Club and one period
in the broadcast booth with Strangis and Daryl Reaugh was $2,500.
Keep in mind a round-trip week for two in Jamaica at the same
auction went for $1,800.
Reaction: The winning bidder must be allergic
to the sun.
Action: For his HBO movie on Roger Maris'
61-home run season in 1961, Billy Crystal has cast Anthony Michael
Hall in the role of Whitey Ford.
Reaction: It could be worse. Hall, most
famous for playing teen geeks, could have landed the Yogi Berra
role.
Action: Marty Brennaman, the Hall-of-Fame
broadcaster for the Cincinnati Reds, criticized future Hall-of-Famer
Ken Griffey Jr. for not running hard after a hit, turning a double
into a single. Griffey responded after the game with some choice
words delivered face-to-face to Brennaman.
Brennaman's response? “I was here before
you, and I'll be here after you.”
Reaction: Score it a hit for Brennaman,
who had the gumption to call it as he saw it, and a two-base error
for Griffey, who should have run hard and when he didn't, kept
his mouth shut.
Action: When rain forced the NEC Invitational
past 6 p.m. on Sunday, CBS seamlessly shifted the tournament to
TNN, one of its cable siblings, for the final one hour and 45
minutes. It's a sign of things to come for the network's golf
coverage.
Reaction: The folks at the GTE Byron Nelson
will be only too happy to learn of the development.
(c) 2000, The Dallas Morning
News.
Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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