Wednesday
Jan092013
Notah Replaces Dottie
Not a big surprise that Notah Begay has been officially hired by Golf Channel, but I am surprised to see he's been thrown in to the difficult on-course reporter job for network broadcasts with minimal experience.
"I'm absolutely thrilled to join the Golf Channel and NBC golf broadcast teams," Begay said. "The game of golf is as exciting as ever and I look forward to utilizing my extensive experience to provide viewers with insight into the competition and its players."
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 03:58 PM
Reader Comments (47)
Just an idea.
As for Begay, the on-course stuff should be easier for a pro....just reacting to shots/situations the players face. He's at his weakest when asked to analyze Tiger, way too protective.
Notah certainly seems very intelligent, and he has a lot of character, given his past stand upp-edness, or however you say that.
He is too wamby pamby about TW though. That dog won't hunt.
Best wishes to him.
As to Notah as an on course reporter, I am hoping to be surprised. He def knows the game, and he seems like a good guy, but he's never struck me as a natural on his feet in front of the camera. I imagine he'll be able to get a post rd interview with Tiger though :P
Notah sounds like a meth addict.
Three time All-American including 1st Team in 1994. Is there something above 1st Team? Played on the 1994 NCAA Champion and shot 62 in that tourney. The best part is he graduated....from Stanford no less! Oh, and he was selected for the Walker Cup team in 1995.
Then he turned pro and shot 59 in a Nike Tour event, played his way onto the PGA Tour. Went out and won 2 times in his rookie year on the PGA Tour and backed that up with 2 more wins in 2000. Shortly thereafter hurt his back and it's been tough sledding competitively since then.
Notah's no saint and has had a couple slip-ups, and you may be inclined not to like him because of his association with Tiger...
...but to label him a "decent college player" is way removed from reality -- he was an elite talent.
Uhh....SINCE WHEN?
Name me an easier gig in all of broadcasting.
"Noah, what's he got?"
" 'Bout 145 with a little breeze helping. Little 9-iron. He could put this close."
Yeah... that's brutal. Too bad he sounds like his only lasting endorsement is with Sominex.
Ergo, he will succeed, but will not stand out.
His previous TV experience mostly include occasional appearances on The Golf Channel's Live From when Tiger is playing. For the early rounds anyways. If Tiger shoots himself out of the tournament, Begay mysteriously disappears from the Live From Desk.
There is no way we would have heard of this guy beyond about 2003 if it wasn't for one thing: he's a Friend of Tiger.
That's what sitting in the audience at the "Tiger Woods Blue Velvet Curtain I'm So Sorry Now Fuck Off" apology speech will get ya.
Begay will do fine. He is only ~ 40. Did he retire from competitive golf because of back problems refractory to medical treatment?
I think Notah may be a nice guy - who knows?
Supposedly Notah is a friend of Tiger's - what does that mean? does T answer his phone when Notah is calling? Following hydrant-gate, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley who were Tiger's friends, could not get him to take their calls. A few years after Barkley said he still could not get in contact with Tiger.
During the time Notah spent in front of the camera on the Golf Channel, I saw absolutely nothing that made me think that guy should play a larger role in the telecasts of golf and TV, either on course or not. That's not saying he's a terrible person or a bad guy, like I said, me may very well be a nice guy, but I hope they have done some test runs, because I just don't see it.
Now, if he calls Miller on some of his bone head mistakes, like saying "that sounded chunky" when someone knows it in the hole with backspin, I may change my thinking on him. ; )
What I don't get is why so much anger directed at Notah, all he did was say "yes" when offered a job.
If people are really angry about having to watch Notah on GC shouldn't the anger really be directed at them, the Golf Channel?
PS...not sure why anyone would care about whether or not Tiger answered Notah's calls but I think you can safely assume that he does.
Instead, there is a lot of frustration, exasperation, and annoyance with NBC - NB3 has no obvious talent for the job and appears to be chosen because of who he knows and partially because of his non-golf backstory. There are good reasons to object to his hiring - and yet they may be good reasons to support it. Dottie really grew into the role, and she was fearless when there was a need to criticize something - "Freakin' Choking Dogs." The concern is as a replacement, we are just going to get some politically correct bland on-course reporter.
Honestly, I think he will be average and that might be okay. He is probably aware of the of his reputation as a Tiger buttkisser and I would imagine that he will try hard to be objective knowing this.
One post opened with "sycophant" and closed with "F*^# Off"......possibly I'm confusing anger with ribald enthusiasm? Then there's "lap dog....arf arf", and "decent college player", etc...
Look, there's no doubt Notah's connection with Tiger played a HUGE role in his attraction to Golf Channel. Notah has bills to pay too and in life you play the cards you're dealt, but again, he simply accepted the job -- same as Chelsea Clinton taking a reporting gig at NBC. Seems to me the displeasure or frustration or whatever you want to call is should be directed at Golf Channel but instead people want to tear down Notah because of his connection with Tiger.
DTF is right in his observations, but, while I am a supporter of Notah, t least until he proves me wrong, I can see how it is easy to diss him. He REALLY did roll over on his ''obsrvqations about TW''.
On Morning Drive he did say thwe hardest thing will be to be critical of his friends, ie: DA PROZ.... so we'll see.
Dottie was great.period..
The ''blue curtain''post is classic!
There weren't that many Native Americans on tour that I can remember. Rod Curl was the first Native American to win a tour event, the 1974 Colonial. Then there was Frank Dufina, who worked the links a century ago. Ky Laffoon bragged of his Indian background, and had himself photographed wearing a war chief's headdress, but he was kidding. (Maybe the Ghost here has some added information.) Olympian Jim Thorpe SHOULD have played golf, but football and baseball were more attractive in the '20s.
Good luck to Notah, the first golf commentator without some sort of British accent in quite a while. My advice: Don't "utilize" your talents. Use them.
ADG- is there a list of all the audience members at the Blue drape event??
Notah Begay III
Kaltida Woods
Ubiquitous Nike Girl - CEO of Golf div
Mark Steinberg
His kids' nanny
Filler in the form of half a dozen IMG Interns
Charlie Rymer was there in spirit, attested by his sudden on-camera weeping at the conclusion of the speech.
Although some members of the media were invited to listen to Woods' remarks, they were not allowed to ask questions. The large majority of reporters and media were housed at least half a mile away, where they watched the event on television.
As he turns 100, let us remember someone else who was not entirely convincing in front of a blue velvet curtain:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nixon_edited_transcripts.jpg
For the younger Shackelfordians, this was Nixon's attempt to placate his pursuers with bowdlerized transcripts of his taped Oval Office conversations that included lots of "expletives deleted" and not much on the ongoing conspiracy to obstruct justice, among other things.
Give Notah a chance, judge him by the work he produces
John Shippen?
The reason ( I believe) that TW did not return several former homies calls is because they were ''enablers'', and as a sign of sicerity to his wife, one of the ''ideas'' of rehab is to stay away from ''bad friends''..
Sadly I have been on a deceasd friends list of ''bad friends''. He just would not call me back after a terrible drinking binge (this was all in the 80's, and I was NOT a frequent drinking bud, but we did ''other things'' ) My wife finally convinced me that he was fighting big demons (he was) and tere were several of us 'bad friends'' that he could not be around, weven if wee had become ''good friends'', and would not lead hm astray. Woods needed to distance himself frim Jordan and those ''near occasions of sinn'' that he and his ilk represented to TW...so for that I give TW a huge thumbs up---it is not easy to ''abandon'' friendships-- I have had to do same, not from addiction problems, but because this woman, whom I love as a friend, was just a frigging user.... and when al was said and done, you would just shake your head and go ''why did I do that?'' again.
Sorry for all the words here, but I just hadn't thought about a lot of this in a while.
Meanwhile, Notah steps from the blue curtain brigade and onto the green grass of HI: good luck- we all want success, for his sake, and let's face it, for ours!
digsouth
PTBSA, President 2013-
LOL