Mike Bianchi Makes It Official: He's Run Out Of Column Ideas

The Orlando Sentinel columnist writes: "Why there has not been more of an outcry about the Tour's tacit approval of smoking is harder to figure out than the World Golf Rankings."

Eh, eh before you think this is an April 1 beauty, check your calendars, we're still a week away. Hit the link if you don't believe me. Or read this, where even Tim Finchem offers his own version of "have you absolutely no other ideas for a column?"

Congress has made a major issue about pro sports sending the wrong message when it comes to steroids, but what about pro golf sending the wrong message when it comes to lung cancer? Scientific fact: A relative handful of deaths have resulted from steroid abuse; hundreds of thousands die every year because of nicotine abuse.

"I don't think we have a problem with smokers," PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said at last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational. "We have some. We don't have many. . . . I don't think it's worth spending any energy on."

A few years ago, Finchem was similarly nonchalant when it came to mandatory drug-testing of golfers, but finally capitulated amid public pressure. Why there has not been more of an outcry about the Tour's tacit approval of smoking is harder to figure out than the World Golf Rankings.

"Are you by any chance a member of the media?"

Got to give Bob Carney credit for posting an entertaining but not particularly flattering letter from a Golf Digest reader.

"Does the TV lifestyle make you soft? Apparently!"

From Alan Shipnuck and his golf.com Hot List: 

5. Rick Reilly. My esteemed former colleague and soon-to-be ESPN star was visiting NorCal and asked me to arrange a round for us at Pebble Beach, which I happily did. (And it was comped, too.) On the appointed day, a refreshing light mist was falling, so Reilly begged off, saying he doesn't like to play in bad weather. Does the TV lifestyle make you soft? Apparently!

Now, NOBODY gets comped at Pebble Beach. So to turn that down you really have to be special...in your own mind.

Golfweek Swears It Had Nothing To Do With Latest Controversial Cover

But maybe we know where Dave Seanor has landed after his noose cover...?

Courtesy of reader LPGA Fan, here's the story from Denver's Channel 7 News:

An illustration that accompanied an article celebrating the success of Mexican golf star Lorena Ochoa is stirring some heated feelings.

The image in the current edition of Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine features the Our Lady of Guadalupe image with Ochoa's face in place of the Virgin Mary's.

"It’s very offensive," said Ricardo Bracho, who subscribes to the magazine.

In a statement, the editor for the magazine said the intent was to promote an accomplished golfer, not to offend anyone.

The Patron Saint of Mexico is deeply important and respected by many Mexicans and Catholics. The Our Lady of Guadalupe image is held as a sacred, religious symbol.

Obviously Mr. Bracho does understand how popular Lorena is these days. S

Bracho believes the artist and editor for the article entitled "Our Lady of Guadalajara" stepped over a sensitive line.

"I don't want anyone fired," Bracho said, adding he is a big fan of golf and Ochoa's. "People need to be aware and some things are just off limits."

Father Jorge De los Santos of the Archdiocese of Denver agreed.

"I was so hurt when I saw that image," De los Santos told 7NEWS Monday.

Hurt?

"I think the freedom (of the press) has a limit. You should respect others and respect beliefs," said De los Santos, who is Vicar for Hispanic Ministry.

Editor Jon Rizzi e-mailed this statement to 7NEWS:

"Colorado AvidGolfer deeply regrets offending anyone with the illustration that accompanied our feature on Lorena Ochoa. Because the piece was so overwhelmingly positive, praising Ms. Ochoa's accomplishments and painting a glowing portrait of her as both a golfer and an inspiring humanitarian, we created a clearly iconic image for our illustration. We respect the opinions of those who objected to the image and apologize if it offended them, but we certainly did not intend to show disrespect to anyone."

A public relations representative told 7NEWS Monday Ochoa had not seen the image or article and could not comment.

I don't think she wants to see it either, unless she wants to see what she'll look like 40 years and 40 pounds later. 

GWAA Contest Judges Recovering At Undisclosed Hospital After Wading Through This Year's Best Entries On Death, Disease and Addiction

And I just want to say that it is sooooo great to see the judges expanding the writing contest horizons by recognizing golf's least appreciated scribes, the poor souls who craft press releases so that others can win writing awards.

Hogan, Shmogan?

In his latest Antiseptic Golfer column, John Hawkins already shows signs of running out of topics to rant about by picking on Ben Hogan and the people who respect his accomplishments. 

Anyone who wins six major championships after getting pummeled by a Greyhound bus deserves a ton of credit, but Hogan just passed 28 tons on the slobber scale, which exceeds the legal limit for a guy who couldn't make a four-footer and lost to Jack Fleck in a U.S. Open playoff. I'm thinking the crusty, old Texan himself would have objected to such an overdose of fawning.

"The crowd isn't the problem. It's the media that tries to get out on the golf course"

An unbylined Tucson Citizen story reports that Tiger Woods played a practice round Monday and noted this about his security.

According to one of those assigned to keep the peace during the tournament this week, Tiger has extra security.

"Some you can see, some you can't," said escort Russ Perlich.

Tournament organizers assigned extra escorts, too, but the crowds usually maintain their distance, Perlich said.

"The crowd isn't the problem. It's the media that tries to get out on the golf course," he said.

Since when has there ever been a problem with too much media on a golf course? Particularly one that no one likes to walk, much less visit.

SI Scraps Last Supper Master Preview Cover Idea Out Of Respect For Golfweek's Noose Cover

After all, there really is no competition at this point for lamest cover of 2008, is there?

Seriously, it seems the borderline creepy TigerWoodsIsGod.com broke the news that SI was kicking around the idea of some sort of Masters preview cover involving a "Last Supper" homage. SportsbyBrooks has the document in question. Of course, it's all moot because SI Editor Terry McDonell denied it. Sort of.

Published reports indicating that Sports Illustrated is considering a cover or any visual treatment referencing Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" for its Masters preview or any other issue of the magazine are totally inaccurate.

A related concept tied to the magazine's 50th Anniversary cover, which depicted sports greats as Leonardo might have painted them, was discussed among a small number of editors without my knowledge. The casting call in question was a mistake and should not have been posted. — Terry McDonell, Editor, Sports Illustrated Group

So the casting call was a prank?  

I find it odd that SI even acknowledged the report.  

Two New Handy Blogs

A pair of blogs have recently appeared from occassional posters to this site that are worth adding to your daily browsing.

Author Daniel Wexler fills a nice void by summarizing tournament results each day while making it easy to find leaderboards for events around the world and if your life has come to it, easy to make fantasy league picks.

Longtime rules official and NCGA staffer John Vander Borght is keeping an eye on rules-related matters and I look forward to his thoughts the next time a controversial ruling is made (which should be any day now).

"Let him get barbecued."

Jim Thorpe on Kelly Tilghman and the Golfweek noose cover:

"We know there was no racist intent. It was just a bad choice of words,'' he said. "But the guy from Golfweek? Let him get barbecued. That's just a major mistake on his part.''

Just a suggestion to the Golfweek staff: I would not put an image of Jim Thorpe barbecuing Dave Seanor on this week's cover. Just my advice.  

Golfweek Considering Sensitivity Training...For Bad Cover Design**

I wonder how those different fonts of SORRY looked on the preview boards? Jerry Potter reports:

Jeff Babineau, newly appointed editor of Golfweek magazine, has a simple task this week.

"We're going to say we're sorry," said Babineau, appointed editor of the magazine Friday. "We know we've offended a lot of people. We want to apologize."

And...

Babineau sidestepped comment when asked Sunday if the magazine's advertisers threatened to cancel advertising.

"That's not my side (of the magazine)," he said.

Here's a newsflash from the city:

Babineau said Golfweek would continue to cover the Tour, adding it would not "shy away" from controversy. However, he added the magazine would have to do better work to regain the public's trust.

And this is disturbing considering that this cover was Seanor's idea and he ran with it:

He said management was studying the issue of diversity and sensitivity training for his staff.

Update on 2008-01-21 14:56 by Geoff

**As reader ??? noted below, Babineau said this to Richard Sandomir:

Babineau said he had not heard of any advertisers threatening to pull out because of the cover. “I’ve spent the day talking to advertisers, telling them we want to get things right,” he said. “I didn’t experience any strong anger. We have a publication with a 30-year body of work we’re proud of and we hope we’re not judged by one day. Advertisers here for a long time know that; we’re respected within the golf community.”

And then to Potter in the story linked above:

Babineau sidestepped comment when asked Sunday if the magazine's advertisers threatened to cancel advertising.

"That's not my side (of the magazine)," he said.

"Categorically, none whatsoever"

Steve Elling weighs in on Golfweek's replacement of Dave Seanor, and his piece includes this item on the possibility that the PGA Tour threatened any kind of advertising boycott:

The magazine's decision to use the controversial cover was first reported Tuesday on CBSSports.com. Thursday, a tour official indicated that advertising from the World Golf Village and its merchants might be pulled from the magazine as a result of the inflammatory cover artwork. The tour itself does not advertise with the magazine, though the World Golf Village is run by tour employee Jack Peter, who noted that the ad agreement was being reconsidered.

Nonetheless, tour vice president Ty Votaw said Friday that the tour did not bring to bear any pressure, either editorially or economically, that helped precipitate Seanor's ouster.

"Categorically, none whatsoever," Votaw said.

He also told the Associated Press: "Jack was not speaking on behalf of the PGA Tour. I can categorically tell you the PGA Tour has not threatened any advertising pull."

Golfweek Fires Editor Seanor*****

Gary Van Sickle reports the news which comes in response to the dreaded noose cover. Jeff Babineau will take over.  Thanks to reader Tony for spotting the golf.com story.

Van Sickle reports that Tim Finchem's comments combined with a likely advertising boycott led to his undoing. One wonders what other boycotts might have been coming had Golfweek not made a change.

Update on 2008-01-18 16:07 by Geoff

**Golfweek and Seanor's standing could not have been helped by columns like this one from Michael Bamberger spoofing potential cover images for other big events.

For instance, you may remember the Ryder Cup at the Country Club in 1999, when Justin Leonard holed that monster putt to secure at the least a tie for the U.S. and the American players ran all over the green even though Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain still had a meaningful putt. The SI cover shot showed Justin Leonard, celebrating, putter in the air. Bad choice.

Here's how that story should have been illustrated: a picture of Spaniards being trampled by bulls running through the streets in Pamplona.

Update on 2008-01-18 16:53 by Geoff

***Golfweek issues a statement and the announcement of a new editor:

“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.”

And...

“We know we have a job ahead of us to re-earn the trust and confidence of many loyal readers,” Babineau said. “Our staff is very passionate about the game. Our wish is that one regretful error does not erase more than 30 years of service we’ve dedicated to this industry.”

Update on 2008-01-18 19:35 by Geoff

***Richard Sandomir in the New York Times:

The magazine, with a circulation of 160,000, nearly all of it by subscription, also received about 100 to 150 demands for cancellations.

As far as was known, no advertisers have pulled out, but William P. Kupper Jr., president of Turnstile Publishing Company, the parent company of Golfweek, announced Friday morning that Seanor had been replaced by Jeff Babineau.

PGA Tour and Friends Boycotting Golfweek?

Steve Elling reports on his CBSSports.com blog that Golfweek may face a boycott from PGA Tour related advertising, starting with the World Golf Hall of Fame:

Jack Peter, an official with the PGA Tour whose duties include running the World Golf Village in nearby St. Augustine, said tour officials on Thursday told Golfweek representatives that advertising might be withdrawn because of the tour's discomfort over the noose issue.

Peter said approximately $50,000 in ads for the World Golf Village might be canceled, creating the possibility that other advertisers could follow suit. He described the Thursday meeting with Golfweek representatives, which had been scheduled long before the cover-image controversy erupted this week, as "awkward."

"We have an (advertising ) agreement in place, but the contract has not been signed," Peter said. "I don't know that I am comfortable going forward with it."

Didn't Callaway put a huge dent in Golfweek budgets by pulling ads after ERC related commentary?

Finchem Blasts Golfweek

Jerry Potter reports that Commissioner Tim Finchem made the unusual move of issuing a statement on Golfweek's noose cover:

"Clearly, what Kelly said was inappropriate and unfortunate, and she obviously regrets her choice of words," Finchem said. "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."

Jeese, tell us what you really think.
 

Meanwhile, Ryan Ballengee makes an interesting point about the irony and hypocrisy of it all:

Golfweek's own Jeff Rude was among the first asking fans to drop the issue and forgive Tilghman for her gaffe. His own publication is not dropping the issue, though. They are devoting a cover to it - a cover that contains the image of a symbol that is becoming reborn in the southern influenced parts of the country as notice of racial deference, e.g., the Jena 6 case.

In essence, the cover propagates the coverage of the comment. It is continuing the news cycle on this particular story. I think that is unfortunate and inappropriate. The media should not be in the business of continuing to cover itself. It happens in varying forms, from when ESPN says that their reporters are reporting a story that someone else broke, to a magazine drawing other ink for making a controversial cover about a controversial media story. It can be enough to make the average sports fan's head spin at times.

The irony of this post is that the ploy is working. Elling, myself, and others are writing about what is being written and shown as a symbol of what Kelly Tilghman said. Maybe I should be lumped in with the crew that I am lambasting, but I thought this issue deserved a special comment.