"It's a golf tournament, not a swap meet."
/In an especially lively Up and Down column, Steve Elling shares this anecdote from last week's telecast which I did not see. Several have mentioned it though:
Every week, the CEO of whatever company sponsors that week's tour event gets a few moments of blather time during the broadcast to toot their corporate horn and spout clichés about what a great week it was. In Atlanta, the top dog at Coca-Cola used his TV opportunity to hoist a bottle of Coke during his live interview with NBC's Dan Hicks. Then the guy showed up for the awards ceremony with Mickelson and Woods on the 18th green drinking from yet another bottle of the company's product. Times may be tough, but this is way beyond gauche and bordering on crass. It's a golf tournament, not a swap meet.
I do wonder if this rather desperate move speaks to Coca-Cola feeling like it's been lost in the shuffle at East Lake? Most of the event is focused on the FedEx Cup and if it weren't for the Coke bottle sets as tee markers, I would not have any sense of Coca-Cola's presence as Tour Championship sponsor.
