The Golf Channel Fails Us All

The Golf Channel has suspended Kelly Tilghman for a slip of the tongue comment about players lynching Tiger Woods in an alley. Of course, neither the golf world at large, or the Golf Channel, are exactly paragons of courage so I guess I really shouldn't be surprised. Still, this new low for the Golf Channel is truly reprehensible. Remember when The King saw fit to can Peter Kessler? That was downright noble behavior compared with this...

The Golf Channel is treating one of their most even handed announcers as if she had engaged in a Michael Richards-like N-Word laced tirade. Whom did she harm? Who took offense? Not Woods, that's for sure. His camp was quoted as saying, "This story is a non-issue. Tiger and Kelly are friends and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly. Regardless of the choice of words used we know unequivocally that there was no ill-intent in her comments. This story is a non-issue in our eyes. Case closed." Were there any calls of complaint from actual Golf Channel viewers or just the hack pundits who come out of the woodwork at times like this?

Worst of all, the Golf Channel is caving in to pressure from the likes of Al Sharpton, a man whose sole reason for living is to get himself on TV as often as possible, while adding nothing valid to the debate. Being an actual reverend with an actual congregation would be far too much like work for Sharpton.

Instead of standing behind Tilghman the Golf Channel has sold their soul and sent her to the back of the bus with a two week suspension. Their actions are nakedly self-protecting, nothing more, and should be repudiated.

I am sure that Tilgman wishes that she'd simply substituted the word mugged for lynched, but things happen when you're on the air and making a split second choice of words. The Golf Channel has no such defense for their mistake. They had the time to judge and to deliberate but, in the end, they chose the easy way out and failed us all.