Friday, January 18, 2008

Sad Commentaries

Okay, how many more people are going to get into trouble because of a bad joke?

On January 4, Golf Channel commentator Kelly Tilghman made an unintentionally—but still offensive—racist comment about Tiger Woods's fellow golfers "lynching" him in order to overcome his talents in the Mercedes-Benz Challenge. It was a stupid remark that angered a lot of people, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, who called for Tilghman's job. The Golf Channel instead issued an apology and suspended Tilghman for two weeks.

Case closed, right? Not so fast.

In "covering" the flap, Golfweek magazine decided it would be a good idea to put a picture of a noose on the cover of its Jan. 19 issue. Yes, a noose.

Wow.

Tilghman can be forgiven for making an ill-advised, off-the-cuff ad lib during a live commentary. But the editor of Golfweek had to sit down and actually THINK that putting a noose—a symbol of execution, oppression, and terror—on the cover of a sports magazine would be a good idea. For that sad decision the publication's editor and vice president Dave Seanor was fired following overwhelming and almost immediate outrage from subscribers.

Can't wait to see what comes next; perhaps a Sports Illustrated cover of some hooded Klansmen setting fire to a hole flag on the 15th green at Augusta?

For a slightly less controversial golf tribute, check out today's Sports Nuts design.


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