"Faldo’s remark prompted Tilghman to glibly raise the verbal ante to a level that would make anyone shudder..."
/The paper of record's Richard Sandomir weighs in on the Kelly Tilghman episode and lumps her in with Jimmy the Greek and Ben Wright in TV-screw up lore.
This was interesting:
No one knows what triggers sportscasters or public figures to say what they shouldn’t say to large audiences, and one can only speculate as to their intent. Experience seems to shield most of them from making dreadful, career-altering mistakes, but it did not prevent George Allen, the former United States senator from Virginia, from labeling an American of Indian descent, then working for his opponent, a “macaca” during his failed re-election campaign in 2006.Key word here: glibly.
Working live isn’t easy. There is a tendency to make mistakes and strain for creativity when simplicity will do. Tilghman and Faldo were wrapping up Day 2 of the tournament when they were discussing how young golfers could challenge Woods’s primacy, and Faldo said they should “gang up” on him “for a while.”
Faldo’s remark prompted Tilghman to glibly raise the verbal ante to a level that would make anyone shudder and wonder, What would make her say that? or, What else is in her oratorical toolbox? Sadly, her remark made her and Faldo giggle.
Kelly Tilghman is good at a lot of things. She's a strong reporter, has a great ability to recall past anecdotes and she clearly has a passion for the game. Glib is not one of her strong suits, yet all of today's anchors seem to feel the need to do the Sportscenter thing. (Or perhaps they are told this is how you have to announce in today's world.)
So once again I ask, isn't her lynching comment a product of the type of announcing asked for today, all while trying to provide such a humorous edge over an excessive number of hours?
