Announcer Idiocy: Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman
Golf, Media Gossip/Musings, Race January 9th. 2008, 10:44am
It probably won’t become an SAT question, but perhaps a sports editor will ask you this next time you apply for a job: what do Kelly Tilghman, Jimmy the Greek and Fuzzy Zoeller have in common? Answer: White people who’ve made terribly insensitive and racist remarks on air!
What is it about Tiger that brings out the worst in people? Fuzzy “jokingly” (hardy har har!) mentioned Tiger in the same sentence as fried chicken and collard greens and now this chick from the golf channel, Kelly Tilghman, has trumped that. While dreaming up ways to slow the Tiger machine, Tilghman’s partner on-air, Nick Faldo, suggested that the other golfers “gang up” on him. Tilghman then said they should “lynch him in a back alley.”
Was she joking? Like it matters. How can someone with a Duke education, who is paid handsomely to speak on television, even have thoughts of lynching on her mind? If she says, ‘kick his ass in a back alley’ then this isn’t a story. But lynch? Who even uses that word anymore? We hope she doesn’t get a pass because she’s a woman. Tiger is the only reason people watch golf, and this is documented through ratings. If your viewers are there for Tiger, and you have announcers making racist comments about him, isn’t that inevitably going to steer people away from your product? We are not aware of what she’s like as an announcer, but a reader submits this: “She’s a decent studio host … but horribly miscast as a play-by-play person. Just terrible on-site, she is. She calls every putt like it’s fucking Tiger chipping at the Masters in ‘05 … so fucking breath-y.”
Should Kelly Tilghman be fired for “lynch” Tiger remark? (Golf Blog)
Golf Channel anchor says young golfers should ‘lynch Tiger Woods’ (Golf Experts Blog)
53 Responses to “Announcer Idiocy: Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Kelly Tilghman, screw you, you’re fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiredddddddddd!!!!!
Courtesy Vince McMahon
January 9th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I heard on the radio that her and Tiger are friends. I’m sure he’ll forgive her. He has a thing for hot blondes.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:52 am
I read Tiger was fine – just a terrible choice of words.
Also, they have play by play in golf?
January 9th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Maybe Tiger will play the FBR this year…..Who am I kidding?
January 9th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I agree that if she uses anything but “lynch” this is a non story and if Tiger lets it go then I will let it go, but come on, how do you say that?
January 9th, 2008 at 10:54 am
She’s going to have to stand at the #18 green and have to shout “I LOOOOVE BLAAACCKK PEEEEOOOPPLLEE!”
January 9th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I find all golf Play-by-play to be Breath-y.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:56 am
she has some beastly kankles, so id watch those ‘hot blonde’ comments.
eh, the comment was more brain fart than anything. yea, it was pretty bad to say ‘lynching,’ but if you heard her say it, it was pretty obvious she was trying to pay tiger a compliment.
she shouldve been removed earlier for sucking. but seeing as im probably the only one here who watches golf channel religously, im probably the only one who cares.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I am a huge golf fan and know Tilghman’s work well. I agree that her studio work outshines her play-by-play. She is somewhat of a legacy at the Golf Channel so I think that got her a pass onto the second year as lead P-B-P anchor….otherwise I think she would have been replaced.
My first thought is that she should be given a pass based on her history. She worships Tiger and respects the game of golf as much as anyone…however, using the word lynch?? That is tough to explain.
She can survive if the story stays below the radar. If this makes a lot of noise, she is done as the older golf fans are a fickle bunch that the networks do not want to upset.
Unless I am forgetting something he said (I may very well be due to many college years of the 420), Ben Wright was fired from ABC’s golf coverage years ago for saying that Laura Davies was “built like a tank.” Obviously Tiger ain’t Laura Davies and lynching is different than saying someone is fat.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:58 am
She should have said something like this:
“The other golfers would be better off if they murdered Tiger Woods – and I’ll help!”
Now that would be a story.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:59 am
ASU…tiger is in Qatar or Dubai or something like that. oil-rich sultans pay big money for golf, killing the chances of seeing any big-name players at any US event that isnt a Major or World Golf Championship (or hosted by their sponsors) and it blows.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Laura Davies…good God, she is built like a tank.
As far as the story, I believe it was a massive brain fart and nothing more. Though the fact that the word ‘lynch’ was the first one that came to mind is a bit disturbing.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:01 am
good analysis, Spidey.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:03 am
How can someone with a Duke education, who is paid handsomely to speak on television, even have thoughts of lynching on her mind?
You answered your own question, TBL.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I thought Ben Wright got fired because he made comments about how lesbianism affecting the LPGA and because he had to go to rehab for alcoholism.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:06 am
affects – sorry
January 9th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Heard by Kanye West “Kelly Tilghman hates black people”…
January 9th, 2008 at 11:12 am
What did Tiger Wood’s order to eat the next year? Fuzzy’s comments reminded me of a parent of a high-school basketball player whos’ son team just got waxed in the City. Tiger should have ordered fried chicken, etc. I wish I could see that.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Ben Wright also said that women golfers in general aren’t as good as men because their boobs get in the way when they swing….and Laura Davies IS built like a tank.
How could she have been so stupid to say “lynch” on air? Don’t these people have a filter in their head that keeps them from saying shit like this. Like Bob Uecker said in Major League, “that broadcasting school is really paying off”.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:14 am
@Spencer: Getting drunk at the FBR and following around FIGJAM chanting ASU is getting old. I think Tiger came here once, but I don’t remember.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:16 am
there are lot of bright people at Duke but my buddy’s ex girlfriend went there solely because her family is rich. she was dumber than a bag of hammers. watching jeopardy with her was like driving nails into your forehead. i respect the institution but will never automatically associate anyone from there, or an equivalent ivy undergrad, with smarts every again.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Tiger’s agent released a statement that he doesn’t give a shit about the comment.
Tiger than later stated the “bitches don’t belong on the links”….he then clarified, saying he meant “dogs need to be on leashes when on the links”….
January 9th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Apparently the part of the brain that prevents us from using the word “lynch” in the same sentence with (African-American) wasn’t hooked up properly.
Cue Lumberg voice, “Yeah…we have sort of a problem here…”.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:22 am
@I pulled my groin – Who even uses the idea of lynching in their everyday speech? I mean, this has to be something that she normally says if she’d have to “filter it out”. I can understand using all kinds of swearing in everyday speech, but stuff like this still amazes me. It’s like saying anti-semitic stuff and expecting no one to blink (ex: “I got jewed”, or “that’s so jewish”). I don’t care if you’re educated or not, who the hell sprinkles their speech with that crap?
January 9th, 2008 at 11:25 am
ASU…yea, phil isn’t really exciting to follow. other than watching him fuck up, his schtick gets old fast.
you could always follow vijay around, much more fun than that fat fuck. plus vijay actually looks like he’s enjoying himself.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Dave – everyone drops a jew bomd now and again.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:44 am
What’s it been, 50, 60 years since using the phrase “lynching” was considered to be anything other than morally repugnant?
January 9th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Tiger played in the FBR and had that famous hole in one on 16. It was back in 96 or 97 though.
“ASU…tiger is in Qatar or Dubai or something like that. oil-rich sultans pay big money for golf, killing the chances of seeing any big-name players at any US event that isnt a Major or World Golf Championship (or hosted by their sponsors) and it blows.”
That isn’t true. Only 3 events are played in the Middle East on the entire European Tour season (about 50 events) and other than Majors and WGC events the one event in Dubai (where Tiger is building a course) is the only European Tour event that Tiger will play in all season.
There are guys like Els, Garcia, Harrington, Stenson and Casey (an ASU guy) who will play heavy European Tour schedules but not Tiger. Tiger picks the courses he likes in the US and plays those events as well as the majors.
Tilghman didn’t mean anything by this comment. I agree she doesn’t belong in the booth, Golf Channel should give that gig to Rich Lerner who would shine next to Faldo. But she respects the game and Tiger and just used a poor choice of words. People who want to make a big deal of this just want an outlet to bitch about racism. At least IMO.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:53 am
So are there any other perspectively racist words I should know about, I mean in case I ever get a live TV gig or something.
I know black people have a monopoly on fried chicken, collard greens, and lynching, and the “N” word if it ends in “er.”
January 9th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Tiger has been to the FBR more than once, Im sorry I still call it the Phoenix Open. He had that hole in one on the 16th one year, and some kid threw an orange on the green as he was putting in 2001 I think. He hasnt been back since. I have followed Vijay before and then head to the Bird’s Next
January 9th, 2008 at 11:57 am
@Dornoch – I agree that Tilghman didn’t mean anything malicious. We make such a big deal out of innocent, stupid shit. Nevertheless…who even says this sort of thing!?! I’m more offended by the stupidity than the content of the comment!
January 9th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Wait, people listen to golf announcers? That was your first mistake right there….
January 9th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
She’ll probably have to make a cameo on The Boondocks where she will be berated by Mos Def in a singsong type of rhyme.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
ASU:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qHGcAEJiLcU
Go to about the 1:45 mark to see Tiger’s hole in one. It is from 97. Kind of sucks but there is no audio. Check out how much shit gets throw onto the “playing field”.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Has Rev. Al had a comment yet?
BTW, Kelly works great with Charles Davis on a program the Golf Channel has called The Grey Goose 19th Hole.
Which brings up another point? Who is Charles Davis? He is FOX’s lead color guy for college football AND he has a commentators gig on the Golf Channel?
I comment on football and golf so I don’t have a problem with it, it is just weird. Kind of like Brad Daugherty as one of ESPN’s lead NASCAR announcers. Some things just don’t seem right.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Sean Salisbury says “I got chewed” whenever someone beats him out of a buck.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
@Dornoch – Bad news dude as Charles Davis and Steve Dumeig are no longer on The Grey Goose 19th Hole. They have been replaced permanently with big time golf writers. The suits at this network have a very weird track history of not allowing their talent to get “too big for their britches”.
A couple of years ago when Peter Kessler was “the face” of The Golf Channel they cut him loose. This past year, Vince Cellini who was basically the “new face” of the network was let go and not re-newed.
Dumeig becomes a leading voice and personality and now he and Charles are gone. I don’t know why these guys left, it may have been their choice for all I know, just too bad because this was the one Golf Channel show I had set on Tivo.
The new guys are ok, but not “must see”.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
The response from commenter Stu over at RandBall yesterday:
Duke alum Richard Nixon nods his head in approval.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I’ll try that again, I think I got moderated for too many links in the comment.
The response from commenter Stu over at RandBall yesterday:
Duke alum Richard Nixon nods his head in approval.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Ah, thanks for that spidey. I knew Vince was gone because I hadn’t seen him and he didn’t host the last Big Break. But I had no idea with SD and CD.
I was familiar with the Kessler situation. Wasn’t Arnold Palmer involved in that whole thing? Wasn’t it a feud over equipment standards?
January 9th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Come on Dave MN. Unless you’re St. Dave, you’ve had an off-color thought or two run through your head. That doesn’t mean a person is a closet racist/homophobe/bigot/ or anything else. Have you ever heard a headline about a murder in North Minneapolis and assumed the killer was a black gang member? I thought so.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I would never claim to be a perfect human being. It’s just that I can’t imagine being stupid enough to think that what she said an okay thing to say (because I’d imagine she’d have to think it’s an okay thing to say if she decided to say it in front of a rolling TV camera.)
Then again, maybe she thought saying something off-color on the Golf Channel was the same as saying something off-color while you’re alone in the woods. If no one’s watching, did anyone really hear it?
January 9th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
When has she defended what she said? I must have missed that one. I highly doubt that she made a consious decision to say what she said because she didn’t see anything wrong with it. Give her the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up words coming out wrong.
January 9th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I’ve seen various pictures of Tilghman now from all the different stories and the one we used threw me off, the majority are less appealing.
She’s officially been downgraded to ’slightly boneable’.
January 9th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Dornoch…right, but seeing as Tiger already barely plays the minimum required to keep his PGA card (15), there aren’t any opportunities for smaller events to have him play. consider the 4 majors, 4 FedEx cup events, 3 WGC events, 2 Buick, 2 Tiger-hosted events, the TPC at Sawgrass and the Palmer and Nicklaus tourneys, there is almost no hope for him ever playing a non-marquee tournament at all.
my point was, why would Tiger play the FBR Open (or any similar status tournament) when he can get 2x the cash to play in a Middle Eastern event that occurs around the same time? We only get to see the dude play for 4 months, and there’s no hope of him ever playing a small event in the forseeable future.
January 9th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Go to about the 1:45 mark to see Tiger’s hole in one. It is from 97. Kind of sucks but there is no audio. Check out how much shit gets throw onto the “playing fieldâ€.
they had to stop play after that happened and clean up the tee box.
Next year the seating around the 16th was changed
January 9th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
@Dornoch……don’t know anything about the Kessler situation specifically. I know that with Vince, it was about 4 months before his contract expired. He had gone to management with some creative ideas about producing some shows on TGC. Vince wanted to stay in the same role he had and oversee some new ideas.
“He” says he wasn’t asking for money that was unreasonable but who knows. He had already started filming the golf inventor show and had a few in the can when they told him his services were no longer needed. This also happened about a week before Big Break Mesquite starting filming so they flew that ass-clown new guy out there from North Carolina and within days he was filming as host.
I missed Vince on Big Break. They need to replace the new guy.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Wait a second: Isn’t Tiger Asian? So what’s the big deal.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I wish they would replace both of them. Stephanie Sparks is useless, but yeah, I hear you on the new guy. I wasn’t a fan of the Big Break: Mesquite. None of the guys on the show seemed to have much personality. Lots of vanilla. There was no Jeff (from the initial show), Don Donatello, Tommy Two Gloves or any of the others characters. I couldn’t get into it.
And what was up with the hats the players were wearing? A number of guys wore plain white hats. They looked like such losers. Who plays golf in a hat that has no writing on it?
To bad to hear TGC is shooting down fresh ideas. I like the channel when it comes to insight into a big tourney but their coverage is lacking (not enough golf is shown) and the original programming just doesn’t seem to be there.
Ever seen that show, the traveling golfer on Fine Living? The show itself is stupid because they spend too much time away from the course they are supposed to be featuring but an idea like that seems as though it would be well suited on the Golf Channel? Pick a host and send them out to showcase the top courses and destinations. I would LOVE to see an hour long show all about the Old Course, Oakmont, Pebble or whatever else they could come up with. It actually shocks me that there are no shows even remotely close to this on the golf channel.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
@Dornoch – I believe Charles Davis was a wide receiver for Tennessee back in the 90s(?) maybe. Used to do sideline work for JP for SEC games down here in the South a few years ago anf then popped up on the Golf Channel.
January 9th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
@T-web
Go to the 1:19 mark of this video.
Racial Draft
January 9th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
@dornoch….I haven’t seen that show but there is something similar to it on TGC. They take former big break contestants and go to resorts….it’s not very good.
My guess on the white hats was that TGC would only let them wear certain brands and if they said NO, they had to wear the white. Think about it….If I knew I was going on BB, I would call up every company and tell them the deal and to send me a box of clothes and a check for $25k…..I would assume everyone was doing the same thing.
Can’t forget Kip dude!
peace
@ JAX22 – CD was a db i think
January 9th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Kip?
Oh you mean Keeeeeeeeip. Yeah, he was one of the guys I am talking about. Dave the guy who played with no shoes, Mark.
I had the same thought on the hats but why didn’t they just wear a Big Break hat or a hat from the resort they were at, something. Those white hats were awful.
I know the show you are talking about but that is more about silly competion. Not enough features about the course. I do like Stina though.