• GOLFWEEK TV SPECIAL REPORT: The Kelly Tilghman saga
Before this little non-story that has led to the unnecessary two-week suspension of Kelly Tilghman grows more legs than a caterpillar, allow me to weigh in with two words learned at an age when people put caterpillars in jars: Stop it.
Sure, Kelly Tilghman made unfortunate word usage in an off-the-cuff stab at humor. She’s not the first to make a quadruple bogey during TV happy talk.
Tongue slips are the dark side of on-air banter.
But when searching for truth, it’s usually prudent to examine intent. Tilghman and Tiger Woods are friends. They call each other. They text each other. She likes and respects him.
There was no ill intent when her loose lips used a bad verb.
The context is that she was responding to broadcast partner Nick Faldo during The Golf Channel’s second-round coverage of
the Mercedes-Benz Championship last Friday. When Faldo suggested young players gang up on Woods in an effort to beat him, Tilghman’s apparent attempt at a playful volley – “Lynch him in a back alley” – backfired.
Since, Tilghman has apologized to Woods and her viewers for her faux pas, and Woods’ agent has called the story a “non-issue.”
More Kelly Tilghman coverage:
• Rude: Keep Tilghman’s mistake in context
• Golf Channel suspends Tilghman for two weeks.
• Tough quotes: A history of insensitive remarks in sports• Was Golf Channel’s two-week suspension fair? Vote here.
“Tiger and Kelly are friends and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly,” Mark Steinberg, the agent, said in a statement Jan. 8. “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.”
Though this is about live chat gone sour, the story has been overblown. It has raised eyebrows, heart beats, dander, race cards and the basement-thinking voices on internet discussion boards.
Worse, context has taken a beating in respected news media outlets. An excellent New York newspaper used the misquote “lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley” out of context.
Rev. Al Sharpton, famous ambulance chaser, called for her job on CNN. And Roy S. Johnson,
Men’s Fitness editor, called for Tilghman to be suspended or fired in a blog posted on Yahoo.com’s home page. Never mind that his over-the-top and off-key weigh-in came after he admitted in his second paragraph that “I have not seen the clip, nor do I know the context of the remarks.”
The admission makes his take irresponsible and should disqualify him from fanning flames in front of countless eyeballs. Bad dominos fell as a result. Roy should know better. He’s been around the block, writing for
Sports Illustrated and
The New York Times.
As for Tilghman the broadcaster, you may like her or not. For certain, the former mini-tour player out of Duke is an attractive woman who brings ratings. One could argue that she’s better suited for the studio, where she’s seen and heard, rather than for a TV tower where she’s just heard.
As for Tilghman the person, know that she’s widely viewed as extremely nice. Unfortunately for her, the other day she was a nice person who spoke before she thought and ended up with a punishment that doesn't fit the crime.
Posted: 1/9/2008
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