Sports

NBC cons viewers from the very ‘start’

Even our national golf championship, once it’s sold to TV’s highest bidder then given TV’s preconditioned deception treatment, becomes a national con job, a sucker-bait enterprise, no regard for or design on anything better than maximizing ad revenue and network promotion.

Golf’s a game of honor, but not in TV’s hands.

NBC advertised that live coverage of Saturday’s third round of the U.S. Open would begin at noon. It was listed, as per NBC’s claim, for a noon start anywhere anyone looked.

But those who knew slightly better knew the first tee times weren’t until 12:28, thus there would be a 28-minute hype, promo and talk-fill — with lots of commercials, NBC network promos and cross-promos tossed in.

And, of course, tape — lots of tape — of Tiger Woods playing his first two rounds.

OK, such unadvertised 15-30 minute pregame shows are annoying, but nothing new.

But as live golf began on Saturday, NBC still had no intention to show it. In its first 65 minutes of U.S. Open coverage, only one shot was seen of a player taking a shot that counted. And it appeared as if it were being seen live — defending champ Webb Simpson hitting his first tee shot.

But, logically, it could not have been live, as Simpson, on a good-weather day, had been scheduled to start 12 minutes earlier.

It was not until 1:06, 66 minutes after signing on from Merion, when NBC showed its first discernibly live shot of a player — in this case, Bubba Watson — competing in the U.S. Open.

Until then, the telecast was soaked with come-ons encouraging a national audience to watch the U.S. Open on NBC, something many-to-most in that audience had been in place to do for more than an hour. In other words, the U.S. Open was being played — players on the course, playing — for 38 minutes before NBC finally decided to show us.

Until then, the live shots included Woods arriving at the course, Woods walking toward the practice area, Woods stopping to speak with Steve Stricker. Why televise the U.S. Open live, when you can show Tiger Woods walking around prior to playing?

Soon, NBC would be listing Woods as the leader among those who were also two-over, three-over, four-over …

The logic-based tradition of listing those who had finished or were further into their round at the top of the list among those with the same score — even in the U.S. Open — remains abolished by TV on behalf of feeding its Tiger Woods addiction — “Look, Tiger’s closer to the lead than the rest who have the same score!” — and TV’s standard reliance on deception.

But who among us, on a nice Saturday afternoon, would have tuned to the Open at noon, knowing we wouldn’t be seeing live Open golf being played for another one hour and six minutes? We got had. Again.

Eye know the truth, but Jacobsen doesn’t care

More Open: NBC’s Peter Jacobsen is another Macaronian cheese distributor, another don’t-believe-what-you-see, believe-what-I say guy.

Saturday, Charl Schwartzel’s ball was 15-20 yards short of an elevated green, no hazards between him and the hole.

“This is what I love about classically designed golf courses, here,” Jacobsen said. “American golf you’ve got to play in the air. Classic designed courses, like this, you’ve got to play close to the ground.

“And it looks to me like Schwartzel is going to take this and drag it right along the ground, try to get it to check and run right up that hill.”

Schwartzel then pitched it all the way to the top of that hill, from where it ran a few feet past the hole.

“And that’s exactly what he did,” said Jacobsen, despite very clear, unmistakable visual evidence to the opposite.

* Tying a record: After Billy Horschel hit all 18 greens in regulation on Friday, ESPN reported: “That’s the most in a single round at the U.S. Open in the past 15 years.”

Reader Ken Rogers of Lake Worth, Fla.: “Does that mean someone once hit 19 greens in a single round in regulation?”

* Too much of a good thing: If we’d have been shown fewer “While we’re young” USGA TV spots, we might’ve seen more USGA U.S. Open golf — while we were young.

It’s easier on the nerves to leave major golf coverage for features when those features are well done. To that end, NBC had a good weekend.

What do Johnny Miller and others mean when they say, “We have a great leader board”? Does it mean great players, popular players or both? What’s not a great leader board? Are unknowns and semi-surprises unworthy or undeserving?

Big story, but little coverage

Our “Sports Culture,” continued: Although it made little news and no noise, on Wednesday, in a Newark courthouse, Little League coach Henry Milstrey, 46 and the father of an 11-year-old player, admitted to initiating an assault two years ago on an umpire, also a Newark-region Little League president.

According to eyewitness testimony, after Milstrey began, he summoned young adult bystanders. Sixteen of them, apparently with nothing better to do, answered his call. Together they beat ump Robert Kevin Waters, 51, so brutally he was left with a fractured skull, teeth knocked out and impaired hearing.

Milstrey avoided the possibility of a 10-year prison sentence by pleading guilty to a third-degree aggravated assault.

Still, as opposed to what’s coming up on “Dancing With The Stars” and “American Idol,” it’s not the kind of story our local TV newscasts would cover, let alone report.

* The problem with those who “manage by the book” is that there is no book, and never has been. The Mets had three hits and no runs after eight innings yesterday, when the Cubs dutifully — it was, after all, a “save situation” — brought in closer Carlos Marmol. Five batters later, the Cubs were 4-3 losers.

* Think any Beatles fans had the winner of the feature at Monmouth on Saturday? Ju Ju Eyeballs paid $9.80.

* More from that 20-inning Marlins-Mets game: Reader Greg Moran and some friends took a ferry to the game from Atlantic Highlands, N.J.

There was one return trip — not until 30 minutes after the game! “We were stuck, stranded. And I’m a Yankees fan.”

* Anonymous suggestion for a Washington Redskins name-change: The Washington Surgin’ Generals.