Michelle Wie Joins CBS broadcast team.

[Quigleyd]

Looks Like Michelle Wie will finally go to the masters.Time will tell but I think this could be a decent move. 

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/michelle-wie-trevor-immelman-joining-cbs-sports-as-network-continues-golf-overhaul

[vrnyn]

Nice addition for CBS, not sure if her playing days are over?

[PlaidJacket]

"Adding Wei - the "biggest name in the announcement?". Have they never read or heard of Love's career? 15 PGA wins including one major - Hall of Fame, etc. 16 other non PGA professional wins. Michelle Wei - 5 LPGA wins including one major. Period! That's it.

[Berg Ryman]

So, Wie is the headliner here in this hiring annoucement and I think her taking an Amanda Balionis role to start, doing prepared pieces about the area and tournament, interviews, and some on-course or booth work will ease her in and I think she's going to be very good.

The big get in my opinion is adding Trevor Immelman, I love Trevor when he did the PGA for TNT and adding him with his brother Mark could lead to an interesting dynamic, maybe some playful ribbing a'la the Feherty/McCord days. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he finds himself in bigger spots than some may expect a rookie, taking to this like duck to water.

On the subject of DL3, I'm not sure how's he's going to transition. He strikes me as an Azinger type who I absolutely do not enjoy in the booth. Maybe I'll be wrong. He'll likely be the secondary 18th tower team with whomever behind Nantz and Faldo while likely doing featured hole coverage to start.

In a perfect world, someone (NBC, CBS, or Fox) would hire Michael Collins away from ESPN and stick him on broadcasts for on-course duties because I think people would love him more than they love Bones right now.

[Mr. 82]

20 hours ago, PlaidJacket said:

"Adding Wei - the "biggest name in the announcement?". Have they never read or heard of Love's career? 15 PGA wins including one major - Hall of Fame, etc. 16 other non PGA professional wins. Michelle Wei - 5 LPGA wins including one major. Period! That's it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davis_Love_III

Davis Love III has 21 PGA Tour wins, and is lifetime exempt.  

I don't know who is making the decisions at CBS, but I can think of at least 5 or 6 other women golfers who would make a better on air presence than Michelle Wie.  Sure, why not.  Let's make a list shall we?

• Blaire O'Neal
• Holly Sonders
• Anna Rawson
• Paige Spiranac
• Natalie Gulbis
• Paula Creamer

I mean, some of these women on this list https://www.fanbet.com/sports-article/hot-female-golfers/ don't speak English all that well, but man, do we really care?  This is TV - as in you look at it.  As for me, all Michelle Wie says to me is "do not want"!

[Quigleyd]

5 minutes ago, GSwag said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davis_Love_III

Davis Love III has 21 PGA Tour wins, and is lifetime exempt.  

I don't know who is making the decisions at CBS, but I can think of at least 5 or 6 other women golfers who would make a better on air presence than Michelle Wie.  Sure, why not.  Let's make a list shall we?

• Blaire O'Neal
• Holly Sonders
• Anna Rawson
• Paige Spiranac
• Natalie Gulbis
• Paula Creamer

I mean, some of these women on this list https://www.fanbet.com/sports-article/hot-female-golfers/ don't speak English all that well, but man, do we really care?  This is TV - as in you look at it.  As for me, all Michelle Wie says to me is "do not want"!

I am not sure any of them other than Paula Creamer could sound intelligent at all. Paige? No.  Holly? Wrong again. 

[Mr. 82]

Just now, Quigleyd said:

I am not sure any of them other than Paula Creamer could sound intelligent at all. Paige? No.  Holly? Wrong again. 

Who cares what they sound like.  This is TV man.

[Quigleyd]

7 minutes ago, GSwag said:

Who cares what they sound like.  This is TV man.

honestly, I do. I am not that interested in just eye candy. There is plenty of that other places. I want quality golf related content. I am not sure yet if Wie can provide that. But, I am willing to give her a shot. Holly is too concerned with being an instagram model these days. Paige... don;t even get me started. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

58 minutes ago, GSwag said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davis_Love_III

Davis Love III has 21 PGA Tour wins, and is lifetime exempt.  

I don't know who is making the decisions at CBS, but I can think of at least 5 or 6 other women golfers who would make a better on air presence than Michelle Wie.  Sure, why not.  Let's make a list shall we?

• Blaire O'Neal
• Holly Sonders
• Anna Rawson
• Paige Spiranac
• Natalie Gulbis
• Paula Creamer

I mean, some of these women on this list https://www.fanbet.com/sports-article/hot-female-golfers/ don't speak English all that well, but man, do we really care?  This is TV - as in you look at it.  As for me, all Michelle Wie says to me is "do not want"!

Paula is still playing and the others aren’t that great at interviews (haven’t seen Anna do any) and Blair is ok on tv with Martin hall. Holly bombed as both an interviewer and on set jist with fox.

 

52 minutes ago, GSwag said:

Who cares what they sound like.  This is TV man.

Yes it matters. Balionis is decent at interviews and sounds terrible to me and I avoid listening to her. It’s more than looks when tryin to grow audience. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

21 hours ago, PlaidJacket said:

"Adding Wei - the "biggest name in the announcement?". Have they never read or heard of Love's career? 15 PGA wins including one major - Hall of Fame, etc. 16 other non PGA professional wins. Michelle Wei - 5 LPGA wins including one major. Period! That's it.

You have to consider who they are trying to attract. Millennials and younger crowd don’t know DL3 so while he is a big name to golf fans he is an unknown to those that aren’t avid fans where Michele wie has a much bigger following. 

[tony@CIC]

On 12/3/2019 at 1:21 PM, vrnyn said:

Nice addition for CBS, not sure if her playing days are over?

I agree she's a nice addition. As to her playing days - she's had so many injuries and challenges (like putting), it would be tough for her to compete with the rising stars. She should attract a younger crowd to TV Golf.  

[fixyurdivot]

I think she'll do well in this role and wish her luck with the new gig.  I suspect she'll continue to play in select events simply because she is still young and, while injury prone, by no means unable to still compete. As for the Davis Love getting slighted, I'm pretty sure he could care less.  

[GaDawg]

What a Joke! I think she won five tournaments, but withdrew from one tournament to prevent shooting a score so high that she would not be eligible to play in future events. I am sorry, but will miss my first Masters telecast if she in on it.

[RickyBobby_PR]

7 hours ago, GaDawg said:

What a Joke! I think she won five tournaments, but withdrew from one tournament to prevent shooting a score so high that she would not be eligible to play in future events. I am sorry, but will miss my first Masters telecast if she in on it.

What does her playing career have to do with her ability to be a commentator...she does have a major.

Charlie Rymer, Paige McKenzie and Robert Damron are/were some of the best Morning Drive personalities and do a good job working events as well and they have less wins than Wie combined.

 

[sixcat]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

What does her playing career have to do with her ability to be a commentator...she does have a major.

Charlie Rymer, Paige McKenzie and Robert Damron are/were some of the best Morning Drive personalities and do a good job working events as well and they have less wins than Wie combined.

 

Notah Begay, Phil Blackmar, Curt Byrum, Billy Ray Brown, Jerry Foltz, Matt Gogle, Billy Kratzert, Frank Nobilo, Mark Rolfing, Jim "Bones" Mackay, Peter Kostis, David Feherty, Gary McCord, Aron Oberholser, Jim Gallagher Jr.................................................................................

Besides, she can't possibly be as bad as DLIII!!!!!

[russtopherb]

9 hours ago, GaDawg said:

What a Joke! I think she won five tournaments, but withdrew from one tournament to prevent shooting a score so high that she would not be eligible to play in future events. I am sorry, but will miss my first Masters telecast if she in on it.

I'm sure the telecast will sorely miss your viewership.

[RickyBobby_PR]

40 minutes ago, sixcat said:

Notah Begay, Phil Blackmar, Curt Byrum, Billy Ray Brown, Jerry Foltz, Matt Gogle, Billy Kratzert, Frank Nobilo, Mark Rolfing, Jim "Bones" Mackay, Peter Kostis, David Feherty, Gary McCord, Aron Oberholser, Jim Gallagher Jr.................................................................................

Besides, she can't possibly be as bad as DLIII!!!!!

that list has some really good commentators with les than “stellar” careers. Nails the point the career achievements don’t equate to performance on air commentary. 
 

Wie did a good job in studio for the golf channel during the solheim cup. 
 

 

[sixcat]

15 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

that list has some really good commentators with les than “stellar” careers. Nails the point the career achievements don’t equate to performance on air commentary. 
 

Wie did a good job in studio for the golf channel during the solheim cup. 
 

 

Curt Byrum and Frank Nobilo are the two best on-course commentators in the business.  Byrum is the most underrated commentator in professional sports in my opinion.  He is pleasant to listen too, extremely knowledgeable and doesn't talk to hear himself talk.  I would add Shane Bacon and Brad Faxon to the list as well.  They would be the lead duo in the booth of my preferred broadcast team. 

Peter Kostis was on my short list as well until CBS dumped him for Dru Love's dad.

[RickyBobby_PR]

28 minutes ago, sixcat said:

Curt Byrum and Frank Nobilo are the two best on-course commentators in the business.  Byrum is the most underrated commentator in professional sports in my opinion.  He is pleasant to listen too, extremely knowledgeable and doesn't talk to hear himself talk.  I would add Shane Bacon and Brad Faxon to the list as well.  They would be the lead duo in the booth of my preferred broadcast team. 

Peter Kostis was on my short list as well until CBS dumped him for Dru Love's dad.

Agree with everything up to dl3 only because I haven’t watched/listened to anything he’s been on. Golf is usually on my split screen or it’s background noise while I’m doing other stuff

[sixcat]

I have a couple of thoughts following the press releases yesterday. With Golf Channels TV rights fees going up 50% in the new deal, cost cutting measures were inevitable. They will save millions through attrition. Many of the Golf Channel on-air personalities won’t move to Connecticut.

Tony Romo’s $17 million contract with CBS has to include him being prominently featured in the CBS golf coverage, right?


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[fixyurdivot]

On 2/29/2020 at 6:29 AM, sixcat said:

Tony Romo’s $17 million contract with CBS has to include him being prominently featured in the CBS golf coverage, right?

Let's hope not .  Thus far not overly impressed with Cristie Kerr's debut with TGC broadcast team - but perhaps it's just new job jitters.

[tony@CIC]

2 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

Let's hope not .  Thus far not overly impressed with Cristie Kerr's debut with TGC broadcast team - but perhaps it's just new job jitters.

I felt the same way on Christie, even though I like her as a player. She had to be prompted a couple of times and even then gave short responses. Maybe just new job jitters. Michele is a bit more flamboyant so I expect her to be overly talkative. Hope Amanda doesn't go away I think she does a nice job in the post round interviews. 

[HardcoreLooper]

1 minute ago, tony@CIC said:

I felt the same way on Christie, even though I like her as a player. She had to be prompted a couple of times and even then gave short responses. Maybe just new job jitters. Michele is a bit more flamboyant so I expect her to be overly talkative. Hope Amanda doesn't go away I think she does a nice job in the post round interviews. 

It's unfortunate that they're not televising KFT events right now; they could have gotten her a couple of starts in a lower pressure environment.  She's still not great yet, but she's much better than when they first threw it to her and she was stumbling to get anything out of her mouth.

[TR1PTIK]

Michelle Wie is very personable which I think will be nice. Too many commentators sound a bit stiff IMO and if her personality comes through on the telecast, I think it will be good. The only thing I could think that would make her less than ideal is her propensity to kinda mumble sometimes. I think as long as she speaks clearly, she'll do okay.

[RickyBobby_PR]

7 minutes ago, TR1PTIK said:

Michelle Wie is very personable which I think will be nice. Too many commentators sound a bit stiff IMO and if her personality comes through on the telecast, I think it will be good. The only thing I could think that would make her less than ideal is her propensity to kinda mumble sometimes. I think as long as she speaks clearly, she'll do okay.

All the articles I read about the announcement mentions the great reviews she got during solheim cup coverage when she was in studio analyst. I watched a few of the spots she after post round and I thought she was good. I’m sure it has to do with her personality and attitude

[Quigleyd]

I wonder if and how her role will change with her being pregnant. I wonder when she is due? 

[caddyshak]

Michelle Wie is good an all. But will she bring what Ken on the course brings? 

I think not

[RickyBobby_PR]

18 minutes ago, caddyshak said:

Michelle Wie is good an all. But will she bring what Ken on the course brings? 

I think not

Unless you have seen some sort of update I don’t think her role has been defined so she may not be on the course at all. 

She has been great in studio work for solheim cup coverage. 

[caddyshak]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Unless you have seen some sort of update I don’t think her role has been defined so she may not be on the course at all. 

She has been great in studio work for solheim cup coverage. 

My comment was totally tongue in cheek. I expect you are probably in the US and dont get the privilege of watching BBC coverage of the masters and the Open to appreciate the absurdity of Ken on the course. 

For what it's worth, I expect Michelle would make a totally competent and entertaining pundit at PGA events. I would happily replace most of the sky sports pundits for her 

[Middler]

I don't get the criticisms of Wie based on her LPGA record. Being a sports commentator is a different skill, it's not solely based on your professional sports experience. Wie's record is more than qualifying. Lots of great commentators haven't played the sports they comment on professionally. And some of the greatest pros wouldn't be competent broadcasting.

I also find the eye candy aspect sad. Unfortunately, it's a factor in ratings, but there's nothing wrong with Wie's appearance. I'd rather have a competent pleasant commentator than a mediocre beauty commentator. YMMV