Tales from the first tee
Stories about my life experiences and others as I work at one of the premier golf clubs in Charleston, SC. Interviews with golfers around the world that have one thing in common...the pursuit of excellence on a golf course and everything else that happens along the way.
Tales from the first tee
Golf, Gaffes, and Getting Fired: Tales from a World Gone Mad
CBS turned a weekend golf tournament into a living eulogy for commentator Ian Baker Finch while simultaneously covering Cameron Young's first PGA Tour victory, creating an awkward juxtaposition that diminished Young's accomplishment.
• IBF received an extended farewell after 19 years at CBS with constant tributes throughout the broadcast
• Cameron Young's victory and impressive golf was overshadowed by the IBF celebration
• Young's victory lacked the typical family celebration moment, with a noticeably uncomfortable post-win interview
• The recent firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erica McIntarfer demonstrates how messengers get punished for delivering unwelcome data
• An awkward diplomatic exchange revealed a lack of basic preparation when the Liberian President was complimented on his English - which is his country's official language
• Memory recall works differently for different people, with many finding multiple-choice recognition easier than fill-in-the-blank recall
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Music. You're tuned in to another episode of Tales from the First Tee. I'm Rich Easton telling tales from beautiful Charleston, south Carolina. Music Music. A lot to get through this week of mid-August.
Speaker 1:Kill the messenger, liberian president, saves his country, fill in the blank or multiple choices. But let me start first with the IBF Ian Baker Finch living eulogy while at the same time trying to commentate on Cameron Young's first ever possible win on the PGA Tour. Yeah, so, like I said, did commentator Ian Baker Finch, or IBF as they call him, did his last broadcast after 19 years at CBS overshadow golfer Cameron Young's first ever PGA win in Greensboro. But I feel it's only fair to warn you that this path you're on is quite treacherous and can lead to unforeseen consequences. Oh, no shit, sherlock. All right, let me give a little backstory to this. First, ian Baker Finch, or IBF. As an Aussie, ian started his pro career in Australia in 1979 and won his first pro tournament in 83 at the New Zealand Open. And he wasn't a one-hit wonder. He won 17 pro titles, including the 1991 Open. I still call it the British Open because there are just so many Opens in sports. He competed for 18 years and then turned to the broadcast booth for 30 years, of which 19 were at CBS. His style was marked by humility, insight and a deep love for the sport A vast contrast from Johnny Miller's pointed, unfiltered and straightforward, blunt style. You know it's funny. I don't remember him ever getting a send-off like Ian Baker Finch. You know IBF seemed to be liked by those he worked with and most who he commented about on the PGA. So I can see how many would miss him in the booth. I can see how many would miss him in the booth.
Speaker 1:Fast forward to two weekends ago and golfer Cameron Young does not have much of an on-air pleasant persona. He's been described as quiet, introverted, angry at times and serious on the golf course. I mean, his on-air resting face is a cross between a grumpy deep sea captain and a parking enforcement officer. But really, who am I to judge a man's ability and character by the demeanor in which the TV telecast is capturing him? Let's face it, golf is hard. It takes the utmost in concentration to pull off a great shot. Think about it. Have you ever seen a great shot executed in the middle of a belly laugh, grin or smile? I haven't. So I could understand those moments when he has to focus and get serious to hit a shot.
Speaker 1:It's the other four hours and 56 minutes of a five-hour television coverage between shots that has me thinking with a swing like Cameron Young's and it is a nice swing and the ability to play the hardest courses and end up on the leaderboard time after time. If Cameron has any dreams or plans to keep winning, he's going to be faced with Amanda Baleonas trying to emotionally pry him open with her post-round interviews, and his victory interview with Amanda after winning in Greensboro to me resembled a suspect's response to a murder investigation. I honestly thought he was going to plead the fifth after her second question. Like most golf fans and certainly listeners to this podcast, we like to watch the kind of golf that we could only dream of Driving the ball over 350 yards, 220 yard five iron approach shots over water that lands inches from the pin, or 60 foot snaking putts that find the cup to win the hole, the match or the tournament. And then heartfelt interviews after the round that reveal the relief of overcoming personal adversity, breaking through your mental blocks that prevent you from the best version of yourself, the revelation that your loved ones, who supported you through all of the hard times, get to see you do something you've never done Win on the PGA Tour. Well, none of that happened after Cameron Young won in Greensboro. As a TV spectator, this is what I got from the telecast. How many times over the weekend telecast can I learn about IBF? How many times do I have to listen to Jim Nance read notes from well-known golf celebrities and other celebrities about IBF? While I'm looking at the notes on this screen, I felt like it was a live eulogy during a golf event where golfers are clawing and trying to make the 70-person cut for the Tour Championship and FedEx, and a eulogy about IBF while Cameron Young is leading the field as many as eight strokes.
Speaker 1:On Sunday, the announcers got bigger than the game and don't get me wrong, great announcers make great sporting events even greater. By contrast, uninformed or unemotional sportcasters and commentators dilute from the greatness of the event. So I appreciate great commentators. Jim Nance, ian Baker, finch, trevor Emelman, dottie Pepper, frank Nobolo, kisner and Kaufman and, of course, amanda Baleonis, add to the brand of CBS golf sportscasting. They do their research and offer insights that make watching even more entertaining than going to the matches.
Speaker 1:A golf shot is a golf shot, but when you hear better than most better than most. It elevates the moment and captures greatness in a soundbite. Now, this is just me, but after watching for an entire weekend, 10 hours of coverage, I just think they could have consolidated IBF send-off into one segment bit and focused on the golf event for the rest of the time, and they basically talked about Ian Baker Finch on almost every soundbite over the weekend. It just got to be too much. And regarding Cameron Young, scott to be too much.
Speaker 1:And regarding Cameron Young, this kid was a prodigy in New York, winning the US Amateur event at 22 under par at Bethpage Black, the home of the upcoming Ryder Cup. He matched that at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro with 22 under par Great golf. As he walked up to the 18th green on Sunday with a comfortable lead. You would imagine him, like golfers in the past, taking off his cap, smiling at the crowd, giving them nods, eyeballing some of them, thanking them for their support, thanking them for their support. You would expect his dad, david Young, a known golf professional from Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarlesboro. You'd expect his mom, barbara, another ex-pro golfer, his wife Kelsey and his son Henry all running up to him after he putted out for his first win. I mean, I've just seen so many previous telecasts. After watching their son, daughter, brother or sister rise to the leaderboard Saturday night, catch a ride to the event on Sunday to root them on and celebrate their joyous occasion as they're hoping to hold on to their lead on Sunday.
Speaker 1:Well, folks, none of that seemed to happen for Cameron. His mom, wife, son and other friends and family had other plans that weekend and, despite his eight-shot lead on Saturday night and eight-shot lead on Sunday, they continued with their plans. And I don't know what their plans were. I don't know if Cameron said hey, stay away, you're bad luck. I know when I played lacrosse and my one of my parents came to the game, it would make me apoplectic. I didn't do my best. I remember one game I came off, I scored five goals first time ever, ever. And one of my parents says to me you know, your shirt wasn't tucked in. So I said please don't come to any more games. I think it's bad luck. So I don't know what his relationship was with his family members and whether they made him nervous, I don't know whatever.
Speaker 1:And then we see his father on the 18th green off to the side while his son is walking up and it's not like other parents I've seen. I just don't mean to be like this, but it just shook me. Funny, his dad is standing there. Maybe he doesn't like to be in the spotlight either. Maybe he doesn't want cameras on him. I know certain people are camera shy, but at the end, when Cameron puttered in and won, I was waiting for an Earl Woods and Tiger Woods moment. When Tiger won his first event, runs up in his father's arms, didn't see any of that and maybe the cameras didn't show it. You know, maybe Dave did give him a big hug and they cried together, but it seemed like his dad might have given him like a thumbs up when he won. And hey, maybe that was good enough for Cameron.
Speaker 1:From my standpoint, the only human-like response from Cameron was when he putts in, he wins, he walks off the green and says to somebody hey, where do I go now? I've never been here before. This is right before. Amanda grabs him and starts interviewing him and his interview was exciting as watching paint dry, and I think the team at CBS had a pretty good feeling that Cameron was going to win on Sunday, which meant they had to prepare for a snooze fest something rare with Amanda on the mic. So what did they do? Well, we have a saying in sales If you have nothing exciting to say, sing it. Flower up your presentation with PowerPoint, action buttons and sound to deflect the fact that the numbers that you're presenting are totally uninspiring. And I think that's what CBS did with Ian Baker Finch in his send-off, distracting the viewing audience with heartfelt, warm wishes.
Speaker 1:Before Cameron Young won, did an uncomfortable interview and then signed his scorecard. Now let me say this Cameron Young is fun to watch. During his 64 and 68 scoring rounds, his swing is like no other. He takes the club into a backswing and then seems to hesitate for the longest time and then powers through it and hits some incredible shots and his putting was on target. So he's fun to watch. He's a great player. I just have to turn around when he's going to do an interview. I have to go get a snack. Kill the messenger, don't kill the messenger.
Speaker 1:Last week, erica McIntarfer, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Commissioner, was fired because she revealed some job statistics 73,000 new jobs. Sounds like a big number, right, but our Commander-in-Chief wasn't having it, and you know what happens when he doesn't like a number you're fired, you're fired. You're all fired. All four are fired. You know, 73 000 seemed like a pretty good number to me if not for the fact that it was projected at 331,000 new jobs, or a quarter million jobs. Short man, that's a lot of jobs. Trump stated that the 73,000 was downwardly manipulated for political purposes. So I mean, why are the numbers so important? They're only jobs. Number is so important? They're only jobs. Well, the reflections on how his policy is affecting financial health. So it is a reflection on everything that he's doing. The reports also inform the Federal Reserve to set money policy and investors depend on the information to direct money. So they are important numbers.
Speaker 1:Erica didn't waltz into the job in 2024 and just post a number. The Senate, in an 86 to 8 vote, confirmed her position, including JD Vance. She had a long career as a valued statistician in the Census Bureau, treasury and White House. Maybe a person you don't want to go out and have a beer with, but somebody who you depend on for good research and good numbers. She is the bean counter in that obscure office down the hall, rarely invited to play in the reindeer games. Go out for a drink with cooler politicians, but she does her job. You have to believe her work and reports and the results were well thought out, detailed and were defended after any challenge from a politician or a business leader. She was just on the wrong end of data results and you would think in a perfect world that when presented with data like that, the commander-in-chief would say how did you get to those numbers? Let me understand that a little better. But our commander-in-chief is no ordinary politician or business leader.
Speaker 1:Bad news or personal accusations just don't roll off him like water off a duck's ass. They get berated, relegated, worse than Leicester City football. In effect, they get sent to the cornfield. You're a bad man, you're a very bad man, and you keep thinking bad thoughts about me. Wish it into the cornfield, please, son. Wish it into the cornfield Please, cornfield please. Bad or incriminating news about our commander-in-chief or or his policies have a shorter lifespan than a mayfly.
Speaker 1:So if you work in the administration, know this. Whenever your conscious tries to override the mission, as ridiculous or flawed as it might seem, you drink the kool-Aid and do whatever it takes, and you know what you have to do, particularly when you walk in the Oval Office with seemingly bad news and tell me everything is alright, but lie to me. Hey, let's face it. Who really cares about jobs data or the upcoming reports on the CPI or Consumer Price Index? Who cares? Well, just about every institution that determines our interest rates, pension, social security increases and tax assessment? You know, if we and when I say we, I mean our leadership if we overstate our jobs growth and understate our inflation, we could be in for an argentine-like financial collapse after they lied and misrepresented signs of an economy going in the wrong direction. It's happened before, you know. It's one thing to get a heads up on damaging data and then call in the commissioner to review the numbers and look for another way to massage the message. It's another to fire the messenger and tell the interim commissioner what you want to hear. But really is anybody but Akinfarver surprised about the firing? Not, if you watch Seasons of the Apprentice Liberian president speaks beautiful English.
Speaker 1:Remember when one of the jobs of world leaders was to be briefed by their staff on anything and everything that they needed to know before they met with other world leaders or champions of business? During my tenure in marketing, sales and category insights leadership, before every meeting with customers or vendors, I would want to know as much about the key decision makers as possible. Knowing your own shit is one thing, but anticipating how someone will react to a presentation is just as important. I liken it to playing high stakes poker your knowledge of their tells is as important as your knowledge of your own hand and the probability of winning. As a world leader, isn't it important to be curious about the projected outcome of a meeting by studying your opponent? Or is being the leader of the free world so much power that you don't need to know anything about the other countries, particularly if, in your last administration, you accused like countries as shithole countries, allegedly Like?
Speaker 1:This might be old news, but when Liberian President Joseph Bokai met our leader in the White House, he was complimented on his beautiful grasp of the English language and was asked where did you learn it? And I'm watching the interview and the president seemed to give pause. He wasn't sure exactly what to say, because English is their official language. Now, isn't that something that's covered in the pre-meeting briefings with the leader of the free world? You know, I would have enjoyed a retort from President Bokai. Ah, mr President, thank you for the gracious compliment, but as you know, english is the official language of Liberia. I am also impressed with your English. Where did you learn it? Look, while that would have been a great soundbite in a viral video, it would not have been a wise move for the Liberian president, particularly at the cost of the country's financial prosperity, power and influence.
Speaker 1:In a negotiation, isn't it wise to know who you're meeting with and refrain from one-upsmanship and cultural insults? I get that. Wielding the biggest gun in a negotiation is what politics is all about. Being nice gets you no respect, but being respectful while carrying a big stick disarms a potential international incident. I don't know, maybe political diplomacy is like a guy who walks into a precarious situation, lifts his shirt to reveal a large handgun tucked into his pants, smiles and says now we don't have a problem, do we?
Speaker 1:What's your best way of remembering anything and everything you've learned in the past? Fill in the blank or multiple choice. Name a reason a man thinks his wife looks as young as she did the day he married her Alcohol, that's the best answer I've ever heard. Have you ever been in a conversation and want to interject a name of a person, place or thing and find yourself struggling to recall that name? Well, welcome to my world and I'm sure, many of your worlds. Some in the medical community would say that the process of recall diminishes over time, particularly in midlife for women, but that's temporary and later in life for men. That's why we all tend to observe our partners fill in the blanks when we tell a story, with all these blanks when the name should be there Shortly after they rolled their eyes. For me this is a daily occurrence.
Speaker 1:Since I was in grade school, my ability to answer multiple choice questions or MCQs, correctly far exceeded my ability to recall specific facts in one of those fill-in-the-blank tests. I think my brain is wired by cue dependency. I store information that's triggered by hints. When faced with several options, either one of them stands out like a sore thumb, or by process of elimination I can usually get to the right answer. I usually say that I have incredible memory but just horrible recall, like if somebody were to ask me the capital of Mongolia, I'd struggle with the answer. It's a fill in the blank. But if somebody said which of these is the capital of Mongolia Islamabad, al-anbater, paris or Beirut I would choose Al-Anbater. I'd probably be right. But if somebody were to ask which of these four is the capital of Mongolia and they were all cities in Mongolia. Like Darhan Morone, erident and Olamptar, I would say shit, I don't know. And why are you asking me that question? All right, so my ability to use Q-dependence probably has something to do with one of them is obvious, or I already knew it, or the other ones were just so far off.
Speaker 1:Being wired with cue dependency is good for things like multiple choice questions, being in a particular setting that reminds you of the answer, kind of like Slumdog Millionaire, the movie, yeah. So I was watching Jeopardy the other night and I just find myself to know very few of the answers. And if I know it, there's no way I could have hit that bell as fast as some of those contestants. But then I was watching who Wants to Be a Millionaire with Jimmy Kimmel and I found, when there are four multiple choice questions, the one that I knew was so obvious to me until it got up to maybe 500,000 or more, and then none of the answers seemed like something I would know because that's why they asked a question at that level of money. But then you have the phone, a friend, 50%, ask Jimmy, ask the audience, and again, multiple choice helps me get down to what the answer is most likely.
Speaker 1:I'm impressed with people, particularly my age, that have flawless recall for names of people we met months ago, actors that run movies that we saw years ago and addresses of places we visited a while ago. And I can't even seem to recall the names of golfers I just get paired up with. By the time we get to the first green, we're shaking hands, we're saying our names, you're looking at them and then, by the time you get to the first green, you've probably hit one, two or three shots. That's what you're focused on. And now you have to say something to the guy you just met and you forgot his name. So you either go to their scorecard on their golf cart and maybe he wrote his name down, or you just have to wait for it or ask your buddy that you went there with. Maybe they remembered him, but most of the time nobody remembers anybody's names.
Speaker 1:It's probably more often than not that I'm sitting around with my partner and I either see somebody on TV or in the movies, or I'm reading about somebody and it reminds me of somebody else. So I start the conversation. It kind of goes something like this hey, you know the guy who was in that thing? What thing? All right, you know that movie we saw what year when? You're going to need to give me a little more detail than that. Okay, oh, cocoon. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Steve Guttenberg, no, no, that's the young guy, hume Cronin. No, he's too old. He's too old. Oh my gosh, they're all old. Don Amici no, now you're just showing off. No, the guy in the natural, the firm, the Quaker Oats guy. The Quaker Oats, wilford Brimley. Yeah right, don't you think he looks like Coach Andy Reid? I don't know who Andy Reid is. He's the guy who looks like Wilford Brimley. Oh my gosh. And you know, that's how my brain works and I think we play this game just about every day. And it's not a game to her anymore because I forget things. I think it's a form of the weave made famous by our commander in chief.
Speaker 1:Anyway, when I worked for a major oil company, starting out, I attended this Dale Carnegie public speaking course where they helped you remember names by association. What they would say is the sound that is most pleasant to everybody is having somebody else say their name. So when you meet people, you have to try to remember their names and then say it as appropriate as possible. My kids would laugh at me whenever we went out to lunch and our server was wearing a name badge and let's say her name was Tabitha, as she came to the table, I'm like, hey, tabitha, thanks, yeah, I appreciate getting this. I would say she came to the table. I'm like, hey, tabitha, thanks, yeah, I appreciate getting this. I would say Tabitha. Four or five times until one of my kids would say, hey, dad, knock it off. So here is the drill Whenever you meet somebody, you look at them and try and associate their name with something else that you could remember.
Speaker 1:Like you meet Fred Funkman and you have to relate him to the his first name with an image and then his last name with an image. So we do this drill and one of the guys in the class is Fred Funkman. So okay, I got it, fred. Um, fred Flintstone, got it, memorized it. I'm thinking of Fred Flintstone. Last name Funkman. Okay, I'm not going the dirty route. So let's say I see a man down on his luck in a funk. Okay, maybe it's Fred Flintstone. Just got fired from the stone quarry and he doesn't want to tell his wife, wilma, got it, got the picture.
Speaker 1:So now we have to stand up in front of the class and they're going to pick one person at a time. We're going to stand up and tell the five people that we just met what their names were, okay. And so I'm nervous about this and I'm like, okay, I hope I go last. And now the guy in front of the class, the instructor, is like, okay, who wants to start it out? He looks at his roster Okay, rich Easton. I'm like, oh fuck, okay. So here we go. I stand up, I look at Fred, I know it's Fred and I go Fred Firestone. And I looked at the other four and butchered their names as well, because my trigger clues made a clear relationship between their faces and something that was not their names. Dale Carnegie's name, recall, doesn't work as well for call it dyslexic with a slight case of ADD. But one good thing I did make the class crack up, so I got that going, which is nice.
Speaker 1:So, in conclusion, if you also prefer multiple choice over fill in the blank and you don't know somebody's name and you're relating a story, take it from me. You can A play the guess what I'm thinking game. B look it up before you speak. Or, c shut the fuck up, because nobody really cares about a story that they're not telling. Hey, thanks for staying till the end. You've been listening to another episode of Tales. I'm your host, rich Easton, telling tales from beautiful Charleston, south Carolina. Talk to you soon, thank you.