As I said earlier in the week, I both love and hate the schmaltzy opening sequences narrated by Jim Nantz that precede the coverage on the weekend. You get the artsy shots of the dogwoods and the azaleas, you get extreme close-ups of the faces of the players in the hunt, and some ridiculous text narrated in Nantz's "dramatic" voice about how a victory will forever change the life of the winner. My response to these openings always takes three parts:
1. Before the opening starts: I'm thinking I don't want to see this stupid thing I just want to watch the golf tournament.
2. During the opening: I totally get sucked in. I love the Masters. It's the greatest tournament ever, and despite his cheesiness, I love that Nantz loves the tournament as much as I do.
3. The opening is over: I feel energized and ready to watch my favourite sporting event for the next few hours, but a little voice in the back of my head is saying: "You should really be ashamed of yourself for getting sucked in by that schlock". I quickly tell that voice to shut up and we're right into the golf.
Some other thoughts on CBS's coverage:
Faldo is terrific. Funny, extremely knowledgeable and while he and Nantz have had a few hiccups in developing their on-air relationship, I think they compliment each other very well.
Bobby Clampett was terrible and having Ian Baker-Finch replace him is one of the best things to happen to major championship coverage in ages. Clampett was obviously disliked by the other members of the CBS announce team, his endless discussions of foliage and the undertones of his religious "faith" constantly making their way into his commentary made me hate the Amen Corner part of the telecast. If you can imagine!? Baker-Finch is clearly well-liked by all, and always provides interesting insight.
Another criticism of Clampett is that his calls were awful. He's the polar opposite of Verne Lundquist. Where Verne will say something awesome and simple for a big shot, Clampett will talk too much and say almost nothing, punctuating a great shot with an non-verbal exclamation rather than a brilliant call.
Couple other things: Augusta National showing golf 56 minutes out of every hour makes it incredibly unique among golf tournaments. They don't allow CBS to do any promos for their shows either, so you get none of those irritating: "Tonight on 60 Minutes...".
Casey has birdied 2 and clearly is the most confident player on the course. Tiger is even through 2. Phil finally parred the 6 hole and is even on his round through 6.
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