To hear the sportswriters tell it, it was \u201cthe best round of his life\u201d… \u201ca most improbable win\u201d… \u201ccompleted in stunning, awe-inspiring fashion\u201d…<\/i><\/p>\n
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On Sunday, golf\u2019s most popular lefty, Phil Mickelson, captured the coveted Claret Jug, as the winner of this year\u2019s British Open.\u00a0 He was 5 strokes behind the leader when the day began, and as one writer penned, \u201cMickelson barely got a mention on the broadcast.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
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Before we continue, friends, let me offer an initial, concise caveat.\u00a0 While the Intramuralist is without question a lover of sports, this is not a sports post.\u00a0 Not at all.\u00a0 In fact, with all due respect to the male members of my extended family, I\u2019m actually not incredibly passionate about watching that little white, dented ball be smacked around on the grass all day.\u00a0 Play and partake?\u00a0 Gladly.\u00a0 Watch 4 hours on TV on a regular, weekend basis?\u00a0 No way.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a little (ok, maybe a lot)<\/i> too slow a sport for me.<\/p>\n
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Being that sports lover, however \u2014 and living in a household uniquely dominated by testosterone \u2014 it\u2019s rather important that I am \u201cup on\u201d and equally knowledgeable regarding all that occurs in the athletic world; we have some great conversations around our house.\u00a0 Hence, I subscribe to regular sports updates from ESPN, the unquestionably successful Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.\u00a0 Throughout the British Open, they sent me multiple daily texts, alerting me to the Open\u2019s current status.<\/p>\n
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Here\u2019s the non-sport-aspect challenge…<\/p>\n
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All 4 days of the British Open, ESPN sent me updates about Tiger Woods.\u00a0 Tiger was never in the lead.\u00a0 He spent most days somewhere around 6th place.\u00a0 But every text from the sporting news network \u2014 save for when Mickelson finally seized the lead \u2014 included information about Tiger Woods.\u00a0 In fact, going into Sunday\u2019s final round, when Tiger had crept to a then current second place tie, the person with whom Woods was actually tied with was omitted from ESPN\u2019s tweets.\u00a0 ESPN\u2019s British Open tweets were always focused on Tiger Woods, regardless of who was performing better.<\/p>\n
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My \u201ca-ha\u201d moment came somewhere between rounds 3 and 4…<\/p>\n
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Does ESPN think I only care about Tiger Woods?<\/i><\/p>\n
Why are they so seemingly fascinated with him?<\/i><\/p>\n
Who then is deciding what is \u201cnews\u201d?<\/i><\/p>\n
Is the network <\/i>deciding for me<\/i><\/b> what\u2019s newsworthy \u2014 even if it\u2019s not?<\/i><\/p>\n
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I wonder.<\/p>\n
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I wonder how often media outlets dictate our news.<\/p>\n
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Are there times the media omits relevant information because of what they feel will gain greater ratings?\u00a0 … a larger audience?\u00a0 … and increased revenue?\u00a0 Are they, then, actually dictating what is \u201cnews\u201d?<\/p>\n
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For the record, the answer is Hunter Mahan.\u00a0 Hunter Mahan was the professional golfer tied with Tiger heading into the fourth and final round of this year\u2019s British Open.<\/p>\n
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Note:\u00a0 the Intramuralist will never intentionally omit a relevant detail in order to sway your response.\u00a0 We will not be the decider \u2014 nor, uh, the manipulator \u2014 of what is actually news.<\/p>\n
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Respectfully,<\/p>\n
AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To hear the sportswriters tell it, it was \u201cthe best round of his life\u201d… \u201ca most improbable win\u201d… \u201ccompleted in stunning, awe-inspiring fashion\u201d… On Sunday, golf\u2019s most popular lefty, Phil Mickelson, captured the coveted Claret Jug, as the winner of this year\u2019s British Open.\u00a0 He was 5 strokes behind the leader when the day … <\/p>\n