David Feherty has had a decades-long career in golf broadcasting for CBS and NBC. He also hosted his 10th season of his eponymous interview series on the Golf Channel and has also worked for NBC’s Olympics.
But now he’s joining LIV Golf as a lead analyst in the Saudi-backed Startup League. (At the moment, the broadcast remains limited to YouTube and other streaming his platforms.) Feherty even received a typical bizarre welcome video of him produced by LIV.
LIV Golf’s latest signature?️ #LIV Golf pic.twitter.com/NnvhDxTXSc
— Liv Golf (@LIVGolfInv) July 22, 2022
So far this week the golf world has focused on things like Nick Faldo’s retirement and how the PGA Tour won an early legal battle with players trying to play in both LIV and Tour events. Feherty did, however, offer some transparency over the weekend as to why he took part. Liv. Speaking on stage at his charity gig in Toledo, Feherty cited multiple reasons.
David Briggs covered the Toledo Blade event. His breakdown is worth reading. Related quotes:
When asked recently why he left NBC to participate in the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series, the popular announcer and freak gave a blunt answer.
“Money,” he told me. “People don’t talk about it. They hear, ‘Well, it’s to grow the game.’ Bull…they paid me a lot of money.
That’s the reasonable answer! Of course, thanks to the funding source, it’s still a moral question. He’s not worth hundreds of millions already. Yes, sure, he was probably a lot more comfortable than comfortable, but it’s still another equation for him. But more than morals, it’s refreshing to hear someone say it out loud. After hearing the parade, I pretend to be about spending more time at home with my family in a damage control effort.
But it’s his further reasoning that throws Feherty off track. (David, you didn’t have to reason any further! You gave the court of public opinion the most favorable answer!) Feherty also said he has never been a chief analyst. pointing out that he, too, has been verbally argued by people. He is easily offended by his brand of humor.
“It’s a chance to be yourself again,” Feherty said. “It’s getting harder and harder to have any kind of character, especially in sports broadcasting. Charles Barkley can say almost anything he wants to say. And that’s just Charles. But I’m here I have become more and more wary over the years.
“There are people waiting around the corner, hoping to get upset about something. [Expletive] those people. Our lives are shaped by a small group of mean people with no sense of humor. This risks losing the public’s sense of humor. ”
Of course, this is the standard reasoning of the #CancelCulture crowd whenever they want to make a bad joke without facing the consequences. The idea that David Feherty, who is being paid ever-increasing amounts to speak on television, somehow had to operate within the kind of creative constraints that have hampered his career, is It feels ridiculous.
Even if you look at it obliquely, comparing it to Charles Berkley is like comparing apples and oranges. Beyond the fact that it means working for a product funded and monitored by the Saudi government, an entity unknown to the If so, he will return to the same boat.
I interviewed Feherty for this site and he was engaging, insightful, and a relief from Olympic jet lag. He even had to say “fuck” on the record. Had he persisted in pointing to the huge piles of cash delivered to his doorstep, this post would probably have been full of praise for his base level of transparency.
But to trot through the tired tale that being overly politically correct is somehow killing our national sense of humor (when you call golf for a living), he is as lazy as the on-air schtick has gotten in recent years.
[Toledo Blade]