On Monday of this week, Tiger Woods hosted an online video Q&A with questions provided by fans via social media. Not unexpectedly, the real media were outraged that Tiger had bypassed them, the only people who could really ask the right questions, in favor of fans who merely had an interest in Tiger’s life.
Eric Kuselias hinted on a tweet that the interview felt like something what would have taken place in Communist Russia. Other reporters’ comments included such phrases as ‘double-bogeyed’, ‘pure fluff’, ‘misses the mark’ and ‘too cool for Wells Fargo’.
Yes, the interview had a rather bizarre feel to it. There was Tiger alone in front of a plain screen. He looked more like he was undergoing a police interrogation than answering questions from fans. And, yes, it did have the feel of being ‘staged’ with the questions being pre-screened. But so what? Last time I checked, this was still America where people, even vaunted sports celebrities, can speak to whomever they want and whenever they want.
Now, I know that the PGA does have guidelines and obligations for its members to speak to the media, but, thanks mostly to the Golf Channel, I’ve seen enough of these interviews with Tiger to be less than impressed with the questions coming from real reporters.
I mean, seriously, how many different ways can someone ask Tiger how his knee is holding up and how his swing changes are going? The bottom line is that Tiger is so media astute that under all circumstances he only gives the media what he wants to give them. This time he decided to change the rules a bit. While I applaud him for being forward thinking, I would have liked the interview to have been a bit more spontaneous, but, in the end, I can see no harm in what did.
