New York Post, Sunday, November 15, 2020
nypost.com
F
OLLOW the money. Always
follow the money.
When I was a kid, my dad oc-
casionally took me to Aqueduct,
where one day we hung out down-
stairs — near the rail and the rail-
birds of all financial standing, bar-
ons to bums. I wanted to see the
one jockey I knew of, the great An-
gel Cordero, ride from close up.
In Cordero’s first race, his mount
finished out of the money, and as he
and his horse headed back I couldn’t
believe the hateful words being hol-
lered at him well within earshot,
from, “You bleepin’ monkey man!”
to, “You’re a bleepin’ thief!”
I was stunned, upset. Why? My
dad explained that those men had
bet on Cordero and had lost their
money. Four or five minutes ear-
lier, he further explained, they
thought so much of Cordero they
bet on him; now they despised him.
It was then I learned to follow
the money.
Thursday, during the first round
of the first COVID Masters, a CBS/
ESPN telecast, players who fin-
ished were interviewed, all of them
asked to describe what it was like
to play on a near-empty course.
They agreed that it was strange,
that they missed the up-close ex-
citement the gallery provides. The
TV commentators throughout the
telecast were of a like opinion.
And that made me wonder if any
of them knew what was likely com-
ing when PGA events return to
“normal,” or at least a new normal.
Since the COVID pandemic be-
gan, the PGA and especially NBC’s
Golf Channel have worked tirelessly
to catch up to those sports that have
immersed themselves in legalized
gambling, in order to receive their
cut of a business entirely predicated
on fans losing their money.
If you don’t have a bet or two (or
three) on a game, you’re now a sec-
ond-class fan.
Golf, however, is different.
Where the losing gambler can di-
rect his or her ire — even hatred —at a losing football or basketball
team, most golf bets are placed on
individuals, thus the vitriol of bad
losers will not be shared. That’s
why pro tennis is so vulnerable to
match-fixing.
Add booze to the golf bet and live
galleries, previously occupied by
those starved for attention by
screaming, “You da man!” and,
“Get in the hole!” can verbally at-
tack a player after, say, a double bo-
gey, and from just a few feet away.
After all, public civility in any
arena has been trending extinct.I suspect we saw evidence of this
last year when the popular Jason
Day withdrew from Bay Hill after
six holes because of his chronic bad
back. Advised by doctors to stay ac-
tive, he then took his wife and three
kids to nearby Disney World, where
he was photographed, a photo that
soon hit Twitter.
Day was then vilified on “social”
media as a dog, a quitter faking an
injury. Who else would be driven
to such an excessive conclusion
than those who had bet on Day?
To GolfMagic magazine, Daysaid, “It’s like when you have a fan
yell at you on the golf course. You
can’t — you want to go over there
and get into him, but unfortunately
it makes you look bad. That’s the
same with social media.”
At the close of that piece, which
was very supportive of Day, ap-
peared a come-on that read, “Golf
Betting Tips, The Players Champi-
onship 2019.”
I hope I’m wrong about where
pro golf is headed, but we’ll see. I
wouldn’t bet against it. Follow the
money, even the worst kind.READER Rich Kinley:
“Had there been ‘instant’
replay in the 1972 Steel-
ers-Raiders ‘Immaculate
Reception’ game, the of-
ficials still would be re-
viewing it.”➤As if NBC’s Cris
Collinsworth doesn’t
talk enough, he has come
up with a new, long-form
term for receivers:
“Catchers of the foot-
ball.” As thrown by
throwers of the football?➤As seen on CBS’
Steelers-Cowboys,
there’s a new needless,
misleading, subjective
stat to consider: “Pres-
sure Rate.” Of course,
some plays are designed
for the QB to be pres-
sured; they used to be
known as screen passes
and pitch-outs.➤Congratulations to
Bears QB Nick Foles,
who last week left a guy
named Dan Marino in
his dust. Foles is now
27th in all-time QB pass-
ing ratings, while Marino
is 33rd.➤Francesco Molinari
was out of it early, this
Masters, thus CBS and
ESPN were able to ignore
both him and the com-
plete story of Tiger
Woods’ “amazing come-
back” to win last’s year’s
Masters. That win was
aided and abetted by Mo-
linari — who, about to
ascend to No. 1 in the
world, had a two-stroke
lead, but double-bogeyed
12 and 15.➤I’m worried about
the Nets. They haven’t
announced the addition
of another assistant
coach in almost two days.➤Party like it’s 2017:
The last time the media
extended the kind of
blind love it has be-
stowed on Steve Cohen,
was when the Mets re-
signed Yoenis Cespe-
des.➤I don’t want to say
his wife was on the heavy
side, but his obituary
read, “He died sur-
rounded by his wife.”Madness
abounds
in NFL
YES, it was weird when Jackson quit on air
The inexplicable firing
last week of three valued,
longtime YES Network
employees — Nets analyst
Jim Spanarkel, and Yan-
kees producer/director
team of Bill Boland and
John Moore — brings to
mind the night of April 16,
2008, the final game of an-
other desultory Nets sea-son, a loss to the Celts.
Late in the telecast on
YES, third-year analyst
Mark Jackson blew the
minds of YES executives
when he casually — and
bizarrely — said that this
would be his last Nets tele-
cast, he was leaving YES.
No one at YES knew
that. Though Jackson hadbecome a professional
communicator, his com-
munications with YES had
been poor — he previously
hadn’t bothered to inform
YES that he’d be a part-
timer, as he had accepted
an offer to call NBA games
on ABC/ESPN.
Not that many were
watching that night, butJackson dropped a fare-
well bomb on YES that
left a crater. Not many
conduct their exit inter-
views on the air.➤I’m tired of writing it
every year, so this time I’ll
let reader David Sacco
handle it:
“ESPN has the greatestgolf tournament at the
most iconic course in the
sport, and instead of show-
ing us golf, we have to
watch Scott Van Pelt and
Curtis Strange telling us
about how great it is.”
I suspect that Van Pelt
and Strange would be an-
noyed by such non-cover-
age TV coverage, too.EQUAL TIMEEQUEQUEQUEQUALALALAL
Phil Mushnick
people problem: Bryson DeChambeau
takes a shot from the rough during Round 2 of the
Masters on Friday. Only tournament officials were on
hand, instead of him being surrounded by a gallery
of fans, some of whom no doubt might have bet on
DeChambeau and been unhappy about his plight
and willing to voice their displeasure. Getty Images