Tiger and Tilghman: Context Is Important

Posted Jan 09, 2008 6:00PM By Ryan Wilson (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Golf

More on the Tiger-Tilghman flap, courtesy of Golf Week's Jeff Rude:

Tongue slips are the dark side of on-air banter. But when searching for truth, it's usually prudent to examine intent. Tilghman and Tiger Woods are friends. They call each other. They text each other. She likes and respects him.

"Tiger and Kelly are friends and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly," Mark Steinberg, the agent, said in a statement Jan. 8. "Regardless of the choice of words used we know unequivocally that there was no ill intent in her comments. This story is a non-issue in our eyes. Case closed."

Again, this doesn't absolve Kelly Tilghman of wrongdoing, or make what she said any less offensive. But it does give some context to the situation. (It's probably worth reading Rude's entire column.)

I wrote earlier that if Tiger Woods thinks it's a non-issue, maybe fans and the media should follow suit. Not in an effort to sweep the incident under the rug, which is certainly what The Golf Channel is hoping for, but because I'm not sure what good comes of firing, suspending or otherwise castigating Tilghman.

Were her words insensitive? Without a doubt. Should we have been offended? Unquestionably. But who benefits from her going on a three-month forced vacation? As far as I can tell, only those people who weren't crazy about Tilghman's on-air persona before last weekend. Since, you know, she doesn't have a history of making thoughtless, racially charged remarks.
Sorry, No Photos
I mean, look where that got us with Don Imus. After his idiotic "nappy-headed hos" comment, he was publicly humiliated, took a verbal beat down from Al Sharpton, and roughly six months later ... he's back on the radio.

While I admit to taking some perverse pleasure in listening to Sharpton lambaste a defeated Imus, it ultimately didn't change anything. Yeah, it made us feel good -- good versus evil and whatnot -- but that was fleeting. Race relations are no better in this country today because Imus was unemployed for half of 2007.

Tilghman made a mistake. A huge mistake. And based on her words -- and Woods' -- it was unintentional. She apologized, Tiger accepted. For him, it's a non-issue. For everybody else? Who knows.

Previously on FanHouse
Tiger on Tilghman: It's a Complete Non-Issue
Golf Channel Anchor Kelly Tilghman Says Young Golfers Should 'Lynch Tiger Woods'

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

1-09-2008 @ 8:12PM

Betty said...

I am an avid golfer ( age 70 ) and watch all PGA events. I think that Kelly is one of the very best analysis for golf. So she had a a remark that certainly wasn't meant to be raciest at all but the 'medi' gets so carried away with such 'political correctiness". Thank God for growing up in the 50's and 60's.

1-09-2008 @ 9:15PM

Teddy said...

Please people - only racist make racist statements!
She should be dealt with accordingly.

1-10-2008 @ 10:51AM

Harriet Brody said...

IS SHE KELLY TILGHMAN OUT OF HER MIND
I THINK SHE SHOULD BE FIRED, AND FINED. IF THERE WAS NO TIGER
WOODS TO ALWAYS PRASE ABOUT HIS A GAME THERE WOULD
BE NO GOLF. TIGER IS THE GREATEST GOLFER THAT EVER
LIVED. THAT WAS AWFULL WHAT SHE SAID. I DO NOT WANT TO LOOK AT HER ON THE GOLF STATION ANYMORE.
IF TIGER IS NOT IN THE FIELD TO PLAY I DO NOT WATCH
GOLF. WHY, BECAUSE HE IS SO EXCITEING TO WATCH. THE
OTHERS CAN'T PLAY GOLF AT ALL. NO EXCITEMENT AT ALL.
I HOPE TIGER WINS EVERY MAJOR THIS YEAR, AND A FEW MORE TO GO WITH THE MAJORS.
TIGER I LOVE YOU, YOUR FAMILY, AND I MISS SEEING YOUR DAD AT THE GAMES. BUT JUST REMENBER IF THERE WAS NO EARL THERE WOULD BE NO TIGER.
GOOD LUCK THIS 2008.
IF YOU PLAY I WILL WATCH.
HARRIET BRODY
wawamajic@aol.com

1-10-2008 @ 12:18AM

PAT said...

THIS IS JUST ABSOLUTELY STUPID. I FEEL VIOLATED AS A HUMAN BEING THAT SOMETHING SO INANE IS BEING BLOWN SO OUT OF PROPORTION. SHE MEANT NOTHING RACIST ABOUT THE REMARK, LET IT DROP AND GO ON WITH YOUR LIVES. WHY DOES THE SQUEAKY WHEEL ALWAYS GET NOTICED. WHERE ARE MY RIGHTS????????

1-10-2008 @ 12:17AM

1-09-2008 @ 10:23PM

hacknartie said...

maybe i'm wrong but why is it that in this day and age a person has to watch everything they say.
tell me this: next time I take my dog to the vet and he calls her a bitch should I raise a whole media blitz. Or When i've forgotten something and say I had senior moment are they going to picket outside of my house. or a blond moment Also you better not watch "the man from Snowy River" it's also said in there and it does not refer to anything racist.
We the people of the UNITED States need to stand as one and worry about the issues that are happening in every city. ie; robbery, rape, murder.
we should not have to have an issue of worrying about saying something, and have it misconstrued by someone who only hears what they want to. and to never even for one second expand thier self centered selves and realize the not everything is about them. I can also asure you that every single person who reads this has had somthing totally misconstrued in their life time. Hang in there Kelly

1-10-2008 @ 10:08AM

Serious said...

Certain jobs have certain responsibilities, and there's a time and
place for everything. If you want to say whatever you want and not
be held accountable, live in a bar or the woods.

Professional announcers and writers cannot use offensive language and
keep their job, because they've crossed the line and have rendered
themselves unprofessional. Period.

And those who whine about political correctness and over-sensitivity,
NEVER complain when Jews make accusations of anti-Semitism if they
don't like how Hitler or concentration camps are referred to in
public. No one tells them to lighten up.

Lynching, concentration camps, gas chambers, reservations, death
squads, slavery, ethnic cleansing and genocide are all terms that
have bloodshed, scars and wounds associated with them. Any public
references to ethnic persecution cannot be taken lightly.

Regardless of how Tiger Woods took the comment, he wasn't the only
one listening (not that the Golf Channel has signicant ratings during
her show). She does not deserve to keep her job.

1-10-2008 @ 10:40AM

Bill McDonald said...

An example of how anti white bias is ignored would be the remarks of Sir Charles Barkley and his "I hate all whities". No one really believes Barkley hates all white people but why was his comment completely ignored and this young woman is being "lynched" by the politically correct, liberal idiots?

1-10-2008 @ 10:36AM

1-10-2008 @ 12:06PM

Richard said...

Instead of jokingly using the word lynch, maybe Kelly Tilghman should have used, again jokingly, the much more common phrase "kick his ass" or "beat the crap out of him." Had she done so, I'm sure there would be no controversy at all or even the slightest hint of racism.....right???

1-10-2008 @ 5:41PM

Bob Kaspar said...

"Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical
liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media,
which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a
turd
by the clean end."

1-10-2008 @ 5:39PM

Because of my German accent I've been frequently called a Kraut. Should that have bothered me? Why? I am a Kraut, just like a Jap is a Jap and a Black is a Black.
Come to think of it we Americans ( yes, I was born in the US) of German descent should demand that reruns like Hogans Heroes e.t.c. should be banned. We are offended by the way they depict German soldiers and the German people....LOL

1-10-2008 @ 8:09PM

Beck Ward said...

I agree with post #1. I played the LPGA Tour for 4 years...it's been awhile ago. I very rarely watch golf on TV, and was not a Golf Channel Fan until they brought Kelly & Nick Faldo together. I think they are great, and they are the only reason I watch the golf channel and the broadcasts they do together. Give the girl a break, my gosh, no harm intended- did they ban the actor in Casablanca for saying "Damn"? I think not, it's just the environment we exist in now. This is probably one of the many reasons Tiger is winning fans over- he's just a little (Duh) sharper than the media

1-10-2008 @ 8:52PM

To post #9- you obviously can't spell and have no clue how good a player has to be to get on tour, I agree Tiger is one great player, he has my respect. However, I also feel that it is not fair to compare different era's in golf. Nicklaus still has more majors, played on courses not as well manicured, with older technology, then go back farther- Arnold Palmer- until he came along, Golf was a sport for guys that were crappy athletes and not itellectual enough to get a college education, and before that - duh- there was Ben Hogan & Bobby Jones- you need to brush up on your golf history before you make your comments- feel free to e-mail me

1-10-2008 @ 8:55PM

To Betty, post #1, feel free to e-mail me: fsseminole77@aol.com. I wish I would have been born earlier! Most of my closest friends are early 70's and 1 is 84. Keep Golfing!!

1-10-2008 @ 9:25PM

PCgolfer said...

American society has come a LONG way since the days of the Civil Rights movement. Yet, Kelly's flippant comment did touch a raw nerve with those who have been victimized by racism or whose ancestors suffered far worse. The Golf Channel's Tiger Week did a piece on the obstacles that faced Black golfers on the tour that provided a little perspective...but you can't separate the word "lynch" without those ugly images of victims hanging from trees.

1-10-2008 @ 11:16PM

Don T said...

I'm one of Tiger Wood's biggest fans, but his condoning this historical insult is outright cowardly. He has a monumental opportunity to strike an earth shattering blow at an evil like racism nd he just sits there? Well he can't just wish racism away. And he can't marry it away either. Anyway, it's not up to just him to let a nationally broadcast racist slur go. It's an insult to all blacks. Like Sharpton said, if she had said the best way to stop a Jewish superstar was to throw him in an oven, would it be a non-issue? People, it gets no more racist than this. This lady's comment is the history of American racism in a nutshell. It's right up there with Barbara Bush's comment that the blacks who stayed in the Astro Dome after Katrina were just fine cause they were "underprivileged anyway." And that wasn't racist either, I guess. Or Imus, or Al Kampanis, or Fuzzy Zueller, or the cops that beat Rodney King, or the ones who shot Amadou Diallo 'cause he took out his wallet on his own door step, or the bruts who dragged James Byrd to death. It comes from the same deep-seeded racist place. Period. And the lack of a strong response to all these "isolated incidents" which, according to those who don't know any better, had "no racist intent," just lets America continue its collective denial that this society is permeated with racism, which, by the way is the worst problem America continues not to face today.

Thank God Al "Sharp Tongue" has enough clout to bring national attention to this outrage. It hurts to have to have to leave the Tiger fan club, but this is too important, way beyond golf. But in a way, I do have to agree with those who say Sharpton should be quiet. Yeah,it's past the time for blacks to move beyong talk.

1-10-2008 @ 11:51PM

Bob Brancato said...

The marketplace and court of public opinion will determine the punishment, if any, for Ms Tilghman. Don't think the Golf Channel won't launch her if the controversy continues or ratings are affected. I'm sure she's not sleeping well of late.
Without microphones would the Rev. Al exist? Can I receive the same tax benefits as his church. We're equally religious I think. Oops, taxes, sore subject.

1-11-2008 @ 6:27AM

Judith Anderson said...

racism rears it's ulgy head again. some people think we (blacks) have come a long way but invariably we come back to reality. Tiger you have been given great gift, there-fore much is expected from you.Give the glory to GOD and remember the values your parents taught you. You make me proud and I wish only good things for you and your lovely family

1-11-2008 @ 1:58PM

Kuriakos said...

I’m not quite sure people have the proper perspective on this issue. The issue isn’t between Tiger, Kelly, and Nick. This also includes the millions of others that were privy to the statement, and the millions more that will hear about it later. An extremely racially derogatory remark was made. Remember the Jena Six incident and other recent stories that followed making references to an African-American Holocaust involving lynching. It is a sensitive issue to a group of people who are very sensitive about it. Respect at least that much. It is the responsibility of the highly visible impact educators to guard their public conduct. Heck, the athletes the sports commentators are quick to jump on have morality clauses in their contracts that would strip them of their careers and a similar standard should be held against the news a sports commentators. I like Kelly, as a golf analyst, golfer, and a pretty good looking female, but what she did accidentally in the forum she did it, has a price to pay. I believe the Golf Channel saw it the same way. Actually, I truly believe Kelly would also say the Golf Channel’s suspension was justified. Wonder if a different story would have arose had she said “If the younger guys are going to beat Tiger, they will have to jump him and knock Buddah out of him.”? Hummmmm.

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