[ Jigger has been rather busy lately. Brassie is a full time job. He has lost 3 pounds since she joined The Household, and he was certainly not overweight to begin with. He has been paying attention to golf. You can’t avoid paying attention to golf in this house. He has just been to busy playing with Brassie to feel like rant…uh, voicing his opinion. But you had to know that wouldn’t last forever. Perhaps because his new BFF is a girl, he has been paying more attention to woman’s golf lately. And he has a definite opinion on the recent turmoil surrounding Carolyn Bivens. Although actually the turmoil isn’t all that recent. People have been unhappy with her for quite awhile. But the situation has finally reached the breaking point. ]
So The Brand Lady is out. About time. If the woman had lost any more tournaments the tour would have disappeared. But now you gotta replace her. Who you gonna get? Well first and foremost, get a golfer. That was Bivens problem. Well, that and an apparent total lack of people skills. But look, as the owner of this blog ( who, by the way, totally forgot the biscuits this morning. She handed out some cheese, like that could substitute. Cheese or no cheese there better be biscuits tomorrow or I might just suggest to Brassie that a certain pair of shoes probably tastes really good. Just sayin’. Anyway. ) has repeatedly noted golf is nothing if not TRADITION. A golfer would know that. The Brand Lady didn’t.
When you got long time tournaments with long time sponsors you don’t go changing the rules on them. You don’t go telling them that now it’s going to cost them 3 times as much for tournament rights as it did before, especially when the economy is tanking around you. And then to top it all off, threaten to take them to court if they can’t afford it. Isn’t there some book out there about winning friends and influencing people? Never had any trouble with that myself, a wag of the tail seems to do it. But someone may want to get The Brand Lady a copy.
Way more than PGA tournaments, LPGA tournaments are community affairs. Held in the same towns, sponsored by those towns biggest employers. The same towns people volunteering at the tournament year after year. Tradition. That’s what kept the LPGA alive. Make those people mad and not only have you lost the tournament, you’ve lost a legion of long time fans. And that’s gonna hurt you a long time.
I know, I know, that’s not the way to make money and keep the tour going long term. Changes had to be made. And The Brand Lady did manage a nice TV deal. But she talked about revenue and player pensions, and then lost tournaments right and left, which sorta undercuts the main purpose the players are on the tour, to Play. What good is a pension if there are no tournaments to play in to earn money towards that pension?
Listen, I may be of a different species but I know a good lookin’ female when I see one. Instead of pissing off sponsors why wasn’t she out marketing Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressell? Every tournament has a pro-am, and most US Companies have an abundance of male executives. Why the heck wasn’t she offering a cut rate deal on tour sponsorship this year, with options for renewal when the economy was better? You can’t tell me those execs would have passed up a chance to play with those lovely ladies. For someone hired for her marketing expertise she sure doesn’t know how to make use of what she’s got.
So this time around, get a golfer. Someone who understands golf, and the tour, and tradition, and can deal with people without pissing them off. Someone for whom the LPGA as an organization means something more than a chance to demonstrate their business skills. Which she seemed to lack anyway.
Look, I…..ooooo, wait a minute. Squirrel on the fence at 2:00 and Brassie is busy with the neighborhood kids by the fence at the other end of the yard. Gotta go. Hate those damn squirrels………
[Standard disclaimer: The opinions of this particular poster are his and his alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of the owner of this blog. Also, may I just point out it was a very good sharp cheddar and I thought they would enjoy a change of pace from the biscuits. Apparently golfers aren’t the only ones who hang on tradition. ]
Loss of a friend is like losing a limb; time to allow the wound to reduce wound pain, but can not compensate for the loss of friends forever.
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