Why saying “lynch him in a back alley” won’t fly
“Lynch him in a back alley,” Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman said; needless to say, not a hole in one.
The remarks were made in reference to Tiger Woods, an African/Asian American who is widely regarded as the best player in the golf world.
Tilghman and her co-anchor Nick Faldo were talking about Wood’s potential challengers in their telecast of the Mercedes-Benz Championship after the second round, when Faldo said that because of Tiger’s play that his opponents should gang up on him. That’s when Tilghman said the words she most certainly must regret.
For those comments, Tilghman was suspended by her network for a two week period and drew the ire of many sports fans and analysts worldwide.
However, it wasn’t until GolfWeek magazine made the mistake of printing a noose on their cover of a recent issue (costing their editor his job) that the issue really took off.
Tiger finally addressed the media about the string of issues last Thursday at the beginning of the Golf Channel telecast. Woods claimed that Tilghman is a personal friend and that he had discussed the issue with her. He claimed that there was no malicious intent, and that all people say things at times that they don’t mean. Tilghman also offered a public apology.
Tiger is certainly the most recognizable face and name in the sport, and golf would not be where it is today without him. He carries himself in such a good manner, and his opinion should matter. But NFL Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown had a good point as well.
“The word ‘lynch’ … there is no redeeming part of it. That is a very embarrassing word, a humiliating one, in the history of our country,” Brown said.
Brown also said that Woods should have come out earlier and taken a harder stance on the comments that were made.
After hearing Brown’s eloquent response on ESPN’s “First Take,” I reconsidered my opinion. Tiger (though showing his undeniable class throughout this) should have taken more offense to this statement. These comments were completely unacceptable and the cover of GolfWeek was far worse.
However, as for coming out earlier, I’m glad Tiger did not. As the saying goes, “cooler heads prevail,” and time heals all wounds.
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Kelly does a great job of announcing golf. The team of Flado and Kelly make for an interesting program. Unfortunately for the her the news media blew it up and she suffered. She’s a better announcer than J. Nance who has no idea what’s going on without out the help of the tele-promter. They should replace him with Kelly.