Bob Costas, its easy to criticize someone when you have nothing to lose

Bob Costas criticizes CBS for failing to call out Augusta National’s ‘history of racism and sexism.

The headline is true. What Bob Costas said is a fact. The only thing is Bob Costas works for a competing network and can say what he wants without a slap on the hands. To my knowledge, Bob Costas has never called golf and I have never heard of him playing in a celebrity pro am. That is all fine. Bob, you work for NBC Sports who has not had the contract to cover the Masters in like ...... ever. 

Going on the Dan Patrick radio show, he said the Masters' discrimination policies against minorities and women and the CBS Network ignoring them on the air is something that needs to be addressed.

To quote: What no CBS commentator has ever alluded to, even in passing, even during a rain delay, even when there was time to do so, is Augusta's history of racism and sexism. Even when people were protesting just outside the grounds—forget about taking a side—never acknowledging it. So not only will I never work the Masters because I'm not at CBS, but I'd have to say something and then I would be ejected."

It is true. At the Master's, saying anything that is not in their lingo book is a permanent ban to the black hole in Master's golf broadcasting.We all know about Jack Whitaker and more recently Gary McCord who now sleep with the fishes for the powers that be at Augusta. Jim Nantz does not want a similar fate nor do the other commentators on the broadcast.

My thing is Costas is picking a fight and doing it without the stones to do anything that would create leverage. He is hiding behind his NBC badge knowing he doesn't care about golf and never will. NBC is unlikely to get the contract to ever carry this tournament so buddy, keep your mouth shut. 

 

The Yahoo story is below.

By Jay Busbee | Devil Ball Golf – 20 hours ago

AUGUSTA, Ga. - During this Masters week, when everyone involved with the production of this most famous golf tournament, present company included, gets a little dewy-eyed and nostalgic about the sanctified history of Augusta National Golf Club, it's worth remembering that not everyone regards this tournament in quite the same way ... and that "a tradition unlike any other" has very different meanings to different people.

Appearing on Dan Patrick's radio show on Friday, Bob Costas of NBC Sports took on the Masters and, more specifically, CBS. Costas took issue with the fact that CBS completely ignores Augusta's very real, and very recent, history of gender- and race-based discrimination. As Costas said:

What no CBS commentator has ever alluded to, even in passing, even during a rain delay, even when there was time to do so, is Augusta's history of racism and sexism. Even when people were protesting just outside the grounds—forget about taking a side—never acknowledging it. So not only will I never work the Masters because I'm not at CBS, but I'd have to say something and then I would be ejected.

He's correct. Augusta National has a history of removing media personnel who don't toe the line. Jack Whitaker was banned from the club for calling a collection of patrons a "mob," and Gary McCord hasn't been back since 1994, when he referred to the greens as "bikini-waxed" and the hills beyond one hole as "body bags."
[Also: Tianlang Guan penalized for slow play at Masters]
Costas concedes that he finds Augusta beautiful, he considers Augusta National chairman Billy Payne a friend, and that he's played the course. Even so, he believes that the club's difficult and treacherous history should have been recognized. He doesn't name names, but it's clearly obvious who he's talking about here:

I think somebody should have had the guts to do it along the way. Broadcaster, executive, somebody should have said to someone at Augusta, 'Look, this is an issue. And this is not 'Nightline' or 'Meet The Press,' we understand that. But this is an issue. And it's an elephant in the room. And we're going to address it as concisely as we can, but we're going to address it so our heads are not in the collective sand trap.'

Give Costas credit, he has no fear of injecting political issues into sporting events. Sometimes it's evocative and necessary, as when he criticized the Olympics for not honoring the victims of the 1972 Munich massacre. And sometimes he seems to overreach and preach, as when he held forth on gun control during a Sunday night football telecast.
Still, he speaks his mind and says what he believes, and among media members, that's something of a rarity. It's worth remembering that while Augusta National is indeed one of the most beautiful places on earth, that beauty is neither all-encompassing nor retroactive