Great story about SNI, Larry. SNI was behind the times as far as TV coverage was concerned, illustrated by this excerpt from "The Age of Palmer, Pro Golf in the 1960s, its Greatest Era":
Sports Network, Inc., paid the PGA $600,000 for rights to broadcast 13 tournaments in 1965, including the Colonial. SNI syndicated its coverage to as many as 190 local stations throughout the United States.
SNI was a low-budget, no-frills operation. Jimmy Demaret and Bob Toski, whose playing days mostly were over, provided commentary. Jack Simons was the producer. Whereas Frank Chirkinian won four Emmys during his long career as the producer of golf for CBS and is a legend, Simons’ name is forgotten. Perhaps for good reason. By 1965, instant replay, stop-action, and slow motion already were in use. Simons would have none of it. “We came to cover a golf tournament. There’s no time for that stuff,” he said at the Colonial about the new technology. “It’s good gimmickry, but I think it distracts from the coverage. The time may come when we’ll have to use it, but I’m going to try to avoid it.”
Thanks, Patrick. I should have consulted your book for the article as it was tough to find out about the on-air personalities as the production staff. I'm thankful that you filled in some of the holes int he story. Next week: the CBS Golf Classic. Interesting story because the films that CBS had were destroyed in a fire leaving only the films that were given to the players as the only historical filmed documentation. I have the one from the Lema/Nichols vs. Charles/Devlin final in 1965. It's on my YouTube page. Thanks again for the Book Club meeting.
Great story about SNI, Larry. SNI was behind the times as far as TV coverage was concerned, illustrated by this excerpt from "The Age of Palmer, Pro Golf in the 1960s, its Greatest Era":
Sports Network, Inc., paid the PGA $600,000 for rights to broadcast 13 tournaments in 1965, including the Colonial. SNI syndicated its coverage to as many as 190 local stations throughout the United States.
SNI was a low-budget, no-frills operation. Jimmy Demaret and Bob Toski, whose playing days mostly were over, provided commentary. Jack Simons was the producer. Whereas Frank Chirkinian won four Emmys during his long career as the producer of golf for CBS and is a legend, Simons’ name is forgotten. Perhaps for good reason. By 1965, instant replay, stop-action, and slow motion already were in use. Simons would have none of it. “We came to cover a golf tournament. There’s no time for that stuff,” he said at the Colonial about the new technology. “It’s good gimmickry, but I think it distracts from the coverage. The time may come when we’ll have to use it, but I’m going to try to avoid it.”
Thanks, Patrick. I should have consulted your book for the article as it was tough to find out about the on-air personalities as the production staff. I'm thankful that you filled in some of the holes int he story. Next week: the CBS Golf Classic. Interesting story because the films that CBS had were destroyed in a fire leaving only the films that were given to the players as the only historical filmed documentation. I have the one from the Lema/Nichols vs. Charles/Devlin final in 1965. It's on my YouTube page. Thanks again for the Book Club meeting.
Calendar a delight as was handwritten note.
Andy Brown