Bob Costas attacks CBS Sports for Ignoring the Masters' 'Racism and Sexism'

[Rocky C]

All of golf was once closed to minorities of several kinds, all of golf, not just Augusta National. To hear Bob Costas talk it sounds like CBS and the Masters were the only entities to practice such unactractive policies. (Costas on the Dan Patrick Show: http://youtu.be/5VxWeBfmUNY ) Black golfers have had it pretty tough and have golfed in obscurity since at least about the 1880's when Dr. George Franklin Grant would tee it up in Arlington Heights near Boston. Back then tees were nothing more than sand shaped into little hills where you would perch your ball onto the top of. In fact Dr Grant would grow to abhor the tedious task of forming these wet sand peaks so much that he invented the first wooden tees ever to grace a teeing ground. Alas, since invention and not business was his forte he never marketed his amazingly simple but very effective device and thus was never given much if any recognition for inventing the wooden tee. That is until 1991, nearly a century after his patent when the United States Golf Association finally gave him the recognition he so well deserved. So, my advice to Bob Costas is if you want to bring up the injustices of the past start at the beginning if you can and in this particular case don't forget to include the victories however late in the game they might appear. Then maybe you just might find the applause you so obviously desire.

Thanks All,
Rocky Collins

[Mac62]

Originally Posted by notsohard

Quote:

Originally Posted by iacas

Do you understand that they're a private club, and as such, are entitled to do as they please regarding their membership?

i understand quite perfectly..........the KKK have something along those beliefs as well.

So do the Black Guerilla Family, Black Panthers, Nuestra Familia and Mexican Mafia.  Your point?

[Rick Martin]

Originally Posted by Rocky C

All of golf was once closed to minorities of several kinds, all of golf, not just Augusta National. To hear Bob Costas talk it sounds like CBS and the Masters were the only entities to practice such unactractive policies. (Costas on the Dan Patrick Show: http://youtu.be/5VxWeBfmUNY ) Black golfers have had it pretty tough and have golfed in obscurity since at least about the 1880's when Dr. George Franklin Grant would tee it up in Arlington Heights near Boston. Back then tees were nothing more than sand shaped into little hills where you would perch your ball onto the top of. In fact Dr Grant would grow to abhor the tedious task of forming these wet sand peaks so much that he invented the first wooden tees ever to grace a teeing ground. Alas, since invention and not business was his forte he never marketed his amazingly simple but very effective device and thus was never given much if any recognition for inventing the wooden tee. That is until 1991, nearly a century after his patent when the United States Golf Association finally gave him the recognition he so well deserved. So, my advice to Bob Costas is if you want to bring up the injustices of the past start at the beginning if you can and in this particular case don't forget to include the victories however late in the game they might appear. Then maybe you just might find the applause you so obviously desire.

Thanks All,

Rocky Collins

Rocky, can you recommend a couple of good books about the history of golf and the history of golf in the USA? Not some long dreary book, but something readable?

[zipazoid]

Sounds like envy on Costas' part - criticizing  his rival network.

Suppose for a moment that NBC covered The Masters...does anyone believe that they would let Costas have five minutes to do a story - in the middle of the tournament - about the history of racism at ANGC? Ain't happening.

[mtsalmela80]

Originally Posted by notsohard

of course they have, Augusta has about 20% blacks as members now...No?......i didnt think so.

Oh hold on.....10% are blacks?......No?.....lets keep trying......

.........5% members are blacks??..........shit, i might get it right if i keep going....

.

...hey!.... lets not get the truth in the way of a "nice story"

The entire black population is only about 13-14%.

Do you think Augusta should implement some sort of affirmative action program to even up the percentages?

If so, don't forget Native American, Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, or do those not count as much as black?

[jetsknicks1]

Originally Posted by jamo

I don't mind Costas in a general, but I don't like it when he uses his sports platform for political issues (which happens to be just about every time he appears on my TV).

This is exactly what I like about Costas, if he feels that an issue is relevent to the topic/sport at hand, he's not afraid to bring it up. Does Augusat National have the right to admit or decline membership for whatever reason they see fit? Absolutely, they are a private entity and they have that right. Does Costas have the right to question/discuss those policies, especially when this entity opens it's doors to the public and puts itself out there on national television? Absolutely.

[saevel25]

Costas' has a right to his opinion. But, there is no issue here. Augusta National is a PRIVATE, i will say it again, PRIVATE institution. Meaning that they can control there membership how ever they want. It is there right if they don't want women members, it is there right if they don't want Black members in there club. Also, members are usually very predominant people in society. It was said that Bill Gates got snubbed for over 5 years because he said he wanted to join. You don't ask to join, you are invited to join Augusta National by current members. If Augusta wan'ts to take the PR slam for not allowing women or blacks, or asians, or aliens, so be it. Its there choice, its a free country. Really, i don't think they give a damn.

Also, how many women and black people are in predominant positions in the world to actually get consideration. Your maybe thinking less than 1% of there respective population demographics. Sorry to say, but white males still dominate the power positions in the united states. To say, "Oh blacks make up 10-15% the population", that is the right demographic. They probably make up 0.05% the demographic of acceptible candidates that might be considered.

[CraiginKSA]

Yea, Augusta is racist and sexist.

Sincerely,  The Royal and Ancient Golf Club and the NAACP .

All I want from Costas is, "those Moldavians have the most stunning team outfits" and "now we go live to the bob sled venue".  Other than that, he's a broken record with nothing new to add to the argument.

I liked him better when he was a member of the Lollipop Guild and lived in the Emerald City with the wonderful wizard of Oz.

[MS256]

I'm mad that Augusta hasn't offered me a membership...I think they are discriminating against blue collar white guys with no money.

[iacas]

i understand quite perfectly..........the KKK have something along those beliefs as well.

And the NAACP. And Curves. And we used to have the YWCA and the YMCA. We still have moose lodges, women's clubs, etc. Augusta admitted black members quite awhile ago. And women when they wanted despite no obligation to do so. There are thousands of women only organizations.

[newtogolf]

People forget that Augusta has allowed women to play their course all along as guests of members, they just did not allow women to become members.  A small but important detail.

Journalists like Costas use the past for their personal gain because those were very emotionally charged times and their goal is to evoke an emotional response, just as he did here.  In the process he sets back the healing process and forces us to take sides when we should all be coming together.

[onephenom]

Originally Posted by saevel25

Costas' has a right to his opinion. But, there is no issue here. Augusta National is a PRIVATE, i will say it again, PRIVATE institution. Meaning that they can control there membership how ever they want. It is there right if they don't want women members, it is there right if they don't want Black members in there club. Also, members are usually very predominant people in society. It was said that Bill Gates got snubbed for over 5 years because he said he wanted to join. You don't ask to join, you are invited to join Augusta National by current members. If Augusta wan'ts to take the PR slam for not allowing women or blacks, or asians, or aliens, so be it. Its there choice, its a free country. Really, i don't think they give a damn.

Also, how many women and black people are in predominant positions in the world to actually get consideration. Your maybe thinking less than 1% of there respective population demographics. Sorry to say, but white males still dominate the power positions in the united states. To say, "Oh blacks make up 10-15% the population", that is the right demographic. They probably make up 0.05% the demographic of acceptible candidates that might be considered.

This pretty much says everything that needs to be said.

It is egregious to compare discrimination (although saelevel has shown how that's not really how it is) to the KKK. I don't care if you're using "an extreme example" it's a disgustingly disrespectful (to victims of groups like the KKK) comparison.

[phan52]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

Costas is an idiot.  He like many others refuses to acknowledge the right private clubs have to determine who their members are.   There are a number of clubs out there that only allow women to join, when will he and NBC be doing their expose on Curves?

Sounds like sour grapes to me.

So they have a "right" to be racist and sexist, so that makes it OK. Got it.

And the Curves analogy just made me LOL.

[phan52]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

Sounds like envy on Costas' part - criticizing  his rival network.

Suppose for a moment that NBC covered The Masters...does anyone believe that they would let Costas have five minutes to do a story - in the middle of the tournament - about the history of racism at ANGC? Ain't happening.

I guarantee you that Costas would want to, but the network wouldn't let him anywhere near Magnolia Lane.

[phan52]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

People forget that Augusta has allowed women to play their course all along as guests of members, they just did not allow women to become members.  A small but important detail.

Journalists like Costas use the past for their personal gain because those were very emotionally charged times and their goal is to evoke an emotional response, just as he did here.  In the process he sets back the healing process and forces us to take sides when we should all be coming together.

So your side is that you don't want to be reminded of our history, especially the uncomfortable parts, right?

Bob Costas has been interjecting social commentary into his work from the beginning of his career. I don't know why anybody is surprised or offended. It is one of the main reasons for his popularity.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by phan52

And the Curves analogy just made me LOL.

Why? Curves isn't even as private and protected as Augusta - yet is MORE exclusionary and sexist.

And women aren't even a minority group.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by phan52

So your side is that you don't want to be reminded of our history, especially the uncomfortable parts, right?

Bob Costas has been interjecting social commentary into his work from the beginning of his career. I don't know why anybody is surprised or offended. It is one of the main reasons for his popularity.

I don't want to be reminded of our history by a self-serving idiot who has an axe to grind because he's not part of the broadcast team that has the rights to the top golf tournament in the country.  Costas wouldn't have made the comment if he worked for CBS.

[NM Golf]

So let me see if I have this right. Augusta National will be racist and sexist until they allow anyone to join at any time. And I guess they should waive the Membership fee too, based on income, we wouldn't want to discriminate against poor people. Oh wait they're not poor people anymore they're economically disadvantaged.

What a load of .