Trevino Says He's Done?

I was enjoying Lee Trevino's interview with David Feherty on the new Golf Channel show and interspersed between the awkward stand-up stuff with the paid seat fillers, he revealed that his year's Toshiba Classic was his final tournament appearance. Naturally, I'm kicking myself for not having gone to watch. I hope it's not the case...

Comments

[Jeff Smith]

Talking to Trevino is always entertaining, but Feherty gave me no reason to watch again.

[F. X. Flinn]

All pilots -- and that's what the first show was -- have to do a certain amount of character establishment. The show hits its groove as time goes on. I thought Feherty did a good job giving us a taste of Trevino the private man, and Feherty himself came across as completely without pretense. I have some hope for this show.

I'll also say that I've been very critical of GC for years for its lack of journalists, and clearly they are working on that, and give them props. Can the long exile of Peter Kessler be coming to an end? Here's hoping.

[Alex H]

I thought the interview was fantastic - I have a feeling / I'm really hoping they cut down on the awkward in-between stuff, have Feherty stop talking to that rooster, and bring the interviews to the forefront. Some of the previews had him clay pigeon shooting with Tom Watson...I don't even like Watson all that much, but I'd tune in for that.

[fourputter]

What was noticeable was the quality of the interviews - Both Trevino (and McIlroy separately) talked with him as a friend, not as one of the hated golf press cohort. Feherty is a warm personality with that edgy British / Irish humor which is based on iconoclasm and deflating pomposity, and he interacts well with his subjects - they seem to trust him. He's always tried too hard to be an entertainer and the staged bits of the show fell flat - they should be edited out. (Maybe it's the melodramatic opera singing experience he had!). Unfortunately, his future guest list is not stellar - do Cheadle and Barclay have contracts with TGC? If he can get decent interview subjects this has the makings of a decent show - certainly the most promising thing that TGC has ever done that's not televising golf.

[Press Agent]

What has become evident to me after watching this show and the commentary on the golf channel over the weekend that now includes some of Feherty, is: a small amount of Feherty can be really great, too much can be extremely bad. Even the accent starts to play on the nerves after a while.

[watson82]

I completely disagree fourputter--I think his interview subjects are interesting. If you notice, they are all people who have a lot of opinions and aren't afraid to express them (Watson, Miller, Barkley, Poulter, etc.). I'd much rather see Feherty interview those people than someone who is either simply uninteresting or programmed to stick to the party line (ahem, Tiger). Other than the awkward interludes in the first show, I think he did a good job with Trevino and covered a variety of interesting subjects that I've only seen Trevino touch on briefly before.

[Lynn S.]

Just happen to catch Trevino, one of sports best interviews. I would watch it again. There can be too much of Feherty doing the accents, but the South African 1st tee announcer was pretty good.

[fourputter]

@watson82

In retrospect I may have been a bit harsh, but I'd never heard of Cheadle until a TGC show (which I can't remember) and he made no impression whatsoever. I fact I still don't know who he is. Also Barclay, who I'd also never heard of - I can't stand basketball - until he suddenly started to appear on an awful golf instructional thing in which he was portrayed as the village idiot. That may have been totally the fault of the show's director, because these guys can massacre you if that's what they want to do, or to have a laugh at you.

So that'll be a real test for Feherty ... can he make his guests interesting company, cajole them into being themselves not some artificial personality tacked to them by a PR agent or a stereotype? If he can do that, he will do well, and we might be able to get rid of the cardboard cutouts (Costas, Roberts, Nantz etc.) who ruin network broadcasting. I said in another thread on this blog that the television coverage for the 1st 1 1/2 hours of Sunday's Open round was worst I've ever seen, anywhere, in 30 years of watching.

[oldmanpar]

@Lynn S - I was riddled with social anxiety watching that South African bit. The only thing more annoying than that attempt at humor was the endless commercial breaks, and 'previews' of the next segment before them. I should go back and time the amount of actual show, I bet it wasn't very much. That being said, I've always been a huge Feherty fan, I think if he sticks to the interviews this show will be fine. But, as an avid golfer, and a neurotically obsessed golf fan, I have no idea who Don Cheadle is, and I'm not sure why I care. Stick to golfers, and I'll stick to watching.

[Chuck]

It was a great interview with Trevino. I don't mind one bit giving loads of credit to Feherty and his producers. But the fact is, Lee Buck could (not always, but whenever he wanted) be a terrific interview subject, and I honestly think that Lee is mellowing with age, like a fine wine. Trevino's brief tenure on the old NBC telecasts made him one of the great underrated television announcers in the modern history of the game. But I think he's actually mellowed and is better than ever in an interview setting.

[Taffy]

I thought the show was a waste of time. I don't think Trevino said anything he hasn't said thousands of times before- from God cant hit a one iron to the lady in the house let's me sleep with her. As a player Lee was stupendous. A great striker, amazing short game. He was a fine announcer. IMO he was not funny, far from the Merry Mex. He could be rude and would laugh afterwards (a fake laugh at that) to appear to be joking. In rural NC it is called kidding on the square. All that said, he was a helluva player and I am glad to have seen him play.