The review from Waggle Room on ESPN’s first full British Open coverage is in. And the result: Total victory. Well, for the most part. It still featured Rick Reilly on camera, and any broadcast with Rick Reilly can never earn full marks.
Sans Chris Berman, ESPN’s First Coverage Of The British Open Is Successful
↵↵The talent low of the week - again - was Rick Reilly. Since signing with ESPN, Reilly has struggled to find his place. Reilly has been asked to convert the prime rib version of his writing into essayist work in golf, probably because the average golf viewer still recalls his glory days. Reilly quickly dismissed Oosthuizen’s chances going into the weekend. He said he was rooting hard for John Daly. (Who isn’t?)
↵The essays were contrived and seemed to lack a real emotional connection with the topic and the audience. The Open has such a depth of history that there is no need for easy jokes, and golf has such a niche audience that it is almost insulting to offer such cursory analysis. Jack Whittaker, Reilly is not. Rich Lerner, Reilly is not. As though Bristol was beaming Nielsen Portable People Meter results to Scotland in real time, Reilly was mercilessly moved to the tail end of the weekend telecasts or extricated altogether. He was the only reason the clicker came out all weekend.
↵If the network wants to bring a writer into the booth, bring in Jason Sobel. He is not often in front of the camera, but the guy knows his stuff and, frankly, could be one of those guys that has real crossover potential in the game.
↵↵Aside from that, the network excelled by using a small army of former players, along with addition by subtraction, the result of leaving Chris Berman stateside. This left Mike Tirico and Scott Van Pelt to steer the ship, two guys who are not only far less abrasive than Berman, but actually know the game and its players.
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