Monday, April 12, 2010

Sports For Chicks: Phil Mickelson deserves headline for winning Masters 2010

Augusta, Georgia.  The Masters 2010.  It was suspenseful, it was exciting, and Phil Mickelson played the game of his career.  Every story covering the Masters should start with Phil's win.  His 139 yard sinker, his eagle-eagle-birdie, his courageous "are you kidding me!" shot out from behind two pine trees in the rough.  For the human interest angle, the embrace of his cancer stricken wife, Amy,  that never seemed to end.  She, their children and Phil's mother had traveled to Augusta to be there.  Amy had been resting the entire trip, but made it to the 18th hole on Sunday to be there when he took the title. 

These are the stories that should be headlining Masters media coverage.  NPR was the only media outlet I heard this morning who stuck to Phil Mickelson's win, and left Tiger Woods as an afterthought. Kudos NPR.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing this morning on the networks.  For example, the TODAY show (of which I am a fan) started their coverage like this:  "Tiger Woods finished fourth at the Masters Sunday."  They went on to talk about the anticipation of Tiger beginning the week, how he took the loss and when we'd see him play again.  THEN, they mentioned that Phil Mickelson won. To top it off, they didn't mention any of the other players giving Phil a run for his money: Westwood, Choi, Kim or Couples.

PLEASE!  I like Tiger Woods too.  I think he's an excellent player and I'm glad he's returned to the game.  But I like Phil Mickelson just as much and he's the one who played stellar golf this past week, he's the one wearing the green jacket, he's the one who deserves the adoration, first mention on Masters coverage, and the headline.  Congratulations Phil Mickelson.