Serendipity is defined generally as the discovery of something pleasant where it was not expected. Hootie Johnson apparently found his decision to have The Masters Golf Tournament broadcast on TV without commercials to be serendipitous.
The Associated Press reported this week that Johnson that the commercial free broadcast of this year’s tournament went so well it is worth repeating.
You may remember what was behind all this. Martha Burk, head of the National Council of Women’s Organizations campaigned starting last summer to get the Augusta National Golf Club to invite a woman to join.
Johnson then decided that he would release the three companies that sponsor the TV broadcast of the event on CBS so that they would not feel corporate pressure over that issue. The sponsors spared the controversy were Coca-Cola, Citigroup and IBM.
Last Tuesday, Johnson said that there were a lot of aspects of the broadcast that were favorable, like the response from those who watched on TV. AP says there were 34 and a half million viewers for the final round. That’s the third highest number for Sunday at The Masters.
How much money the club lost because of the lack of sponsorship has not been revealed. The conventional wisdom is that CBS Sports was compensated by Augusta National to help cover its production costs.
Nevertheless, the golf club said it gave $100 thousand to the September 11 Relief Fund and $3.2 million to other charitable organizations. That’s the same amount they handed out last year.
The AP says that Ms Burk was on the Galapagos Islands and “could not be reached for comment.” She has not abandoned her campaign, it’s just evolving.
Two weeks ago, she reportedly criticized Bank of America for offering an exemption to let Annika Sorenstam play in the Colonial but still letting its chief executive remain a member of Augusta National.
So as the Battle of the Sexes continues in golf, there is another attempt at détente coming up in NASCAR.
All involved admit that there is a gimmicky element to it, but they intend to perform seriously in an all female driver/pitcrew combo in Texas this weekend.
The No. 49 Aaron’s Chevrolet in the Craftsman Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday will exhibit the first all-female crew ever at a NASCAR event.
Shawna Robinson will drive. The seven members of the pit crew are all ladies between the ages of 21 and 39.
A marketing agency was sent out to find the crew members. They looked mostly in health clubs. Their aim was to find competitive women in great physical condition. (Aren’t we all?) A reported 20 candidates turned up to tryout for the team.
The crewspots are jackman, gasman, catch can, front tire changer, front tire carrier, rear tire changer and … that’s right!, rear tire carrier. The No. 49 crew has been together for a couple of months.
Truck owner Mike Starr said it turned out to be a good thing to be able to create a team from a group of people who have no idea what’s going on. He said it was easy to show them how you wanted things done and that’s how they did it.
Farmers who put their daughters to work on the tractor know that when you get them started and show them how fast you want them to go, that’s how fast they’ll go. Boys, on the other hand, have a tendency to open the throttle a little more.
The team also is scheduled to race in Las Vegas in September and in Texas again in October.