Dec. 17, 2009

Tiger transgressions give way to Finchem's misfired convictions

By Steve Elling | CBSSports.com Senior Writer
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Tim Finchem possesses a sad genetic anomaly that is not particularly uncommon among high-priced commissioner types, bean counters and big-buck CEOs.

He was born with a microscopic funny bone and no crazy, Canadian blood transfusion is going to remedy it.

Tim Finchem says the Woods debacle stands out 'because we haven't had much of this kind of issue on the PGA Tour.' (AP)

Last weekend, Finchem was poked in a series of comedic skits on Saturday Night Live, where he was portrayed as having a secret stash of alcohol in his desk to help him salve the tour's Woods-related wounds. Earlier this week, a tour staffer carried the gag a step further.

"They did present me with an honorary flask, and I'm enjoying that," Finchem said Thursday.

He must have had a few symbolic belts for breakfast, because much of what Finchem offered Thursday about the tour's delicate position relating to the Woods disaster was as amusing as anything the commish has ever uttered.

Playing defense because of the manifold ties Woods has to the tour product, as well as the game's general health, Finchem came out swinging with his driver, although plenty of the missives missed the mark. Deny and defy it loud enough, brother, and somebody might believe it.

Thanks to Woods, golf news has been almost uniformly brutal for 21 days and counting. He has more alleged mistresses than majors. Porno videos are being shot with Woods' life as the punch line and plotline. He has been linked to a controversial physician who is facing drug charges. Every day brings another hurtful revelation.

Nobody is suggesting that golf will crash and burn because Woods' reputation is tainted or he's gone underground. After all, the tour survived when he missed eight months in 2008-09. But Finchem's insistence on soft-pedaling the impact, to use one of his favorite terms, is just plain counter-intuitive.

The mood, across the sport, is flat depressing.

"I think one of the reasons, certainly not the only reason, but one of the reasons this [the Woods debacle] stands out is because we haven't had much of this kind of issue on the PGA Tour," he said.

So is this alleged behavior the rule that proves the exception, or the exception that proves the rule? I am confused, but he has a way of doing that, which is why he makes $6 million annually.

"I've met thousands of people who are involved in this game at all different levels," he said. "These people have common sense. They are intelligent people. And I think when they look at this, they will keep it in balance."

So, then, if you think the Woods disaster has left a scar, you aren't much of a golf fan. As for those who might believe Woods was a manufactured fraud and will never forgive him, Finchem just indirectly insulted your intelligence. Then again, maybe having uncommon sense is a good thing.

Silent for weeks outside of a few brief comments issued by e-mail, Finchem on Thursday was loaded for bear. He armed himself with reams of data about cumulative TV ratings, charitable donations, facts and figures about tournament sponsorship status, and broke silence on CNBC on Thursday morning. You know, a place that doesn't cover the PGA Tour.

Yes, Tiger's absence will sting, but it won't hurt, he insisted. One of his first comments related to the timeline for Woods' return and it was an ear-popper.

"Frankly, I'm not concerned about that," he said.

As you might have guessed, it mostly went backward from there. Finchem was spinning facts like they were covered in balata and he was swinging a non-conforming wedge with U-grooves.

After insisting for more than a decade that the tour's image is its strongest asset, since players have so rarely been linked to illegal or immoral activities, Finchem changed his club selection to best suit his position. Many observers believe that Woods has stained the game. Finchem all but laughed at that notion.

"I don't think the game has been damaged," he said. "The game goes back centuries. The game is not going to be hurt."

He was just getting warmed up with chip shots and half-wedges.

"I don't think about the game," he told CNBC. "People recognize that this is an individual's personal life. I think people will look at the No. 1 athlete of the decade and pull for him, now, really, in an underdog position -- to come back, to deal with these issues, to win golf tournaments, to go back to stimulating young people and bringing fans to the sport."

If you laughed when he mentioned Woods and "stimulating" in the same sentence, you are largely proving my thesis here.

Finchem said his demographic studies indicate that golf fans are the brightest (and richest) of any sport base. He cited the percentage of college-educated folks in golf's fandom and lauded their buying power. He might as well have said, "Republicans." Yet, he believes fans will mostly forgive Woods for his transgressions.

"I'm not suggesting that his popularity level is going to soar again," Finchem said. "I don't know where that's going to be. But I think people generally are going to want him to succeed."

Maybe, possibly, eventually. But personally, that would assume a level of ADD-addled idiocy I don't think exists among a mostly conservative golf audience. Woods is now a sympathetic figure, worthy of support? An "underdog," he said? More like a hound dog. Tiger might inherit the John Daly crowd, but not much else.

With a future indefinitely minus the services of Woods, the tour's economic underpinnings related to Tiger have been laid bare by a variety of savvy financial experts and analysts, yet Finchem prefers his own brand of factoids.

"Half our advertising comes from sponsorship, which is at 100 percent levels," he said.

Oh, really? Tournaments in San Diego, Memphis, Reno-Tahoe and Palm Springs do not have title sponsors for 2010.

"Where we have a couple of holes, we have found ways to bridge those holes as we get through this economic downturn," he quickly added.

By smudging facts, Finchem undermined the rest of his more-plausible pitch -- that his staff has done a terrific job of re-signing and attracting new sponsors. Given the economic climate and the controversy surrounding the game earlier this spring as TARP funds were being used to prop up tournaments, it's downright miraculous that a dozen companies have extended title sponsorships or jumped on board the tour party bus.

But the vast majority of that contract work happened before Woods' whereabouts became unknown and his sexual peccadilloes became all-too-known. As a result, Finchem's economic embroidery as it relates to Woods looks mostly like colorful yarns. Don't ignore the elephant in the room. Or the Tiger that has left it.

Like most good lawyerly types, when he didn't have numbers, he trumpeted his theories, which have been torqued by his biased position.

"I look at this guy and I see a guy that we, in golf, owe a lot to," Finchem said, a fitting indication that the Woods gravy train wasn't going to be derailed by any quote that followed.

"[I see] a guy who is so dedicated, so focused and 'brings it' every time he tees it up, who is so focused on his foundation that does great things for thousands and thousands of kids.

"I don't think all that gets washed away because of these personal issues."

Finally, he's right. Just as the stain of what Woods has done won't be completely cleansed by Finchem's posturing, either.