Tiger tantrums

Tiger Woods says he's sorry, and that he respects the game, but in his slow slog back to respectability (if it will ever come) keeps stepping on top of people who have been behaving far better than he. Today, he granted five minutes to the Golf Channel and ESPN to interview him, once again presenting himself as an in-control, nose-in-the-air attention-grabber. Worse yet, he did it when one of his golf colleagues was winning the weekend event. (His first public statement, in February, came at a busy point in another golf tourney, not coincidentally sponsored by Accenture, which had dumped him as a sponsor when its slogan, "Be a Tiger," became understandably awkward.)

Never thought I'd say this, but Tiger is more A-Rod than Jeter. And if you want to know what that means, check out Selena Roberts' A-Rod or Joe Torre's The Yankee Years for the full treatment.

If Tiger's really sorry, he will allow himself to be really questioned, with no caveats, and he will give real answers. This is simply PR crap meant to placate the masses enough to he can put his foot back in the game he has always controlled. Who's to say that once Tiger starts winning, people won't forget the whole November incident? (Many are already giving him a free pass, calling it his personal life.)

Personal life or not, whether what he did was right or not, he violated the public trust that is intertwined in the game, and that is what he needs to answer for. Fine, he won't talk about his family. But these little controlled speaking sessions where he leads the media around on the leash (when the public wants some real answers, and some reasoning for why their hope in the image he had presented was crushed), are not acceptable. Especially when he continues to snub the integrity of the golf world.

Olympic conundrum

A lot of people have been squawking about not being able to see some Olympic events as they are happening (since NBC has delayed them for a prime-time package), and as the New York Times writes today, this has led to ESPN's bid for the next round of the Games including plans to go live with most events if it is awarded the contract.

Many of the concerns about when to air events centers around the problems of NBC being in the "network" category (which, in the up-to-the-minute current world, seems to be more and more of an albatross) while ESPN is a niche, sports-only area where you'd expect constant access.

But the key to venerable media institutions keeping their ground while the world speeds toward vast, changing, niche markets is exactly what NBC is doing. They're not just showing the Olympic games; they're creating a package. Sit down in front of your TV for the two weeks of the Olympic Games, and you will be treated each night with a thought-out plan of the day's best events, complete with solid interviews and interesting stories.

(As a side note, I don't read the Boston Globe's Olympic coverage to know what happened; I read it for its reporting, photos, and good columns. Thus is the role of established, large media.)

I can easily see ESPN botching this: You go home after work and flip on the TV, only to see that you're not going to get the ski event from earlier in the day, because you were expected to watch it when it was on at 11 a.m. Then ESPN cuts from curling, or speed skating, or whatever, to show you the winner, but you don't get to see the full event and all of its suspense (and nationalities, which will be the first thing to go if we're just satisfying consumers' desires). Instead, it just feeds the "I need to constantly know what's going on and watch every minute!" gusto at the expense of getting the cream of the crop. And as the Times article writes, the advertising dollars may go, too.

Yes, NBC has botched some of the coverage this year (ahem, USA vs. Canada hockey), but its approach to the Games is the best way to go: An overall view of a magnificent event, exciting to watch in full even if you already know what's going to happen. (And for goodness' sake, just don't get on the Internet if you don't want to know who won the two-woman bobsled preliminary round in the morning.)

500 saves, 1 win, 0 errors

Tonight was a classic Yankees win (and God bless ESPN for broadcasting the game for those poor souls who live in Boston and can't get regular Yankees games on TV).

Mariano Rivera recorded his 500th career save; Chien-Ming Wang finally won a game for the first time in over a year; and the Yankees' defense powered the team to a 4-2 win over the hapless New York Mets.

Mariano Rivera tossed his 18th save in 19 chances, coming in during the eighth inning to whiff a batter, then closing it out in the bottom of the ninth. In between his trips to the mound, however, the batting order came around to give him his third regular-season hitting chance ever. Mo worked the count and drew a walk against a reliever who has been anointed as a next great one (Mets' closer Francisco Rodriguez), pushing a bases-loaded runner home to give the Yanks another run.

Chien-Ming Wang, the poor former-ace for the Yankees, finally got a W tonight. He'd been 0-6 so far this season, and even when he wasn't allowing what led to a 34.50 ERA (his first seven starts, runs allowed: 7, 8, 8, 5, 4, 3, 3), he just had bad luck getting the right situations for a statistical "win." Tonight, however, he was crisp, keeping the bases clean and not breaking his ankle when running out grounders.

But the real winner in tonight's game was the New York defense. In fact, the difference in the game was how much better the Yankees' defense was than the Mets' defense. Forget your All-Star closers (we'll even let K-Rod slink away without judgment here) and high-caliber batting orders.

This game was won in the diamond.

As the commentators murmured about Derek Jeter getting older and whether he'd have to be shifted away from shortstop, he once again showed that, no matter what the future holds, that is not the case right now. Flu bug or not, he was classic Jeter tonight, turning solid plays.

To his right, Alex Rodriguez showed his worth as a fielder. He made a couple diving plays and scooped up a key bunt for a force-out to keep New York in the game.

And Mark Teixeira keeps earning his dough at first, no question about it.

In contrast, the Mets avoided any Castillo-like game-ending error blunders (although there was a dropped Jorge Posada fly late in the game that was gratuitously ruled a base hit), but they were instead just mediocre in the infield. In the first inning, all three runs were because of less-than-great plays by Mets infielders, and although no errors were tagged on the blue-and-oranges, rudimentary conversions by the players would have kept those runs from scoring. Alas, tonight the Mets had strung enough together to win (they out-hit the Yankees 5-4), yet those unfortunate plays derailed what they needed to overcome a depleted batting order and the extremely bad luck the Mets have attracted recently.

Better luck next time.

The Yankees (43-32) are riding a five-game winning streak, have the third-best record in the league, and sit just three back of the American League East-leading Boston Red Sox. Next up, the Bombers face Seattle (39-36) at home, where they'll try to keep increasing space in their tight division. Tampa Bay (42-35) and Toronto (41-36) are nipping at their heels.

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