The latter. I find those "Sir Arthur's Business Roundtable" ads particularly obnoxious and annoying.
Yeah, there's a lot, but there are always more commercial breaks on Sunday (especially afternoon) because there are fewer people on the golf course that matter, so the routine is something along the lines of Player A takes a shot. Player B takes a shot. Commercial while Players A & B walk to their balls. Repeat for 8 holes.
Besides, on NBC, it's always a relief to get a commercial break because at least then you don't have to hear Johnny Miller talk for 90 seconds. So look on the bright side.
Along your same beef....
Today's finish to PGA Championship just not fair to fans
by Stephen Edelson
August 15, 2005
For three days they played a PGA Championship at Baltusrol in Springfield, N.J. And on the fourth day a U.S. Open broke out, with brutally difficult conditions compacting the field and setting up what was going to be a tremendous finish.
The throngs of fans walking the fairways, along with everyone watching around the world, were riding an emotional roller coaster with each great iron shot Phil Mickelson struck, and each short putt that skirted the lip of the cup. There were lead changes, with Steve Elkington surging to the top, and even a charge from Tiger Woods, who sat in the clubhouse at 2 under par and watched the field come back to him.
Then, just as the drama was reaching a crescendo on the back nine, play was suspended for the day with lightning in the area.
And the sad reality is that it didn't have to end this way, and what transpired in the final round of the 87th PGA Championship was yet another example of how the fans continually get taken for granted.
Everyone deserved to have this thing finish as planned on Sunday. And with every weather forecast calling for late afternoon and early evening thunderstorms Sunday, all they had to do was move the tee times up to give themselves a bit of wiggle room in case something happened. Instead, the PGA of America, which runs the tournament, and CBS, which pays a large chunk of the expenses, held firm to their finish time. The lead-in to "60 Minutes" was more important than making sure fans got what they paid for.
Of the 35,000 in attendance for the final round, only a fraction will return. People have to get back to work, have prior commitments or are just plain fed up with being left out of the thought process yet again because there will still be 35,000 spectators every day on the grounds of Medinah Country Club in Illinois a year from now.
There was a 39-minute delay Sunday afternoon just before the leaders teed off, and that effectively eliminated any chance of finishing a three-hole playoff should there have been a tie.
Haigh sat at the podium as disappointed spectators streamed from the grounds and showed time and again he simply doesn't get it. He kept pointing out that the forecast for the entire week was for scattered showers. But if you have weather problems on Friday, you just make up for it on Saturday. Sunday's a different animal altogether. And the forecasted weather for late in the day on Sunday was clearly far worse than at any other point during the week.
What's the harm in starting players on the first and 10th tees and making sure the leaders are on the course by noon to avoid any problems? Or at least get the first groups going as soon as it's light out, or consider going out in threesomes rather than twosomes.
Money, that's why. CBS paid good money to broadcast this event, their advertisers paid good money for some prime advertising time slots and so on and so forth.
They'll crown a champion today. Unfortunately, a lot of folks who deserve to see that moment will have been denied that right by the PGA. And all it would have taken was some common sense and a little understanding for the plight of their fans.