CBS "bowed to a higher authority" yesterday, "pulling
the plug" on the GTE Byron Nelson Classic playoff "so it
would not run the risk of delaying the start" of its two-
night mini-series "Jesus," according to David Barron of the
HOUSTON CHRONICLE. CBS ended the golf broadcast at 6:38pm
ET, and the three-hole playoff between Jesper Parnevik,
Davis Love III and Phil Mickelson ended at 6:58pm, "meaning
that CBS could have completed the broadcast and stayed on
schedule had it not elected to pull the plug 20 minutes
earlier." CBS Sports VP/Communications LeslieAnne Wade said
that west coast markets saw the complete broadcast and
added, "Everybody at CBS understands that golf fans are
upset by what happened. Unfortunately, there was no other
business decision we could make. We had '60 Minutes' and
the mini-series tonight, and it's sweeps month." Barron
writes CBS' move "hearkens back to the famed 'Heidi game'"
of '68, when NBC pulled the plug on a Jets-Raiders game to
show the children's film. Barron adds that the decision
"would have been even more wrenching" if Tiger Woods was
involved in the playoff. Wade: "Tiger would have made it a
different question. That doesn't mean it would have made it
a different decision" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 5/15). In Dallas,
Tim Cowlishaw writes that CBS "pulled the plug ... once the
Woods magic was spent," as he finished a stroke behind the
playoff-bound leaders. CBS "inexplicably abandoned
coverage," leaving KTVT-Dallas "to scramble to show" the
playoff. Cowlishaw: "The message CBS delivered was clear.
Woods, at any score, is the real story" (DALLAS MORNING
NEWS, 5/15). Also in Dallas, Horn & Hubbuch report that
KTVT sports anchor Babe Laufenberg and reporter Timm
Mathews, who were "on hand for a planned locally-produced
post-tournament special, provided coverage of the final hole
with a single camera." PGA Tour spokesperson Dave Senko
said of the local affils' effort to "bale out" CBS, "I've
never seen something like that before." Horn & Hubbuch note
that CBS "stayed with" last weekend's Compaq Classic of New
Orleans "when its sudden-death playoff ran late," but that
was "before the start of 'sweeps.'" Parnevik's IMG agent
Clarke Jones was "unable to see his" client's victory and
"had to call a reporter" at the event to learn of the result
(DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/15).
