Women and the Masters, here we go again

Their wombs make them hysterical!

 

All I know is I'd be willing to bet both arms that no member of Augusta National, nor any full-time ANGC employees who handle the media relation side of things ever told any security guard what Tara was told.

Like others have said, the locker room has been open to women since 1986. The powers that be at Augusta don't want that kind of press. They want an exciting, smoothly run tournament, then they want to be ignored for the other 51 weeks of the year.

I have no idea who is responsible for training the security guards, but I'd bet that person has either been sacked or told in no uncertain terms that it can't ever happen again.

The club admitted the error, and apologized, both personally and publicly. It might be hard for some to accept, given the club's history. But really, what the hell else are they supposed to do?

 

I give them that, plus a bonus week.

 

I agree. I also think that our dislike for the club's membership policies does not absolve us of our responsibility to be fair to the club's officials. Basic questions needed to be asked before even hinting at any blame beyond the security guard in question. This is the standard we would apply to any other story. Bad cop or run-amok police department? Rougue accountant or evil company? We would make an effort to find out before claiming a general lack of oversight on the part of an institution. The fact that this is a sports story does not exempt it from basic rules of journalism.

 

You should save that one on a clipboard. I think we'll need it again in the near future.

 

This is much more about sexism than it is about sports, Frank. Not that your sentiment is not correct.

 

Media Liaison (Steve Ethun) was about 150 yards away from the locker room in the media center, coordinating interviews for the players who didn't shoot 80 in the final round.
All the green jackets were about 75 yards on other side of the locker room gathering for the winner's ceremony.
Apparently there was no higher authority present at that moment to appeal.

 

Screw that - there are Tweets to send! No reason to wait for a response from anyone higher up the food chain than a security guard - proceed immediately to FULL ON OUTRAGE!

 

These tournaments employ an army of temporary workers for events such as this.

I worked a two-week stint at the ATP-WTA tennis tournament in Miami a couple of years ago. Not guarding a locker room door (I was a ticket agent), but the drill for these types of jobs is pretty much the same. It's hardly "training" under any definition you are likely familiar with.

You arrive for an orientation that takes a couple of hours, learn a little history about the event you're working, learn a little about exactly what will be required of you. Then they give you a sheet of instructions and tell you who your supervisor is. Most of what you learn from that point you learn by asking the supervisor when things come up that you're not quite sure how to handle.

Case in point: At the will-call window, tickets are only supposed to be given to the person whose name is on the ticket form, and only if proper ID is presented.

Denise Capriati (mother of Jennifer) comes up and requests her tickets. She doesn't have ID on her. I know it's her because I'm a tennis fan. But what am I supposed to do? Give her the tickets? Or be "that asshole at the ticket booth" who insisted on proper ID?

I realize this is not perfectly analagous to the Masters situation. But it's important to know that these jobs are not day-to-day jobs like you and I know them. They are a special-events type of thing with situations that just don't come up often enough for the people employed to be completely versed in.

 

Because if we do, then what? Anyone who doesn't think a security guard screwup that was apologized for immediately is a giant crisis for all women in sports media's therefore a sexist pig and will thus be poor fathers?

 

It's a stink-worthy incident. This shit can't happen, and everybody needs to know it.

I agree with Mile High several pages back... I'd love to hear from the security guard.

 

I'd be interested in hearing the plan under way to rid the world of fallible human beings. Sounds fascinating.