January 2012 Archives

Meg Mallon has been named to Captain the 2013 Solheim Cup team and she is a very deserving candidate.  She has the credentials and the personality to motivate her team.  She's played in many cups herself and is a fierce competitor.  She has also acted as a Captain's assistant.

Of course her appointment brings with it speculation that Dottie Pepper was once again overlooked to Captain a team because of her comment back in 2007 about the team being choking dogs.

But Mallon has stated publicly that she thinks Dottie should get a chance to captain a team.  Dottie was the firestorm behind many USA wins.  Mallon also said that she feels a Captain needs to be an assistant before becoming a Captain.  So, that begs the question as to who Meg might pick as her assistants.  I'm guessing Dottie will get the nod and that in 2015 she will be asked to Captain.

I think many of the organizations and clubs that host events are too thin skinned.  Just look at the banishment of Gary McCord for his reference to Augusta greens and bikini wax.  That got him a permanent exit from the Masters coverage.  Sure it hampered Gary's career but who lost out in the end, the viewers who miss his great coverage.

Dottie has always been a lady who speaks her mind.  It was unfortunate that her producers left her mic on when she made the comment about the team to her fellow announcer.  While her comment was accurate and to the point, it was viewed as being anti-american, that she wasn't supporting the team.  And it's been what many think is the obvious reason for overlooking her for that coveted leadership role.

I can't wait for the 2013 games and the possibility of a Mallon/Pepper duo leading our team to victory.

The Magazine industry is in a major transition and my prediction is that within 5, maybe 8 years we will no longer have many magazines or newspapers that publish their writings on paper.

The world has become an electronic age where people no longer want stacks of paper in their homes, instead preferring to view articles and instruction on their electronic gizmos - from smart phones, laptops, Ipads, and now book readers like The Nook Color Tablet and The Kindle Fire. 

The websites accessible from your computers and smart phones allow you to see a variety of content that publishers couldn't possibly afford to put into their magazines.  With the decline of advertising dollars, publishers are downsizing their magazines - have you noticed less pages, less heft, and also a reduction in the paper footprint?  Often it will appear that you are getting just as many pages as before but if you put your latest edition against one from two years ago you may be shocked at how much the page has been trimmed.

The electronic age allows us to get a lot of the content for free vs. paying $4 in the grocery store.  Publishers are interested in number of readers, so the focus is now going to web readers and tablet subscribers.  The reduction in paper costs and distribution costs should garner more profits for the companies while giving them a wider exposure to readers.

The smart phones will allow you to take instructional videos to the range.  The only caveat is that you have to have either your 3G/4G connection or a wifi connection if you choose to use one of the tablets.  With more and more wifi hotspots popping up, this shouldn't be a problem in the near future.

When I worked in the industry, one of the common complaints we had was getting superb quality for the spectacular photography on inexpensive paper.  It never did the photos justice, but on our electronic devices those photographs are memorable.

I was happy to receive a Nook Color Tablet during the holiday season and several of the major golf magazines allow you to now subscribe to their publications on those platforms.  You get the electronic version of the magazine you will find on the newsstand.  To help with the transition to the electronic version, some are offering a free electronic subscription if you already have a paper subscription.  That's a real bargain, the best of both worlds.

So should we hang on to all those old issues as collector’s items?  Unless it's a really special commemorative issue, I'd toss them because chances are you'll find them in the archive section on the magazine’s website.