The 2010 Masters

One of the things that I expect to come out of the 2010 Masters Tournament is silence. The Augusta National Golf Club of Georgia will be tested as to its ability to assert control over the conditions necessary to put on a competitive golf tournament - whose focus is excellence in the field of sport, and the company of congenial friends. This is the tournament in which Sarazen hit the 'shot heard round the world' and the Legendary Jack Nicklaus played - and won - in a golden year. And it is the tournament in which - if there is a legend to be born of Tiger Woods - in 1997, that legend began. The August National has a history of meeting challenges such as will be delivered - in the conduct of tournament - and being the better for them.

When CBS negotiated for the original broadcast rights to the Masters Tournament - one of the earliest sportscasts ever to be made - they were required to provide a bowl of Oreo cookies with the middles all neatly scooped out. The negotiations proceeded at the pleasure of the Chairman. CBS was required to wait until he showed up, and if he didn't and they left they would exact consequence. The only broadcaster that is given permission to telecast the Masters - each year, is politely informed as to how much advertising will be allowed and by whom. And they maintain strict control over the presentation of the telecast. A CBS sportscaster - once made a side comment during play that a green had been made so smooth - it was as if it had been 'bikini waxed'. Although a very colorful man, it was almost immediately and politely made known to him and his employer that he will no longer participate in color commentary at the Masters tournament. The men of the Augusta National Golf club- having attained success and status within society each in their own right - properly attribute spectacle to its rightful position as footnote to the conduct of society - and not centerpiece. However many advertising dollars at stake.

Money, in America - is a vehicle for status. And it is the source of much anxiety. During the intervening years of the Bush Administration - and its unprecedented cessation of control of the American institutions of power to lobbyism - we , as a country - saw a complete destruction of our banking system. The largest bankruptcies in history. If not for the work of the Obama administration, America would be in a great depression.

Robert Tyre Jones, Jr. - though he was not an elected official - led America out of the great depression by teaching us that we can by integrity and excellence overcome almost impossible challenge. To this day, Bobby Jone's victories in the Four Majors - stands as a benchmark to excellence that only one man has ever come close to having attained. Tiger Woods - as Bob Jones did before him - can rise up to the challenge - surpass the number of Victories won by Jack Nicklaus - and win the 'Grand Slam' - The Masters, The British Open, The US Open and the PGA Championship all in one year. Will he have sex on his mind? Who cares?

The American people are having a hard time understanding the effect of the internet on their sexuality - the economic crash and near-death experience that the American economic system recently experienced - and a general vanilla sensibility regarding basic human privacy - in which most if not all of the standard ways in which people interact have changed. The affairs and sexual addictions of Tiger Woods have become a morbid object of fascination to them. Never mind that the facts are thin - or that we , as a species - have been fucking like bunnies ever since 25,000 B.C. . The fact remains that Woods - caught like a gull in the intake of a Jet Engine of a failing advertising model - is a form of Vaudeville diversion - a person tasked by the side of the road to dress up in a puritan costume and public stockage so that passing the billboard below him can translate information into entertainment, and entertainment into advertising revenue.

Madison Avenue had its day.

There are badged individuals who - though not members, will have choices to make regarding the exorbitant prices that will be offered for their badge. However, the Augusta National Membership is not 'playing the game with gardening gloves on' so to speak. They feel every sensation. The Augusta National Golf Club knows where their badges are and know where they are going. And anyone who is found to have given a badge to those who descend our country into the society of the spectacle, and more properly - confuse the intent and forum of the Masters - will be found without Magnolia lane in all years to come.

We will see a level of World Class play. Rumour has it that Woods has been practicing. Mickelson - if he can overcome a wild driver - will be in contention. This may also be the year of the European victory - a strong field coming from over the pond. What we will not see, are those gaining access to the tournament or reporting from within - whose purpose is to focus on a man whose marriage bears the honesty of stress and addiction and raising two small children - and for which he has already paid a high price.

Such beings had their place in the Madison Avenue, 20th century world. But in 2010 - they do not have a place with the Augusta National, its members, or those who have been invited to play.