A lack of choices doomed Masters Live.  The famed “Amen Corner” at Augusta National – the stretch that includes holes 11, 12, and 13 – was the only option for live coverage the majority of the day. 

Is it too much to ask for a full 18 holes? 

After a product like March Madness on Demand, how are we to be grateful for the paltry Masters Live?  With MMOD you could watch every game.  It was like going to Morton's, eating a porterhouse, and at the end having the waiter say, "It's on us" while he hands you the souffle.  Thank you, Philip.  I’ll take two.

Yes, I took a small pleasure in having golf’s most famous stretch on my computer all afternoon, but after 30 minutes, what’s up?  Give me something else.  Give me the surf-and-turf.  At a minimum, give me the lyonnaise potatoes.

And why didn’t they show any replays?   When you’re working on a doc or spreadsheet and listening to the announcers, you want a replay of the shot you just heard.  Phil Mickelson 3-putts again?  Show it to me in slow-mo.  What a disappointment.  Really. 

And when a guy finishes a hole, can’t you show his score?  That’s an especially annoying error.  Why am I watching?  Even the crowd has a scoreboard.  Give us some graphics, CBS.  Show us some live scores.  It’s not a big deal.

But wait a second…here it comes…Masters Extra…Now we’re talking…

The coverage switched from 3-4pm EST to live coverage of all 18 holes.  Beautiful.  It made the Amen Corner feed look like a prom date your mom set up.

But why only an hour?  To get my mouth watering for the Amen Corner feed again?  It’s tough to smoke a Swisher Sweet after a Cohiba.

Everything about CBS’s Masters Live represented the exact opposite of what worked for March Madness on Demand. 

Which leaves a possibility I’m willing to grant CBS: The NCAA is an accommodating, forward-thinking group, whereas the gents running Augusta National are…well…people named “Hootie” Johnson.  How well could Masters Live have possibly turned out?

 
Scott Goldberg

 
Related:
Allow me to pay my ultimate respects to CBS on one particular feature, the “Boss Button.”  If you don’t know what this is, you have to give it a run.  A true stroke of genius.  At the bottom of the video is the “Boss Button,” which you press when your boss enters the room.  Not only does the feed go blank and the sound shuts off, CBS goes one step further.  A spreadsheet full of numbers pops up to display your true day’s work.  A brilliant bit of philanthropy on the part of CBS, and a fantastic commentary on American office culture as well.