Greg Norman put on a shirt for a change and Instagrammed some nonsense about business and life in reaction to getting fired by Fox Sports after just one year. The text, with hashtag included:
#MondayMorningMotivator "Over the years, I’ve learned that no business can stand still. There are always changes in ownership and personnel, and invariably challenges with keeping your product or service relevant and in-demand. The reality is that businesses change, they evolve. We are going to keep moving – just like a shark.”
Get it, like a Shark. Get it? Clever!
That's about what you'd expect of someone who calls himself the Living Brand, claims to call Presidents to console them, says he won the Tournament of Life and, in numerous other ways over the last few years has shown himself to be emphatically detached from reality.
The signs, even pre-Fox, did not stop Fox's David Hill from apparently committing to the Shark before hiring a producer, a decision that saddled Fox Sports' foray into golf with more than just a commentator who only sounded engaged when talking about himself or a fellow Aussie. By all insider accounts, Norman had a say in who was hired and who wasn't, effectively tying producer Mark Loomis' hands in year one of a twelve...twelve...year deal.
Of course it's not Norman's fault that the technical side of the broadcast had issues or that some of his fellow announcers were as flat as he was. But ultimately, the signs were all there that this was a bad hire and Fox deserves credit for not prolonging the agony. Oh sure, Norman may have made it easy by reportedly mailing it in on his own tournament this fall, after mailing in the first five events he worked for Fox in year one of the twelve...twelve year deal.
Still, the signs are enjoyable to recall.
There's his proclivity to post shirtless photos of himself.
Perhaps when he said he never watched golf, this was a sign he might not exactly have a knowledge of what makes a good commentator or who the heck is playing each week.
Because to be honest with you, I never watch golf. I really didn’t because I thought it was kind of boring. And the presentation was boring. So now that we have Fox on board, we are…I am really looking forward to it and I know golf is really excited about it."
And when he declared himself fair and balanced, he left out the part about being determined to talk about himself as the defining characteristic of his announce philosophy.
“My objective is not to be criticizing golfers. My objective is to be fair and balanced. If I see something that I feel is very pertinent to the situation, I will explain that view to the audience, and I want it to be very fan-friendly and informative.
When it was announced he would be conjoined with Joe Buck, it couldn't have been a good sign that they'd never met.
Or maybe it was just the fist bump at Pinehurst that should have been our warning.
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But why, oh why Shark is there a logo change when we were so attached to the multi-color shark...
