Note to PGA: It's pull my finger, not pull my video.
Golf got a boost in ratings over the weekend with Tiger Woods' run to the title at the Buick Open in Michigan. It also got a boost to its sometimes missing amusement factor when cameras appeared to capture Woods passing gas as he waited to take a shot on Sunday afternoon.
The video popped up all over the blogosphere on Monday morning and featured announcers talking about Woods while the camera showed him from behind. Woods lifted his right leg, the sound of flatulence is heard and then a shot of Woods from the front shows him and caddy Steve Williams laughing. There's no footage of anyone denying it, so we can't be sure who supplied it, and the sound is awfully loud when you consider that you can't hear anything else from Woods or Williams. The laughter is awfully well timed, though, and it certainly seems like Woods is the responsible party or in the general vicinity.
The scene needs to be described, rather than enjoyed in living color, because the PGA and/or CBS put the kibosh on the various versions of the scene popping up on YouTube. There's nothing unusual about copyright holders pulling unauthorized videos from the web, but it's hardly a sweeping policy. There's footage from the Buick on YouTube that hasn't been pulled, and, generally, it isn't hard to find footage from PGA tournaments. It isn't even hard to find footage featuring emissions of the sort that were so offensive this time around.
So what's the big deal this time? If it was Tiger that let one rip before he let one rip, it makes him a human being. If it wasn't Tiger, same thing. It wasn't a big deal, and we don't even know exactly what happened except that it was a brief moment of silliness on a golf course.
By taking out the oversize eraser, though, the PGA makes it seem like something serious and heinous happened instead. That's just dumb, although the fact that it will only make more people search for the video makes it all worthwhile.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
