GolfWeek came out with a story saying that the LPGA was going to make foreign players learn to speak English, with a rule saying that playing privileges on the LPGA Tour could be suspended if players didn't learn to speak English. This has resulted in a big firestorm as the LPGA doesn't seem to have any kind of responds on this. Read about this, the problems that LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens has had and what writers think about all of this.
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At the time by grandfather was proficient in not only Italian, but also Latin, Spanish and of all things Portuguese. He knew a bit of English, but was completely floored by the official who said how important speaking English was. In the weeks he was interned at Ellis Island, he worked very hard to make sure that he could communicate and write in English and as he said to me, "it was very important in his success."
When I was five, six and seven, my grandfather took me all around exploring Los Angeles. Back in the 60s that Latino influx was just beginning and my grandfather was always preaching the importance of learning to speak English to the men that were coming over from Mexico.
This subject has hit home for me with the revelation that the LPGA has taken steps to demand that English is spoken by all tour members. For that, the LPGA should be commended for, it's something that is becoming a problem on that tour and needed to be address. But the method that the LPGA has done in getting this done has turned into one of the biggest firestorms in golf and frankly shows the terrible weakness in LPGA leadership.
LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens is about the celebrate her third anniversary in that job, but with the firestorm that has been created by this could put a damper on that celebration. Personally I am a big fan on what Bivens is trying to do but I have not been a big fan of the tactics. As one golf insider told me, "some of her ways have PR wise been suicidal." One of these ways is being tested right now in the way Bivens wants to solve the Korean English problem.
Some background on Bivens. She is a tough cookie, a bit like Hilary Clinton that has a lot of great ideas but goes about things differently. One thing we learned early about Bivens was that she isn't very "golfsavoy" and it's been a big learning curve for her to not only learn about the LPGA but learn how to deal with the people that run golf tournaments and players needs. Bivens doesn't have the great personality that her three previous predecessors had, dealing with people has been an uncomfortable act and frankly she doesn't have many friends especially in the media.
Bivens hasn't spent the time in trying to erase these deficiency and her total approach tends to give negative vibes instead of instilling confidence in people. Some examples of this, in her first six months on the job she tried to strong arm media companies in the fact that they had to give away their rights to images and stories. Instead of trying to meet with the people in control, explain how the LPGA needed more control of their images worldwide, she put into effect rules and regulations that media companies felt would harm them and take away a lot of their control. Bivens lost that battle and at the same time didn't make many friends in the media.
Bivens also has tried to strong arm the folks that owned LPGA events into paying higher rights fees. Instead of really taking the time and massaging those folks, Bivens just told them that for the good of the LPGA they needed to pay up or risk losing their event. On the surface the LPGA got more money as tournaments paid up but in the back rooms those that were forced to pay weren't very happy in the tactics.
Another example of Bivens not handling things very well is her dealings with television executives in trying to attract more money. Right now the only entity that pays the LPGA for rights fees is Korea and Japan. The LPGA doesn't control the U.S. Women's Open and part of the Ricoh Women's British Open. The events that they control are mostly on ESPN and Golf Channel, with some events on NBC and CBS. All these events are time buys, the LPGA pays the network a fee for the time plus expenses in covering the events and the LPGA get reimbursed through selling the time. Bivens has been headstrong and told her players that she will be looking to secure rights fees for LPGA television properties in 2010.
In getting this going it's been rumored that she has shunned both ESPN and Golf Channel to the point that they may not want to deal with her, again Biven's rough personality not winning many friends. It's also rumored she is working on a deal with NBC and CBS for about 11 events, but it doesn't look like she will get a rights fee for this and is trying to get some fancy financial deals in place, going to the tournament owners and sponsors for the money in order to try and coax NBC and CBS into a deal. The jury is still out on these dealings but could blow up to the fact that to coax ESPN and Golf Channel back Bivens would have to sweeten the pot shall we say.
Lastly Bivens seems to have a problem getting sponsors to pony up in a very rough economy. Yes this has always been a problem for the LPGA but it seems worst now. Already sponsors have left, the Ginn Tribute, Fields Open, Safeway International are gone for 2009. The sponsors of the SemGroup Championshhip filed for Chapter 11 so it looks like that sponsor and even could be gone.
The biggest of them all is the Safeway International in Phoenix. Right now there hasn't been the right company that has stepped up so the LPGA Tour is looking to run the event itself. This could have pitfals and only time will tell. There are other events in trouble so it will be interesting to see if Bivens is willing to prop those events also. The bottom line is if she can't get a sponsor in an area like Phoenix, how will she get a sponsor in a small town like Corning whose event could disappear after 2009.
These are important elements that Bivnes controls, what she doesn't control is the play and players. Like Annika Sorenstam leaving, the LPGA will take a hit on this. Michelle Wie could be one of the biggest draws in golf but she isn't on the LPGA Tour and unless she goes to qualifying school she won't have a chance at a card. Bivens has stayed out of this process, which in some respects is the right thing to do but again Wie could help bring sponsors to the table and she won't unless Bivens can help in the stalemate. Now with no Wie, Sorenstam retiring, this leaves players like Lorena Ochoa who may not be a member for many more years. So Bivens needs new stars, unfortunately the group that seems to be winning the most are Koreans. And this is the flex of the firestorm hitting the LPGA Tour and Ms. Bivens.
There are 121 international players on tour with 45 of them being from South Korea. Of those a dozen don't speak English and as many have pointed out, it's hard to get business folks to pay $10,000 to complete a foursome in a pro-am with a person that doesn't speak English and just bows with a smile. This has been a problem for years and the LPGA has tried to address it with programs but still there are a limited number of players that haven't learn to speak English. So in order for those folks to now be forced into learning English, Bivens has started this new policy, one that is creating the firestorm. But let's be fair, we really don't know what the program is because there have been no releases or news on this, just some articles. Why the LPGA hasn't put something out is weird. So what started all of this?
An article by Beth Ann Baldry in GolfWeek had the story first on how the South Korean's attending a mandatory meeting on August 20th. In that meeting Ms. Bivens informed the players that beginning next year anyone on tour for two years must pass an oral evaluation of their English skills. Failure would result in a suspended membership. Now Libba Galloway, the LPGA Tour's deputy commissioner was quoted in the article so the LPGA PR machine knew that the story was out and should of tried to douse the flames before they got started..
We really don't know how serious this treat of losing membership is, that was the first mistake of the LPGA. They should of immediately told media that this was happening and Bivens needed to personally contact key members of the media (GolfWorld, GolfWeek, AP, Sports Illustrated) with her side of things instead of just having this blurt out. Again the firestorm is because the LPGA didn't control the content of all this and find a way to suppress this news. Another big problem is that the players weren't told what the guidelines are on this. In the drug testing policy all of the guidelines are in black and white with all of the details. In the GolfWeek article the Korean players seem to be scared, under the impression that they would lose their card if they failed the test, again poor communication skills on this.
So the question is why was Bivens warning players when it isn't going to issue a statement on this till the end of the season? Again not very smart thinking. Some insiders think that maybe this was a scare tactic of the LPGA part to get all members to speak English again a tactic that could of backfired.
Did this problem need addressing, yes.
Did Bivens, who we still haven't heard from, address this properly? The answer is no.
So let's look why.
Bivens didn't have any media come to her rescue on this. In all of the stories written, most admit the problem needed addressing but not one said that Bivens did the right thing. Most stories criticize the way the LPGA handle it and wondered if legally the LPGA could enforce the regulation but more importantly was this morally the right thing to do.
Lets give you some of the comments from other writers. Michael Walker Jr. of Golf.Com was one of the first to weigh in on this with the title d
"LPGA's English-only policy is unsportsmanlike and un-American"
In the article he brought up these thoughts:
"You should be measured by your skill, not your personality or parents or linguistic prowess. If Seve Ballesteros was subject to a rule like this one, he never would have won the 1980 Masters."
In a unbyline story by the Canadian Press (AP in Canada), LPGA player Lorie Kane says:
"I am of a strong belief that, yes, we need to learn to communicate," Kane, a 12-year tour veteran, told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. "But whether or not you can communicate shouldn't determine whether or not you have a card on the LPGA Tour."
Brian Hewitt in this piece on Golf Channel.Com brought up some important aspects in all this:
"The game here is still golf. And the object is still to shoot the lowest score. But the LPGA’s move has already been at least partially lost in translation."
Hewitt also points out through Don Shin, whose Global Sports Management is based in Orlando, Fla., represents South Korean LPGA players Meena Lee, Sarah Lee and four other Asian women that none of his players knows what this all means, there were no guidelines brought out, again the scare tactics working.
Bob Harig on ESPN.Com feels that a interpreter might help and that:
"does the LPGA Tour really need to go to the extreme of threatening suspensions if international members cannot speak proper English?"
Another great piece is this video put on by ESPN in which Jason Sobel describes the problem and some of the pitfalls.
Courtesy of ESPN
Lynn Henning from the Detroit News feels that the LPGA is going too far:
"In one context, it makes sense. The LPGA wants its champions to be able to deliver acceptance speeches in English, the better to please sponsors whose dollars fund the Tour.
If athletes from other countries are to compete in the United States for cash unavailable to them elsewhere, they should jolly well speak the official U.S. language, or so the LPGA is implying.
Point appreciated. Except that when we weigh the LPGA's plan, we see that it is both unnecessary and, yes, hypocritical. Truly absurd is the LPGA threatening to eliminate great golfers and moments from the world stage."
Mark Whicker from the Orange Country Register feels that this is a marketing ploy of the LPGA and had these thoughts:
"What do the marketeers want if this gambit fails to work? Will the LPGA require plastic surgery, or a weight limit? Morning aerobics with Natalie Gulbis?"
This may of gone a bit overboard but since the LPGA hasn't said anything on this it kind of gives writers the excuss of doing this.
Lorne Rubenstein in the Toronto Globe and Mail comes out with some rather harsh thoughts:
"Smacking a two-year time period on golfers to learn English, then, smacks of xenophobia in the extreme. The idea is offensive, and its implementation is sure to generate hostility and anxiety."
Steve DiMeglio in this USA Today story is the closes to defending what Bivens is trying to do. He brings up facts that the LPGA have tried to get players to speak better English and gave this player reaction defending the policy:
"That's why I don't think this is an overall bad thing," Dottie Pepper, the former LPGA star and current golf analyst, said of the LPGA tour's new policy requiring its member golfers to speak English or face suspension. "And I think it also can really help the players become more comfortable in the environment they play."
Still in the article he brings up the facts that this new policy could violate peoples rights:
"Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida, said a language requirement could be in violation of state law.
"Florida law prohibits discrimination in public accommodations," he said. "They may well violate Florida discrimination laws because language is a key element of person's national origin. People should be judged on their ability to perform a job. English fluency has no more to do with the ability to play 18 holes of golf than whether you walk 18 holes or ride 18 holes."
DiMeglio counters that with this quote from Galloway, saying the LPGA can stand its legal ground:
"Organizations and businesses in general have the right to make requirements on skill sets necessary for their employers," she said. "We as a membership organization have the right to establish obligations that our members must adhere to in order to do the things fundamental to conduct our business."
But honestly does the LPGA want this to go to court? Of course not the players would hang officials that let it get that far.
Jon Show in this Sports Business daily piece writes that already calls are being make on possible legal action.
Larry Dorman in this New York Times piece plays it to the vest looking to see if any other sports organization has these rules in place and looks at the legal angles of this, something that the LPGA doesn't want to get involved with.
But of all the stories written, I kind of liked this the best. It's by Mark Herrmann of Newsday who basically says that the LPGA has created a public relations mess with this:
"what the LPGA did in trying to cure a public-relations dilemma was create a public-relations nightmare. You can't knock someone out of the game just for being quiet"
Herrmann then makes this point which is the most important point of this saga:
"Deputy commissioner Libba Galloway told the Golf Channel Tuesday night she doesn't expect the rule to ever come into play because players are working on their language skills."
So in summation on this Herrmann says:
"The problem is they didn't need to use a verbal sledge hammer."
Honestly that is why the fault on all of this is Bivens and it's another reason that her term has had problems. The day after Bivens met with the Koreans, a release should of been sent to media and on LPGA.Com with Bivens point of view. Bivens should of pointed out that this problem needed to be address and that she honestly in her meeting with the Koreans feels just like Galloway that she doesn't expect the rule to ever come into effect.
In the beginning I told you about my Grandfather and how he tried to do the same thing decades ago. That also didn't have a happy ending either, because he tried to strong arm some of his friends into speaking better English and by doing that lost a lot of friends. Ms. Bivens needs to be aware that sometimes honey is better than vinegar in dealing with people. She also needs to be more open and have a better dialogue with the media. This program to get players to better speak English is very important, but it's got to be handled with kit gloves and some proper PR. Communications with everyone involved would of gotten the LPGA a lot more great press than this kind of press.
