NBC's Mark Rolfing launches new golf program following 'life-changing' rehab stint

According to Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins, "It was not our call; it was the LPGA's call."

LPGA spokesman David Higdon said, "We did approach [the Golf Channel] to see if they would be interested. But the quality [of the international feed] was not acceptable to them. From our standpoint, we felt it was really important to get it on. The quality of play was amazing and obviously because of the historical significance."

Higdon said the LPGA also approached several companies about the possibility of streaming the international feed live over the LPGA Web site, and that fell through, as well.

"Ever since [Ochoa] announced her retirement," he said, "we were literally scrambling for two weeks to get something. But we just were not able to get it done."

The Golf Channel initially offered extensive coverage of Ochoa's announcement when it first became public April 20, including a 30-minute special and a retrospective of her career that night and coverage of her retirement news conference April 23. But the network that purports to offer blanket coverage of all things golf, did not even bother to send a reporter or a cameraman to the Tres Marias tournament.

"I was told that it was not possible due to logistical and technical video feed issues from Mexico," Higgins said in an e-mail. "As with all of TV production, what may seem simple, never really is."

And yet, when Miyazato pushed into contention, Golf Channel Japan somehow managed to dispatch a reporter and a camera crew to the tournament. The network also arranged for a satellite truck to drive all night from Mexico City to get there before Sunday's final round, the better to provide its viewers with exclusive highlights and a live one-on-one interview with Miyazato shortly after she won the event.

America's Golf Channel, now in the first year of a 10-year deal to televise LPGA events, surely could have done far better. And the LPGA would also be wise to start approaching other national American networks about the possibility of televising more tournaments in the future.

A Bully Pulpit

At a time when school bullying has become a national issue, here comes HBO's award-winning documentary unit offering up a riveting, and yet somewhat disturbing one-hour look back at arguably the most controversial team in NHL history. That would be the 1975 and '76 Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers, otherwise known as the "Broad Street Bullies."

That's the title of the new HBO feature that debuted this past Tuesday night and will air multiple times over the next month. Having covered that '74 Flyers team in the Cup finals, "Bullies" brought back many memories -- some not so terribly fond -- of a thuggish team reviled by hockey purists around the globe for its drop-the-gloves and punch-you-out mentality. And yet, those Flyers were adored in the so-called City of Brotherly Love back then and even now, 35 years later.

The team philosophy was best expressed in the show by Mark Mulvoy, the former editor of Sports Illustrated who had covered hockey for the magazine during that era.

"It was all part of the game plan," he said on camera. "It was all part of the strategy, which is to go out and just annihilate people, and by annihilating them, we're going to render them ineffective, and that's how we're going to win. And it worked."

A number of players from that era, including Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke and head goon Dave "The Hammer" Schultz, were interviewed for the documentary, and some of their quotes spoke volumes about their hockey mindset.

"I always had a lot of energy, so I like to expand it," said Bob Kelly, nicknamed "Machine Gun Kelly" back then. "And there's nothing like driving somebody's head through the boards to make you feel good."

Bill Clement, a long-time hockey broadcaster who played for the Flyers and later, the Washington Capitals, said, "we were just ultimate fighters without the cage around us. Our legacy now is exactly what it was then . . . loved in one part of the world, hated everywhere else. And there isn't an apologetic bone in my body or anybody else's body on our team."

If blood on the ice is your hockey cup of tea, the documentary ought to be quite satisfying. But do yourself a favor; at least keep the kids away. These Bullies were definitely not role models, no matter how many Cups they won.