Golf has proven to be a useful icebreaker for CBS Sports broadcaster Andrew Catalon, who, in addition to covering PGA Tour events for the network, also works the NFL season and covers college basketball.
“A lot of them do love golf,” Catalon said of the coaches and athletes he interviews in other sports. “If I know that somebody is a golfer, to say, when’s the last time you played? Or, did you watch this or that?
“It’s fun for me to talk about that because I think, ultimately, you want to be relaxed in those settings with the guys,” he continued. “It’s not like, tell me about the game plan type-thing. You want to learn something maybe off the field first, and then maybe it kind of brings them back on the field in their way of getting comfortable. And then they learn to build your trust with each other where they’ll give you an answer about the game.”
On this week’s episode of Subpar, Catalon talked with hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz about his transition from Tour coverage to the NFL, and the difference between interviewing players in each sport. According to Catalon, covering the PGA Tour poses a unique challenge.
“For a football game, we meet with the quarterback, the head coach. Basketball, college, we talk to the head coach,” Catalon said. “You guys go out to the range and talk to the guys, but you know, they’re warm enough to go out there and play. It’s not always the best time to talk to guys.
“It’d be great to have another time where you can like — let’s say the leader finishes on Saturday at 6 o’clock and then comes and talks to us. I think that would be kind of a cool way to kind of learn some more stories.
“I know that takes a lot,” he continued. “The golfer’s trying to get out of there. He’s got to do media, but it’s really, the sports that I call, it’s the only time where you don’t necessarily get a guaranteed chat with a guy who’s on the course.”
Knost chimed in with a solution he said he pitched to CBS: a Friday night dinner with a few players, which would be recorded and aired on CBS at a later date.
“Obviously I got shot down,” Knost said.
“I just hate going up to them on the range when they’re like, you know, 30 minutes from their tee time,” Catalon said. “You’re like, tell me about your night last night. Like, I wouldn’t want to do that at that moment either.”
For more from Catalon, Knost and Stoltz, including what it was like to be involved in the Masters broadcast, check out the full episode of Subpar below.
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