High & Inside: Don't expect Tiger tales

CBS NEWS AND SPORTS president Sean McManus said yesterday that he hasn't given Masters announcers any restrictions when discussing Tiger Woods.

Turns out he doesn't have to.

Lance Barrow, the network's golf producer, said he doesn't expect any tabloid-style reporting about Woods' sex scandal.

Ditto announcer Jim Nance.

"I'm not there to do 'Face the Nation,' " Nantz said. "I'm there to cover a golf tournament."

McManus said Masters officials have not told the network what to say, or not say.

Which is difficult to believe because the people who run the tournament are a bit controlling.

In 1995, they got rid of announcer Gary McCord for making comments like, "They don't cut the greens here at Augusta, they use bikini wax."

McCord hasn't been back since.

"Our job is to cover what happens in the golf tournament," McManus said. "This year Tiger's story is a major factor in the golf tournament and we are going to cover it fully."

Of course, the word "fully" is open to interpretation.

"I don't think there is a whole lot of reporting that needs to be done on what has happened to Tiger since Thanksgiving evening," McManus said. "What the story is now is how he plays and how he reacts."

The San Francisco Giants are having problems with the Coca-Cola bottle slide at AT&T Park. Seems there have been four lawsuits filed against the team and the beverage maker since 2000.

The problem?

People are apparently getting hurt as they are shot through one of four metal tubes inside the green, 60-foot Coke bottle.

According to a San Francisco Examiner report, at least 55 people have been injured.

Which got us to thinking . . . Why not ship the slide to Philly? We'll put it in the Linc and let Eagles fans fling anyone wearing a Cowboys jersey down the chutes.

We're kidding, of course. Heh, heh, heh.

- Tom Mahon

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