FedEx Cup's pigskin predicament

The FedEx Cup playoffs have been taking their annual media pummeling, this year principally on this front: That a player like Kevin Streelman, who had a mediocre-at-best season, can have one good week in the FedEx Cup playoffs (in this case, a tie for third in the Barclays) and make it through to the Tour Championship, gaining him entry into the first three major championships next year.

Good point, but it's not the PGA Tour's most pressing issue. This is: Apathy.

NBC's telecast of the final round of the Tour Championship next week begins at 1:30 (EDT), at which point the New York Giants will be in the first quarter of their game with Tennessee, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be playing at Tampa Bay, the entire state of Texas will be otherwise engaged with the Dallas Cowboys-Houston Texans game, the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints will be hosting Atlanta and the New England Patriots will be in the midst of their game with Buffalo.

To boot, the Yankees and Red Sox are playing that weekend, though mercifully, for golf's sake, Sunday's game won't begin until 8:05 p.m. (EST).

Saturday's NBC telecast of the Tour Championship begins at noon (EDT), meanwhile, 30 minutes before the Alabama-Arkansas and Ohio State-Eastern Michigan games begin.

Ordinarily, Tiger Woods would be playing, and probably contending, boosting golf's chances against its more formidable competition on the sports calendar. Not this year.

-- John Strege