Top 20 TV’s most powerful moments: 9/11, Katrina, O.J., Nielsen study says

A white Ford Bronco carrying O.J. Simpson is trailed by police in Los Angeles, June 17, 1994. (AP/File)

The Sept. 11 tragedy was the most powerful event in television history, according to a new study released Wednesday by Sony Electronics and Nielsen.

According to Nielsen's survey of 1,077 American adults, 9/11 was the most "universally impactful" televised moment of the last 50 years, followed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the O.J. Simpson verdict in 1995, the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986 and the death of Osama bin Laden last May.

To measure impact, Nielsen and Sony created a score for each event derived by the number of people who viewed the event live, the number who could recall details about where they were during the occurrence and the number who could remember discussing what happened with others. Those parameters may explain why the surreal, slow-speed chase of Simpson's white Ford Bronco on June 17, 1994, ranked higher on the list than the 2011 earthquake in Japan, the Columbine High School shootings and the 2010 BP oil spill.

It may also be the reason that the endlessly hyped wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011 had more influence, according to Nielsen, than the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Here are the top 20 events, according to the survey:

1. Sept. 11 tragedy (2001)
2. Hurricane Katrina (2005)
3. O.J. Simpson verdict (1995)
4. Challenger space shuttle disaster (1986)
5. Death of Osama bin Laden (2011)
6. O.J. Simpson white Bronco chase (1994)
7. Earthquake in Japan (2011)
8. Columbine High School shootings (1999)
9. BP oil spill (2010)
10. Princess Diana's funeral (1997)
11. Death of Whitney Houston (2012)
12. Capture and execution of Saddam Hussein (2006)
13. Barack Obama's acceptance speech (2008)
14. The Royal Wedding (2011)
15. Assassination of John F. Kennedy (1963)
16. Oklahoma City bombing (1995)
17. Bush/Gore election results (2000)
18. L.A. riots (1992)
19. Casey Anthony verdict (2011)
20. Funeral of John F. Kennedy (1963)

Five of the top 20 most powerful moments—bin Laden's killing, the earthquake in Japan, the Casey Anthony verdict, the royal wedding and the death of Whitney Houston—occurred within the last two years, while JFK's assassination and funeral in 1963 were the only televised events from the 1960s. And just one from the 1980s—the Challenger disaster—registered among the 20 most resonating, TV-wise.

The survey was conducted by Nielsen in February. Sony commissioned the study in part to prove that despite the prevalence of Facebook and Twitter, people still watch major news events on television. "The study shows that we still turn to TV to inspire those [social media] discussions," Sony Electronics VP Brian Siegel said. (Loose translation: We should buy more TVs, preferably from Sony.)

It also showed that age and gender play a big role in what we consider must-see TV.

Apart from 9/11, the most highly recalled events among females were the 1997 funeral of Princess Diana, the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton and the 2004 finale of "Friends." Among men, the killing of bin Laden and the U.S. hockey team's 1980 Olympic "miracle" were the most powerful television events excluding the 2011 terror attacks.

Among women aged 18-34, the Tiger Woods cheating episode ranked highest in the scandal category, whereas President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky had a greater effect among men in the same age range.

Men over the age of 55, meanwhile, were influenced heavily by the "Thrilla in Manila" bout between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, and Joe Namath's MVP performance in Super Bowl III. But 18-34-year-old men said they were most "impacted" by LeBron James' decision to sign with the Miami Heat.

Tiger.... Finally!!

Via Yahoo Sports

Tiger Woods proved he can still be his old self – and isn’t that what we want?

 

ORLANDO, Fla. – The book on Tiger Woods’ downfall has been written. It’s called “The Big Miss,” by former swing coach Hank Haney. It comes out Tuesday.

Do we even need to read it?

Sunday’s emphatic win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational did two things for the former No. 1 golfer in the world: It showed that his career no longer is in a desperate freefall, and it shows that we may have found a saturation point in Tiger bashing.

The sight of Tiger Woods on the 18th green, flashing a huge smile and lifting his cap toward the sky, may have signaled a sea change in how the scandal-besmirched golfer is viewed. It’s possible the worst now has passed – and that the final thunderclap of doom has sounded with this book.

Maybe, finally, enough is enough.

After all, what will we really learn in Haney’s scathing tell-all about his former client? Tiger Woods is cold. We knew that. He’s cheap. We knew that. He wasn’t a good husband all the time. We sure knew that. And he was as reckless in his rehab as he was in his personal life – chasing Navy SEALs training as ardently as he chased women. The book suggests an ACL injury Woods allegedly sustained in training in 2007 may have imperiled his shot at Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors.

We did not know that. But we did know Tiger has had knee issues since well before 2007. He had problems with his left knee going all the way back to 1994, when he was in college. Those knees – under that kind of constant torque – were bound to break down. Whether lifting or training worsened the issue is somewhat less crucial now that he has won a tournament. He has returned to winning form – albeit not 2001 form. He’s playing well enough that it’s clear his dark years have not completely destroyed his career. He still is able to put together four strong rounds and win on Sunday.

That’s the story right now. Not the book.

Granted, the ’90s love affair with Woods never will return. The idea that he will become friendly and jovial in midlife is folly. He’s still a robot, still stridently closed off. He is less likely than ever to talk about anything other than golf. And after what Steve Williams has said and after what Haney has written, can you blame him? Perhaps, if anything, Woods should have been even more suspicious. “Privacy” – the name of his yacht – should have been even more of a policy.

But his detachment from the media, the fans and really anything public no longer is a point of frustration. It’s a point of fact. And that could allow the adoration of his golf game to resume – starting in Augusta next month.

Recently ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi – a nice guy if ever there was one – asked Tiger what the difference was between himself and his opponents when he was at the top of his game.

Tiger’s answer: “The score.”

Funny? Sorta. Rude? Yeah. Typical? Absolutely. Tiger never is going to give a great answer. He’s not going to open up. He came off the course after his first PGA Tour win in 30 months and called his emotion “pure joy.” That seemed human – almost vulnerable. Then he said “pure joy” to another reporter, and another, and a gaggle of reporters, and then to Rinaldi. He must have said it five times or more. And then suddenly “pure joy” doesn’t feel like pure joy. It feels less like joy, and a lot less pure.

For years, this was aggravating. Now it’s just … Tiger.

The hard truth is that a lot of Haney’s book is just an echo of a prior publication – Charles P. Pierce’s 1997 profile of Woods in GQ Magazine. You’ll recall Woods was quoted telling off-color jokes, commenting about women and dishing about guy stuff like cars and video games. He was a cad back then, he remained a cad and he’s a cad in this new book. That storyline has more or less run its course. Now it could be time to find out whether the cad can come all the way back.

Let’s not forget the blessings that come with the curse. The maniacal devotion to training revealed in Haney’s book? Surely that has something to do with how Woods was able to rebuild his knees and his swing and return to the winner’s circle. His inability to relax – to reflect on his life and his personality? We sure love that single-mindedness when he’s making a Sunday charge. How many of us, if faced with his situation in 2009, would have taken the millions and vanished? How many of us simply would have written a book of our own?

Tiger did not. He did what he had to do to get through the scandal and return to the course as quickly as he could. Was it healthy? Doubtful. But was anyone on the course at Bay Hill complaining? No. Did anyone mind Sunday when Tiger stared straight ahead all day like Mike Tyson in his prime? Of course not. Fans would be far more upset if he giggled through the round and shot 80.

Tiger just wants to play golf. He wants to win. He does not want to give you a popsicle. He does not want to wait while you finish your meal. He does not want to give Ian Poulter a jet ride back home.

And he does not want to tell the full truth about his anguish – physical, emotional, marital or otherwise. He might want to speak, but he doesn’t want to talk.

And that’s OK.

At this point, closer to the end of his career than the beginning, it’s time to appreciate Tiger Woods for what he is: an otherworldly golfer with a very terrestrial personality.

[ Related: Video: See highlights from Tiger Woods’ win at Bay Hill ]

His father, Earl, once famously said of Tiger: “The world will be a better place to live in by virtue of his existence.”

Uh, that is not likely to happen. It’s not even a sure thing that Tiger will end up bringing more minorities into golf the way we all assumed he would. The door has all but slammed shut on Tiger Woods changing society.

But hey, that’s OK, too. He still has given us more thrills than just about any other athlete we have seen. Sunday he gave us one more. Perhaps there is a renaissance brewing – a real one. Perhaps Tiger will give us a Jack Nicklaus at Augusta in ’86 moment. Perhaps one day he’ll build a hospital like Arnold Palmer did, where the next Tiger Woods will be when his children are born. There is time for Woods in his career, and time for Woods in his life.

For now, Tiger and the fans seem to want one thing: more golf. That’s all we’re going to get, and that may be the best possible outcome for all involved.

The book on Tiger Woods’ downfall comes out Tuesday. We always will have it for easy reference.

But we will not always have Tiger.

INSIGHT FROM A NAVY SEAL

All of us at the recent Keys to Success event, an annual kickoff meeting attended by all consulting office owners in North America, were so lucky to hear from our guest speaker, Eric Greitens, Navy SEAL and award-winning author of “The Heart and the Fist.”  The most powerful part of his message was the mindset required to survive the Navy Seal boot camp. Only about 10 percent of these highly-fit soldiers make it. Eric said that it was not the great collegiate athletes that survived. Instead, it was the ones with the greatest will.

The attributes that he described for the successful are the same ones that are needed for success in our business. Here is a sampling of his comments that I wrote down:

“Confront your fear and push yourself.”
“Courage is the courage of perseverance of willing to do the hard things day after day.”
“People quit when they think how hard it is going to be, but rarely when they are doing those hard things.”
“The Navy Seal challenges are called ‘evolutions’.  Your character evolves until you get to the place where you change who you are.”
“To get the life you want, change the compass just a few degrees and march in that direction every day.”
“If you attempt a challenge and do not succeed, the challenge always remains – the challenge always remains.”

Lessons for all of us.  Eric, we will always be grateful and learned so much from you during the conference. Your words will stick with us now and in years to come.

Via: www.cydcor.com

BIOGRAPHY   ::   http://www.ericgreitens.com/biography

TWITTER   ::   twitter.com/ericgreitens

BOOK   ::   www.theheartandthefist.com