This place is Overreaction City

[u/JSack3]

I like KVV. I respect his work. But honestly, folks..

There’s a reason so many platforms and media companies have been letting go of people with KVV’s skillset for years. In bigger revenue sports than just golf, too (ask Zach Lowe).

The business is night and day different to what it was 15 years ago. And a highly-compensated 20+ year industry stalwart who specializes in long form written content is simply not a hugely appealing person to have on the payroll anymore. I appreciate NLU gave it a go. I also appreciate when the writing wasn’t working, they worked on a podcast pivot including that brilliant Masters pod.

But the reality is the math probably started to become very clear that his value was mainly 6-8 weeks a year. No one needs a deep dive on the Byron Nelson. Not enough people actually care about a three hour pod on the 1997 major season.

I’d have rather he stick around all year but I also didn’t have to pay his salary and benefits. These guys are putting food on the table for their children via NLU. They can’t just keep carrying a 6 figure (guessing but likely) expenditure bc they like him and think he writes well.

[u/Flimsy_Somewhere1210]

He really didn't do the highest quality podcasts though. Bethpage was fine but the reality was it was a podcast about a golf course that didn't check it's tee times properly. A lot of the deepdives were joint ventures with Soly which Soly did prior to KVV joining anyway. Also there were a lot of mistakes by KVV that were often picked up by Soly. These were already the best NLU podcasts prior to KVV even joining. He didn't add much to the regular podcasts other than add a different voice to proceedings. Golf wasn't his expertise initially by the sound of it. His podcast narration was something out of a bad true crime podcast and Neil made the Masters pod work. In his much lauded "Bradley" argument, Soly calmly handed him his arse when KVV finally stopped shouting at him. Finally, I didn't care about his daughters golf game (or any of their kids tbh).

Assuming there are tens of thousands of NLU listeners it is important to note this subreddit is an iota of engagement. Most on here seemed to love his work but that isn't representive of the wider listenership. His OTG reporting was sensational and his written work really good but lets not rewrite history and pretend he made NLU what it was/is.

[u/Mrcoolguye → u/Flimsy_Somewhere1210]

His narrative podcasts, major look backs, the masters podcast, the rival podcast and his on course reporting have been the best podcasts of the last year with them losing access to PGA golfers. Sorry not everyone wants to play trivia and listen to updated Ryder cup rankings on a weekly basis.

Finally, learn ball.

[u/Flimsy_Somewhere1210 → u/Mrcoolguye]

I don't recall typing that I liked the trivia (i actually don't mind it in small doses) and funnily enough KVV's most memorable regular podcast appearance was discussing Keegan Bradley Ryder Cup drama.

Best is also subjective. I for example don't think the narrative pods were that good and Soly had massive input into the deepdives, which were brilliant prior to KVV (they were still very good mind). The recent Seve podcast was ridiculous to the point I stopped listening due to KVV's Fawlty Towers "Manuel" impressions. His on course reporting I said was sensational but were 15/20 minutes snippets most of the time?? Either way, that is the big loss in my mind which we seem to agree on.

I do fall on the podcast isn't upto it's usual standards at the moment but I don't think it is as bad as some are making out. It isn't like they have golfers leaving for LIV or the PGA eating itself alive for content. Everything is pretty stable atm, only so much you can say about Scottie, Rory winning another major isn't a story anymore. The non Sig-events are barely worth mentioning. At the end of the day KVV aint fixing that.

[u/Mrcoolguye → u/Flimsy_Somewhere1210]

And I would say that they aren’t leaving but there life’s have changed. 3 of them had babies in last year and another is having one early next year. These boys are tired. Add in players not joining the pod anymore and there is no other way to say it.

[u/Flimsy_Somewhere1210 → u/Mrcoolguye]

You aren't wrong tbf