Peter Kostis finds CBS sacking 'disrespectful'
Peter Kostis has opened up after he was dismissed from the CBS Sports golf team.
CBS Sports' recent decision to shake things up within their golf team caused quite the stir. The dismissal of Gary McCord, Peter Kostis and Bill Macatee left the majority of golf fans very disappointed. People are questioning why on earth CBS decided to let go of the team, that has been a special part of golf's TV culture for a long time.
McCord recently spoke on the Gravy and The Sleeze show, where he told listeners that he was extremely disappointed with the waythat CBS went about the dismissal, telling him that coverage had gone 'stale'.
RELATED: Gary McCord FURIOUS with CBS Sports' decision to fire him
McCord's co-worker Peter Kostis has been a vital cog in the CBS machine for years, with his in-depth swing analysis and on-course commentary, he was a joy to watch. Kostis had remained silent about his recent dismissal, but on Wednesday, ScoreGolf's Rick Young published an interview he conducted with Kostis, where he shed some light on his feelings towards CBS and his dismissal.
“I’m surprised Gary and I didn’t get the same loyalty other announcers have received who have worked for CBS for a long time,” said Kostis. “That’s my biggest surprise in this whole thing. I wasn’t sure if I was going to work beyond this current television contract (2021) but it would have been nice to have a year to go out and say goodbye to fans, say goodbye to sponsors, friends we’ve met in different locations. I thought it was a little bit disrespectful.”
Something else that upset Kostis and confused him was that he hadn't been given a real reason as to why he was being let go. “All we’ve really heard is, ‘We think it’s time, we need a change, things were stale,’” Kostis said. “What was stale? ‘Well, the telecasts.’ Why is this the time now? ‘Well, it just is.’ They haven’t really given us any answers whatsoever on why we were let go.
“There’s a fine line between familiarity and staleness,” Kostis continued. “What we’ve been hearing over and over from fans since this happened is, ‘You guys are the voices of my weekends watching golf and we’ve grown to love it.’ There’s a familiarity for the viewers with the CBS team. Having said that, I don’t think it was the announcers that were stale. I believe the production has suffered over the last few years. That’s all I’m going to say. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Earlier this week, CBS announced that Davis Love III would be joining the team as an analyst, starting his role in January 2020, but further announcements are expected as CBS begin to create its new golf team.
