Dude, it’s golf. Not football, or hockey, the Olympics, or, you know, an actual sport. No sport where I’m in better shape right now than 50% of the participants can be called a sport; it’s not like he needs any great committment or preparation.
Second, Kobe Bryant had a rape charge hanging over his head. Ray Lewis beat a friggen’ murder rap. Both have gone on to win championships in their respective sports and be idolized by the public.
In comparison Tiger’s scandal is pretty tame, and is only being blown out of proportion because of his previous squeaky-clean image. I think he’s only barely a step above pond scum, but I don’t think it will affect his golf game.
Tiger would beat any of those guys straight up if he could play them in his prime. He’s the best ever if he quits today.
I don’t think he’ll quit, though. Golf has been his life since he was a toddler. Beating Nickalus’ record is his entire raison d’etre.
Yes, he’ll get some heckling from the galleries (“It’s in the hole” will have a whole new meaning), but the hurricane won’t last forever. It will become old news, and Tiger’s career will go on, even if it goes on with some scratches in the paint.
You know, I probably agree with you. But until he puts up the numbers, it will remain an arguable point.
Even the term “best ever” is a matter of debate. Does it mean the best at any particular moment, or throughout an entire career? I’m not a historian, but it wouldn’t amaze me if there weren’t a player or 2 who were not extremely hot and dominant for a season or 2, or a part of a season, whom you could argue putting against Tiger “in their prime.” Just a crazy example off the top of my head, wasn’t there a season when Johnny Miller came out of the gate hotter than hot, winning everything in sight? Who knows, maybe he was “the best ever” in his fleeting “prime”?
And I believe Tiger - as much as anyone else - has identified total majors as the ultimate standard.
It would be so easy to pitch…
Ist screen Gatoraid Tiger FOCUS
2nd screen 2 busty blonds …look at each other and say " Both of us?’
3rd screen 5 more busty young women say " no all of us"
I suspect that Tiger will get even better, as he uses the golf course as a means of escape. He obviously wasn’t practicing and working out as much as we all thought he was. Now he will. And if you think that he’ll skip any majors, you don’t know Tiger. He lives for majors. Family was always second (or third or fourth or further back)
Plus, his focus on the golf course is unprecedented. He’s not a normal human being. Personal things that would cause most of us to shank every ball we hit will not affect him. He’s still the overwhelming favorite for the Master’s:
We are all at sea on this one. Tiger has played with adoring fans all of his career. If he gets treated rudely, will it bother him. Will it take the fun out of it? He does not need the money. He could play on the European Tour where they would be happy to have him. They are a bit more sophisticated about sexual transgressions.He could do that for a couple years to let it blow over a bit. Then come back with sponsors throwing money at him .
This is a pretty good point about athletes in general. I read an article once about how a lot of pro athletes will, seemingly paradoxically, perform better on the field when they are having trouble in their personal lives. There was a quote from some baseball player’s wife for instance (I want to say it was Wade Boggs, but that might be wrong. It was a HOF caliber, high average hitter, though) who said that every time she had a fight with her husband, he would go out the next day and go 3 for 4 or 4 for 4. It bugged her because she thought it meant he wasn’t bothered.
According to the sports shrinks quoted in the article, the truth is just the opposite. Athletes do better when their personal lives are stressed because their athletic performance is the one thing they can control, and it’s the one thing that’s always been guaranteed to bring them positive attention and self-esteem in the past. It’s their standby, the thing they can rely on.
Ray Lewis had the best season of his career and won the Superbowl right after he was acquitted on murder charges. Kobe Bryant has shown more focus on his game (and finallywon a ring without Shaq) after his rape trial (and his own exposure as an adulterer).
If anything, I would expect Tiger to be even more focused on the golf course.
I don’t think he could get more focused. Focus is not his problem. The question is whether the distractions will diminish his ability to focus. I do not see how they can help him.
Isn’t that just anecdotal evidence? There has to be examples of just the opposite. For instance, after Earl died, a stressed Tiger missed the cut at the 2006 US Open.
I am sure there are countless examples of athletes slumping after their wives left them or something similar.
As far as I can tell, the biggest distraction Tiger has on the golf course is fans taking pictures of him during his swing. Who knows, if he loses fans, that may mean fewer cameras, and he could end up playing better.
I think it’s pretty silly to get into an argument/discussion of what will happen. Why not wait and see what will happen. Then you can come up with the rationalization after the fact, much more fun.
Hell no. The fun is speculating and pretending you actually figured out some esoteric probability that no one else could see. In my case, I can not be proven wrong until next golf season. By then ,you will all forget.
Didn’t “Cheers” do an episode like this with Carla and her goalie husband?
In both the Ray Lewis and Kobe Bryant instances, they did better after the stress was relieved… so I’m not sure the conclusion that off the field stresses actually help athletes to concentrate can be reached using these two as an example. I’d read it the opposite way. Once the stress was gone (acquittal, secret out of the bag), they had career years.
You have a strange idea of what constitutes a sport. As well as being completely wrong about what pro golfers do with regard to commitment and preparation.
Actually the Tour Starts in the first full week of January in Hawaii, with Tournament of Champions. Tiger does not usually play in Hawaii.
And FTR, there is a difference between athletes, and people are in excellent physical condition. I know a lot of people that run 10K and half marathons who are the klutziest people alive. They cannot do the most basic athletic moves like dribbling a basketball.
As for me, I would have a difficult time running a mile, but I am pretty athletic. I golf to a 3-handicap, play tennis regularly, I waterski, snowski, play basketball, but I play golf to a 3 handicap, a pretty solid tennis player, have some pretty good moves on a basketball court and otherwise pretty adept at every sport I have ever played. But I am far from being in tip top physical form.
