Am I the only person on the planet who isn’t utterly obsessed with Tiger Woods?
The media has relegated golf’s weekly leaders and winners to afterthoughts because of an ongoing love affair with the guy who went 0-for-2010 and piled up more mistresses than rounds in the 60s. My good friend, Dave Ornauer, the iconic sports writer for Pacific Stars and Stripes, calls it a “morbid fascination” and says, “His game totally went south last year after the Elin thing ... yet look who’s splashed all over the sports websites again? Yep, (Tiger), in the flesh. Back at his old haunt, looking for a new start is the prevailing theme.”
Just when I think it can’t get worse, the infatuation grows stronger every year. Tiger can finish tied for 56th at any tournament in the world yet still monopolize “The Lead” on ESPN’s scrolling bottom line. The champion typically gets mentioned in an “oh, by the way” manner.
I give you the four days of reporting from the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego two weekends ago: “Woods 5 back after opening 69 at Torrey Pines,” “Tiger rallies to remain 5 behind Haas,” “Woods goes 2-over-par to fall out of contention” and “Watson holds off Mickelson; Tiger ends week on low note.” Woods closed with rounds of 74 and 75 to finish 15 shots behind Bubba Watson, but was handed a share of the spotlight anyway.
It’s been a familiar pattern over the past decade, but one that’s now reached unadulterated silliness. Prior to the opening round at Augusta National last year, even The Weather Channel joined in the fun one morning as a meteorologist proclaimed, “Let’s see what kind of day Tiger will be facing at The Masters.”
Phil Mickelson gets some attention, but it’s nowhere near the magnitude of Tiger. As far as the press is concerned, there’s only one player on the PGA Tour.
Headlines at the four majors can be written before the week’s opening cocktail party, as Orny tells me every year:
Day 1 — “Tiger trails leader by 11 strokes after opening round”
Day 2 — “Tiger vows to straighten out game as he barely makes cut”
Day 3 — “(Insert name) holds off hard-charging Tiger, who trails by five”
Day 4 — “(Name of unknown) wins by four shots; Tiger ties for 23rd”
Then, instead of highlighting golf’s next great story, we get three straight days of “What’s wrong with Tiger” pieces on SportsCenter.
Look, I respect the guy’s talent and accomplishments. Fourteen majors are a stunning feat and he’s pulled off shots us mere mortals can only dream of. His victory at Torrey Pines in the 2008 U.S. Open on a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and double stress fracture in his left tibia ranks among the gutsiest performances I’ve ever seen in any sport.
At the height of Tiger’s dominance, other players knew they couldn’t beat him. You could see it etched on their faces. What’s worse: He knew they couldn’t beat him. That’s not the case anymore.
The national sports media isn’t doing golf or its fans any favors by refusing to cultivate other stars on tour — and clear rivals to Woods. Arnold Palmer had Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, and Nicklaus had Tom Watson, Lee Trevino and Tom Weiskopf as foils. Woods has only a fawning media, despite an abundance of good, young players and great storylines getting little or no play.
They make pills for this kind of obsession.
Seriously, ESPN, the self-anointed “Worldwide Leader in Sports,” doesn’t even cover sports as much as it does sports celebrities. It’s really no better than E! or TMZ.
Tiger leads a pack of highly predictable nightly subjects that also include: LeBron tweeted about his old team. Rex Ryan has a foot fetish. ‘Melo deal to Nets could be on again, maybe not. Brett Favre texted today, then said he might practice Friday. Big Ben hung out at a piano bar till 1 a.m. Chad Ochocinco (the worst big-game receiver in NFL history, by the way) changed his last name for the 10th time. Phil Jackson and Kobe aren’t talking again because Phil says Kobe takes way too many shots, a team official said on condition of anonymity.
ESPN is fueled by rumors, conjecture and speculation. Remember the Cliff Lee deal? Not one of the network’s so-called “journalists” had him going back to Philadelphia, until it happened. In the weeks prior, all the “sources” said it would be the Yankees or Texas, as they were the only two bidding on the left-hander.
On a May 2009 visit to see my wife’s parents in Jacksonville, Fla., I caught some local news coverage of The Players Championship. After Saturday’s round, it devoted the first five minutes to Tiger Woods. The last 10 seconds? Almost with contempt, the local sports anchor said, “And after the third round, Alex Cejka is your leader by five shots.”
Tournament champ? Who needs that dude, right? He’s just a distraction at the altar to Tiger Woods.
With 18 major victories, Nicklaus is still the greatest of all time. Woods could supplant him someday. His performance on the golf course will determine that. Unfortunately, the media will just carry on its same tune as the tour heads for Pebble Beach this week.
No, they’re not doing this sport any justice at all.
