Ugh.

[bzarcher]

Because I wasn't that interested in listening to the Classic Games replay of the '95 SCF (though I admit that hearing Bettman say "The Hartford Whalers are staying put. New Jersey is going to move before they'd relocated!" was kind of amusing), I decided to flip over to ESPN radio.

I got there just in time to hear the guest host on Mike and Mike (Josh something?) say that Tiger Woods would be treated just like Barry Bonds when he got close to breaking Nicklaus' record. Which, quite frankly, just isn't going to happen.

It ticked me off a bit, and it's just annoyed me today, so I thought I'd write it out.


1) Barry Bonds -has admitted to taking steroids-. Oh, sure, he "didn't really know what they were", "Flaxseed oil", etx. But he admitted, on the record, that he took substances that were later proven to be performance enhancing drugs. (And, y'know, unusual and rapid muscle growth at a later age where that does -not- happen in a normal human being) Tiger Woods has never even been accused of drug use, let alone done anything to suggest that he might be taking drugs of any sort.

2) Tiger is not the best in the world because he hits the long ball. His game relies on a lot of mental work, a lot of very close precision work, and careful attacks on the course. Nothing that a performance enhancing drug would improve. Even the general purpose of steroids - to force the body to heal faster - doesn't meet what he's doing. He works out to keep himself in good trim, but he isn't trying to bulk himself up or force himself back out onto the course more often. If anything, notice that he's actually taking time off more, lately.

3) Tiger is on a much younger, faster pace to meet Nicklaus' record than Bonds was to meet Aaron, or even to meet Ruth's, and his pace didn't suddenly jump to a higher curve after a much lower point of his career. If anything, he's more comparable to a younger Ken Griffey Jr. or A-Rod, who show a great deal of promise early in the career and are capitalizing on it. (Also, while he has to beat out a -lot- more people each time to get there, I think it's worth admitting that it's a much lower number. Even if they only play 4 Majors a year, if he averages at least 1 Major win each year of his career, it's very likely that he will not only beat the record, but set it much higher...)

4) Much as it's rude to say, Tiger is a hell of a lot more media friendly / family friendly / approachable than Bonds ever was. He was a jerk when he played in Pittsburgh, he was a jerk when he left for San Francisco, and he's been a constant source of negative soundbytes for the media. He was played up as a goon, and even his "attempts to dispel my bad image" have mostly just come off as being callous, at best.

Tiger, on the other hand, is a very smooth operator who comes off as warm and approchable off the course, and while he gets very cold and professional in the moment, he's generally clear with "Please don't bother me when I'm working, but otherwise I'm happy to talk to you." He's been a media darling, and generally I think more people would say that he's a nice person than not. He's had a decent amount of PR coaching and he tends to mix the pride he has in his skill with a good bit of on-camera humility.

5) Bonds is a symbol of an era. It's not just that he was trying to break the record, it's that he's become the boogeyman for all the cheating that we know, with almost dead certainty, occured under the MLB and MLBPA's "See no evil, hear no evil" attitude towards steroids, ampethamines, HGH, etx, and he makes it workse because he Just Won't Go Away. Love him or hate him, he's everything about that late mid to late-90s that's so controversial in one neat package.

If Tiger's the symbol for an era in Golf, it's an era where golf really recconnected with people again. It stopped being a game for a bunch of fat white guys, and started being people that a lot of the public could get behind, even if they didn't always understand the game, or care that much about the lower tier players. Ratings, merch, ticket prices all went up, and the Tiger Tide raised up the PGA boats. Even the scandals that have touched the PGA have been personal ones - drinking, gambling, domestic issues, and all with players who are generally regarded as good, but not at Tiger's level.

If he has any problem in the sport, it's that nobody -is- percieved to be at his level, when he is on top of his game. Sometimes they shine close, but never just as bright, and when he's beaten, it's looked more as being "what's wrong with Tiger?" than "Wow, that guy did great!"

6) The timing. Like I mentioned earlier, there's only 4 Majors a year. Even if ESPN wants to do some kind of "Chasing Nicklaus" like they did with "Chasing Aaron/Ruth", it's not going to be an every night thing, and since each Major is a 4 day event, about the best I think they could do, as he gets close, would be a nightly recap, and maybe doing a "view in" when he plays a hole. Nothing like the "Every night, Game by Game, Inning by Inning, Pitch By Pitch" Instant Coverage/Analysis they were doing. I just can't see the format of golf sustaining that kind of hype.



One other thing he said also bugs me, and I can't decide if I'm ticked at how cynical the guy's attitude is, annoyed that ESPN's letting him go off like this, or maybe just worried that both of them might be right.

"Every sport is being touched by drugs, right now."

I just don't see that being the case. I don't see most sports being a giant dope fest, regardless of what guys like Dick Pound want us to believe.

Maybe it's naieve, but I like my Pollyanna world where the majority of athletes are naturally gifted people who compete because they love the game and drive themselves to do better, without resorting to cheating.

Comments

[mephron]

Yeah, while I am a non-fan of golf, I'd rather have Tiger as a sports symbol than the Sultan of Syringe.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

*nods* 9 times out of 10, I can only watch golf if I'm being social with my grandparents.

Well, OK, except for Mario Golf. But that's special circumstances.

But he's certainly a much better "icon", I think, than most.

[yetanotherbob.livejournal.com]

I've nothing else to add, except that the term "Sultan of Syringe" is so full of win, I'm going to have to use it.

[mithikall.livejournal.com]

A 15 year old in Japan won the golf tournament. They gave his check to the next guy, something about the kid not being an official competitor or some bullshit.

Also, I'm on steroids. RIGHT NOW. Can you feel the beef? RRRRRRRR!


(Though my steroids are for the chigger bites that suddenly relapsed)

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Bleah. Crappy behavior. WTF, Japan.

I have no doubt that you're a seething cauldron of roid-fueled Hate/Lust who could probably rip me apart and then go have ice cream.

[mithikall.livejournal.com]

Oooooh yeeeeaaaaahh!

BTW, strawberry wine = pretty good. Though I need to work on my food pairings.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Oh, good!

I think I'm finally going to succumb and just drink some this week or weekend. I really need to get proper wine glasses at some point, too. I had two special goblets that were a christmas preset to Lisa and I from my parents (ow) which I may need to think about what I want to do with them, but I should have some "daily drivers" other than tumblers and mixed drink glasses.

[mithikall.livejournal.com]

Sounds like someone needs to hit one of the great Columbus area thrift stores.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Perhaps, or even just Meijer.

It doesn't have to be Svaworski crystal or anything. Decent glass glasses will do just fine.

[mithikall.livejournal.com]

yeah, but I reccomend the thrift stores. they're an awesome place to just look around and be horrified, and usually happen to have some pretty good stuff for super cheap. Cheaper than Meijer, even.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Heh. :D Fair enough.

[las.livejournal.com]

Years back, my roommate got into a major patch of poison ivy, and got prescribed steroids for it shortly before we had to move to a new apartment.

Not only did her rash go away, she turned into She-Ra for about a week. Very handy during the Day of Hauling Boxen :)

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

What, Tiara, sword, and the whole bit?

I can see how the flying unicorn would make getting a truck kinda trivial.

[las.livejournal.com]

The unicorn was great until he drank all our whiskey and had explosive diarrhea on the carpet.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Well, Duh.

You never give a unicorn anything above 75 proof.

[feras.livejournal.com]

allergic reactions are treated with corticosteroids not anabolic steroids. Those 'steroids' she took would do nothing for muscle recovery (anabolic steroids don't make you instantly strong they decrease recovery time so you are able to work out harder and longer). Just a placebo effect...glad it was useful though.

[lordkhyron.livejournal.com]

Well put.
Tiger is no Bonds*. Having my own memories of Bonds* I have to say there should be NO comparison between Tiger and Bonds*.

I think it is nothing more than the idiot on ESPN trying to stir up some hype.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

I do hope so. I'd really hate for Tiger to get disrepected when he did something wonderful the /right/ way.

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

Curling is touched by drugs?

[chaoticgoodnik.livejournal.com]

I can totally see curlers snorting ADD meds.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Touched? No.

Bodyslammed to the floor of the Bonspiel by the alcohol fairy? Entirely possible.

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

Well hells, if you're counting alcohol, then yes, every sport is touched by drugs. :)

[las.livejournal.com]

Pro snowboarding has been especially touched by marijuana.

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

"Touched" on the same level of understatement found in the following: "A few Catholic priests have been suspected of inappropriately touching young, teenage boys in their parishes from time to time."

[flying-landon.livejournal.com]

And what's kind of funny, from what I understand about golf, hitting a long shot is only like...less than half strength. So he could roid out all he wanted...still wouldn't increase his driving range.

But yea. Dude needs to be piledriven through a pile of flaming, rabid ferrets for even suggesting the comparison.

[flaggerx.livejournal.com]

I'd have to say those comments were among the most stupid in sport, more calculated to get a discussion going than anything

My step-father (who has finished a round of golf at seven under) thinks Tiger's short game is his real strength, that and his concentration. That was also true of Nicklaus, he would just bear down when the going got rough. Of course the difference to me is that Nicklaus had his old college teammate Weiskopf, Player, Trevino and a few other guys who didn't collapse down the stretch like some of Tiger's foes seem to.

He's a great golfer and seems to be a good human being. If he breaks Nicklaus's record--- fine. Records were made to be broken and nobody would argue that Nicklaus wasn't one of the Greatest Ever.

Barry Bonds is nothing compared to him.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

I honestly think that if TIger were -consistently challenged-, the way Nicklaus often was, he'd be downright terrifying. Something to make him constantly push himself would galvanize him in a way I don't think we've seen yet.

[feras.livejournal.com]

all i gotta say is no steroid is gonna help you hit a 95mph fastball... that takes hand eye coordination and talent that you have to be born with and skill that has to be learned, and bonds has always been able to hit the long ball (even when he was lanky). Yeah he prolly took steroids but we'll never know (all tests negative) and the fact that he made it to 756 is still a feat regardless. Back in the day they could of been taking all kinds of stuff and there was no tests or talk. i guarantee you plenty of ball players took amphetamines, coke, smack whatever to gear up for a game, who knew and who cared...why do we care now. Either the MLB needs to make drugs illegal in the rule book and have disciplinary recourse or else just drop it.