For years, I have criticized the golf media for its complete focus on Tiger Woods to the exclusion of just about everyone and everything else. Yes, Woods was the best golfer on the planet 25 years ago and he held that position for about a dozen years. Nevertheless, the golf media never got to the point where it could look away from Woods for even a moment and examine some of the other players on the Tour. That syndrome continues today in a macabre dimension.
It has been a while since Tiger Woods dominated a significant golf event; he is 48 years old, and his body is breaking down to the point where he simply cannot do what he used to be able to do routinely. This situation has nothing at all to do with any of the low points that Woods has experienced in his life away from the golf course; this situation has to do with aging and with his trying to heal from significant injuries.
This week, Tiger Woods teed off in the British Open at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. He did not make the cut; after the first two rounds his score was 14 over par and he was in 149th place on the “leaderboard”. For someone with his history, a departure of that sort should normally call for a tip of the cap and a few handshakes and a quick pivot to find another story involving the players remaining in the tournament. But the golf media cannot wean itself off finding a “Tiger Woods angle” everywhere and anywhere.
One of the commentators – a former professional golfer – said this:
“You look at the eyes; you’ve got to think there’s quite a lot of painkillers being taken to cope with the pain, you know…”
Enough already. Tiger Woods is no longer one of the best golfers on the planet. When he does try to compete in golf tournaments, he is about an even money proposition to make the cut let alone to win the event outright. One can revel in his fall from the pedestal if that is what brings joy; on the other hand, one can simply acknowledge the reality of the situation and take note of the times he does compete and the times he does not. But the time has come for the golf media to heed the message in the writings of Omar Khayyam:
“The Moving Finger writes: and having writ, Moves on…”
Next up … Caleb Williams signed his contract with the Chicago Bears this week; the contract is for $39M guaranteed over the first 4 years of his NFL career. Basically, Williams signed the standard contract for an overall #1 Draft pick as a QB which means his whole negotiation process was extended in time and full of Sturm und Drang that resulted in – – normalcy. Let’s review the bidding here:
- First, we heard from “sources in the know” that Williams did not want to play for the Bears and was going to go back to USC to live off NIL money and then wait to see who might take him next season. Didn’t happen.
- Then, Williams was considering how to force the Bears to trade him if indeed they did choose him with the overall #1 pick. John Elway and Eli Manning managed to make that happen; so, there was precedent. Didn’t happen.
- For a while, the story was that Williams wanted a small equity stake in the team that drafted him. Remember, all minority owners must be vetted and approved by 75% of the owners. I doubt that many of them would want to open that house of horrors as they all get to negotiate those sorts oof terms with future draft picks and free agents. Didn’t happen – – and never had a real chance of happening.
- The latest scoop on why the negotiations were dragging on focused on a demand by Williams that the Bears would not use the franchise tag on him when this rookie contract expired. Didn’t happen.
All those stories were sourced to people in the know. Well, it seems that they may have been “out of the know” to some extent. Moreover, Caleb Williams may or may not have been a party to any or all those reports that never came to fruition. The Bears believe that they have drafted the player who will fill a huge gap on the team; Williams arrives in Chicago with Heisman Trophy honors and a “Can’t Miss” label from loads of scouts and analysts. What the Bears – – and Bears’ fans – – need most is for Williams to play to his anticipated level and not fail to meet expectations in a similar way that the stories about his contract demands never panned out.
Finally, Bob Newhart died yesterday at the age of 94. I’ll close today with his words:
“All comedians are, in a way, anarchists. Our job is to make fun of the existing world.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
I think the golf media, whom I generally hold in low regard, merely feeds the enormous public appetite for images and chatter about Tiger. The appetite is slowly diminishing but still significant. Some evidence of the decline: Tiger’s new clothing line is not succeeding. There is now talk that he will go to the Senior Tour in 2 years when he turns 50.
Gil:
If the golf media would spread more attention around on the golfers who are at the top of their games today, there would be less of an appetite for “Tiger chatter”.
Judging from your balanced rant, you were never one of those in attendance that screamed “Get in the hole!” the second Tiger Woods’ club made contact with the golf ball?
TenaciousP:
Not only did I never do such a thing but I would have sentenced all the assholes who did so to 20 years at hard labor if given the opportunity and the authority.