|
Official Tiger Woods Website: http://www.tigerwoods.com/ PHOTO: The above photo appears on this |
Tiger Woods: No matter which sport you love. No matter if you are a hater of sports. It is very difficult the make a case against Tiger Woods. Not that you would want to. Tiger is a breath of fresh air on the sports scene. His youth isn't anything spectacular. In his twenties, he's in the age range of other professional athletes. His ethnic background isn't anything to "whoop tee doo" over, yet shouldn't be overlooked. Professional sports overall is an integrated industry, but would acknowledge that golf isn't a sport you find many Black-Asians. What is spectacular about Mr. Woods is his focus on the game he obviously loves. He doesn't play golf as a living. He lives for golf. True, he's making the big bucks in golf, but my guess is that Tiger would still play the game professionally even if the top purse in the game was only 10 bucks. I am not going to place Tiger Woods in the category of "Angel", but I would find it improbable for him to engage in any behavior that would jeopardize his game. Michael Jordan, and the many other sports figures our kids "worship", are deserving of that attention. Unfortunately, many kids are seeing the negative behavior of a minority of those stars as being "cool". Hopefully, more kids will see the way that Mr. Woods conducts himself, on and off the golf course, as being "cool". Even though I have never met Tiger, I do have a personal connection to him. My dad was part of group of guys who played golf at the Navy golf course in Long Beach a few years ago. Among that group was Earl Woods, Tiger's father. Dad told me that Earl would occasionally bring his very young son to play with the group. Shorter than a 9 iron at that time, little Tiger would address the ball with a club from his specially made set. Dad, and the other adults in the group, were amazed with his skills. This kid wasn't on the course doing "cute" things to entertain the older guys. Little Tiger was out to win! Guess the main point of my rant is that many of us wouldn't be doing too badly to add Tiger Woods to our heroes list. To quote one of my favorite entertainers, Dennis Miller, "That's just my opinion, and I could be wrong." |
