As an avid viewer of sports news I was confronted by the big Tiger Woods press conference last week on every sports news show and even the non-sports related shows dedicated significant time to his apologies. I did not stick around to hear his excuses for being 'addicted' to sex (I guess we men should all seek help for that), instead I surfed the channels for anything boxing which if you are a long time boxing fan as I am you'll know is hard to do. But the more I channel surfed the more I kept running into Tiger, now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the man as a person it just doesn't sit well with me that news media and many well respected sports journalists continue to refer him as the athlete of our generation. Think of it, to imply that a golfer is the greatest athlete our era has produced is to imply that Golf was the most watched, most played, most popular sport of our time....golf? Really. Comparisons have been drawn to Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, Joe Montana, Jim Brown and Bill Russell. Really?
No amount of video editing can convince me that Golf offers the same amount of athleticism, drama, excitement, redemption, and suspense that one can find in boxing, basketball, baseball, football, soccer or even tennis for Pete's sake. If you want to see the difference between an athlete and a golfer look no further than the cover of Vanity Fair that featured golf's number one 'athlete' Tiger Woods. There is no more indisputable evidence that this man is not an athlete of the caliber of Michael Jordan than this picture. Notice the paunch belly, see how he has to hold dumbbells in order to get his biceps to look tight (try holding dumbbells for a while and see how your veins will bulge and your biceps will increase in size in less than ten seconds, try it), see how the rest of him compares favorably to your average shirtless crackhead. And this is the guy that is this generation's Michael Jordan? Puh-leaze!
Although the face of golf is that of an African American, in this day and age it is still a very exclusionary activity and that is not easily accessible to the average person. Sports like football, baseball, and basketball still dominate on the collegiate, high school, and elementary school levels as well as on the street playgrounds. Even in these times were most kids would rather play sports on a video game then on the playing fields there choice of games would include Madden Football, NBA live, and MLB the Show , very few kids would select Tiger Wood's golf games.
Years ago comedian Chris Rock had a skit on his Chris Rock show that hilariously illustrated the disconnect between the sport of golf and the average person on the streets of Harlem, it was brilliant.
I would love to take the following poll to the streets to see how golf would fare:
What sports winning moment would you rather be involved in out of the following choices:
- Walk off home run in game 7 of the world series
- Last second game winning three pointer in game 7 of the NBA finals
- Throw a hail Mary game winning touchdown in the Super Bowl
- Score a knockout in a heavyweight championship fight
- Hit a hole in one at the Masters tournament
In my youth, golf was never part of the sports equation, it would have never been included amongst the list of choices above and I fail to see how it has sneaked into the consciousness of the average sports fan. Yet there it is front and center prominently featured on ESPN's sports center and just about every sports show you can think of. And the word athlete gets bandied about when talking of this activity despite the fact that these people have caddies who carry the equipment for the 'athlete' and the 'athletes' get spirited from play to play by a golf cart. Makes me think then that a pool player is also an athlete, a chess player is also an athlete, a checkers wiz is also an athlete, etc, etc, etc. Yet bowling and dart throwing do not receive the same amount of attention as golf, why is that?
Here is my theory, golf is the one sport that is heavily participated by corporate types, titans of industry. I can easily see Bill Gates and Mike Bloomberg playing the links of the PGA way before I can ever imagine them getting in the ring or stepping on a basketball court. So corporate sponsorship money gets poured into this 'sport' like no other sport and it gets force fed to the American public. Just like special interest groups have their lobbyists in congress so does golf have powerful groups that influence the sports medias to champion golf as a major sport.
Now I am not calling for the removal of golf from the airwaves, I'm not even calling for the removal of golf in the category of sport. I am simply pleading with the sports media of the world to keep it real and stop acting as if golf is a major sport which holds the fascination of every man, woman and child on the planet. And in the name of the Babe, stop comparing Tiger Woods to the greats of the sports world. If it pleases the elite we can compare Tiger to the genius of say.... Garry Kasparov who is widely considered the greatest chess player of all time. If golf is finally returned to its rightful place in the order of sports maybe we could all be spared the Tiger Woods gossip and I can finally get some boxing news mixed into my Sportscenter.
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