This is a good time of year for sports. We are not that far removed from the Super Bowl and NCAA Football championship, and more recently, the NCAA basketball championship. Currently, the NBA and NHL playoffs are just starting to get under way, and the Major League Baseball and NASCAR seasons are just beginning. The two sports in playoff season right now gave me the idea to write this post on which sports have the better playoff formats. There are some playoff formats that seem a lot more exciting than others, and I'm going to rank the major ones in the order that I like them.
7. NBA Playoffs
All playoff formats are exciting, and the NBA has some great moments just as the others do. The problems with the NBA playoffs are that they drag on forever. First of all, there are way too many teams in the playoffs. There are 30 teams in the NBA, and the top 8 from each conference make the playoffs, which makes 16 total teams. That means over half of the teams are in the playoffs. This also means that more often than not, a team that lost more games than it won in the regular season makes the playoffs. Just to compare this to the NFL, a team with a losing record made the playoffs in football this year for the first time, and people were furious about it. With 16 teams in an elimination format, that gives 4 rounds of playoffs, and each round is a best of 7 series. What makes this even worse, is that the series play 2 games at one team's location, then 2 at the other team's location, then 1 back at the first site, 1 back at the second site, and another game back at the first site, as long as no one has clinched the series yet. All of these location changes make for several days in between each game, and each series can last as long as two weeks. These playoffs drag on forever, and there are rarely any upsets, so it ends up being a lot of time spent on predictable results.
6. NHL Playoffs
The reasons I have the NHL playoffs ranked so low are similar to the NBA playoffs. Just like the NBA playoffs, there are too many teams allowed in, and it drags on way too long. I feel like it is more excusable for the long breaks in between NHL games however, because the physical toll is greater on hockey players than it is for basketball players. This part could be in my head, but it feels to me like the hockey players are much more passionate about winning their playoff games than any other sport. Hockey players also grow some pretty sweet playoff beards until they are eliminated, which is automatic bonus points.
5. NASCAR Chase for the Cup
I like the Chase for the Cup, mostly because this is a relatively new phenomenon, and formerly there was no playoff system. The points for the regular season just continued through the whole year, and whoever had the most points at the end of the season was the champion. This would be similar to just awarding the football team with the best record at the end of the year with the Super Bowl trophy. While it is much better than before, the NASCAR playoff system still has its faults. As the first two playoff formats, this one drags on too. The NASCAR Chase for the Cup is 10 races, and the races are once a week. This means the Chase is two and a half months long. There are a lot of great parts of the 10 week long chase though. The leaders seems to change often. Not just week-to-week, but also within the race. At any given moment, a wreck could happen and someone who was leading the points could be knocked down to 8th place. In no other playoff system can your position in the standings can change so quickly.
4. MLB Playoffs
I think of all the professional sports, baseball has got the concept of playoffs down better than the rest of the sports. There are 30 teams in baseball, and 8 teams total make the playoffs. It is a big deal for any team to make the playoffs, even for teams who make the playoffs often. There are only 3 rounds in the baseball playoffs, as opposed to 4 rounds in the other major sports. Also, the first round is only a best of 5 series, so it is short and sweet. They also switch locations a lot less in baseball, so that each series lasts shorter than other sports as well.
3. NCAA Football BCS
There are a lot of fans and media personalities who think the BCS is as bad as any other system. I disagree with that for one simple reason. While it may not necessarily be the most fair way to decide the championship, this is the only sport that can basically guarantee that the top two teams in the sport will play for the championship. Also, when there is so much importance put on choosing who plays for the championship, it turns the whole regular season into a type of playoffs. There is by far no more important regular season than college football. It's the only sport where losing one game could eliminate you from being able to play for the championship.
2. NFL Playoffs
The NFL playoffs have a ton of good things going for them. As previously mentioned, only once has a team with a losing record ever been in the playoffs, which was last year. There are four rounds in these playoffs just like in the NBA and NHL, but each round is only one game. This makes each game very intense. Each game is a win or go home scenario. Not to mention that the culmination of the NFL playoffs is the Super Bowl, the biggest sporting event in the world.
1. NCAA Basketball Tournament
This one wasn't even close. I know the Super Bowl is a big deal, but as far as the playoffs as a whole go, nothing is close to the NCAA tournament. Even though there is a big playoff field, currently at 68 teams, and possibly still growing, there is still a hint of exclusivity with good teams being left out (just ask Virginia Tech fans). Everyone fills out a tournament bracket, even people who haven't watched a game all year. Once they have filled out brackets, people can't wait to watch and follow along with their brackets, anxiously hoping one of their 13 seeds beats a 4 seed in the first round. I think the fan participation is what makes the NCAA tournament as popular as it is. Some people play their office pools to try and win a little money. I mostly fill mine out on ESPN just in case I hit it perfect, and I figure they'll have me on Mike and Mike the next morning. My favorite story about tournament brackets is a few years ago when 3 people of all the millions of people who fill out a tournament bracket on ESPN, correctly picked George Mason to go to the final 4. When they had the 3 guys on ESPN that morning, 2 of them said they picked Mason to go to the final 4 because they were graduates from George Mason. The other guy picked George Mason on accident because he thought he was picking George Washington to go to the final 4.
I don't think any playoff system is perfect, but this is how I rank the playoff formats as they are right now. I think the NASCAR and NCAA football systems are most likely to change unless any of the other leagues have an increase or decrease in teams. Let me know what you think about my rankings, or share your own in the comments section.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Sports Things I Would Change
I recently was watching Mike and Mike in the morning while I got ready for work, as I often do, and they were talking about what rules in sports they would change. A friend suggested that I write here about what rules I will change when they put me in charge of the world some day. Some of them are rules, some of them are other parts of sports I would change, all are excellent ideas.
Change 1: I would re-organize the divisions in Major League Baseball, and would include two expansion teams. They say that on opening day, everyone has the same chance to win the World Series. This is not true for two reasons. The first reason is that different teams have different budgets for their payroll, and so some teams never really have a chance (read: Pittsburgh Pirates), but that is not the basis of my rule change. The second reason, the rule changing reason, is that some teams have a better or worse chance to make the playoffs based on what division, or league they play in. Each league in baseball gets four teams in the playoffs, but the National League has 16 teams, and the American League only has 14 teams. Also, because the leagues have a different amount of teams, the division are off as well, where the NL Central has six teams, and the AL West only has four teams. This gives teams in the AL West a 10% better chance to make the playoffs than the teams in the NL Central before a game is even played.
I would add two teams to the American League to make 16 teams in each league, and four divisions of four teams in each league. I would add a team in North Carolina, because there are no teams in between the Nationals and the Braves, and in Tennessee, because I am now in charge and I want a team in Tennessee. I like the idea of having a team in Las Vegas, but let's face it, no one is going to Vegas to watch a baseball game. So with Carolina and Tennessee, here are my new updated divisions.
American League:
East: NY Yankees, Boston, Baltimore, Toronto
North: Minnesota, Chicago White Sox, Detroit, Cleveland
South: Kansas City, Carolina, Tennessee, Tampa Bay
West: LA Angels, Oakland, Seattle, Texas
National League:
East: Atlanta, Philadelphia, NY Mets, Washington
North: Chicago Cubs, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati
South: Florida, Pittsburgh, Arizona, Houston
West: San Fransisco, Colorado, LA Dodgers, San Diego
Before you say anything, I realize the geographical names of these divisions don't make sense in every case, but I felt like this was the best way to keep all the natural rivalries together. With two wild card teams in each league, this would also make for an extra round of playoffs. I would make it a best of 3 series, keeping it short and sweet.
I have three rule changes about college basketball, and two of them are about the excruciating pain of watching the end of close games. The reason I say college basketball instead of all basketball is because I don't watch many NBA games, so I'm not sure if the rules about game management translate exactly the same. So, in a close college basketball game, the coaches call timeouts after almost every play near the end of the game. They do this to make new plays, set new defenses, and decide things like whether or not to foul the other team on purpose to stop the clock. Each team has five timeouts, four of which they can carry over from the first half to the second half. Now you may notice that there are many timeouts during a college basketball game, but these timeouts most often are not called by the coaches, but rather they are TV timeouts. In college basketball, there is a TV timeout for every four minutes of game clock, to make sure enough commercials are shown during the game. This stops the clock so often, that coaches can save their own timeouts for the end of the game. This often leads the last two minutes of a game to last up to twenty actual minutes. I would keep the TV timeouts, but limit the teams to two timeouts per team for each game.
The other college basketball rule I would change to stop the extremely long end of games, are to actually call intentional fouls when it is known that a team is fouling on purpose. When a team has gotten to the point where it looks like they are about to lose a close game, they foul the other team on purpose, so the clock is stopped, and the team has to make two free throws. This is a huge advantage the creates more plays, and allows a team more opportunities to catch up to the winning team. The problem is, there is already a rule in place forbidding intentional fouls, except no one ever calls it. I think if a team gets to the point where they have to resort to fouling on purpose, than they should have to deal with the penalties of intentionally fouling, which would never happen because when an intentional foul is called, the fouled team gets the ball back anyway.
My last college basketball rule change idea is one I have had for a long time, and to this day no one has ever agreed with me about it. I would like to ban the alley-oop which is perhaps the most exciting play in all of basketball. The reason I don't like it is because it is nearly impossible to defend. Even if a player is in position to intercept the soon-to-be-dunked basketball, they won't do it because it looks like a shot, and to defend a shot on its way down to the basket is also a penalty. Any play that is impossible to defend should be illegal.
I have two major rule changes about NASCAR. One is short, sweet, and simple. There should never be a line that a car is not allowed to cross to pass another car. If a driver wants to go down on the grass in order to make a pass for the lead, then they should be able to try it. It would almost never work, but would be a lot of fun to watch. My second rule is also a simple one, and this is almost universally accepted as something that needs to happen in NASCAR. Some races are just plain too long. NASCAR races can last over five hours, and that's without any major delays in the race. Due to new technology in the cars, there are some tracks where it is extremely difficult for cars to pass each other, and the cars spread out a lot, so basically it is five hours of cars riding in a single file line, with brief interruptions of actual racing. Races should last about three hours, the same length as a regulation football range
My last rule change is with college football and basketball. There should be no rules on when an athlete is allowed to turn pro. People should be able to make their own decisions on when to forfeit their amateur status and become a professional. If they make a bad decision, then they have to deal with life like the rest of us and get a real job. Also, if a player is good enough to be a pro, than the fact that they are only two years removed from high school should not prevent them from doing so.
These are my rules for what I am going to change when I am in charge. Tell me what you think about mine, and also tell me any rule changes you have. I'll let you know what I think if you have any!
Change 1: I would re-organize the divisions in Major League Baseball, and would include two expansion teams. They say that on opening day, everyone has the same chance to win the World Series. This is not true for two reasons. The first reason is that different teams have different budgets for their payroll, and so some teams never really have a chance (read: Pittsburgh Pirates), but that is not the basis of my rule change. The second reason, the rule changing reason, is that some teams have a better or worse chance to make the playoffs based on what division, or league they play in. Each league in baseball gets four teams in the playoffs, but the National League has 16 teams, and the American League only has 14 teams. Also, because the leagues have a different amount of teams, the division are off as well, where the NL Central has six teams, and the AL West only has four teams. This gives teams in the AL West a 10% better chance to make the playoffs than the teams in the NL Central before a game is even played.
I would add two teams to the American League to make 16 teams in each league, and four divisions of four teams in each league. I would add a team in North Carolina, because there are no teams in between the Nationals and the Braves, and in Tennessee, because I am now in charge and I want a team in Tennessee. I like the idea of having a team in Las Vegas, but let's face it, no one is going to Vegas to watch a baseball game. So with Carolina and Tennessee, here are my new updated divisions.
American League:
East: NY Yankees, Boston, Baltimore, Toronto
North: Minnesota, Chicago White Sox, Detroit, Cleveland
South: Kansas City, Carolina, Tennessee, Tampa Bay
West: LA Angels, Oakland, Seattle, Texas
National League:
East: Atlanta, Philadelphia, NY Mets, Washington
North: Chicago Cubs, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati
South: Florida, Pittsburgh, Arizona, Houston
West: San Fransisco, Colorado, LA Dodgers, San Diego
Before you say anything, I realize the geographical names of these divisions don't make sense in every case, but I felt like this was the best way to keep all the natural rivalries together. With two wild card teams in each league, this would also make for an extra round of playoffs. I would make it a best of 3 series, keeping it short and sweet.
I have three rule changes about college basketball, and two of them are about the excruciating pain of watching the end of close games. The reason I say college basketball instead of all basketball is because I don't watch many NBA games, so I'm not sure if the rules about game management translate exactly the same. So, in a close college basketball game, the coaches call timeouts after almost every play near the end of the game. They do this to make new plays, set new defenses, and decide things like whether or not to foul the other team on purpose to stop the clock. Each team has five timeouts, four of which they can carry over from the first half to the second half. Now you may notice that there are many timeouts during a college basketball game, but these timeouts most often are not called by the coaches, but rather they are TV timeouts. In college basketball, there is a TV timeout for every four minutes of game clock, to make sure enough commercials are shown during the game. This stops the clock so often, that coaches can save their own timeouts for the end of the game. This often leads the last two minutes of a game to last up to twenty actual minutes. I would keep the TV timeouts, but limit the teams to two timeouts per team for each game.
The other college basketball rule I would change to stop the extremely long end of games, are to actually call intentional fouls when it is known that a team is fouling on purpose. When a team has gotten to the point where it looks like they are about to lose a close game, they foul the other team on purpose, so the clock is stopped, and the team has to make two free throws. This is a huge advantage the creates more plays, and allows a team more opportunities to catch up to the winning team. The problem is, there is already a rule in place forbidding intentional fouls, except no one ever calls it. I think if a team gets to the point where they have to resort to fouling on purpose, than they should have to deal with the penalties of intentionally fouling, which would never happen because when an intentional foul is called, the fouled team gets the ball back anyway.
My last college basketball rule change idea is one I have had for a long time, and to this day no one has ever agreed with me about it. I would like to ban the alley-oop which is perhaps the most exciting play in all of basketball. The reason I don't like it is because it is nearly impossible to defend. Even if a player is in position to intercept the soon-to-be-dunked basketball, they won't do it because it looks like a shot, and to defend a shot on its way down to the basket is also a penalty. Any play that is impossible to defend should be illegal.
I have two major rule changes about NASCAR. One is short, sweet, and simple. There should never be a line that a car is not allowed to cross to pass another car. If a driver wants to go down on the grass in order to make a pass for the lead, then they should be able to try it. It would almost never work, but would be a lot of fun to watch. My second rule is also a simple one, and this is almost universally accepted as something that needs to happen in NASCAR. Some races are just plain too long. NASCAR races can last over five hours, and that's without any major delays in the race. Due to new technology in the cars, there are some tracks where it is extremely difficult for cars to pass each other, and the cars spread out a lot, so basically it is five hours of cars riding in a single file line, with brief interruptions of actual racing. Races should last about three hours, the same length as a regulation football range
My last rule change is with college football and basketball. There should be no rules on when an athlete is allowed to turn pro. People should be able to make their own decisions on when to forfeit their amateur status and become a professional. If they make a bad decision, then they have to deal with life like the rest of us and get a real job. Also, if a player is good enough to be a pro, than the fact that they are only two years removed from high school should not prevent them from doing so.
These are my rules for what I am going to change when I am in charge. Tell me what you think about mine, and also tell me any rule changes you have. I'll let you know what I think if you have any!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Asking for Autographs as an Adult
As stated in the title of my blog, I may not be an expert on all things sports, but there is one thing I am absolutely an expert on, which is the embarrassment of getting autographs as an adult. This is by far the most demeaning thing I willingly do. While my wife was reading this post before I published this, she felt obligated to remind me that she has had to stand by my side while she shared the embarassment of these incidents with me.
The worst, and most embarrassing thing about asking for autographs is when you are competing with children for the autographs. There is nothing I hate more than standing next to a 5 year old kid trying to get an autograph at a baseball game. Kid beats adult in this situation every time. Not only do they have the cute and emotional advantage, but they seem to be able to sneak themselves in between you and the athlete in any scenario to cut in line.
One of my most upsetting autograph experiences was just a few years ago. I went to a 3-game series when the Angels came to play the Washington Nationals, and was determined to get Torii Hunter's autograph in his first season with the Halos. In the first two games there was never really a good opportunity, but in the third game I got myself in premium position right next to the visitor's dugout when Torii was coming over. It was basically me and another guy using this strategy. At some point, Torii acknowledged us, and gave the nod that he would be coming over shortly. There was a kid, about 10-11 years old behind me, and an old man behind me, but I had good position on these two and did not anticipate a problem. What I didn't know at the time was the guy positioned next to me was from Torii Hunter's hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and had a Pine Bluff Little League baseball for Torii to sign. I was obviously losing out to this guy, but still had good position for the next one. This is when the old guy behind me asked me who was signing, and being the nice guy that I am, I turned around to tell him it was Torii Hunter. When I turned around, the kid snuck in front of me somehow, and got autograph #2 on a Washington Nationals baseball. Torii Hunter was not on the Washington Nationals, in fact he's never been on the Washington Nationals. This kid did not care about Torii's autograph, it could have been the 3rd base coach and this kid would not have known the difference. I guarantee this ball ended up in the sewer wherever this kid played baseball like the minor league autographs me and my brother used to get at Prince William Cannons games. As I turned around to see this kid commit this unforgivable act, the old guy who I had to tell that Torii Hunter was signing autographs snuck around me on the other end to get the third and final autograph that Torii Hunter would be giving out this day. I was inconsolable until about the 6th inning of that game.
In summary, to truly enjoy your autograph, don't buy it on eBay, don't get suckered into compromising your position based on old people or kids, and do your best to live with the shame of obssessing over getting someone to sign their name on an object of your choosing.
The worst, and most embarrassing thing about asking for autographs is when you are competing with children for the autographs. There is nothing I hate more than standing next to a 5 year old kid trying to get an autograph at a baseball game. Kid beats adult in this situation every time. Not only do they have the cute and emotional advantage, but they seem to be able to sneak themselves in between you and the athlete in any scenario to cut in line.
One of my most upsetting autograph experiences was just a few years ago. I went to a 3-game series when the Angels came to play the Washington Nationals, and was determined to get Torii Hunter's autograph in his first season with the Halos. In the first two games there was never really a good opportunity, but in the third game I got myself in premium position right next to the visitor's dugout when Torii was coming over. It was basically me and another guy using this strategy. At some point, Torii acknowledged us, and gave the nod that he would be coming over shortly. There was a kid, about 10-11 years old behind me, and an old man behind me, but I had good position on these two and did not anticipate a problem. What I didn't know at the time was the guy positioned next to me was from Torii Hunter's hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and had a Pine Bluff Little League baseball for Torii to sign. I was obviously losing out to this guy, but still had good position for the next one. This is when the old guy behind me asked me who was signing, and being the nice guy that I am, I turned around to tell him it was Torii Hunter. When I turned around, the kid snuck in front of me somehow, and got autograph #2 on a Washington Nationals baseball. Torii Hunter was not on the Washington Nationals, in fact he's never been on the Washington Nationals. This kid did not care about Torii's autograph, it could have been the 3rd base coach and this kid would not have known the difference. I guarantee this ball ended up in the sewer wherever this kid played baseball like the minor league autographs me and my brother used to get at Prince William Cannons games. As I turned around to see this kid commit this unforgivable act, the old guy who I had to tell that Torii Hunter was signing autographs snuck around me on the other end to get the third and final autograph that Torii Hunter would be giving out this day. I was inconsolable until about the 6th inning of that game.
Torii robbin' em, what he does best
There are a lot of good opportunities for autographs if you pay enough attention. Most teams have some kind of day celebrating the opening of the season, or some similar event where the players are signing autographs that day. I went to the one last year at Maryland, called Maryland Day, which was a combination of the football Spring game, and where other parts of campus are open, and the Maryland basketball team also signs autographs. This is the event where I got my picture with Gary Williams on the front page of this blog. This was great for me because there were organized lines, so I did not have to compete with kids for autographs, and also the event was free. Maryland also does not have a huge fan base, so I could get as many autographs as I wanted, and didn't have to wait in crazy lines. Everything about the event was going smoothly until I came to one sad realization. I was 26, and the autographs I was getting was from college students. It was a sad moment once I realized I was going all crazy over 19 year olds signing a football for me. Keep in mind though that I will be going again this year, so I wasn't too embarrassed about this.
Me and Jordan Williams at Maryland Day
eBay however is not a good alternative to avoiding the shame of getting autographs with children. First of all, even if you are really sure, you are never 100% convinced this is a real autograph you've paid for. Also, even if you do feel really good about the authenticity of the autograph, the fact that you didn't get it signed yourself really ruins it for you. When I see some of the autographs I have gotten, I remember the story of getting them, and when I see the few I have gotten from eBay, I don't have that same feeling.In summary, to truly enjoy your autograph, don't buy it on eBay, don't get suckered into compromising your position based on old people or kids, and do your best to live with the shame of obssessing over getting someone to sign their name on an object of your choosing.
Monday, April 4, 2011
My Thoughts on Tiger Woods
It's Masters week, the greatest golf weekend of the year. You could argue that the 2 open championship majors are better, but I'll take the Masters any day. First of all, it's the first major of the year, so if a good golfer wins, you can start wondering what if he wins all four, which never happens but it's still okay to hope. Secondly, Augusta has more history and pageantry than any other golf course in the world.
I thought since this was Masters week, it would be a good time to write about golf. And if I am going to write about golf, who better to write about than Tiger Woods. I am not real happy about the Tiger Woods situation that went down beginning on Thanksgiving Eve of 2009, but I think I probably feel like that for different reasons than most people.
Tiger Woods is not a saint as it turns out. I hope I'm not ruining your perception by saying this, but most athletes aren't. Athletes cheating on their spouses is not unusual, partly due to their celebrity and money, but also due to the fact that they are constantly on the road. I'm not saying this is an excuse, I'm just saying it happens. A lot. The reason it was as big of a deal as it was, is because it was Tiger Woods.
My biggest problem is that all of these things he did to satisfy his own needs, ruined his golf game. Taking the time off of golf ruined what was supposed to be the world watching the greatest golfer of all time. Now it's gone. Tiger Woods was not only the best golfer in the world, but what people who didn't watch him might not realize, is how feared he was by his competitors. Great golfers used to fold just because they played in the same group as Tiger. I don't have the stats behind this, but Sergio Garcia played his absolute worst golf whenever he played with Tiger.
The best of Tiger Woods was when people used to talk trash about him in the media. Whenever anyone would say the slightest comment that could be thought of as negative in anyway, Tiger would take that out on the course and just dominate everyone. Stephen Ames once said he doesn't know how Tiger Woods wins golf tournaments for how bad he hits the ball, not long before he was going to play him in a match play tournament. For those who aren't familiar with golf, instead of playing against everyone like a normal tournament, in a match play tournament you are matched up against one person, and if you win more golf holes than the other golfer, you advance to the next round of the tournament, until there is only one golfer left. When a golfer is leading in holes by more than the amount of holes left to play, the match is over. So if a golfer wins a match 2&1, that means they are 2 holes up against their opponent, with only 1 hole left to play. So Stephen Ames decided to make these comments about Tiger Woods right before he was matched up against Tiger. Tiger then went out and beat him silly, winning 9&8. If you're keeping up with the math, this means they only played 10 holes, and Tiger won 9 of them, and they tied 1. This is as big of a beat down as you can give someone in match play golf.
Golfers now talk trash to Tiger all of the time, and there's nothing he can do about it anymore. Ian Poulter called him #2 soon after losing his #1 ranking in golf which he held for about 10 years during a dispute on a putting green. Young golfers are talking about how beatable Tiger is, which would have been unheard of 3 years ago. This was supposed to be about the time Tiger was beating Jack Nicklaus' record of 19 majors won, but instead he's reduced to being demeaned by a bunch of young guys who haven't even won anything yet.
So I know most people are upset about what Tiger did, and they are certainly justified. I am more upset because I feel robbed of what should be watching the greatest golfer in history. I don't expect Tiger to do well in the Masters this weekend, because he just seems to be having too much trouble putting 4 good rounds in a row together, and is not putting well. Golfers I am looking to do well this week are Phil Mickleson, Graeme McDowell, and Dustin Johnson.
I thought since this was Masters week, it would be a good time to write about golf. And if I am going to write about golf, who better to write about than Tiger Woods. I am not real happy about the Tiger Woods situation that went down beginning on Thanksgiving Eve of 2009, but I think I probably feel like that for different reasons than most people.
Tiger Woods is not a saint as it turns out. I hope I'm not ruining your perception by saying this, but most athletes aren't. Athletes cheating on their spouses is not unusual, partly due to their celebrity and money, but also due to the fact that they are constantly on the road. I'm not saying this is an excuse, I'm just saying it happens. A lot. The reason it was as big of a deal as it was, is because it was Tiger Woods.
My biggest problem is that all of these things he did to satisfy his own needs, ruined his golf game. Taking the time off of golf ruined what was supposed to be the world watching the greatest golfer of all time. Now it's gone. Tiger Woods was not only the best golfer in the world, but what people who didn't watch him might not realize, is how feared he was by his competitors. Great golfers used to fold just because they played in the same group as Tiger. I don't have the stats behind this, but Sergio Garcia played his absolute worst golf whenever he played with Tiger.
The best of Tiger Woods was when people used to talk trash about him in the media. Whenever anyone would say the slightest comment that could be thought of as negative in anyway, Tiger would take that out on the course and just dominate everyone. Stephen Ames once said he doesn't know how Tiger Woods wins golf tournaments for how bad he hits the ball, not long before he was going to play him in a match play tournament. For those who aren't familiar with golf, instead of playing against everyone like a normal tournament, in a match play tournament you are matched up against one person, and if you win more golf holes than the other golfer, you advance to the next round of the tournament, until there is only one golfer left. When a golfer is leading in holes by more than the amount of holes left to play, the match is over. So if a golfer wins a match 2&1, that means they are 2 holes up against their opponent, with only 1 hole left to play. So Stephen Ames decided to make these comments about Tiger Woods right before he was matched up against Tiger. Tiger then went out and beat him silly, winning 9&8. If you're keeping up with the math, this means they only played 10 holes, and Tiger won 9 of them, and they tied 1. This is as big of a beat down as you can give someone in match play golf.
Golfers now talk trash to Tiger all of the time, and there's nothing he can do about it anymore. Ian Poulter called him #2 soon after losing his #1 ranking in golf which he held for about 10 years during a dispute on a putting green. Young golfers are talking about how beatable Tiger is, which would have been unheard of 3 years ago. This was supposed to be about the time Tiger was beating Jack Nicklaus' record of 19 majors won, but instead he's reduced to being demeaned by a bunch of young guys who haven't even won anything yet.
So I know most people are upset about what Tiger did, and they are certainly justified. I am more upset because I feel robbed of what should be watching the greatest golfer in history. I don't expect Tiger to do well in the Masters this weekend, because he just seems to be having too much trouble putting 4 good rounds in a row together, and is not putting well. Golfers I am looking to do well this week are Phil Mickleson, Graeme McDowell, and Dustin Johnson.
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