Thursday, June 19, 2008

See you in 2009 PGA Tour

I apologize for feeling the way I do, but with the news that Tiger Woods will miss the rest of the season, I will watch 95% less golf for the rest of 2008. If not for the Ryder Cup being this year and at Valhalla, that number would be much closer to 100. I like to play golf, I like to watch golf, I have an interest in golfers other than Tiger, but we have all been spoiled by one of the greatest athletes (yes I think golfers are athletes) ever to live, and now matter how much I try I just don’t really care if he is not playing.

The numbers support that I am not alone in this feeling, TV ratings are substantially higher when he plays, and even higher when he is in contention (which is almost every time he tees it up)…There are a lot of pissed off people at the PGA Tour's headquarters, a lot of pissed off sponsors, and a lot of pissed off people who run golf tournaments around the country. Woods’ absence will directly and indirectly lead to millions and millions of dollars lost for the entire golf industry.

The only hope for me continuing to watch will be a guy like Kentuckian J.B. Holmes, or the young stud Anthony Kim, deciding to seize the opportunity to become golf’s next star. I just do not see it happening. I promise you this, the better Phil plays, the less I will watch. I can’t deal with his cheesy smile, man boobs, and inability to play well when Tiger is in the field, and then watch him win tournaments just because Woods is hurt.

Other golf notes:
1). For those of you who believe every pro athlete is just in it for money and for the pro athletes that are just in it for the money (a number I believe is much smaller than people think), Tiger Woods set a great example. One of the richest athletes in the world decided to play through the pain, while grimacing but not complaining, the whole time risking potentially career-threatening injuries and losing out on millions and millions of dollars the rest of this season, and possibly beyond. He treated us all, golf fans or not, to one of the best sporting events of all time, certainly the best golf tournament of my life (and yes I know all about the PGA at Valhalla). The man is just that competitive, the thought of missing a major was so unbearable, that he said no to the doctors and played through the pain. It meant we do not get to watch him for the rest of this season, maybe longer, but for five days and 91 holes, we were hooked to the TV watching history.

2). I do not like the lovable losers. If you know me you have heard me admit, my favorite teams are those that were good when I was 10 years old - MJ’s Bulls, the Cowboys’ Dynasty, Charlie Ward and FSU football (I hate to admit that one), the Yankees, and of course Tiger Woods. Not the Jazz, not the Cubs, and certainly not Phil Mickelson.

With that said, Rocco Mediate became a hero of mine on Sunday and Monday. Maybe it is because he is a 45-year old with nothing to lose, but he played with no fear, he took Woods to the brink of defeat, and he actually had fun doing it. If Mickelson had ended up in the playoff against Woods, he would have pissed himself on the opening tee and lost by six strokes.

3). In the last 37 events Tiger has played on the PGA Tour, he has 19 wins, the field has 18. (Tiger 4, Field 2 in 2008)

4). In his 236 career starts, Tiger has finished in the top three 106 times, including 65 wins.

I am a long-winded blogger, it is a problem I have, but I am working on it...Until then, deal with my ramblings.

4 comments:

Gene Parmesan said...

Zero blog-etiquette from this guy. Posted right over me, dickhead.

Hoosier Gamecock said...

I have a lot to learn my blogging friend, teach me the ways.

Anonymous said...

i for one am just glad to see updates on this blog. nice job hoosier. although I gotta tell you, until I read the name at the bottom I thought I was reading a blog by Evan himself.

Anonymous said...

Yeah I thought it was a typical post by a Hilbert sucking Tiger woods off. I get that he is the greatest golfer ever, but does he still have to throw his clubs like an 8 year old?

A-Train