Why does Tiger matter?

As far as TV ratings, you may be right...but excuse the expression, so? Revenues have taken such a hit whether he plays or not that it doesn't matter.

 

This post is riddled with false conclusions.

 

Well, again you prove my point...So? If there's two Tours, then why doesn't Woods split off and form his own satellite Tour (which I'm all for). My point is, the game is bigger than Tiger, he knows it, his people know it and to back you up, yeah, TV drives it all. But the fact is, if Tiger was gone tomorrow, it would make little difference in the next TV contract because those dollars are tapped. There's no room for growth and the name of the game is to grow. The Tour will not find another package better than what they have now, nor find one that equals more dollars.

 

I could see Tiger Woods' people telling someone like me, "we have nothing to gain by talking to you." If they deign to answer my requests at all, that is.

But to tell that to Dan Jenkins? Yeah, that settles it - his people are idiots.

 

He's still just a fuckin' golfer.

That's my perspective, and I'm stickin' to it.

 

If you really have to ask why Tiger matters, you've had your head up your ass for the past 10 years.

 

And Lennon was just a tiki bar guitarist.

 

I think that most of the attention was because, if Tiger saw his shadow, we were supposed to be in for six more weeks of winter.

But, in all the commotion, I never did find out whether or not he did.

 

You start off with a false premise. What if he had said he was going to take the year off? What if he had announced that the marriage was irretrievably broken? What if he tripped over a television cable on the way to the podium and broke his wrist, for that matter.

I used to go cover Paul Newman every damn time he took his goddam Datsun for a spin in some D-level race at Lime Rock Park. Not in case he won (because he always outspent the rest of the drivers by about tenfold and won) but just in case he was involved in a crash.

This suggests he matters. I may not think so. You may not think so. But if the public is interested at this level, he clearly matters.

Tiger's presence will drive the next deals through the roof and it makes a HUGE difference to the networks and advertisers whether he's in or not.

 

I still agree with Tracy Morgan.

Now, of course, Tiger is more than just a fucking golfer to sports fans and golf fans. Personally, I never pay attention to golf, but I check in to see how's doing, albeit only on Sundays. He's meant more to people because he is an Other in golf. He was young, black, athletic. All things that set him apart from his bland competition and combined with his unbelievable talent, helped make him a star. His timing was impeccable, as it coincided with technology's boom, everything tilting younger, sports stars becoming CEO types.

I'm interested, if not just titilated, with this story. But what does he really matter outside of sports debates? The reasoning I've read has to do with money. He's earned the most money, he'll win the most titles. All true, all good points. But the only people he's resonated with are golfers. I know he's famous around the world, but golf is a very limited sport, if you look at the big picture. That being said, he has long transcended his sport to become the new definition of winner, replacing Jordan in some cases, as in "He's the Tiger Woods of garbagemen." Unfortunately for Woods that comparison will now be used to sloppy womanizing.

He's important to people like "us." And he should be. But I think it's hilarious to look back at Gary Smith's story and read his father's words about him "changing the world" and all that hokum. He's a golfer, that's it. A rich, successful golfer.