Sports Then and Now

Tearing down Tiger has become the latest sport for the world media.

I got an e-mail earlier today from the editor of one of the sports sites to which I occasionally post material. He said that the best way to immediately increase traffic for your articles was to write something about Tiger Woods. Over the last week their site has seen record traffic and they even had to add a new section on their site just to accommodate the volume of articles about Tiger.

Now I am all in favor of doing anything I can to increase visibility for the great work that a growing number of talented writers are producing on the Sports Then and Now network of web sites. However, I’m slightly conflicted by the fact that ST&N is a sports web site and except for the fact that Woods’ car accident last Friday morning caused him to cancel an appearance at a golf tournament, most of what has been covered over the last week really has almost nothing to do with sports.

Of course, I guess you could call tearing down a legend to be a kind of sport of its own. At least it seems to be a favorite sport of the media.

As a resident of the Orlando area, over the last week it has been almost impossible to watch television, listen to the radio or pick up the newspaper without reading about Woods, his accident and his alleged indiscretions. Media from across the globe have descended on the normally quiet Windermere area that Woods’ has called home for more than a decade.

This morning I was at a meeting with Gary Bruhn, the mayor of the Town of Windermere. Even though Woods actually lives in an unincorporated portion of Orange County that has a Windermere mailing address, the mayor and the city have been thrust into the spotlight and forced to deal with the residual impact of the incident. Read the rest of this entry →

Welcome to the “What’s old is new again” edition of Waiting for the Weekend.

Brett Favre Doesn’t Care, Why Should We?
If I’ve realized anything from this nagging Brett Favre saga it is that he really doesn’t care what people think of him.

Oh, I think he cared what people though of him 3-4 years ago when it looked like his career might end with him being benched and the Packers stinking up the NFL. And, I think he will care again someday when he is once and for all too old to legitimately play the game.

However, I think after the taste of success he had with the Packers in 2007 and the realization in his own mind that he is still good enough to play in the NFL, he has decided that playing the game – and doing it on his own terms – is more important to him than what others might think.

There is no question that Favre is a selfish SOB who has put himself above his team for years. Who knows, that may be one of the reasons he only won one Super Bowl for a Green Bay team that had as much talent as any team in the league for nearly half a dozen years.

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What an interesting week in professional sports. The New York Yankees took the bats away from the Boston Red Sox, the Washington Nationals suddenly looked like a real major league team and the Philadelphia Eagles surprised the league by signing Michael Vick. Here are just a few kernels to chew on:

Break Up The Nationals! Oh, Well Never Mind
After winning a grand total of 32 games during the first four months of the season, the Washington Nationals suddenly showed a pulse with an eight-game winning streak in early August.

While five of the eight wins came over teams (Pittsburgh and Arizona) with losing records, the Nationals also posted a three-game sweep over a Florida Marlins squad that is still contending for a playoff spot.

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Rich Beem is one of 27 golfers whose victory at the PGA Championship makred their only win in a major.

Like the musical group that had one big hit then faded off into the world of elevator music and reunion tours, the PGA Championship has more than its share of champions whose greatest moment under the professional golf sun came at the final major of the season.

Names like Jim Turnesa, Chandler Harper, John Mahaffey, Wayne Grady, Jeff Sluman Shaun Micheel and Rich Beem grace the victory roster at the PGA Championships while golf greats including Arnold Palmer, Nick Faldo, Hale Irwin and Seve Ballesteros never claimed the crown.

Of the four major championships, the PGA Championship has by far been the kindest to players looking for their first (and in many cases only) major championship.

Since World War II, 37 golfers have claimed their first major title at the PGA Championship. This compares to 33 for the U.S. Open, 26 for the British Open and 24 for the Masters.
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