Running off at the typewriter …
Oh no, it’s happening again.
The golf world has come to a complete and utter standstill because of Tiger Woods.
Golf fans, golf media and golf TV executives absolutely are atwitter with the news about Tiger’s possible return to competitive golf at the Masters next week.
Obviously, everyone is rooting for Tiger to play again after recovering from that horrific SUV accident in California more than a year ago and undoubtedly the TV ratings will be huge if Tiger makes his comeback at Augusta National. But if I’ve written it once, I’ve written it a million times: Golf’s fixation on and fascination with Tiger is just not healthy.
Do you really want your sport’s biggest star and most marketable TV draw to be a player who is ranked 944th in the world, barely even plays when he’s healthy and hasn’t been dominant in years?
After Tiger played a practice round at Augusta National earlier this week and speculation ramped up about him playing the Masters, golf fans were giddy with excitement. Now think about the massive comedown if Tiger decides he’s not ready to play the Masters next week. All those green jackets in Georgia will be singin’ the Statesboro Blues.
In all my years of watching and covering football, basketball, baseball, etc., never have I seen a sport so reliant and so single-mindedly focused on one athlete. Not the NFL with Tom Brady. Not the NBA with Michael Jordan. Not boxing with Muhammad Ali. Not NASCAR with Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt.
With just the mere possibility that he might play the Masters next week, we are seeing once again that Tiger Woods doesn’t just move the needle in golf.
Tiger Woods is the needle in golf. …
Short stuff: Too bad Roger Goodell isn’t the commissioner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Wouldn’t you love to see him levy a six-movie suspension on Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars? … Best question of the week: Would Will Smith have slapped the host of the Oscars if it had been “The Rock” instead of Chris Rock? Personally, I don’t think so. However, if Smith had slapped Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, he wouldn’t have had to worry about walking back to his seat afterward because Johnson would have delivered him there airmail. … Other questions: (1) Who should be favored to win the NBA’s Eastern Conference? (2) Who will the Magic draft if they get the No. 1 overall pick? (3) Who put the ram in the rama lama ding dong? … Headline from TheOnion.com: “Report: Secretly Watching March Madness During Work Way Less Fun When Working Remotely.” …
The Outback Bowl has changed its name to the Tampa Bay Bowl after losing its sponsorship deal with Outback Steakhouse after 26 years — the longest college bowl game title sponsorship in history. I don’t know why, but this makes me want to cry like those Outback cooks slicing up and preparing a Bloomin’ Onion. … My favorite Outback Bowl quote came in 2004 from former Florida Gators coach Ron Zook, who had suspended two starting defensive backs — Guss Scott and Keiwan Ratliff — for the first quarter of the game after they missed curfew during bowl week. However, with Iowa driving late in the first quarter, Zook decided to go ahead and send Scott and Ratliff into the game. When asked afterward why the two players weren’t suspended for the entire first quarter, Zook replied honestly: “Because we needed them.” …
How pathetic that New York City mayor Eric Adams removed the vaccine mandate for unvaccinated pro athletes like Kyrie Irving but not for the rest of the working men and women in private- and public-sector jobs? Moral of the story: NBA point guards have more rights than New York City teachers, firefighters and cops. … In descending order, here are the Top 5 things that make me really, really happy: (5) That first cup of coffee in the morning; (4) Being on a boat and drinking a cold beer on a hot day; (3) Watching a thunderstorm from the back porch; (2) Sleeping in a freshly made bed; (1) Lakers being 13 games under .500. … Bob Molinaro of pilotonline.com: “Lent is the season for giving up things. Or possibly in the case of the Lakers, just giving up.” … Why did Katie Abrahamson-Henderson leave UCF to take over as the women’s basketball coach at Georgia? Three reasons: More money. More resources. More respect from the national media and the NCAA Selection Committee. Can’t say I blame her. … Do you realize if Garth Brooks hadn’t been such a lousy javelin thrower, he might not be the country music superstar who packed 70,000 fans into Camping World Stadium last weekend? Back in the day, Brooks was on a partial track and field scholarship at Oklahoma State and threw the javelin but wasn’t very good at it. Consequently, his buddies and teammates encouraged him to pursue something he was good at — country music. I guess you could say Garth had friends in throw places. …
Last word: “Believe that the loose ball you are chasing has your name on it.” — Mike Krzyzewski
Email me at [email protected]. Hit me up on Twitter @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and HD 101.1-2
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