The Media's Man-Crush On Tiger Woods

The list of writers with a man crush on Tiger Woods is endless.  You’d think they never watched a game of golf before.  You’d think they never saw Nicklaus play.  For crying out loud guys, tune into ESPN Classic or the Golf Channel once in awhile and you can see Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Trevino, and Watson at work.  Do a little research.  You’re embarrassing our profession.

In any event, it’s clear that in almost every major category, Tiger Woods is not the greatest golfer to ever play the game.  Someday, he may very well be the greatest golfer ever.  But obviously he’s not there yet.

Aside from the empirical data I’ve presented above, there’s one more ‘intangible’ category we need to discuss:  competition.  One of the keys to Tiger’s success has been the lack of competition.  His competitors routinely fail to man up.  In other words, they consistently choke.  Tiger needs better competition in order to attain the title of greatest golfer ever.  I wish some real men would step up and give him that competition.  Please see my column Tiger Woods: The Competition Will Determine His Place In History for a complete discussion.  Suffice it to say, Tiger falls woefully short in this category as well.

Just as I expect Tiger’s competition to man-up, I expect the same from professional sports writers and analysts.  They need to man up and do their job objectively and professionally.  Consider the facts before speaking of Tiger like you were a teenage girl watching the Beatles for the first time.  Leave your man-crush at home where it belongs – buried in a drawer right underneath your man make-up, hair color, tanning spray, and panties. Now get back out there and write about sports – like a man.

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