It doesn’t happen often and we rarely realize it when it does happen. It’s almost always through the power of hindsight that we find out we missed when it happened. Perhaps in today’s media saturated market we’ve become jaded to these moments. That’s what made “Do you believe in Miracles” call be Al Michaels so great, it wasn’t rehearsed. ( A quick sidenote, Isn’t Al Michaels great? But it’s not the “Miracles” line that I love most about him. It’s how every football game he broadcasts, he always finds a way to tell you when the winning team covers the spread. And he does it without directly mentioning the official spread since the NFL and NBC would prefer to pretend that no one bets on these games. But I digress) How many ways can you hear Jim Nantz describe a six foot putt as “special” until it no longer feels special.
I’m speaking of career defining moments. That brief moment of time that the casual fan and maybe every diehard fan will always think of when that particular athletes name comes up. We probably saw four of these types of moments in the last couple of weeks. Three of them by guys with the last names of Bryant, Garnett and Pierce, and a golfer named Woods. You’ll get a blast of NBA talk in another post so, I’m going to focus on El Tigre.:
How do you measure greatness? I can’t quantify that anymore than I can figure out someone’s QB rating in football. I do know this, Tiger is great. Phenomenal might be a better word and if I could point any sort of weakness it was that I’d always thought he was a front runner type; would play well with a lead but never seemed to stalk someone down from behind. I don’t mean that as a knock by any means, just his style. I’d also always felt that greatness is a relative thing as well. Great players are defined as much by the people they face in their primes as their own personal talents. Magic had Bird. Or Bird had Magic depending on what side of the country you lived on. Russell had Chamberlin. McEnroe had Connors. Tom had Jerry. White Spy had Black Spy, you get my drift. My point is, I don’t think Tiger has seen many challengers on any consistent basis since he started playing the tour. Arnie had Hogan. Jack had Arnie. But is Mickelson really a threat to Tiger? It certainly doesn’t feel that way. It’s hard to say you have an equal on the Tour when your caddie is tenth on the money list. So even though Tiger is probably the greatest golfer on the planet, Doesn’t it feel like we’re missing something without a Tom Watson type out there to really push Tiger to new levels? If Tiger is GI Joe, we’re missing a Cobra Commander.
Now Muhammad Ali had his nemesis in Joe Frazier. Joe Frazier was a lunch pail type, Ali was Le Cirque. When they fought it was more than a boxing match,It was an event not to be missed. Ali and Frazier hated each other. At least Frazier hated Ali. It was hard to tell if it was showmanship or genuine dislike on Ali’s part. Their fight was about more then who got to call themselves the champ. In the minds of Americans, Ali represented the people against the war and Frazier was the establishment. Neither label was entirely accurate but that’s life. They fought for the “Championship of each other” and that was a special moment.
That’s what made Father’s day (and the ensuing 19hole playoff) at Torrey Pines so special. Rocco played Tiger even, gave as good as he got. Didn’t back down and stood toe to toe with the champ. Just like Frazier. Now golf is a different sport, not violent like boxing or as fast paced. But both are sports built around the individual and singular accomplishment. It took Tiger 91 holes but time and time again he made the shots he needed to stay in the fight. He eventually finished off Rocco to claim his 14th major but that’s hardly what mattered. It was how Rocco fought him and gave him everything he had. Rocco didn’t back down and didn’t wilt under the spotlight like so many before him. There were too many pressure packed moments to recount all of them. But I can tell you this, it wasn’t like they guys were playing a $5 Nassau out there. The winner took home $1.3mil and second prize was $800k. ( not exactly a set of steak knives.) Now you can’t call Tiger a frontrunner anymore. He needed a birdie at the 72nd hole to extend and a birdie at the 90th to extend again. At that’s my main point. Few people in golf have ever been able to honestly say, “I gave it everything I had out there. “. In the end both players came out better off. Tiger was finally challenged on the back nine of a major, and Rocco showed he can still compete with the best in the world.
One thing I haven’t even mentioned is the status of Tiger’s knee all week. I’ve got torn cartilage in my own knee and when it rains my knees ache. But I don’t think that compares with a torn ACL in his knee AND two stress fractures? Was it stupid? maybe Reckless even? Sure. But at least we can’t question his heart, determination, and tolerance for pain. Now he’s going to get surgery, and rehab his knee properly. He’ll be back for the 2009 golf season and I for one am hoping someone can step up and play with Tiger consistently, because in the end we all win.
His caddie get some much needed time off too. He’s going to lose his Caddie’s tan. But that’s life.
Dickie Dunn
"If Dickie Dunn wrote it, it's gotta be true.
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