I DIDN’T REALIZE I was being prophetic when I wrote this pretend flyer on Monday:
LOST: One-legged golfer, missing at last major. Answers to Tiger. And U.S. Open champion.
I heard the jarring news this afternoon about Tiger Woods regarding the severity of his injuries. As you probably know by now, Tiger will undergo surgery and is out for the remainder of the 2008 season. No British, no PGA, no Ryder Cup. It’s a sad day for golf.
Two initial questions come to mind:
1) Given the extent of his injuries and what he endured, where does Tiger’s U.S. Open victory rank in the history of sports?
2) Just how expensive a victory will it turn out to be?
−The Armchair Golfer
Golf’s a solitary sport. Still, would the Patriots send out Tom Brady with a torn ACL and a double fracture of the tibia, or would they protect the franchise? It was reported he tore the ACL last summer. Was he without health coverage until just now?
1) Very high. In my lifetime, the 1980 US Hockey win, the guy who limped back into the NBA finals to help his team win (can’t remember his name or team–the Nicks?), and Kirk Gibson’s playoff home run rank ahead of it. Nicklaus’ 1986 Masters win gave me chills when I watched it. I also have to believe that the 1975 World Series and the 2002 College Football National Championship games rank above it for personal reasons. It is definitely one where I’ll be able to tell people where I was when it happened.
2) I hope it’s inexpensive, for his sake. As I commented in your previous post–I have to question his thought process to wait nearly a year to repair a ruptured ACL. His case is a classic example of how damaging the body’s compensatory movements can be.
Such a shame hes out for the year, he is such a exciting golfer! Hope he is back soon!
http://www.4golfonline.com
What is it about people that made them assume he was faking? Why would he fake something like that? Even before this win, he didn’t have anything to prove.
Maybe those who jumped on the idea that he was faking should be less quick to judge others.
Great points, Bobbio. No, Brady would be on the sideline. Definitely.
Tom: There have been some great performances while playing hurt, but I think Tiger’s will be right up there at the top since it’s an individual sport. I guess we won’t know for a while if it was a risk worth taking.
Jim: I don’t get the “faking” comments either. I read what Retief Goosen supposedly said and find it hard to believe.
ACL was already ruptured. . . hard to make it any worse. As for the stress fracture, it wasn’t a compound fracture.
Mr. Woods’ doctors did advise him not to play. He chose to ignore that advice. Any future impact on his career lays at his own feet.
This ranks up there as one of the greatest sports accomplishments ever. For more thoughts on this topic, you can see my recent blog post on the topic.