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What's this site all about, then? :-)
Read this article on Bloomberg today, thought it may interest some of you lot...!
Tiger Woods Offers Salve to Weary Sports Fan: Scott Soshnick
2008-03-03 00:15 (New York)
Commentary by Scott Soshnick
March 3 (Bloomberg) -- It's time to search the brain, to
recall, if you can, the kind of performance enhancement we
sports fans once applauded.
Rumor has it there's a pretty good athlete out there who
keeps getting better, chasing records, striving for perfection
while toiling in a discipline that's designed to drive you
bonkers.
And how's this for a bright spot: This particular guy, even
with his newfound pecs and biceps, hasn't been asked to appear
before some Congressional subcommittee to explain whether his
distance off the tee is legitimate or the byproduct of syringes
and pill-popping. Imagine that.
Tiger Woods just keeps improving. And winning. And
demoralizing the competition. Not long ago, barstool banter
centered on Tiger versus Roger Federer, tennis's top gun. Which
one, it was debated, is more dominant in his respective sport.
There was an argument to be made for either. Not anymore. Case
closed.
It's understandable if you've taken your eye off the ball
as they say in baseball, which got us into this mess in the
first place. After all, the sports-watching public has been
distracted by what seems like weekly inquisitions on Capitol
Hill.
Leave it to Tiger to set us straight, to shake us from the
steroid malaise, to help us remember what true athletic
greatness is all about.
Tiger is a beacon for sports fans who cling to the belief
that athletic achievement is the byproduct of hard work and
dedication. Talent over test tubes. Mind over magic potions.
Waste Time
Don't waste your time with those best-of-all-time debates.
There's no right answer. Just enjoy Tiger, who is the best at
what he does. And yet he's unsatisfied. Great isn't good enough.
Not for Tiger. He wants even better the next round. And the one
after that.
Given that sports fans love numbers, chew on these: Tiger
has won eight of his past nine events. Oh, and he was the
runner-up to Phil Mickelson in the other one.
What's really awe-inspiring about Tiger, though, is that,
for all of the trophies, checks, magazine covers and pats on the
back, he'll stew on the one that got away. Second place, last
place. Same thing.
``I've seen Jack Nicklaus play on TV, and I've played a lot
of golf with Nick Faldo, Greg Norman and all these guys who were
world No. 1 for long stretches,'' Ernie Els said recently. ``But
I've never seen anything like Tiger. He's a step above.''
Championship Mismatch
Consider Tiger's most recent tournament, a little excursion
dubbed the Accenture Match Play Championship. Mismatch is more
like it. Tiger won close in some matches. And Tiger won running
away in the championship match against Stewart Cink, who was on
the wrong end of the most lopsided match in the event's nine-
year history.
More numbers: The win gave Tiger 63 career wins, moving him
past Arnold Palmer and to within two of passing Ben Hogan for
No. 3 on the all-time list behind Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus.
Tiger, remember, is just 32 years old, which means he's
entering the prime of his career. In golf, it takes time for
brain to catch up to brawn.
It's laughable to look back at those who predicted marriage
would derail Tiger. It didn't. Then it was fatherhood. It
didn't.
Nothing will.
``He's never going to mess up. He's just always in
control,'' Cink says. ``Maybe we ought to slice him open to see
what's inside. Maybe nuts and bolts.''
Don't Bother
Tiger's anything but mechanical.
He's emotional. You've seen the fist pumps and tears. He's
creative, too. You've seen the iron play. Don't mistake
unflappable for uncaring. He cares, all right. More than, let's
say, Chris DiMarco and Boo Weekley, who both seem content to win
every now and then, build a nest egg, and move on.
``Winning is great and ridiculously difficult, but there
are other things in my life,'' DiMarco said.
Consider for a moment Tiger's response when asked if it's
feasible to even entertain the notion of his winning every
tournament this year.
``That's my intent,'' Woods said. ``If you don't believe
you can win an event, don't show up.''
That's confidence, not arrogance, of which plenty is on
display during the congressional hearings.
(Scott Soshnick is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own.)
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Originally Posted by Dave Ireland 
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