I couldn't agree more with this...

[Rockford35]

Dan Shanoff's Daily Quickie from ESPN:

"Dominance has its drawbacks.

"How much will Tiger win by?" is simply not nearly as dramatic as "Will Tiger pull it out?"

Tiger winning the British Open in a 5-shot runaway, leading nearly wire-to-wire, is -- speaking for casual golf fans -- less interesting than a fight.

Here's the problem with golf's "Big One" phenomenon: It's boring.

Tiger's dominance has no novelty anymore; frankly, it peaked with his epic Masters blowout more than a half-decade ago.

To maintain fan interest, Tiger's main competition can't be Nicklaus -- can't be history.

It's just too much delayed gratification to wait for: Only 8 more to go!

Tiger is the best golfer of our generation; perhaps even the best of all time. But even in a setting like Old Europe, coronations are a snoozer.

The "Big Four" is a marketing gimmick; we all know it's Big Tiger, alone at the top. His competition doesn't have to be Vijay or Phil or Ernie. It could be anyone; Tiger simply needs someone else to make things interesting."


I couldn't agree more. I liked when Vijay was winning alot. And Phil had his game on. And guys like David Toms and Chris Dimarco were making things interesting almost every week. I liked it when Tiger was in the tank.

As good as he is, I think his dominance becomes old quick. I'm sure during Jack's reign he had stellar competition that could at least step up (Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Arnie, Watson, ect)

What the hell has happened to golf? On sunday, I found myself changing the channel at least 3 times a hole. I would never, ever do that in the past. It seems when Tiger dominates, it just turns off my interest button.

He's the best in the game, but it doesn't take my breathe away on Sunday when he's up by 4 and everyone else goes into this "I'm playing for second" persona.

Just my thoughts.

R35

 

[IrishGolfer]

Some validity in your comments but I don't think it was one sided all the way.

Things still stayed interesting until the turn. Mongomerie, Olazabal, Vijay and even Langer still had a chance. Then they all fell into a tailspin, to gift it to Woods.

Missed putts, mental eerors, some erratic driving from Jose etc. It would have taken a momumental round to have upstaged Woods, but what looked promising all faded away into nothing. Monty and Jose both burned the hole all day, with putts that looked good, but somehow stayed out.

That doesn't take it away from The Old Course. The back nice is murder. Even the fact that these guys were driving the 10th and 12th and that the 14th was easily reachable in 2, it is still an incredibly difficult course to score on.

Just my 2c

 

[LottaBalata]

I agree with you in saying that total domination becomes boring quicker than seeing a great race to 18 between 3 to 5 players. . .But I think Tiger is great to watch. He's exciting, he's the best, and if the other guys don't have the nerve or skills to keep up with him, then more power to ya Tiger. I think I would enjoy seeing an all out battle every Sunday for the win. Great competition is always fun. But I would watch Tiger shoot the lights out every day if I could.

 

[Bravo]

You are spot on...it is Much much more fun when there are several in the hunt.

And ALL of them say the same thing (paraphrased), "When he is on his game, we know we are playing for second".

And there is nothing anybody can do about it. He has incredible natural talent, tremendous physical characteristics and his sheer Will to Win is awesome.

His multi-racial, multi-ethnic mix - I think - contributes to a unique golf machine...

Maybe he will break a leg and we will have something of greater entertainment value for us in the future - because the way it looks now - boring Dominance is back.

 

[DaveE]

Tiger's in an interesting position. When he wasn't playing well, everyone jumped on the Tiger's day is over band wagon. When he plays well, there's a large number of people who seem to resent it. I don't mean that your one of them Rocky, I just think it's funny that no matter what he does someone doesn't like it.

No doubt the Masters was more exciting but I still enjoy watching him play even when he's way ahead. Much of what I watch for is seeing the way the pros play shots and how well they execute compared to me. To be honest, it doesn't matter much to me who wins unless it's a sentimental favorite like Freddy.

If Couples had been closer to Tiger at the end I would have been screaming at the TV for that.

 

[P_102]

For the most part Tiger was stagnant the last 2 days, several had good chances to take the tournament and each of them dropped the anchor. Sure wish Freddie would have played better Saturday!

P_102

 

[Rufio]

I agree. My personal opinion is that everything has turned into "Tiger". Like I said in another thread, it seems like anytime ANYone plays well, they always come up with some kind of stats to compare him to Tiger or something like that. To me it honestly almost feels like the game of golf will lose it's name to "Tiger's game". I get tired of hearing everything about him and nobody else. Especially his power- I was at the US Open this year and everybody was talking about how Tiger averaged 320 off the tee every day. But I watched Couples, in person, bomb one 350 yards uphill on number 18 and he looked like he didn't even try. I know Tiger is the best in the world, and everyone else does too, but that doesn't mean he deserves to be the "god" of golf.

 

[MAHALLEDAY]

Hey guys I'm back (sort of) after some hiadus. School for soem strange reason really kills your free time. (N)

Anywho, back to the topic at hand. I totaly 100% agree with what Rock is saying. Tiger is boring, I could not cat less about him really. As soon as I here is has a big ;lead I lose interest all together. The hype suronding the kid is too mush. There's no denying he is amazing but so what. I wanna watch golf for the cometition not to see how much will he win by, it was so much better out ther when he was slumping.

Nuff said.

 

[Kilted Arab]

What I don't understand is why it seems to be Tiger's fault that there is all the hype around him? This "oh, he's getting publicity again, I hate him" attitude makes no sense to me.

He seems to live a decent life, he's not out getting into bar fights or screwing around (as far as we know) and he's on top of his chosen profession. I believe he loves and appreciates the game of golf and has respect for the game, the fans and his fellow professionals. He's taking the game to new levels and getting more people into the sport.

This trend for knocking down guys who are the best at what they do really bemuses me - we should be applauding his achievements and realise that we are lucky to be witnessing one of the greatest players ever to grace the game.

 

[Slingblade61]

Well said KA.

I agree 100%

 

[VtDivot]

Seconded...

Although I think he needs to work a little bit on his on course attitude. Of course everyone (probably including Tiger) knows this.

 

[Rockford35]

This trend for knocking down guys who are the best at what they do really bemuses me - we should be applauding his achievements and realise that we are lucky to be witnessing one of the greatest players ever to grace the game.

I will agree with this. And I'm as guilty as can be. Even reading Shanoff's article is evidence of that.

I'm not knocking Tiger as a person. Everyone has their faults in some shape or form. I just was saying that when sports become routine, it gets boring. New York Yankees, Team Canada hockey, Tiger, even Lance Armstrong.

It's just always a better show when someone outside the limelight wins.

Remember Daly's PGA win?

Remember the 1980 Miracle on Ice USA hockey team?

People remember that stuff. 10 years from now, people aren't going to remember Tiger winning any particular event, just that he won a bunch. And that's great, but it makes it pretty boring to watch as far as entertainment value is concerned.

If it was Vijay doing the same thing, i'd be saying the same words, this isn't directed towards Tiger by any means. Just the environment created by domination.

R35

 

[Kilted Arab]

New York Yankees, Team Canada hockey, Tiger, even Lance Armstrong.


R35

On the Lance Armstrong topic, did you see the French are trying to kick him out of the Tour de France and strip him of all previous titles? Apparently they searched his room and found articles banned under French law.

Soap, deodorant and toothpaste.

 

[DaveE]

On the Lance Armstrong topic, did you see the French are trying to kick him out of the Tour de France and strip him of all previous titles? Apparently they searched his room and found articles banned under French law.

Soap, deodorant and toothpaste.

LMAO, finally a claim they can substantiate. :biglol:

 

[Rockford35]

On the Lance Armstrong topic, did you see the French are trying to kick him out of the Tour de France and strip him of all previous titles? Apparently they searched his room and found articles banned under French law.

Soap, deodorant and toothpaste.

Zing!

I wish I was exposed to more French people, so I could at least somewhat appreciate this joke.

Freedom Fries anyone?

R35