Tiger Woods and My "Peyton Manning Moment"
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by Editoratlegendofcecilioguante
This was originally posted on my blog, The Legend of Cecilio Guante, here.
[1] Pictures like this used to make me want to vomit. I was a proud card-carrying member of the " I Hate Tiger Woods " fan club. Every time I saw him ahead or near the lead on the final Sunday of any major tournament (or any tournament for that matter) I was rooting for him to lose, and to do so in dramatically embarrassing fashion. For me, it wasn't fueled by envy or jealousy of all the things he has (although this post from The Sons of Sam Malone may drive you to depression).
It was a different kind of hatred. I didn't hate Tiger for being good. I didn't hate him for having a hot wife or appearing in countless ads for nearly every company imaginable. I hated him because he looked like an world-class a-hole on the course.
I hated the fist-pumping. I hated the woe is me look at every damn press conference where he wasn't leading the pack by 10 strokes.
I hated the overly-pained expression that came across his face when he shanked one. And I hated the almost non-expression on his face when he hit the shot of the tournament. Who did this guy think he was? What an arrogant p!*#k. Enough already. Stop putting on a show. Or stop pretending that you're not trying to put on a show. Just get off the screen.
You'll notice a lot of use of the past tense in the past few paragraphs. It's because something happened the other day. One of those switches in the brain that happen that at first you can't really explain and then try vehemently to deny. And then it hit me. The parallels were eerily similar to the evolution of my thoughts toward one six-five 230-pund quarterback, laser-rocket arm...yep, I was having my Peyton Manning moment...with Tiger.
I'd experienced the exact same thing with Manning about a year ago, like so many others. I couldn't stand his index-finger extended in the air after a touchdown toss and the too-perfect comments to the media. Moreover, I hated every time they flashed the cameras on him disgustingly thumbing through the secondary printouts from the booth after his team failed to march down the field on a 10-play 80 yard drive and, instead, had to settle for a field goal. C'mon, right?
But then it started to turn. It wasn't the Super Bowl win. Frankly, the Sprint and MasterCard commercials probably played a more important role in making him seem somewhat human and softening the burning embers of disgust.
Ultimately, for both Tiger and Peyton, it was an admission that they are what all athletes and sports fans say they want to see in their sports figures. Players who absolutely despise losing. Individuals who are relentless in their preparation and care about nothing else above winning. People who don't care about the way it's done, but only care about the end result.
Now, it's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison given one participates in a team sport and the other an individual, but the similarities are there. Whether playing high school sports ourselves, or watching our favorite colleagiate or pro teams, who are the ones we curse out? It's the losers who can't bother themselves with running out a pop out. The ones who fail to show up for mini-camps or put in the extra work to get into a rhythm with their receivers. The ones who see their team, or their game, falling short and couldn't seem to care less. You know, guys kind of like this.
So, it is that I no longer "hate" Tiger Woods or Peyton Manning. In the case of Tiger, I'm also coming around to agreeing with those beginning to allow the thought to creep in our heads that Tiger may the most dominant athlete of this generation in any sport. But that is a topic that likely deserves a column all its own.
I certainly don't count Tiger among my favorite athletes, but I've come to the realization that my hatred is - perhaps - somewhat irrational. Instead, I'm replacing blind loathing with respect. It's seems the least we can do.
![[1]](http://bp2.blogger.com/_uv9rbmjljHI/RsPDfks3eNI/AAAAAAAAAJg/ivVZ_v8q_PM/s1600-h/tigerwoods.bmp){kind=link}
To your statement about Roger Federer, I think Nadal could be in the same league as him. Tiger is pretty dominating, but Federer and Tiger are definitely up there.
I feel like I'm watching "Who's Now" all over again...