Yeah, I know. Watching golf is about as exciting as sitting around for hours watching Firecracker George play Metroid and waiting for your turn to play that never comes...except when it's Tiger Woods at the tee.
I don't know what it is about Tiger, but somehow the game of golf becomes mesmerizing when he shows up to play. It's not like he hits the ball that much different than anyone else. Yet for some reason I become transfixed to the TV when he's on the greens.
And it's not like I really don't know the outcome. Nine times out of ten, he'll probably end up winning. Which makes days like yesterday all the more odd--did anyone really expect the greatest golfer to ever live was going to lose? Bum knee or not, who really thinks that was going to keep him down? Yet, the entire 2008 U.S. Open was pretty darn exciting. Yeah, really, I'm talking about golf. Some have already called it one of the greatest tournaments in history. Heck, I couldn't even watch the playoff live yesterday obviously because I was working, but still was checking frequent updates on my computer until the final nail-biting sudden death hole.
In any other sport, we'd all probably be rooting for the underdog. For some reason, though, we all root for Tiger.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Tiger for President...
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3 comments:
We root for Tiger partially I think because he is an underdog of sorts. He's a non-white totally dominating a game which is usually totally dominated by whites. Golf is traditionally an exclusive game - I remember the Amarillo Country Club was passed up by the PGA to host something or other because they still had a bylaw forbidding non-whites from playing (possibly even non-Protestant, I can't recall.) This was in the early 90's.
I don't think it was non-whites as much as it was Jews. The whole reason Tascosa Country Club was created was because the Jewish community wanted to have a place they could go.
Oh and I think people route for Tiger not because he is the underdog but because he is beyond the favorite - he is remarkable under pressure. It is like watching sports and art combined.
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