Tiger Woods athlete of the decade?? A Rant about Golf

[Coast2Coast27]

The whole scandal aside, How does a golfer win athlete of the decade? Espically when he's beating mostly 40 something's and is hitting a stationary white ball into a hole. Give me a break, I'd say 90 percent of the players in the NFL, 100 Percent Nba, and 90 percent MLB are better athlete's then a very good golfer. The media, Professional Golf, has so overhyped this guy all for the sake of profit. Its a ploy to appeal to the younger crowd, since usually only old men , who couldnt play a real sport any longer play or watch golf. They made Tiger Wood's into some advertising product and now with this scandal , there putting him up on the shelf to be used later.

Tiger Wood's isnt even in the top 10,000 of the decade when it comes being an athlete. I havent even mentioned all the great tennis pro's, Hockey, Track and field, or even race car drivers. Golf is a pitiful excuse for a sport because your not playing against someone, no one is trying to counter you , its just you hitting a ball. It's not pitched...it just sits there. I put Golf lower then slow pitched softball... seriously.. To me Golf will always be an old man sport nothing more. It doesnt take great athletic skill to be good at golf, all it takes is alot of practice and getting down a good drive. Id put skateboarding above Golf, Runner's , the list goes on and on.

I equate Golf with 2 other ''sports'' bowling and pool.

 

[Doomsday101]

The whole scandal aside, How does a golfer win athlete of the decade? Espically when he's beating mostly 40 something's and is hitting a stationary white ball into a hole. Give me a break, I'd say 90 percent of the players in the NFL, 100 Percent Nba, and 90 percent MLB are better athlete's then a very good golfer. The media, Professional Golf, has so overhyped this guy all for the sake of profit. Its a ploy to appeal to the younger crowd, since usually only old men , who couldnt play a real sport any longer play or watch golf. They made Tiger Wood's into some advertising product and now with this scandal , there putting him up on the shelf to be used later.

Tiger Wood's isnt even in the top 10,000 of the decade when it comes being an athlete. I havent even mentioned all the great tennis pro's, Hockey, Track and field, or even race car drivers. Golf is a pitiful excuse for a sport because your not playing against someone, no one is trying to counter you , its just you hitting a ball. It's not pitched...it just sits there. I put Golf lower then slow pitched softball... seriously.. To me Golf will always be an old man sport nothing more. It doesnt take great athletic skill to be good at golf, all it takes is alot of practice and getting down a good drive. Id put skateboarding above Golf, Runner's , the list goes on and on.

I equate Golf with 2 other ''sports'' bowling and pool.

You are entitled to your opinion and by your comments you really do not seem to understand the game of golf.

 

[Rogah]

The term "best athlete" or "athlete of the year/decade/etc" has the implied meaning of "within the context of the sport they play." If you want to talk about pure athletic ability then there is really nobody in the NFL, NBA, golf, etc, that could hold the water of a group of Olympic caliber decathletes.

So if we accept that it means "athlete of the decade within the context of the sport they play" then Tiger Woods is a perfectly acceptable choice (unless there is some validity to the recent whispers of his usage of performance enhancing drugs).

Of course, all these "best of" lists are just bullcrap titles designed to get people talking about whatever magazine or publication made the list, thereby generating attention to that magazine or publication. And they have drawn both you and me into the conversation.

 

[Rampage]

most golfers are old guys or out of shape guys. most golfers aren't on the juice like Tiger either. It doesn't take a lot of athletic ability to swing a golf club but it does take skill. these guys don't even run so while they are skilled and talented they're about as much of an athlete as Nascar drivers imo.

 

[CowboyDan]

Say what you will about golf being a sport or not (though it clearly is), but don't forget that Tiger doesn't have a teammate to rely on if he's having an off day, and if he misses a tourney, he doesn't get paid.

Remember, this isn't the Fitness Award........this is the Athlete of the Decade award.

 

[Coast2Coast27]

Rogah if that's case why didnt they just say best Golfer of the decade?

 

[Rogah]

Rogah if that's case why didnt they just say best Golfer of the decade?

I don't understand the question. Clearly if they consider him the best athlete of the decade then they would also consider him the best golfer of the decade. But when you take all athletes from all sports, they believe Tiger Woods has performed better within his sport than any other athlete within their sport.

In other words, Tiger Woods is a better golfer than (for example) Peyton Manning is a football player.

 

[Rampage]

I don't understand the question. Clearly if they consider him the best athlete of the decade then they would also consider him the best golfer of the decade. But when you take all athletes from all sports, they believe Tiger Woods has performed better within his sport than any other athlete within their sport.

In other words, Tiger Woods is a better golfer than (for example) Peyton Manning is a football player.

yeah but Peyton uses more athletic ability jogging to the Locker room than Tiger does for an entire day of golf.

 

[Rogah]

yeah but Peyton uses more athletic ability jogging to the Locker room than Tiger does for an entire day of golf.

Which is why I said in my first post in this thread that titles such as "best athlete" or "athlete of the year/decade/etc" really mean "Best athlete within the context of their sport."

99% of people understand this concept perfectly, but apparently there always has to be complaining from the remaining 1% who are upset that people aren't taking the term "best athlete" 100% literally.

 

[Coast2Coast27]

exactly.... rampage .. I would say Ken shamrock is a better athlete, or Manny Paqualiou etc

 

[Coast2Coast27]

Roph My point is its not who's the most dominant in the sport... it's the best athlete... if they would of said ...Tiger is the most dominant player in his sport...id have no problem with it, but to call a golfer the best athlete is shamful and embarassing . Your the one who's changing there terms to fit your own personal translation. The phrase BEST ATHLETE, doesnt come with a disclaimer as you seem to suggest and says....really what we mean is most dominant player in there own particular sport.

 

[Rogah]

Roph My point is its not who's the most dominant in the sport... it's the best athlete... if they would of said ...Tiger is the most dominant player in his sport...id have no problem with it, but to call a golfer the best athlete is shamful and embarassing . Your the one who's changing there terms to fit your own personal translation. The phrase BEST ATHLETE, doesn come with a disclaimer as you seem to suggest that says....really what we mean is most dominant player in there own particular sport.

No, it's not my own "personal disclaimer" it's something 99% of the rest of us understand perfectly well, and 1% feel the need to complain and moan about.

 

[Coast2Coast27]

well I think your 99 percent figure is way off base because out of the few people who have replied to this thread , a few of us don't see it in the same light as you at all. So you might want to rethink that 99 percent number there .

 

[Rogah]

well I think your 99 percent figure is way off base because out of the few people who have replied to this thread , a few of us don't see it in the same light as you at all. So you might want to rethink that 99 percent number there .

Except when you made your own "best athlete" list, you fell into the exact same definition I have been using, didn't you? You didn't pick the "best athletes" in terms of pure athletic ability, you picked the most dominant competitors within the context of their sport.

 

[Coast2Coast27]

I didnt do that in the slighest my friend.

 

[Trouble]

Tiger Wood's isnt even in the top 10,000 of the decade when it comes being an athlete. I havent even mentioned all the great tennis pro's, Hockey, Track and field, or even race car drivers.

Your entire argument is flawed if you really consider race car drivers athlete's and golfers not.

If you want to get technical, it requires more energy, strength, and stamina, to walk a 7,000 yard layout (3.5-4.0 miles), than it does to sit on your butt in a car, and drive around in circles for a few hundred miles.



:starspin

 

[QT]

If John Daly or Phil Mickelson dominated like Tiger (yes that's a big if), would they be called the greatest athlete? I think b/c Tiger looks athletic (I think I read he can bench 300lbs), that also helps this so called "greatest athlete".

SI did a survey years ago about the most athletic sport and the sport that rank #1 was boxing. Golf was like #99,999. j/k but it was pretty low. Definition of athlete per merriam-webster:

: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina

IMO, I don't see agility or stamina in golf.

 

[Coast2Coast27]

Golf , the whole marketing behind Golf is , let's make those who can't play real sports anymore feel good about themselves with the Tiger Wood's Product.

Sadly a few of you no doubt 30-40something's bought it.

 

[kmp77]

Golf , the whole marketing behind Golf is , let's make those who can't play real sports anymore feel good about themselves with the Tiger Wood's Product.

Sadly a few of you no doubt 30-40something's bought it.

Sheesh man! Did an old man in golf attire touch you in a naughty spot or something?

 

[kmp77]

ath⋅lete

A participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.

So athlete and athletic are two different things. So I guess you can be an athlete but not athletic after all.

So Tiger can be the best athlete but probably won't rank that high on the most athletic athletes. Sounds dumb but going by the definition....