Baseball Toaster: Dodger Thoughts : Tiger's Tears

Tiger's Tears

2006-07-23 10:19

by Jon Weisman

Tiger Woods sank the last putt from a couple inches away. He pumped two fists. Smiling, he turned to shake hands with his caddy, hugging him in what appeared to be a celebratory embrace. As the caddy started to pull away, Woods hung on. His head buried in the caddy's shoulder, his body convulsing.

The two then walked side-by-side, Woods still in tears, off the course. Woods found his wife, his comfort, and broke down further in her arms.

Comments

2006-07-23 10:30:20

1. Sam DC

I just watched that with my boy; cried a little myself. Son asked me why Tiger Woods was crying (didn't notice my tears). Oddly, it was very easy for him to understand being happy and sad at the same time.

Congratulations to Tiger and his family.

2006-07-23 10:42:18

2. D4P

Very touching scene. I'm happy for Tiger. I was at the US Open just last month where he played poorly and missed the cut. A month later he's back on top of the world. He's a very special competitor.

2006-07-23 10:53:31

3. Suffering Bruin

I'm not going to improve on Sam's post because something very similar happened between my son and me. And I like the way Jon summarized the son.

There are still people who wonder why I spend so much time on the internet.

2006-07-23 12:40:25

4. Greg S

I've always found it odd that so many people don't like Tiger Woods, seemingly only because he is the best and so dominating. I think we are lucky to be watching someone who is not only the best ever at his sport, but so openly human at the same time. That's what we miss in the Jeff Kent's of the world. They don't owe it to us but we sure like it. That is, to me, the very best of sports.

2006-07-23 12:55:53

5. Linkmeister

I haven't seen it, but I'd imagine Floyd Landis might have shed a few tears himself, although they might be for the pain in his hip.

Does it boggle anyone else's mind that somebody could bike 2,000 miles with a hip that's going to have to be replaced next week?

I did a lot of bicycle PT for my re-attached patellar tendon, and it was no fun at all.

2006-07-23 12:56:18

6. Sam DC

Watching Tiger's conquest of the 1997 Masters was one of the moments that I just feel incredibly lucky to have seen. Esp. with the complex racial dynamics of golf, and his age, it was just the coolest thing.

Wow, that was almost 10 years ago.

2006-07-23 13:18:11

7. NPB

I love watching the underdog triumph. Tiger wins for all of us.

2006-07-23 13:44:03

8. D4P

I, too, feel priveleged to get to watch Tiger. The guy is as "clutch" as it gets.

2006-07-23 15:24:04

9. underdog

7 No, if I won the British Open, that would fulfill your desires, not if Tiger wins.

Actually, if I was able to hit a golf ball without either a) taking a big piece of sod with it or b) slicing it into someone's car way to the left, that would be a victory for humanity. Or at least me.

is there still a game happening? When do the Dodgers return from their all-star break?

2006-07-23 15:42:19

10. Another Tom

4. - If you grew up playing junior golf with Tiger you certainly wouldn't be rooting for him. I've heard he's changed a lot but he'll always be a conceited, trash-talking arrogant bastard in my eyes. I feel bad that he lost his dad, and I can marvel at some of the shots he hits - but I will never cheer for him.

2006-07-23 15:46:03

11. Michael Green

When Rob Dibble was being a dufus on Dan Patrick's radio show, as opposed to being one on that silly Fox show, he told about being at some pro-celebrity event and going down to the gym to work out. When he got there, Tiger was already there, working out, and clearly had been at it for quite a while--maybe an hour, as it turned out. When Dibble left an hour later, Tiger was still going strong. In other words, his greatness isn't natural. And I admire that work ethic. I don't know and never met him. But I don't think he has fallen off of his motorcycle lately and claimed he broke his wrist at a car wash.

2006-07-23 18:00:54

12. Bluebleeder87

the toaster's words are bigger

2006-07-23 18:01:24

13. Bluebleeder87

or is it just my computer.

2006-07-23 18:15:08

14. Bluebleeder87

it was all guts & hart.

2006-07-23 18:51:52

15. Jon Weisman

5 - I was boggled.

2006-07-23 19:30:09

16. das411

And apparently it is "reduce your trade value night" here at CBP...grr!!

7 - Tiger Woods = underdog? That's like saying "Detroit Tigers, best record in baseball"! ;)

2006-07-24 10:07:30

17. Jeff Iannucci

I don't want to take anything away from Tiger's accomplishments or the emotions he felt after the recent loss of his father.

However, calling him an underdog is absurd. He's charismatic, talented, revolutionary, even polarizing, but not an underdog.

The underdog was Chris DiMarco, who once again fell just short of chasing down Tiger in a Major. It's too bad few noticed he was playing so well after losing his monther this month.

http://www.nypost.com/sports/chasing_tiger_sports_mark_cannizzaro.htm

I know you like a good heart-warming story, Jon. There is your underdog, with just as compelling a tale.

2006-07-24 10:37:01

18. Jon Weisman

17 - First, I wasn't the one who called Tiger an underdog. Second, the reference to Tiger being an underdog was either 1) sarcastic or 2) a reference to the odds he faced as a young black golfer in the 1980s. Obviously, no one thought he was an underdog Sunday.

What I saw from Tiger after he won just grabbed me. I'm not trying to take anything away from Chris DiMarco, and I certainly can't cover every compelling out there.

2006-07-24 10:39:37

19. Jon Weisman

(every compelling story out there)

2006-07-24 11:30:53

20. Jeff Iannucci

Bad wording on my part in the last sentence. I realize Jon didn't say he was an underdog, but someone did and it just struck me as odd and silly.

I'm not trying to come across as a crank. My point was just that DiMarco had a story too, but it wasn't drowned in the coverage of a sobbing Tiger Woods. OK, bad wording again there.

Jon, you do a fantastic job of finding the humanitarian bent in stories often missed by regular news reports. I think I was just disappointed because I thought you could have compared the two golfers who both played well and contrasted the way one was more visible with his emotions than the other was. Not right or wrong for either, just examining two athletes' lives beyond the scores and stats.

Talking solely about Tiger is the same thing everyone else is doing, not your usual value-added coverage. OK, I'll stop telling you how to do your job before I get smacked down - I really do love the blog.

2006-07-24 11:46:53

21. Jon Weisman

20 - I understand. That would have been better to do - just more than I was taking on.