The Never-Ending Fascination with Tiger

Off Topic
81

i dont consider golf to be a sport per-se, but i do like watching golf.

you have to understand its not fast paced action, its not very complicated, and there isnt much too it. if you cant watch curling in the olympics then you cant watch golf either.

I play golf, for my age im quite good, and wouldnt have a problem going golfing with anyone and worrying about embarrasing myself in their company. as a golfer, watching tiger hit a 7 wood out of a sandtrap and landing on the green 250 yards away, straight as an arrow, is amazing. he has amazing skill and routinely makes amazing shots.

golf is a finess sport without any sort of rockstar appeal, it is to contact sports what classical music is to slipknot.

82

Probably some irony here, but I tuned into curling during the olympics and ended up watching hours of it. It helped a little that one of the chicks on the Swiss team with the tongue piercing was smokin’ hot.

84

[quote]pushharder wrote:

[quote]biglifter wrote:
…It helped a little that one of the chicks on the Swiss team with the tongue piercing was smokin’ hot.[/quote]

It didn’t “help”. It had everything to do with it.

I watched curling for the same reason and especially liked the Canadian team.[/quote]

You’re completely right. The sarcasm never seems to make it through.

85

[quote]hungry4more wrote:

[quote]biglifter wrote:

[quote]thogue wrote:
When you can complete an entire game of your choice without breaking a sweat at any point, you are not an athlete. [/quote]

That’s funny, personal anecdote here. When I was in my teens, during the summer when we were in the middle of the outdoor swim season, we would play basketball for hours almost every day (between morning and evening swim practices) and I wouldn’t even break a sweat. We were running full-court and playing hard, it wasn’t due to lack of effort. Since I was a lot skinnier and younger then (with almost no water-weight), and also in swimming shape, running simply wasn’t tiring enough to sweat, because competitive swimming develops crazy endurance. So although your argument makes sense, it doesn’t always apply.

86

[quote]Airtruth wrote:

If you run a 5.0 in practice, but when competing you run a 4.4 next to the guy that runs a 4.5 you will be a great athlete.[/quote]

Loved this point. Whether or not golf is a “sport” or Tiger is an “athlete” is almost irrelevant. The guy flat out does amazing things that require a tremendous amount of physical skill and acute precision in extremely stressful situations.

It doesn’t take much athletic ability to actually hit a little white ball with a putter and make it travel 10 or so feet. But it does take an enormous amount of physical skill to swing a golf club over a 100 mph with no ACL, return the clubface to square without varying more than 1 degree, and then correctly judge the speed and curvature of a green, steady your heart rate and actually make the putt…with millions of people not only watching, but expecting you to make that putt.

Athlete or not, Tiger is the best competitor I’ve ever seen. I watched MJ play his entire career here in Chicago and he doesn’t compare to Tiger as a competitor. Michael could lean on Scotty, Dennis and the others at different points in the game. Tiger’s on an island by himself.

If there is a fascination with Tiger, in my opinion, it’s because he does amazing shit that no one else can do.

87

[quote]TDub301 wrote:

[quote]hungry4more wrote:

[quote]biglifter wrote:

[quote]thogue wrote:
When you can complete an entire game of your choice without breaking a sweat at any point, you are not an athlete. [/quote]

That’s funny, personal anecdote here. When I was in my teens, during the summer when we were in the middle of the outdoor swim season, we would play basketball for hours almost every day (between morning and evening swim practices) and I wouldn’t even break a sweat. We were running full-court and playing hard, it wasn’t due to lack of effort. Since I was a lot skinnier and younger then (with almost no water-weight), and also in swimming shape, running simply wasn’t tiring enough to sweat, because competitive swimming develops crazy endurance. So although your argument makes sense, it doesn’t always apply.[/quote]
I highly doubt someone can play an intense full court game for an hour and not sweat.

88

Here’s why MOST Americans don’t like soccer.

And how is snowboarding an Olympic sport, but rugby is not? That’s just wrong.

89

I don’t have a problem calling golf a sport; as has been mentioned ad nauseum, it takes great concentration and hand-eye coordination to excel at. But I could never get into it. The fact that the spectators must remain silent makes it lame, IMO. Can you imagine a silent crowd at Yankee stadium with the game tied and A-Rod up in the bottom of the ninth, or with the Yankess up and David Ortiz hitting in the top of the inning? And I would argue that more hand-eye coordination and concentration is required to hit a baseball than a golf ball. I think the lack of fan interaction while players are doing what they’re doing kills the sport. Again, I try and picture Cameron Indoor Stadium without fans affecting the opposition and it just seems ridiculous.

91

[quote]pushharder wrote:
Tiger is indeed an amazing man with a golf club. But he is a huge pussy for all the continual boo-hooing at press conferences and such.

He needs to STFU and just play golf. [/quote]

Hey! You need to watch your f**king mouth, old man!!! j/k.

I’m amazed that this debate is still going. As for the boo-hooing, it’s part of his PR recovery. He has been made to appear human, so now he needs to regain the hearts and minds of human people. Especially to women, since this “scandal” has made his wife into a victim, for all intents and purposes. I don’t necessarily agree with all of this, but it is what it is.
Everyone seems to think that it is only Tiger who messed up. Perhaps, if people took a closer look into the situation, they would find that he is not the only person at fault. Oh well. Some interesting thoughts/opinions on what should be classified as sports.

92

[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:

[quote]WormwoodTheory wrote:

[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:

[quote]WormwoodTheory wrote:

[quote]stockzy wrote:
You need to define what is a game and what is a sport.
[/quote]

i did.

a game is against the game.

a sport is against others playing the sport.

golf is against the course, or the game. football is against your opponent.[/quote]

Do you consider track a sport? Golf is not only against the course but how you fare in comparison to others going against the course, which is conceptually the same as sprinting against a field of other sprinters.

DB[/quote]

most, if not all, track and field events are not considered sports in my mind. Its you vs the environment. there is no direct intervention from the other players. Now, if Tiger had to run the length of the field and slam dunk the ball in the hole while dodging caddies, carts and competitors, not only would I consider it a sport, i’d actually fucking watch it!

track and field is the same way, you don’t have the runners in the other lanes trying to steal your baton in the 4x4. Nobody is intercepting your shot put. it’s you versus your time, being your best. You’re responsible for your own success. You lose the race because you didn’t play your best, not because you caught a left hook in the starting block.[/quote]

Yet, track and field was an integral part of the original Olympics. Go figure. You have an odd definition of sports.

DB[/quote]

So you’re of the school of thought where everything is a sport, from rugby to beer pong?

no offense meant by this, it’s a serious question.

93

[quote]WormwoodTheory wrote:
So you’re of the school of thought where everything is a sport, from rugby to beer pong?

no offense meant by this, it’s a serious question.[/quote]

Most people understand that beer pong is not a sport but track and field is.

I don’t think you can put a precise definition on what a sport is, more like a set of heuristics that will eventually get you there.

1.) Does it require a particular athletic skill or skillset?
2.) Do a lot of people play it?
3.) Is there a standardized set of rules that people across the world generally follow?
4.) What is the competition level? Do world-class players spend hours per week for years training to get to their level?
5.) Are there world-class players that truly separate themselves from average?
6.) Would an average person embarrass themselves against a world-class player?
7.) Can you quickly tell a novice from a world-class player?
8.) Can anybody become a world-class player or is some natural measure of talent necessary?

These are the things that make up a sport. Golf is obviously a sport because it fits all 8 categories. Beer pong fits #2 and maybe (if you are really reaching) #1. So it’s not a sport. The game of darts is a little closer, but I’m willing to bet that just about anybody could become a world-class darts player with like 2 years of consistent practice. I feel the same way about curling, yet curling is in the Olympics. The same goes for something like bowling. It does meet some of these criteria, but doesn’t slam-dunk all of them. Thus, some people might loosely consider bowling a sport, but almost nobody places it on the same tier as something like soccer.

But anyway, people love Tiger because he has the potential to become go down in history as the greatest ever at a sport that a lot of people like. What’s so hard to understand about that?

94

[quote]WormwoodTheory wrote:

[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:

[quote]WormwoodTheory wrote:

[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:

[quote]WormwoodTheory wrote:

[quote]stockzy wrote:
You need to define what is a game and what is a sport.
[/quote]

i did.

a game is against the game.

a sport is against others playing the sport.

golf is against the course, or the game. football is against your opponent.[/quote]

Do you consider track a sport? Golf is not only against the course but how you fare in comparison to others going against the course, which is conceptually the same as sprinting against a field of other sprinters.

DB[/quote]

most, if not all, track and field events are not considered sports in my mind. Its you vs the environment. there is no direct intervention from the other players. Now, if Tiger had to run the length of the field and slam dunk the ball in the hole while dodging caddies, carts and competitors, not only would I consider it a sport, i’d actually fucking watch it!

track and field is the same way, you don’t have the runners in the other lanes trying to steal your baton in the 4x4. Nobody is intercepting your shot put. it’s you versus your time, being your best. You’re responsible for your own success. You lose the race because you didn’t play your best, not because you caught a left hook in the starting block.[/quote]

Yet, track and field was an integral part of the original Olympics. Go figure. You have an odd definition of sports.

DB[/quote]

So you’re of the school of thought where everything is a sport, from rugby to beer pong?

no offense meant by this, it’s a serious question.[/quote]

WW- By your definitions, powerlifting/weightlifting/bodybuilding is not a sport and powerlifters/weightlifters/bodybuilders are not athletes…? This, on a ‘bodybuilding’ site.

Of course, the sport of hunting, IYHO, is not ‘sport’.

Hell, in my world, sex is a ‘sport’.

Do yourself a favor and go to “Merriam-Webster” and look up ‘sport’ and ‘athlete’.

95

“Obviously, you’re not a golfer.”

96

[quote]Anonymity wrote:
“Obviously, you’re not a golfer.”[/quote]

“no, you’re not wrong, you’re just an asshole”

97

[quote]SteelyD wrote:

sex is a ‘sport’.[/quote]

this is the smartest thing that has been posted in this whole thread.

98

[quote]bluefingas wrote:
I highly doubt someone can play an intense full court game for an hour and not sweat.[/quote]

I can see why you would doubt it, but it just means you’re sleeping on the level of endurance competitive swimming builds. If there is anyone else here who is/was a serious swimmer, meaning you swam year round since you were a child for a club team, then chime in. I’m not making this stuff up.

I can’t run any more without breaking a sweat, but I have added about 60 to 70 pounds to my frame since the end of those days (about an inch or 2 in height, as well). As that happened, it got a lot harder to keep from sweating.