Today is the start of the British Open.........does anyone care?!!! Seriously, how many people are going to watch now that Tiger is sidelined until next year. I might flip through the channels just to see who's near the top, but it's basically meaningless. It just shows the power that he has to attract viewers, thus, advertisers. I read last week that he will become a billionaire in 2010, and the first to do so through sports and having "earned" it. All the other billionaires became wealthy through investments, i.e. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. But Tiger will be the first on the list to earn it. The same article said that Nike Golf had $600M in sales in 2007 so I would think every penny they pay Tiger is worth it to them!
Tom Watson was on the news last night saying that it's a good thing Tiger isn't playing so that it gives others a chance to win or make a name for themselves. I totally disagree. If you're going to be the best, don't you want to beat the best?! If these yayhoos are tired of losing to him, why don't they get in the weight room and hit the range at 5:00 am and try to outwork him? Amazes me these guys just accept defeat before playing and are just happy to go home with a top-ten finish that has a big paycheck thanks to Tiger bringing in the dollars.
So Tiger being out for so long got me to thinking.......what will happen to golf if/when he retires? Will anyone care anymore? Will the weekend hacker continue to play or just give it up? How will viewership, advertising, marketing, sales hold up?!! It will be a bigger blow to the sport than when MJ left the NBA. To me, the NBA still isn't the same without MJ, yet it's holding up ok. Tennis had the same issue with Agassi and Sampras leaving, but the tennis world has grasped Federer and Nadal as their "heros". But American tennis hasn't been the same. No one has been able to take the torch from Agassi. Roddick was supposed to be that guy, but he really isn't that good. but tennis will survive just fine with Federer and Nadal. But I think once Tiger is done, and it could be sooner than people think, golf will fall back to what it once was - below the NFL, NBA, MLB and NASCAR. I think it's possible that once Tiger beats Jack for most Majors, that he will consider cutting back on his schedule and pursue other interests. His dad even said that - that he will have a bigger impact on this world and that it won't be through golf. Maybe politics? Possible. But I think the next 8-9 months will tell us a lot about the sport once Tiger is done. Let's hope he plays for the next 20 years so that the next generation can watch him and want to beat his records and thus, the next Golden Bear and Tiger comes along to carry the sport into the future! When's the Masters? I bet the golfing world is hoping April gets here fast - I know I am!!
1 comment:
I agree with you TP. I think Tiger will come back strong, play until he quits competing (age 45?), win 25-30 majors, and then pull a Norman. I can't see Tiger playing on the Champions Tour, he has too much else to do.
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