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 Sports Chick
June 21, 2004 Why Do We Put Ourselves Through This? By: Marty Coultas Welcome back Milwaukeeworlders. Hope your week was as AWESOME as mine after the downfall of the most over-rated, self-loving, egomaniac Lakers last Wednesday night. Finally, after all my bitching and moaning, I got something right on the money. And let me tell you my fellow sporting fans, I feel pretty darn good about it! That team is done. HAIL TO YOU ONE LARRY (OH MY GOD, I LOVE YOU!!!) BROWN! The inevitable is happening. The breakup of the Lakers. Fact is, they got old and in Hollywood, age is not a benefit. Not only have the players aged but the fans in LA are tired of them. Even Jack Nicholson appeared to be tired of “his” team. But what I find unbelievable is the attitude of the GM Mitch Kupchak. To publicly say that he would prefer to keep Kobe versus Shaq is simply dumb. How does he expect to get the greatest value in return for a player he says he no longer wants? It would be like selling a car but telling the prospective buyer that you don’t like it and that it is a piece of junk. He also appears to be able to say anything he wants and that means that the owner, Mr. Buss, is not really in control of the team or the franchise. I am pretty sure that last week marked the beginning of a long decline in Laker fortune. Just as the Chicago Bulls ownership seems unable to manage a turnaround, it appears Laker ownership is also unable. Time will tell but I think tinsel town will be in for a long dry spell and those courtside seats may become much less expensive. What we need to feel good about is that our own Milwaukee Bucks gave a better showing against the Pistons that the Lakers. We have something really good going on down at the Bradley Center. I have not always agreed with Senator Kohl, but it appears he has put people in place that are capable of building a competitor and then coaching them cohesively and making them winners. Unlike LA, we have many good days ahead. I need to get a few things off my chest about the national media and their recent vendetta against Tiger Woods. In 1996, 20-year-old Tiger burst upon the sports world with more hype and attention than anyone can remember. Attribute that to the media. He became the darling of the sportswriters. He is articulate, educated, funny and made himself available. Oh boy, they smacked their lips, here we have our storyline written for the next twenty years. No effort required of us sportswriters to apply logic or work at understanding the young man and his game, we can just ride his coattails. Tiger won a few tournaments made some commercials and continued to put up with intrusion of the media. It is seldom noted but Tiger went into a period from the summer of 1998 to February of 2000 and never won a tourney. None. He was maturing, getting stronger, discovering that he needed to take control of his affairs and remake his swing. He also fired agent Hughes Norton, caddy Fluff Cowen and almost all his financial and business advisors. They had decided to ride the Tiger train and tell inside stories, take credit for performance and treat Tiger Woods as if he were their creation. Tiger got a little older and would no longer put up with the group of hangers-on whose main interests were their own and not his. In come IMG and Mark Steinberg along with Steve Williams and a whole new group of advisors. Then, along come Y2K and the rest is history. He became so dominant that there seemed no other story. Oh boy, the media was in hog heaven. All any of the writers or commentators had to do was go to work and extol the excellence of the Tiger game. Now that dastardly Tiger has gone 8 “majors” without a win. Never mind that he is still ranked number one, or that he is fourth in earnings this year or that he seldom finishes out of the top ten. Eight majors. So now the media is forced to find a new savior. Along comes Phil Mickelson, the perennial Joe Itzlpific, and wins one “major.” Now Phil is the man and it is time to make Tiger pay for disappointing us all. His swing is bad and he won’t ask for help. Butch Harmon, another fellow who has publicly taken credit for Tiger’s success, says that Tiger no longer has the mental toughness he once had and that he is practicing the wrong things. He said more but that is enough. Then Steve Williams knocks a camera out of some guys hand who was clicking away with reckless abandon and it is because Tiger is selfish. Never mind the fact that your ticket to every PGA event strictly prohibits people from bringing cameras onto the course, it is Tigers fault that the course marshals aren’t doing their job. This Monday was the most self-serving selfish bunch of golfing articles that I have ever seen. And most of them, while mentioning Goosen’s victory, spent most of the space criticizing Tiger Woods. One group of radio morons even said they were not going to call him Tiger but rather Eldrick until he wins another major. Here it is boys. Get over it. Those stupid New York fans that were cheering on Mickelson all weekend are betting on another Smarty Jones. How dumb are those fans, yelling “in the hole” on par three drives that sailed the green. New Yorkers are so full of themselves that they didn’t even have the courtesy to give proper credit to a real competitor. Their greeting of Goosen on 18 was embarrassing and deplorable. But that is digression and another story. Tiger Woods is simply growing older. Priorities change, his body has changed and he is doing things differently than he did before. He is also 27 years old. And he has already won eight “majors.” None of today’s crop of darlings, Ernie, VJ, or Phil ever won anything big before they were thirty. Remember Sergio Garcia as the next challenger or how about Justin Leonard? Where have they been? Golf’s purses and the recognition of the game that gives salaries to the golf writers has grown by a factor of four since 1996. One reason, Tiger Woods. If these people want to see the popularity of the game and their livelihood continue to expand then they need to be more objective in their reporting on their meal ticket. He shouldn’t’ get a free ride but this nit picky stuff is too much. Tiger Woods is an American sports hero. The American fans want him to win to validate their own feeling of American superiority. Just like we feel about American Olympic teams we root for. The other best golfers are from places like South Africa, Fiji, Spain and Korea. We need an American hero and all I know is that Phil isn’t the guy. When Goosen put the pressure on Phil on Sunday, Phil got the YIPS again. Phil can’t carry the weight of expectation and the hopes of the public. It takes an extraordinary man to do that and the only one strong enough is the Tiger. When he is ready he will once again dominate but he will do it on his own schedule, not for the convenience of the sports writers. That is it for today. A little long but I feel better for having said it. One last thing. Tim Couch will be a great addition to the Packers. There is no reason that he can’t be a backup for a few season’s and then take over. A quarterback’s lifespan is directly related to the number of hits he has taken. Couch is young and every season he spends studying and practicing and not taking hits will make him better. He already knows what game conditions are like since he was a five-year starter. So that part doesn’t have to be learned. He is strong and smart and seems ready to wait and, heavens forbid, if we should need a backup to play, he also has the skills to do it. Until we meet again Milwaukeeworlders, as always, keep your ears open and your noses clean!
Marty the Sports Chick
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