Tiger Woods is the greatest sports figure ever

Posted on April 6th, 2008. Written by Emmett Jones.

Eldrick Woods. Son. Great Golfer. Husband. Father. Greatest Sports Figure Ever?

Don’t tell me that you haven’t thought about it. “Tiger Woods, greatest sports figure ever.” It’s crossed your mind. Maybe you’ve heard somebody else mention it, then you thought about it, or maybe you were watching Sports Center and heard them say something. Maybe you’ve seen some of his golfing events over his career. But surely, the greatest sports figure ever, it can’t be….Can it?

He’s 32 right now. 32. As far as golf goes, he’s just now reaching his prime. He has 64 overall wins, tying him with the legendary Ben Hogan for 3rd all time on golf’s wins list. He’s 18 wins behind Sam Snead for first all time…and he’s 32….32. In a sport where you have no one on whom to place the blame, hardly anyone else on whom you can rely, Tiger Woods has shown time and time again that he doesn’t need to rely or place the blame on anyone else. He will be the greatest golfer of all time, I think everybody is willing to concede that much. Need proof? Here’s a Jack Nickalus quote from 1996,

“There isn’t a flaw in his golf or his makeup. He will win more majors than Arnold Palmer and me combined… Somebody is going to dust my records. It might as well be Tiger, because he’s such a great kid. He has the finest, fundamentally sound golf swing I’ve ever seen.”

I don’t know about you, but validation from the Golden Bear is good enough for me. But surely Tiger would need more than the “Best Golfer of All Time” title in order to be crowned the greatest sports figure ever, right? Simply put, yes, he would. Don’t worry, he has it.

Think back to B.T. (Before Tiger) times. Did you ever even watch a few holes of golf? Would Sports Center ever lead in with a golf story on a day that wasn’t during the Masters or the U.S. Open? If you recall, they even talked more about Tiger than Jeff Ogilvy when Tiger lost at Dural recently. Why? ESPN knew that people wanted to know about Tiger in a loss, more than Ogilvy in a win (no offense to Mr. Ogilvy). Tiger Woods has single-handedly brought the game of golf into mainstream American culture (regardless of whether or not you thought it was there before, trust me, it wasn’t). Golf is no longer only for people at affluent country clubs with membership privileges. Inner-city kids are taking golf for elective credit in high school. You can find the average Joe at the driving range on a Saturday or on the lynx on Sunday. AMERICANS KNOW THE NAMES OF MORE THAN ONE GOLFER (a must larger part of the population can mention Vijay or DL III or Lefty than they could mention two or three golfers before Tiger came along). And what has led to this increase in golf’s popularity? A great PGA marketing plan? I don’t think so. And speaking of the PGA, their actions show how Tiger Woods has transformed the game of golf itself. Have they ever had to “Tiger-proof” a golf course for any other golfer? If they did, it was long before I was born. I don’t remember anybody “Zoeller-proofing” or “Norman-izing” a golf course when I was growing up.

So, what do we know so far? Tiger is or will be the greatest athlete in his sport. We also know that he’s been able to transform the sport; he’s made people within the sport change the way the sport is played and he’s made people outside the sport want to play the sport. What else does he need to be the greatest sports figure ever? How about marketability?

Buick, Tag Heuer, Accenture, and Gillette. Those are a few of Tiger’s endorsements. Did I mention he has his own yearly video game with Electronic Arts? Or maybe you’ve seen him in his Nike attire? Need more? Did I mention he has a licensing deal with Gatorade? Tiger is getting a piece of the “Tiger-ade” sales in exchange for being able to use his name and image on the product itself. How’s that for marketability? Tiger is not only getting money to drink and promote Gatorade, Gatorade is, in essence, giving him money for putting his picture on the bottle (Tiger receives money based on the sales of “Tiger-Ade”). Tiger’s not “a businessman, he’s a business, man.” (c) Jay-Z You don’t get into the rarefied air of the licensing deal unless you’re a big deal (think Michael Jordan and Nike). Tied into Woods’ marketability, comes the ability to handle all of the media pressure that comes with being the greatest golfer in the world. Tiger has to maintain a certain image to retain all of his endorsement opportunities. There is a reason why John Daly (no offense) and Tiger don’t have the same endorsement deals, and its more than the number of tournaments each has won. There is a reason why Michael Vick lost his endorsement deals, and why Kobe Bryant is just now beginning to regain his deals; you have to maintain a certain decorum in order to have corporate backers. Tiger has that decorum and even when he momentarily loses it, he seems to regain it very quickly (look at his press conference after his incident with the photographer being an example).

Did I mention he has a nick-name? It always seems like the great ones have a nickname. Air Jordan, Magic, The Sultan of Swat, Sweetness…Tiger. It almost seems like a prerequisite, doesn’t it? You almost need to have a nickname to be great. For Eldrick “Tiger” Woods…its not a problem.

You know what else other great sports figures need? A defining moment; something that puts them in superstar or legendary status. The moment that you can reference in the smallest of details, and everybody knows exactly what you’re talking about. Jordan had his jumper over Craig Elho, The Babe called his shot, Willie Mays made his over the shoulder catch, Joe Montana’s and “The Catch”, Benny “The Jett” Rodriguez pickled the Beast (shout out to Sandlot…I love that movie). What does Tiger have? How about putting on that green jacket after his first Masters win in 1997, at the age of 21, where he set records for youngest person to win the tournament, biggest margin of victory (12 strokes), and lowest 72 round stroke total (270 strokes)? Didn’t it just seem like he was going to be something special? It was the defining moment of greatness for Tiger Woods.

Oh, did I mention he’s going to retire a billionaire, just based off of his golf winnings?

Finally, when determining the greatest sports figure ever, you have to compare your pick to the current king/queen. So, who held the title before Tiger? I think you’d be hard pressed to not say the name Michael Jordan. He put the entire NBA on his back and turned it into a lucrative machine (although there were some other stars to help with this), he put Gatorade on the map, he’s the greatest athlete in his sport (arguably? although I think a majority of people would agree with this), his image is synonymous with the Nike brand, he handled himself with grace in front of the press, and he is known by people in every country throughout the world, even years after he retired. So why is Tiger better than Mike? Well, there are two reasons I can think of off the top of my head.

1. Basketball was popular across the nation before “Air Jordan” came. It transcended classes, races, etc. The whole nation knew about basketball, and they played it, or watched it on television, or at the very least knew someone who liked it. Did Jordan increase the sport’s popularity? Absolutely. As I said earlier, he put basketball on his back and took the game to a new level, but basketball existed on some level prior to Jordan. Golf, on the other hand, has only reached that level, or has started to reach that level that basketball reached because of Tiger Woods. Tiger being in golf has opened up the sport to different races and socio-economic classes that otherwise would not have been involved in the sport.

2. Tiger has no help. As I mentioned earlier, Jordan put the NBA on his back, but he had help. When he started in the league, Magic, Bird, and Zeke were there. As time progressed, Barkley, Ewing, Stockton, Malone, and Olajuwon entered the picture. In the waning years of his career, Shaq, Kobe, Iverson, and Duncan were there to help carry the torch. Sprinkle in some Pippen, some Grant Hill, and some Reggie Miller; Jordan was the greatest, yes, but those teams that he was beating to obtain his greatness? They were full of great, superstar players. Tiger Woods is able to generate the same buzz while beating less than stellar talent. Example: If Shaq played a 4 year old in basketball and won, no one would pay any attention to the game; why watch something when you already know the outcome? On the other hand, everyone is watching the NBA West this year because every game matters. Tiger Woods is playing against the proverbial four year old, and yet he has everybody watching like he’s playing in the NBA West.

…”Tiger Woods, greatest sports figure ever.” It’s crossed your mind. Maybe you’ve heard somebody else mention it, then you thought about it, or maybe you were watching Sports Center and heard them say something. Maybe you’ve seen some of his golfing events over his career. But surely, the greatest sports figure ever, it can’t be….Can it?

…Yes.

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