The Golfing World Will Miss Its Tiger

I was just about to post the blog below when my BlackBerry got flooded with news that Tiger Woods will sit out the rest of the year to have surgery on his knee.

This came from my colleague and mutual Tiger fan Brad Gold.

According to sources, Tiger Woods has made a decision to go ahead with season-ending knee surgery.
 
He experienced a small stress fracture in his left leg about two weeks before the U.S. Open, which was causing him pain, and ultimately the doctors felt that he needs ACL surgery and rest to get him back to 100%.

To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement. Somehow I had a bad feeling watching him on the golf course. Frankly, when he was interviewed on Saturday evening I wondered if he could / would make it through Sunday. Without Tiger the sport will not be the same.

What I was about to write in my original draft of this blog and the video attached is about the tremendous impact he has had and continues to have on the sport. Just yesterday I interviewed two people who rely heavily on him for television viewership, advertising, branding and tour sponsorship, Pete Bevacqua, USGA Chief Business Office and Cindy Davis, Nike's U.S. General Manager. Look at this video. How prescient?

Also look at these stat's. If you're CBS or NBC, you're very depressed. In 2006, when Woods was in contention, the 10 events on ABC, CBS and NBC drew any average rating of 4.3 and any 11 share for the two weekend days of the telecasts. When Woods was out of contention, the ratings dropped to 2.0 and 5 in 29 events. NBC banked on Woods by purchasing the rights to five more tournaments this year which they thought Woods would participate in. 10 of the 14 events on NBC were expected to include Woods. Not to mention the 3 Fedex Cup Playoff events especially in light of the bad news out on Fedex's earnings this morning. CBS is scheduled to televise 21 tournaments. Tiger was expected to participate in 10 of them.

Imagine being in their position.  He'll make public appearances but not having him in the game until 2009, not good. On the other hand, perhaps it gives the tour a chance to groom some new Tiger cubs. The tour certainly needs it! Who would have thought that one man could dominate a multi-billion dollar industry?

George Willis of the New York Post wrote a great article yesterday about the guts and glory of Tiger Woods. He said, "Golfers never get the kind of credit baseball, basketball or football players do for the physical side of their game, like playing with pain. Fans seem only impressed with how far the ball flies. But Woods' 19-hole playoff victory over Mediate yesterday and his entire performance in the 108th U.S. Open was every bit as athletic, every bit as resilient and every bit as courageous as anything anyone from any sport ever authored."

I echo Willis's eloquent point and article. In hindsight, Tiger most likely knew this. Now we in part know why he said, "I think this is probably the best ever." He went on to say, "The week was a long week with a lot of doubt, a lot of questions going into the week. And here we are 91 holes later."

He will be missed!

Please accept my apologies for not writing earlier. It's been a hectic couple of days and I have neglected the blog. Occasionally, the writing takes a back to seat to the three hundred other balls in the air. So let's catch up on what we missed.

First, hello Tiger! Was that tournament insane! Unbelievable! Brilliant! One of the best that I've ever. Rocko became the unsung hero in the process. He was such a class act! Can you imagine going up against Tiger Woods in any 18 hole playoff that turns into 19? Not me. He was calm, cool and charmed everyone of us watching. I'm a new fan although I was routing for Tiger.

How about last night? Lucky No. 17! The Celtics did it. They won the NBA playoffs by a landslide victory. It was so touching to see Pierce, Garnett and Allen take the trophy. Watching Garnett's interview at the end of the game gave you a true sense of how long he waited for this moment. They, the team, will now go down in history as one of the greatest come back stories. Who would have thought one year ago that this was possible? I tip my hat to Doc Rivers. Speaking of which, isn't he the essence of class? He truly deserved this victory. He's a great coach, a humble guy and he built a team around defense. Love that! How about the owners who pulled together a consortium to buy this team when few thought it was a worthwhile investment? Hats off to them on a job well done and for believing in Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers when others questioned them and the team. What about the trades they made for Garnett and Allen? Brilliant!