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CONGRATULATIONS PHIL MICKELSON

Congratulations to Phil Mickelson on winning his 3rd Masters Golf Tournament. He is a favorite among fans because of his unflappable character. Win or lose he always smiles with graciousness. In comparison people cheer Tiger Woods because of his seemingly super human feats on the golf course. What male among us does not at sometime passionately dream of winning the big one? As we grow older, however, we understand that after the lights fade and crowds disappear trophies matter little in the scheme of things. What counts most is love-love for and from others. Trophies rot. Money deceives with false security. But, love lasts forever. And, Phil Mickelson clearly possesses this eternal virtue. If Tiger truly feels remorseful he will sacrifice the trophies for an indefinite period until he fully embraces love. That may require a little time and emotional pain. Long ago a great prophet asked the world, "What good is it if a man gain the whole world and lose his own God-life?" Thanks Phil, for showing us the truth today in the way you loved your wife following the tournament. 

TIGER'S ENDORSEMENTS

Golf enthusiasts realize Tiger Woods tops the list of highest paid athletes because of his endorsements. Hat's off to those sponsors who quickly responded to Tiger's embarrassing behavior by dropping him. His sponsors wisely realize the financial risk he has become to their brands. Who wants to buy Nike or a Buick from a golfer who plays the philandering fool. Political cartoonist Steve Breen discovered a new sponsor for Woods. Sadly, this faux endorsement reveals the cultural moral tug o' war at play in our contemporary society. Golfers love good boys, but many young athletes emulate bad boy anti-establishment types. Let's pray Tiger chooses the high road, gets help, and repents of his misdeeds.(click on picture)

A FEW THOUGHTS CONCERNING TIGER WOODS

I play golf. I love golfers. I love professional golfers because they often embody all the characteristics we admire in gentlemanly athletes. Many professional golfers are men's men. Unlike strong men from contact sports, golfers exhibit gracious, kindly dispositions. Women like that in a man. So, indeed packaged in the golfer comes the complete man's man. 

Then there is Tiger Woods, a golfer out of sync. One must admit he possesses an athletic adroitness second to none in the game. Yet, his surly disposition undoubtedly thwarts our attempts to fully embrace him as a member of the gentleman's club. We simply don't like the guy. That's why we always enthusiastically cheered for Phil Mickelson every time he and Tiger went head to head. Mickleson incarnates a personality we expect to witness in a prototypical golf champion. He always smiles even when the chips are down. We think he loves life. 

Tiger Woods certainly is not the first golfer we merely tolerated. Long ago another champion named Ben Hogan captured our respect while shunning our affections. Hogan, however, developed his public aloofness through natural tragedy. His father committed suicide right before his eyes. Such a cataclysmic event would completely emotionally emasculate a lesser man. And, Hogan overcame his public introversion through another tragedy. A near fatal car wreck offered Hogan the chance to smell the roses. 

Today's endorsements and hero worship catapults us to a new level. We admire those who live in million dollar homes, wear $20,000 Rolex watches, and drive custom made Escalades. We live our lives vicariously through their public display of opulence. Affability and graciousness matter little in our postmodern media saturated society. Even men's men from the most gentlemanly sport on earth sometimes fail to grasp the transcendent qualities needed for clean leaving. The women, however many there may be, in Tiger's sordid life, cleverly entered a relationship with him knowing full well the consequences and financial rewards. Gold diggers no doubt, who live in a shadow world. Fame and fortune possesses a tremendous penchant for impairing a sane man, jerking his chain, and taking him to a moral abyss where he formerly dare not go. Sometimes a person like Tiger must hit the proverbial bottom before he can look up and see a blue sky. Hopefully, like Ben Hogan, God may use Wood's tragedy to save his soul.

Nevertheless, we who create these modern idols must shoulder some responsibility for outcomes. Last year I published a piece in the same vein commenting on Barry Bond's disappointing us with his use of steroids. One need only substitute Bonds with Woods to see the big picture:

...we created this monster and many more like him. We, with our demand for high flying thrills a minute; we with our Roy Hobbs science fiction delusion; we who live in an empty, self-seeking orgasmic-a-minute culture; yes indeed we gave this man permission to dazzle us with his Louisville Slugger wizardry. Barry Bonds only responded to our desires. Fans assured him through the box office that he carried a $15 million per year price tag on his head. That kind of money retards character development in any human being, much more so in a young adult like Bonds. Why should he care about his fan base? He can alleviate any discomfort he may feel with the narcotic called luxury. He and hundreds like him answer to no one and bow only to themselves. We fans ought to weep for ourselves. Opportunistic free capitalism provides Americans with a plethora of choices. High dollar celebrities merely offer a snapshot of the larger American character landscape. Indeed Americans have spoken. The once highly esteemed public service professions now take a back seat to celebrity worship. The Barry Bonds saga reminds us of this sad state.

MICKELSON'S GOT GUNS

Our favorite golfer Phil Mickelson said goodbye to man-titties and hello to a new set of guns.

THEN

NOW

TIGER KINDLES THE DESIRE FOR GREATNESS IN ALL OF US

What sane person in the universe doesn't cheer for the underdog? Monday we all cheered for 45 year old Rocco Mediate in his quest to defeat the greatest golfer in the world Tiger Woods. Yet, when Tiger emerged once again from the fray as a winner we cheered a bit. Now I know why. Greatness inspires greatness. We long for a superman, and we subtly realize through Tiger's tenacity that certain human traits common to the whole race and necessary for excellence, can be summoned from deep within our lowly souls. Tom Bevan over at Real Clear Sports unintentionally and implicitly opened my eyes to this fact:

So it is with Tiger Woods – and so it was this weekend at the US Open. Yes, the fans at Torrey Pines cheered on the underdog throughout Sunday, and especially on Monday, urging him to hang tough against the best player in the world. Yet as much we all admired Rocco’s gritty play and loved his carefree disposition, his Cinderella story was no match for the power of Tiger’s race for the history books.

We root for Tiger in spite of - or more precisely, because of - his dominance. We tune in to see him make shots that no one else on the planet can make, and to rise to historic occasion after historic occasion. We know we are lucky enough to have a front row seat to watch as Eldrick Woods tries to scale the equivalent of golf’s Mt. Everest. We’ve become vested in his chase for greatness, and we will tune in each time he tees it up at a Major to root for him as he tries to take the next step. And like Tiger, we won’t be satisfied until we see him reach the summit.

Read more Bevan here.

...AND NOW ON A BRIGHTER NOTE

Tiger Woods gives us something to cheer about. This bad boy who plays in a gentleman's game really is a gentleman at heart. USA Today describes Woods' successful AT&T National:

The AT&T National, with Woods as the host, had a distinctive feel. It honored the military and involved area children. Steve Stricker, who finished second to K.J. Choi of South Korea, described it as "a mini-major." More than 120,000 fans attended for the week, despite oppressive heat and humidity. Most came to see Woods. "I've been here. I knew this was a great sports town," Woods said of the Washington area. "The support we got was fantastic." Woods and the PGA Tour threw the tournament together in 116 days. He has almost a year to create the next one, but that's the end of the current contract. There are other quality courses in the area, but Woods wants Congressional to be the home of his event. The Tour and the USGA have staged events on the same course in the same year in the past, and they will do that next year when the U.S. Open is at Torrey Pines in San Diego, six months after the Buick Invitational there. "We were auditioning for the club and its members," McLaughlin said. "We hope they're proud of what we produced." The Tiger Woods Foundation will receive the profits, and McLaughlin thinks they reached their goal of $1 million this year. The foundation uses the revenue for various projects, but Woods plans to create a learning center for children in Washington.

Check out the Tiger Woods Foundation. It will do your heart good.