rolling "dave zirin sons a sports writer/figure and my commie ass self-righteously otms him"

I don't think the hard thing for Tiger is to play, the hard thing is to play and be competitive and to win

i could just point out that most golfers enter their primes in their mid-30s, but i don't see what it would matter

Nicklaus's first and last major wins were separated by 24 years. Tiger Woods is in the 11th year of his pro career, and is in much better shape than Nicklaus ever was.

yeah, but you also pointed out that I'm a libertarian, so your points are pretty suspect

I know not your politics.

lol iirc you and j0rdan actually share pretty similar opinions about tiger

ur thinking of taylor swift here

xp - after Nicklaus turned 34 he won four majors for the rest of his career. He was deeply past his prime (as in being largely irrelevant for winning majors) when he was 40.

j0rdan and i share pretty similar opinions on EVERYTHING except for tiger woods

xp

both of you are basically saying "tiger needs to man up" itt

A golfer with 4 majors would be tied for the 19th-most in golf history, for what it's worth, and it's also how many Tiger needs to catch Jack.

I think he will get more than 4. Just a hunch!

no i dont think he can take the perez hilton posts, he definitely should retire

Some golfers who have not even won 4 majors in their entire careers: Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Nick Price, Greg Norman...

the most intriguing part of his whole comeback is whether or not someone in the gallery is gonna jeer him at a silent moment ("get in her hole!!") and whether that person will be beat out of consciousness by everyone else

btw the sports media is pissed at tiger for engineering the no-questions presser -- i wouldn't be surprised if they're tougher on him than yall are expecting

Remember when Alex Rodriguez was going to be a huge distraction last year?

lol i was going to mention that too, dude had an affair with MADONNA and no one gave a shit

a-rod was a distraction for the first month of the season when he was hitting .220

also it's a weird thing to compare cuz a-rod was able to be overshadowed in the baseball world by the natural occurrences of the sport -- 30 other teams are playing pretty much every night, but with tiger golf coverage pretty much begins and ends with him. there is nothing to overshadow him.

i think it's absurd to say that the first few weeks (if not longer) of tiger's return will not be a distraction to the sport

well i'm not a sportswriter so i'd never say anything would be a "distraction" with a straight face - there will be lots of media coverage for his first couple tournaments. if he plays well, it will subside

Some golfers who have not even won 4 majors in their entire careers: Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Nick Price, Greg Norman...

It would, but I think he'll win around eight more.

charles pierce weighs in again

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/pierce/2010/03/again_with_the_history_thing.html

strongly considered getting a boston.com commenting account just to mock pierce, but not worth it

it's kind of a sadly anonymous blog...

like i said, i read boston.com daily and didn't even know about it until this simmons thing happened

yoooooooo

"I am again left to marvel how somebody can rise to a fairly prominent media position with no discernible insight or talent, save for an apparent ability to mix up a vast bowl of word salad very quickly." - Olbermann, today

sportsguy33 KO, please know the feeling is mutual. You're my worst case scenario for my career in 12 yrs: a pious, unlikable blowhard who lives alone.

HOO!

d-d-d-daaaaaaaamn

a-rod was a distraction for the first month of the season when he was hitting .220

this is not even true btw. yanks had a 10 game win streak w/in a wk of him coming back

it might distract the sport some but i agree the golf reporters/broadcasters are gonna treat him v. softly

when they 1st announced he was making that "statement" @ pga hq i heard it referred to abt 4 times in promos as his 1st public statement since his 1-car accident, no elaboration of any cheating, etc

^during golf coverage i mean

And Simmons is an easy target, the sports world Chuck Klosterman, but it's pretty hard to argue his love of boxing or Ali in particular.

― FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT IN THE PARKING LOT! (milo z), Tuesday, March 2, 2010 3:20 AM (4 days ago) Bookmark

Simmons doesn't know shit about boxing. He knows basketball, some football and baseball (the Red Sox, mostly).

With boxing he's a dilettante and should really just shut the fuck up most of the time.

Case in point, his ridiculous "last great fight" article re: Mayweather-De La Hoya.

Putting aside the social/turmoil issue, from a physical standpoint Ali was still in his boxing prime (28) and hadn't taken the physical punishment of boxing for over three years. Contrast to Tiger being on the way out of his golfing prime and coming back from a recent injury.

― FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT IN THE PARKING LOT! (milo z)

Ali hadn't sparred in years, had gotten fat, lost a dramatic amount of his speed. And he was going to have to go 15 rounds with Joe fucking Frazier.

Tiger has a sore knee. Give me a fucking break.

yo I know I'm late to the party but what makes me maddest about all this is Simmons reaching for the tenuous Ali connection when there is an infinitely more reasonable comparison available in the form of 2003 Kobe Bryant

xp - except Ali didn't fight Frazier right away.

otm http://www.thenation.com/blog/164638/nba-players-welcome-99-percent

^ absolutely fucking OTM.

i was otm on this thread

mystic river was a horrible movie max

it's funny that charlie pierce now writes for bill simmons' website

that's a good piece by zirin. it's shameful that public sentiment isn't with the players.

i think people already think the players are spoiled babies and they dont really know who the owners are is the dynamic at work here

seems like the owners successfully convinced everyone that the league is not profitable while there was absolutely no way to do that with the nfl.

why is it that "the public" gets all up in arms about athletes getting paid but not about like movie stars? is it that hollywood is seen as more of a business than ml sports? or is it about the fact that most americans played sports as kids?

its because of racism

lol, duh, cant believe i forgot about america

i bet most people don't even really know how much movie stars make beyond "a lot"! whereas if you follow a team closely there's a good chance you know the salaries of most of the ppl on that team.

also racism

is it about the fact that most americans played sports as kids?

Have you ever heard a sportstalk radio caller wail "I'd play for free!" NO ONE WOULD WATCH YOU.

funny enough, the contract numbers for upper echelon sports stars are probably the closest to a purely honest market outcome in compensation you could find among rich people