Thursday, December 17, 2009

Tiger deserved to be Athlete of the Decade

Tiger Woods got something he deserved this week.

He was named Athlete of the Decade by the Associated Press, being chosen over Lance Armstrong and Roger Federer, among others.

It was the right call and the obvious call.

Despite all that has happened over the past three weeks, Woods dominated the decade like no other athlete. The fact that more than half the votes were cast since the scandal surrounding him has unfolded speaks to the magnitude of his achievements over the past 10 years.

Woods' numbers are impressive enough: 64 worldwide wins, including 12 major championships. In this decade, Woods' 54 PGA Tour wins are more than all but four players have won in their careers.

But Woods' deserved the honor because he did more than win tournaments. He changed golf and the way it's viewed around the world. He became, arguably, the most recognizable athlete in the world.

Obviously, what we've learned these past three weeks has changed the way Woods is viewed as a person but that doesn't dim what he's accomplished on the golf course. He became the only golfer to own all four major championships at the same time and he made golf must-see viewing when he was in the chase.

Armstong, Federer, Michael Phelps and others did spectacular things over the past decade but none of them did as much as Tiger Woods. While the attention directed at Tiger has turned to his personal life and his sudden fall from grace, he remains the most transcendant and accomplished athlete of the past 10 years.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tiger is like Lance Armstrong

Who care if they are good athletes or not.....keeping your promise to your spouse is a greater and more important thing to do.

I respect people that respect their commitments and promises. Sports get too much attention.

Anonymous said...

The award is for Athlete of the Year, not spouse of the year.

Anonymous said...

Pardon me, decade, not year.

Anonymous said...

Federer is the only great on that whole list.

armstrong is a doper, loser
phelps is a bong hitter
tiger is ho

Pro tennis is the only sport that isn't full of thugs and punks.

jjw901 said...

Tiger certainly does deserve this accolade, though I don't believe all the changes to golf that are attributed to him are positive.

That said, he should start off 2010 under at least the six month suspension John Daly served earlier this year. Daly's suspension was for the negative publicity he brought the Tour. Tiger's behavior is, to me, much worse than his.

I don't expect Tim Finchem to have the cajones to suspend him, though. Money excuses (too) much.

Anonymous said...

WRONG WRONG WRONG !!!

He maybe only for record deserved Golfer Of The Decade but certainly NOT Athlete as he runs like a coward and hides out.

Golfers are NOT athletes anyway. Race car drivers are NOT atheletes.

Playboy awarded him Male Whore Of The Decade. That he def is !! Elin will take 500 million and the lawyers will the rest. He is finished and a black mark stain on the golf and America in general.

Deal with it.