Roy Halladay may be back, and Doug Collins is gone, but today I want to talk about Tiger Woods.
Hey, I'm a golf nut, what can I tell you?
Yes, Roy Halladay won his 200th game, going eight strong innings, giving up just one run on five hits against the Marlins. Of course the key that sentence is the reference "to the Marlins." Suffice it to say that this was not the '27 Yankees. Some people are referring to Halladay as being "back" after his struggles that date back to last season and two horrendous starts this year. I'll reserve judgment on that. Dennis Deitch has the details on Halladay's big outing yesterday.
It appears Doug Collins is out as Sixers coach. Our Chis Vito is reporting that Collins told the team's ownership group that he will not be returning next season. You can read that one here.
But I'm still thinking about Tiger. This weekend he had the chance to do something great. Instead he played golf.
If you missed it, Woods took an illegal drop during his round on Saturday. Every wonder why golf drives so many people nuts, including me? It's not just the idea of it being "a gentleman's game," where contestants police themselves.
It's the vagaries of the conspire that consistently conspire against you. Woods' problem stemmed from the fact that he hit a shot too well. His approach to the Par 5 15th was actually too good; it clanked off the flag stick and caromed back into the water.
Woods had to take a drop. That was just the start of his problems. In such instances you're supposed to drop "as near as possible" to the original spot. Tiger did not do that. In fact, he admitted as such after his round, saying he moved back a couple of yards to add some distance to the shot.
No one noticed - except one person watching the telecast. The viewer called in to report it, but no action was taken by the Masters staff - until they heard about Woods' comment. The problem is by that time Woods had already signed his scorecard.
Masters officials went over the situation with Woods Saturday morning and informed him he was being penalized two strokes. He was not, however, being disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.
There was a time when that would have been automatic. But the rules was modified a couple of years ago because of exactly what happened this weekend, people watching on TV blowing the whistle on what they think is an infraction.
Masters officials went by the letter of the law, penalizing Woods but not DQing him. In fact, they said it was never on the table. Woods said he would continue to play because that's what the rules state and he was "abiding by the rules."
That's true.
But what a magnificent gesture it would have been if Woods - the No. 1 player in the game - had taken the decision out of the hands of those guys wearing the green coats.
Woods, whose image has taken a beating in the past couple of years, could have gone a long way to restoring some of that luster if he had simply withdrawn.
My guess is that the folks at CBS would not have been thrilled at such a decision. Woods takes the game of golf and puts it at another level. They'll always have die-hards like me, but when Woods is on the leader board, he turns the telecast into an event. That's even more so at one of the game's cathedrals, the fabled Augusta National.
Instead he played golf.
Look, when I play I'm not exactly a stickler for the rules. But I'm not Tiger Woods. I still like the guy. He's my favorite golfer. But I wish he had done something else this weekend. Anything but play golf. In the process, he would have looked magnificent.
Instead, he just looked like another guy saying he was abiding by the rules.
There was a time when I thought Tiger Woods was better than that. I always root for him. I always want him to win. But not this weekend. In fact, I didn't even want him to play.
If he had done so, I think he'd have been a bigger winner than ever.
Yes, Roy Halladay won his 200th game, going eight strong innings, giving up just one run on five hits against the Marlins. Of course the key that sentence is the reference "to the Marlins." Suffice it to say that this was not the '27 Yankees. Some people are referring to Halladay as being "back" after his struggles that date back to last season and two horrendous starts this year. I'll reserve judgment on that. Dennis Deitch has the details on Halladay's big outing yesterday.
It appears Doug Collins is out as Sixers coach. Our Chis Vito is reporting that Collins told the team's ownership group that he will not be returning next season. You can read that one here.
But I'm still thinking about Tiger. This weekend he had the chance to do something great. Instead he played golf.
If you missed it, Woods took an illegal drop during his round on Saturday. Every wonder why golf drives so many people nuts, including me? It's not just the idea of it being "a gentleman's game," where contestants police themselves.
It's the vagaries of the conspire that consistently conspire against you. Woods' problem stemmed from the fact that he hit a shot too well. His approach to the Par 5 15th was actually too good; it clanked off the flag stick and caromed back into the water.
Woods had to take a drop. That was just the start of his problems. In such instances you're supposed to drop "as near as possible" to the original spot. Tiger did not do that. In fact, he admitted as such after his round, saying he moved back a couple of yards to add some distance to the shot.
No one noticed - except one person watching the telecast. The viewer called in to report it, but no action was taken by the Masters staff - until they heard about Woods' comment. The problem is by that time Woods had already signed his scorecard.
Masters officials went over the situation with Woods Saturday morning and informed him he was being penalized two strokes. He was not, however, being disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.
There was a time when that would have been automatic. But the rules was modified a couple of years ago because of exactly what happened this weekend, people watching on TV blowing the whistle on what they think is an infraction.
Masters officials went by the letter of the law, penalizing Woods but not DQing him. In fact, they said it was never on the table. Woods said he would continue to play because that's what the rules state and he was "abiding by the rules."
That's true.
But what a magnificent gesture it would have been if Woods - the No. 1 player in the game - had taken the decision out of the hands of those guys wearing the green coats.
Woods, whose image has taken a beating in the past couple of years, could have gone a long way to restoring some of that luster if he had simply withdrawn.
My guess is that the folks at CBS would not have been thrilled at such a decision. Woods takes the game of golf and puts it at another level. They'll always have die-hards like me, but when Woods is on the leader board, he turns the telecast into an event. That's even more so at one of the game's cathedrals, the fabled Augusta National.
Instead he played golf.
Look, when I play I'm not exactly a stickler for the rules. But I'm not Tiger Woods. I still like the guy. He's my favorite golfer. But I wish he had done something else this weekend. Anything but play golf. In the process, he would have looked magnificent.
Instead, he just looked like another guy saying he was abiding by the rules.
There was a time when I thought Tiger Woods was better than that. I always root for him. I always want him to win. But not this weekend. In fact, I didn't even want him to play.
If he had done so, I think he'd have been a bigger winner than ever.
Comments