Hear Tiger roar

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

N, athlete, in any sport, is more dominant in his
or her field then Tiger Woods. The 32-year old Stanford
University alumnus has been victorious in nine of his
past eleven tournaments. No one is that good, not Roger
Federer, not Kobe Bryant, and certainly not anyone who
tees it up for a living.

He has already won 13 majors and has made the
not-so-bold predictions that he could triumph in all four
this year. It really isn’t out of the question.

The fact is that there simply isn’t
anyone even close to Tiger when he’s on
his game. Heck, there aren’t many who are
close to Tiger when he isn’t on his game.
Think about it. Almost every legendary
athlete had his counterpart to push him.
Magic Johnson had Larry Bird. Wayne
Gretzky had Mario Lemieux. Who does Woods have?
Phil Mickelson or Vigay Singh? Ernie Els? While those
guys are great, Tiger is on a completely different level.

There is no better clutch player in sports history
than Tiger Woods. Sorry to all the Michael Jordan
fans out there, but when Woods puts on his red shirt
on Sunday, you just know the Tiger charge is coming.
Want proof? Just log onto YouTube and you can see
an endless stream of breathtaking Tiger moments. The
guy just is able to win and has the ability to make every
moment extraordinary.

Tiger’s opponents just wilt in opposition to him. In
2006, Canadian Stephan Ames went head to head with

“He is by far the
planet’s most

marketable athlete.”

Woods at the Accenture Match Play Championship
and, after previously stating that he could beat Woods,
went out and lost 9 and 8 in the most lopsided defeat
in tournament history. The most telling example of
how strong the Tiger mystique is on other golfers is
his playoff record. Woods has been tied after the final
round of play 11 times, and his record is 10-1. /0-/.
That is otherworldly.

He is by far the planet’s most marketable athlete.
He pulls down an estimated $100 million per year in
combined endorsement deals and
tournament prizes, and is on the verge
of becoming the first athlete in history
to be a billionaire. He is the face of
Nike, Buick, and Gillette. He has his
own video game line and just inked
a deal with Gatorade to produce his
own drink, “Gatorade Tiger.”

Woods makes so much money that his caddy,
Steve Williams, who is a native of New Zealand, is the
richest sports personality, athlete or otherwise, from
New Zealand.

In just a few short years, Woods is poised to obliterate
every major golf record. With his unparalleled play
right now, Jack Nicklaus’ mark of 18 major titles won’t
stand for much longer. He currently has 64 official PGA
Tour wins, discounting another 22 victories for other
professional golf circuits, and will shatter Sam Snead’s
82 tournament victories. Nine times Tiger has been
named the PGA Tour’s top player, more than any other

April 7, 2008

person, and he is tied for first all time with Nicklaus in
leading the tour in money earned, having led the way
eight times. He has won the Vardon Trophy, awarded
annually to the player with the lowest scoring average
over the season, a record seven times, and he was the
first player in history to be triumphant in the FedEx
Cup. Perhaps the best illustration of Woods’s continued
dominance is the fact that in his 12-year playing career,
he has been ranked the best in the world for over nine
of those years. He also holds the record for the most
consecutive cuts made.

While the majors are clearly Tiger’s primary
domain, he also steps up his game at the World Golf
Championships. He has won 15 of those three events,
more than any other golfer, and has the incredible mark
of winning 56 per cent of the WGC tournaments he
enters. He is also the only person to ever hold all three
of the WGC titles at the same time.

One of the most impressive stats, and scary if
you're a professional golfer, is the fact that Woods has
accomplished all of this at just 32 years old. Barring an
injury, he has a solid 15 years left in him. Think of where
he could be in 15 years. Tiger recently did an interview
saying that he will only retire when his best isn’t good
enough for him to go out and win every time.

“T could not live with myself going out and practicing
and preparing as hard as I do and knowing that if I go
out and play my best someone is just going to beat me,”
he has said.

Wow, that is just...Wow.

 

Where Are They Now?

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

 

 

 

   

 

John Elway
Not many people can say they ended
their careers on a higher note than John
Elway. The legendary quarterback who
played his entire professional football
career with the Denver Broncos won
the Superbowl in his final season. He
was also named the game’s MVP.

Since retiring, Elway has had
his #7 jersey honored by the Broncos,
been inducted into the Colorado Sports
Hall of Fame, and was enshrined into
the Denver Broncos’ Ring of Fame.
Sports Illustrated voted him the best
athlete ever to wear #7 and in 2004,
Elway was brought into the Pro Football
Hall of Fame. He is also a member of
the College Football Hall of Fame for
his shining career at Stanford.

Today, the 47-year-old
Elway co-owns the Arena Football
League’s Colorado Crush and serves
as the chairman of the AFL’s executive
committee. He has owned a number of
successful car dealerships and owns
two steak houses.

 

 

Alexandre Daigle

Not every draft pick works out, but there
are few that could be considered bigger
busts than Alexandre Daigle. Taken first
overall by the Ottawa Senators in 1993
and immediately thrust into the NHL
with a record-setting rookie contract,
Daigle didn’t live up to his hype at all.

Completely wilting under
the pressure, he ended up prematurely
retiring from hockey at age 25, and fled to
Los Angeles to play in a celebrity league
with Cuba Gooding Jr. His absence
lasted two years before he returned to
play for Pittsburgh in a comeback that
went absolutely nowhere.

After floating around for several
years between six NHL clubs and being
assigned to the minors multiple times,
Daigle departed for Switzerland, where
in 2006 he signed a two-year deal with
HC Davos, the biggest team in the Swiss
league.

Apparently, Daigle has found
a home there. In December of 2006,
he signed a two-year extension with
Davos.

Pele

The greatest soccer player of all time,
Pele, 67, continues to do important work
after retirement.

The “King of Football” was
appointed as UN ambassador for the
environment and ecology. Brazilian
born, he was given that country’s gold
medal for service to soccer, and he has
been an advocate of reducing corruption
in Brazilian soccer.

He has been knighted in
Great Britain, starred in several foreign
language films, appeared on the cover of
Life magazine, and been the subject of
countless biographical documentaries. In
2006 he received a lifetime achievement
award from the BBC.

He wasa figure in kicking off the
2006 FIFA World Cup and interestingly
enough has appeared in several Viagra
commercials. Today, he remains one of
the most famous and recognizable names
in all of sports history.

 

 

 

 

Zinedine Zidane
One of the best soccer stars of the
modern generation, Zidane ended
his remarkable career at the 2006
FIFA World Cup amidst a swirl of
controversy.

His heated confrontation
with Italy’s Marco Materazzi and the
ensuing head butt he delivered would
result in a red card and a three game
suspension. Despite this black mark,
Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball,
given to the most outstanding player in
the tournament.

In a very public retirement,
Zidane has donated numerous amounts
of time and money to charity work,
particularly AIDS awareness. He is also
involved in preventing poverty in Spain,
and has served as a United Nations
goodwill ambassador since 2001.

Zidane has also toured the
world and met with the Presidents of
both Bangladesh and Algeria.

Despite the World Cup incident
and his retirement, Zidane is still heavily
sponsored by a number of companies.
He has lucrative endorsement contracts
with Adidas, Audi, Christian Dior,
Orange, France Telecom, and Lego.

 

17