Rocco Mediate's story about Tiger Woods.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

My guess is he will, if he follows the same model others have done once their playing days ended. Though he may go the Hogan route, who became darn near a recluse. Who knows?

My guess would be the Hogan route.

One thing I sometimes wonder is when/if Tiger will play on the Champions Tour.  Did Jack spend much time there?  Something makes me feel like he'll compete as long as he can on the PGA Tour and when he can no longer do that, he won't compete anymore.

[Bird E3]

This reminds me of the Neil Young lyrics"It doesn't mean that much to me to mean that much to you." Get over it Rocco... you shouldn't have wore black and red in the playoff.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

My guess would be the Hogan route.

One thing I sometimes wonder is when/if Tiger will play on the Champions Tour.  Did Jack spend much time there?  Something makes me feel like he'll compete as long as he can on the PGA Tour and when he can no longer do that, he won't compete anymore.

IIRC, Jack wasn't crazy about the then-called Seniors Tour. Seems I even recall a comment along the lines of 'Why should I try to beat guys I beat 20 years ago' or something of the like. But he did play it enough to win the US Senior Open & PGA Senior Championship.

Will Tiger follow suit? My guess is he will have some cameo appearances there and, like Jack, will try to win the Senior majors. All depends if his competitive juices still flow...my guess is they will.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

IIRC, Jack wasn't crazy about the then-called Seniors Tour. Seems I even recall a comment along the lines of 'Why should I try to beat guys I beat 20 years ago' or something of the like. But he did play it enough to win the US Senior Open & PGA Senior Championship.

Will Tiger follow suit? My guess is he will have some cameo appearances there and, like Jack, will try to win the Senior majors. All depends if his competitive juices still flow...my guess is they will.

When he was young (before turning pro) he was quoted as saying the he was going to play on the pro tour and then when he got to age 50 he was going to play on the senior tour.  But none of us would want to be held to something we said in our teens.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by turtleback

When he was young (before turning pro) he was quoted as saying the he was going to play on the pro tour and then when he got to age 50 he was going to play on the senior tour.  But none of us would want to be held to something we said in our teens.

Who's "he"...Tiger or Jack?

[jamo]

Who's "he"...Tiger or Jack?

Must be Tiger. The Senior/Champions Tour wasn't around when Jack was a teenager.

[Ernest Jones]

When he was young (before turning pro) he was quoted as saying the he was going to play on the pro tour and then when he got to age 50 he was going to play on the senior tour.  But none of us would want to be held to something we said in our teens.

I though he had said that he would never play the senior tour. I have nothing to back this up other than my highly suspect remembering skills.

[Robert Knobel]

yes!

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

Who's "he"...Tiger or Jack?

Tiger.  It was in Howard Sounes' book The Wicked Game (which basically sucks but does have some interesting things in it).

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Robert Knobel

yes!

Completely agree, and I wish more folks had the guts to speak up like this.

[saturday]

My guess is he will, if he follows the same model others have done once their playing days ended. Though he may go the Hogan route, who became darn near a recluse. Who knows? But again, I will debate those who think he needs to be "nicer" now. Yeah, he doesn't do beers with his competitors between rounds, but so what? He meets all his obligations in a professional manner. Every time I've seen him being interviewed after a round, he politely answers all questions, not with monosyllabic grunts but with thoughtful replies. And he stands there awaiting the next question until Feherty or whoever says, "Thanks Tiger," and then he says something like "You bet, thanks," then he leaves. He does the same thing in the press tent. Does he get testy at times? Sure. But again, he will sit there and answer all questions calmly and professionally until he is excused. So I will ask - what more are you expecting out of him?  I kinda chuckle how Hogan went through his career not saying five words to a competitor during a round & was, at best, reticent in interviews...and they called that the 'Hogan Mystique,' but if Tiger cuts one person short or misses an autograph he's not nice enough.

Haha no I know what you're saying. The more I think about it maybe I just don't like his personality. I've always liked athletes that are more personable. They can't all be though.

[Zachary Smith]

I find that hard to believe. The 1960's ?   in his 70's ?  two knee replacements before they were common? shoots in the 70's?

In French, I believe it is hog du wash.

Tigers Wood stiffing someone? count on it.

[WUTiger]

Ahhh Threadland!  Rocco and Tiger... Brandel and Tiger... if the snow doesn't melt soon, I fear we'll have a Rocco and Brandel thread...

[chriskzoo]

Haha no I know what you're saying. The more I think about it maybe I just don't like his personality. I've always liked athletes that are more personable. They can't all be though.

If you want to know what Tiger's future holds, I'd look at someone like Faldo.  The guys was a completely in his own world on the course, brusque with other golfers and a complete grinder.  Since retiring, his personality has really shined through and I think he's one of the best on TV.  Now, I don't think Tiger will go the weekly TV route, but I could see him being a contributor at majors when he's in his 70's.

As long as his body holds up, I think Tiger wants every record there is - most PGA wins, most majors, oldest winner, etc and I think he'll also dabble in the Champions Tour.  In fact, as this generation of public golfers gets older, I won't be surprised to see something like a Champions Tour Ryder Cup - a mid-50's Tiger, Phil and Poults going at it would probably bring in bigger ratings than the younger guys in 20 years.

[just hit it]

I haven't read all of the responses on this thread so maybe I am just rehashing someone else's post, and I will probably get raked over the coals for what I'm gonna say.

But in my opinion a very high percentage of professional athletes (especially "star" athletes) are a-holes.  Hear me out before you tar and feather me.  In your personal experience how many people (people YOU know) that have hugely inflated egos, that are not a-holes.  Be honest.  We are all jerks from time to time- but the big ego guy- more so than most.  There is no denying that athletes of their caliber think very highly of themselves, they have to or they would not have the confidence required to compete at that level.  I am sure they have a cutthroat attitude while on the course or field.  I am sure it can be difficult to toggle that "switch" off once the game is over.

I think it would be difficult to be around most of these guys on a regular basis because most are so full of themselves.  I'm not condemning any of these guys, its just human nature.  I really like Rocco, but in my opinion he should have kept his mouth shut about that whole situation, the only reason I can see he mentioned it was to take a shot at Tiger and fan the flame.

Today's sports idol has it much more difficult than those in the past, they are never out of the public eye and the media is only to happy to "expose" them.  Many of the sports stars of the past, all sports, enjoyed a more protected private life.  The media would actually turn the other way at bad behavior.

I'll admit I'm not a Tiger fan, but not a Tiger hater either.

The flip side to all of this is the mister nice guy show many put on for the camera's.  Take it all with a grain of salt.

Now I will step off my Soap Box !

[tooc]

There was some interesting articles in golf world magazine, basically with the same opinion on Woods. I read and seen alot of positive thing about Nicklaus and Hogan. Can't wait for Augusta, would love to c Els give it a real crack this year....

[iacas]

There was some interesting articles in golf world magazine, basically with the same opinion on Woods. I read and seen alot of positive thing about Nicklaus and Hogan. Can't wait for Augusta, would love to c Els give it a real crack this year....

Hogan was also said to be a massive jerk.

Tiger and Hogan were both well liked, by most accounts, by their peers. It's the press and public they sometimes acted like asses towards, and IMO, for reasonably good reasons.

Vijay fits the pattern too.

[tooc]

Don't insult Faldo he may have been in his own world on the course, but he was straight talking. I remember at Augusta 96 3 iron into 13 " caught it a little fat for more roll on it" ;) then a big laugh I think it was on day 3