He hasn't always been my hero, mind you. This is kind of a new thing. I've always thought he was an amazing athlete (are golfers even considered athletes?), but I've never been a huge fan of golf, so I just left it at that. Until Monday. That's when Tiger became my hero.
Like I said, I'm not a really a big golf fan, so I wasn't paying much attention to the U.S. Open over the weekend. Until Sunday, when my roommate Matt filled me in on the excitement surrounding this year's tournament. Tiger had just had knee surgery, and he had a crappy couple days to start off the tournament. He was down. He was out. But then, out of nowhere, he pulls out the awesomeness that is Tiger Woods, and all of a sudden, he was a contender again. There was a possibility that he could win the thing. So we tuned in that night.
Well, my roommates did. I had to do some schoolwork. But that's not the important thing. The important thing was that Tiger made a birdie putt on the 18th hole to tie it. Regular play ended in a tie between Tiger and Rocco Mediate, and there was going to be a playoff on Monday. Another 18 holes of golf.
Now, I have never voluntarily watched golf. I generally find it pretty boring. In fact, there's really nothing better than turning some golf on if you want some background noise for a nap. Golf is usually a pretty surefire way to induce sleep. But not this time. I actually made it a point to turn on my TV Monday afternoon — first to ESPN, then to NBC — so I could see what Tiger would do next.
And let me tell you, he did not disappoint. Sure, I had to battle some skepticism among my friends (who weren't sure if I was really telling the truth — that I was really watching golf, and that I was actually kind of excited about it), but once I filled them in, they too were intrigued by Tiger's prowess. So I continued watching. Yelling and cheering when Tiger made a crazy good shot, and sighing in disappointment when he did not. All the way up until the 18th hole, when Tiger did it again. Down by 1 (or up, rather, as it is in golf), he tied it up (or down, rather — I'm not used to this golf lingo). The U.S. Open was going into Sudden Death.
Oh. My. Gosh.
Sudden death? In golf?!? Who could ever have imagined that golf could be so exciting!?!? I was downright giddy.
So there they were. Tiger Woods, the No.1 player in the world, and Rocco Mediate, a 45-year-old ranked at No.158.
And Tiger did it again. He won with a par in the first hole of sudden death! Try as he might, Rocco couldn't match him. TIGER WON!!!!!
Now, you're probably wondering 1) why I am so excited about golf, and 2) why I wanted Tiger to win. To answer you're first question: I don't know. You just had to watch it. I'm not planning on watching any other golf tournaments in the near future, but this one was exciting. And I was excited about it. To answer your second question: because Tiger was hurt, playing through the pain, and yet he still managed to rise above and overcome.
But none of us knew exactly how much he had to overcome until yesterday, when Tiger revealed that he had, in fact, been playing with two stress fractures in his leg, along with a torn ACL. Are you freaking kidding me?!?!? You're telling me this man played 91 holes in five days and walked almost 22 miles on a leg that was broken in two places and had a torn ACL?!?!? And won?!?!?
Of course he did. He's Tiger freaking Woods. And he is my hero. Not because he's an amazing athlete. He's been an amazing athlete for years. But because, despite all this adversity, he managed to pull it out and end up on top. He's kind of an inspiration to me, because I'm trying to battle through life and end up on top myself, despite my own share of adversity. Tiger's my hero because he just proved that it can be done; that I'm not crazy for thinking that I can do it too.
Because if Tiger can do it, then I can do it. I'm Anna freaking Boyle.
3 comments:
I didn't mean it as an insult. I know how much skill is needed in golf and how hard the training is and how much commitment it must take. I just honestly didn't know how y'all consider yourselves. I mean, I danced for the majority of my life, and ballet is one of the most difficult activities in the world — you have to have incredible strength and control, but you have to make it look effortless and beautiful. Still, dancers aren't athletes, and I would get insulted anytime someone would say "oh, you're such a great athlete." I was an artist. So really, no disrespect to you or any other golfer, because I really do understand how difficult it is.
And about the boring part — sorry, but it's subjective. Golf has just never grabbed me. I know people love it (like you), and find it very compelling, but I just usually don't. And again, that's no disrespect to you or anyone else. That's just me. I find baseball and tennis pretty boring too, but that doesn't mean I don't value the sports and appreciate that a lot of other people love watching them. But I don't.
I'll bring dance back in as another comparison. A ton of people are bored to tears if they have to watch ballet, but I love it. I can't watch Romeo and Juliet or Swan Lake without being moved to tears. But I understand that others may not see it the way I do.
I know that you didn't mean it as an insult, and I wasn't trying to come off as accusatory towards you at all. It was early in the morning, and it was a lot of pent up frustration towards years of people degrading my sport. It was more for other people than you, I just kind of took it out on your post and again I'm sorry for that. Thanks for understanding! Love you bunches :o)
p.s. I totally agree with the subjective thing. I find anything that takes a high degree of skill and effort interesting, and I am definitely into all sports (even curling I am ashamed to say), music, dance, etc. It is a preference thing, though. I know other people don't like golf, and that is perfectly fine for them. I just get sad because my entire life people have put it down and dismissed it because they don't understand. I know you are not one of those people, and I love you for that.
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