21
Aug
2007
Golf: Remove Any and All Doubt
As I’m sure you’ve read or heard, Tiger Woods won his 13th career major at Southern Hills yesterday, putting him only 5 away from the mark set by Jack Nicklaus of 18. It is without a doubt, an amazing feat by Tiger to be going at the pace that even he said was unforeseen. I’m not going to go into details about the weekend because you can turn to any other sports website for that information. Instead, I want to throw in my two cents about a topic I heard discussed on Mike and Mike this morning on my way to work.
Josh Elliot and Michael Smith were substituting for Greenberg and Golic this morning and Elliot brought up a very interesting topic; should golfers be subject to steroids testing? ESPN’s Michael Smith, one I agree with the vast majority of the time, said that golfer’s should not be subject to testing because golf isn’t a game about strength, it’s a game about finesse and mental strength. He also said that any testing put into place would be aimed at Tiger Woods because he is the buff, top golfer in the world.
I have to disagree with Smith on this one and here’s why. Though it is true that golf is not a game of pure strength as maybe football is, it still requires physical ability. The golf courses have gotten longer and you have to be able to get the ball to travel the distance for you to have a chance at being competitive. Also, the misconception about steroids is that it only gets you jacked like Barry Bonds or Shawn Merriman. That is false. Steroids also help you heal quicker and keep your body more fine tuned, artificially of course. Golf is a year around sport and anyone who has played the game before knows the toll it can take on your back and your knees. Healing quicker would be an obvious advantage, one in which steroids can provide the aid. Smith also pointed out that the steroids testing would be aimed to make sure Woods is clean. This is true but that’s because whenever you have a star athlete who is so gifted and above anyone else in competition, naturally, doubters will come along. Throw in the fact that Woods is in excellent shape and you have a recipe for intense scrutiny and questioning.
I personally have no suspicions of Tiger Woods being on any type of performance enhancer that would be deemed illegal. I view him as a very competitive person who does whatever he can to stay ahead of the competition and takes care of his body as any superstar athlete should. However, just the fact that in recent months, the topics of steroids has been raised in golf is reason enough to implement the testing. Why leave any doubt in the public’s mind, even if it’s the minority. Tiger Woods will go down as the greatest golfer to ever live. I’m sure he has nothing to hide. Putting a steroids policy in place will do nothing but prove to everyone, once and for all, that Tiger is the best at what he does; without artificial support.
(Needs no caption)