Different Standards

I find it very interesting how we as consumers of major sporting events have different standards for each sport. What constitutes being a great player in one sport could be something totally different in another? Take the shooting guards of basketball and the wide receivers of football for example. It is ok for a shooting guard to lead his team in touches, points, free throws and stats like that. Overall it is the shooting guards job to make shots. So us as consumers find it ok to have one person score fifty points in one game even in a loss. Then on the flip side you have the wide receivers in football that are some of the best athletes on the field and also some of the more demanding players. Yet we look at them as less of a team player if they want to lead there team in any of the major statistical categories that impact the game. Players like T.O. and Randy Moss get criticized for wanting the ball and not being a team player, when in basketball its ok for Kobe Bryant to take 85% of his teams shots while on his way to scoring 82 points.

This thought process has brought me to another interesting contradiction in the world or sports. Due to golf being such a technical sports it is treated differently from other sports. For the most part I agree, but when a player chokes as they say it doesn’t matter what sport or tournament, the player choked. This brings me to a recent event where the great Tiger Woods had a chance to be great again. Instead he lost to a lower seeded opponent, even though he had a chance on the last three holes to win his round. In most sports we would dog out the player or coach for giving up a lead or not being able to close the deal and win the game. Well the same should go for golfers also. It is becoming very acceptable for golfers to give us excuses on why they lost; yet at the end of the day a loss is a loss. I found it to be quite interesting how we gave Tiger a pass because he had so many good reasons on why he lost. For me he should have manned up and just say that he blew it and he lost. Instead we get a ten-minute speech on how his putter failed him. To me he should just have owned up to his mental toughness and be honest with everyone that he choked. The key to this is that Tiger is suppose to be the greatest so I guess it is ok to make excuses.