Tiger Woods

I enjoy discussing current topics like Tiger Woods. He just finished up playing in the Presidents Cup held in Australia. He played well all week and actually clinched the cup for the Americans. While he is still not back to his form he was three years ago, this is a big step forward for the struggling Tiger.

Tiger has not been the same player, or viewed as the same person since the scandal that happened two years ago. He hasn't won a tournement since. Tiger has been through a lot and everyone is expecting him to still be the same golfer he was then. I don't think someone can go through everything he did and even be the same person after, let alone the same golfer. Golf is such a mental sport and it takes a while to get your head straight after something so life changing.

I'm rooting for Tiger to come back. It may take longer than everyone expects, but eventually I believe he will dominate again. I saw him golf over the  summer at the Firestone Inviational in Akron. He did not play well, but he still had the biggest following. It's always interesting to see an athelete with as much auroa as Tiger Woods.

Globalizing American Sports with International Stars

America has always had global athletes in our biggest sports. The best athletes in the world normally have always came to America to play baseball, football, and basketball. Soccer stars are exported from America to Europe where the best clubs and players are, and once Canada finds something worth value, they try to hold on to it forever. The latter two are the starting point of why David Beckham and Wayne Gretzky coming to the U.S. to compete had a huge impact on culture and their respective sport.

Wayne Gretzky was traded to the L.A. kings at the height of his popularity. He was a multiple Stanley Cup champion and was already one of the best hockey players ever. This was a shock to everyone in the hockey world. He was going from the best team, to one of the worst. His fans in Edmonton felt like their whole team was traded to L.A. Canada felt like they lost a member of royalty and the whole city of L.A. had hockey fever when he came over. Gretzky put the spot light on professional hockey in America in a huge way. Youth numbers rose, attendance rose, and sheer interest in the sport rose.

I can relate to Gretzky leaving Canada from when the Browns left and went to Baltimore. Cleveland was a football city and their prized posession was taken away from them. Even though the Browns weren't as good as Gretsky, it still meant a lot to the fans.

David Beckham took advatage of his celebrity stature and came to America. He was past his prime in his soccer carrer. He came to L.A. to bring attention to soccer. His attempt wasn't a failure, but it didn't take off like it could have. I think if Beckham wasn't injured, and in his prime, soccer would have taken off like crazy. When Beckham traveled, more people did go out to see him. However, he was injured a lot and didn't get as many touches as fans wanted to see. He wasn't the great striker that he once was. On his new team, he wasn' even the best player. I never got to see him play, but would have loved to when he was at the top of his game.