Tiger May Have Won, But Sports Fans Are The Real Winners

For Tiger Woods, winning his 14th major is just as sweet as the first. Only this one wasn’t as easy. After 91 holes, it was up to Rocco Mediate to send the play-off into another sudden death round. But after clawing his way back from three strokes down, Mediate didn’t have enough magic left in his hat. The 158-ranked player in the world gave it everything he had and, in turn, gave sports fans all over the country a reason to tune in and watch.

I watched (thanks to ESPN’s on line streaming). And I’m not an avid golf fan. But that’s the beauty of a sports story like this. David vs. Goliath crosses all boundaries. It appeals to that soft spot inside of all of us, which makes us want to root for the underdog. Golf needed a story like this. As a matter of fact, every sport needs a story like this.

It’s the kind of story that makes us all want to watch, no matter what the sport.

Gene Wojiechowski of ESPN knows exactly what I mean:

I watched 51⁄2 holes of the playoff while waiting near a food kiosk at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. My flight to Tampa, Fla., was delayed, so I sat on the edge of a huge potted plant as Woods’ 3-stroke lead morphed into a 1-stroke deficit.

But here’s the thing: It wasn’t just me sitting there. I turned around and there was a guy crouched below the palm fronds. A woman sat on the floor to my right. A father and son stood to my left. Before long, there were about 20 of us in a semicircle — business people, tourists, flight crews, ticket agents — all watching an ancient TV whose spotty reception featured a series of Zorro-like slashes on the picture.

A handful of us had to board before it was finished. When I left the TV, Woods was in the fairway on No. 18 and Mediate was in the rough. That’s all we knew as they shut the cabin door.

“I want Tiger to win,” said one of the businessmen who had stood nearby, “but I don’t want Rocco to lose.”

That’s how pure the U.S. Open was. You rooted for the underdog and the big dog. You rooted for the guy wearing red, which just happened to be both Woods and Mediate. You rooted for the prodigy going after his 14th career major (and 12th since 2000), and for a middle-aged Open qualifier this close to his first-ever biggie.

Read the entire article.

I read this article after I wrote my little introduction. And I know that Gene and I aren’t the only ones thinking the same thing. The David vs. Goliath story is a tale for all ages. It’s what made us root for Stephan Curry and Davidson during the NCAA tournament. It’s the reason we all hung around to watch the New York Giants pull off one of the greatest Superbowl upsets of all time. And it’s the reason why I want the Celtics to win the NBA Finals — they had the second-worst record in the NBA last season and look at them now. They are on the verge of the best turnaround in NBA history.

It is because of these stories that I watch and cheer and hope and pray and sweat and complain and invest time and stay up late and marvel and cry.

These stories are why I’m a sports fan.

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