This is a special feature I will be running quite regularly on this blog. I love ESPN’s P.T.I. (Pardon the Interruption) because of Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon. I love the way they banter back and forth, arguing their points on certain sports matters. And since I love it so much, I thought I’d try to bring a little bit of that spunk to this blog.

Here’s how it will go. I’ll raise a topic, argue my side and you can voice your opinions in the “comments” section below. I’m looking for a decent argument here, not pot shots or negativity. Use your wit and have fun with it!

(I am going to include a poll in the side bar, so we can see what the overall consensus is percentage wise)

He won, now he’s done: Was it worth it?

I’m sure you’ve all seen the news flash. Tiger’s golf season is over. Kaput. Finished. Done for. Finito. However you want to phrase it, Tiger Woods is done playing golf for the rest of 2008.

Tiger believes that this last win was his best major win ever. And because of that, it was worth it to play even though his doctors advised him to take six weeks off to let his knee heal fully after surgery. 91 holes later, he’s the U.S. Open champion. But it comes at a price. He has to have more surgery and he won’t be able to play golf until 2009.

“Now, it is clear that the right thing to do is to listen to my doctors, follow through with this surgery and focus my attention on rehabilitating my knee,” Woods said on his Web site.

Should Woods have listened to his doctors’ advice in the first place? Was it worth it?

My argument is this: With 13 majors under his belt, did Tiger really need to risk further injury for lucky number 14? No. Being out six weeks is a lot different than being out for five months or longer. I think Tiger should have heeded his doctors’ advice and taken the time off to heal before he got back on the course. At full strength, he’d have more opportunities to win more majors. Yet he took a big risk all for the sake of one.

I don’t think this was his “best performance ever” either. He was all over the course and he did not dominate the field as he usually tends to do. His amazing putting skills bailed him out time and time again. He didn’t lead from the front, he was forced to constantly come from behind. And that doesn’t equate to the “best performance ever” in my book.

Furthermore, being out for the rest of the year may or may not have an impact on his overall game, but it will most definitely have an impact on golf ratings. Most people who don’t regularly watch golf tune in to see what Tiger is going to do next or, as was the case on Sunday, to see an underdog give him a run for his money.

I don’t think it was worth it for Tiger to play, neither for the game of golf or for himself.

The results of the Kobe vs. Jordan poll are in! The question was: Is Kobe Bryant the Michael Jordan of this era?
The majority of you believe that he’s not even close.

Image provided by Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

For Argument’s Sake

Here’s how it will go. I’ll raise a topic, argue my side and you can voice your opinions in the “comments” section below. I’m looking for a decent argument here, not pot shots or negativity. Use your wit and have fun with it!

(I am going to include a poll in the side bar, so we can see what the overall consensus is percentage wise)

Is Kobe Bryant the Michael Jordan of our era?

My argument is this: you can’t compare them because they are two different players of incredible talent.

For some reason, sports analysts like to compare the great players of today to the great players of old. It makes for great radio and television discussions, but in reality it’s a bit ridiculous. What’s even more ridiculous is trying to dub anyone from today’s NBA pool of talent as the “next Michael Jordan.” There isn’t going to be a “next” because Jordan was one of a kind. Nobody will ever play like he played, with his style, his grace and his amazing abilities.

There will be other talented players with other jaw-dropping moves and shots and incredible abilities, but they will not be that of Jordan’s.

Kobe is amazing in his own right. To compare him, or Dwayne Wade, or Lebron James for that matter, to Jordan isn’t fair. It takes away from their unique talent. Let Kobe be Kobe. Let him make his own outstanding shots, let him drive the lane with his own gracefulness and let him hit his own last second shot at the buzzer to win the game. Let him be a star in his own right. And down the road, when a new crop of NBA talent comes up, let the “next Kobe Bryant” mumbo jumbo fall to the wayside.

There will never be another Michael Jordan, just as there will never be another Kobe Bryant. But — there will always be another great player.

Post from: EveryJoe

For Argument’s Sake