Eldrick on the Prowl

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Filed on February 25th, 2009 in Other ⋅ ⋅

While the return of Tiger Woods has been covered ad nauseum this week, the anticipation of it is over and Eldrick Tont is finally back where he belongs — on the course.

Yes, I was sick of hearing about his “comeback” as much as the next guy. Jeez, it’s just a knee injury. You know how many athletes are currently recovering from knee injuries? Neither do I, but it’s more than one.

Tiger’s return is not the most anticipated return in sports history, despite what the Worldwide Leader tries to tell you.

But having said all that — it’s great to see Tiger on the course again. Watching sports in the daytime can be painful. Do you watch the really bad ESPN talking head show, or the extremely bad ESPN talking head show?

Having some live sports competition to leave on in the background all afternoon is just what the doctor ordered to get me through until baseball starts. But what I’m enjoying now I’m sure to pay for later with even more coverage of an event that really shouldn’t be getting so much coverage.

Example: When was the last time somebody “live-blogged” a golf event? Jason Sobel is doing it for Tiger’s return round. Money blog entry:

1:57 p.m. ET: Interesting look from the stands behind the first tee, as a phallic cactus is sticking straight up from the bleachers.

As one PGA Tour media official told me in the line of the week so far, “Even the cactus is excited about Tiger’s return.”

This, of course, followed about seven entries on what Tiger was eating at the moment — banana, trail mix, another banana…

I’m not trying to sound like I don’t get it — I do. This is a huge story at a time of year when sports is about as boring as it ever gets. Hell, I did three NFL Combine articles this week.

After the A-Rod saga, this is a breath of fresh air to most journalists. As his only peer in the world, Roger Federer, falls from the top, watching Tiger remain is the sports story that never ends.

I’ll watch every match Tiger is in this week, but please don’t make me watch other people talk about it, and don’t make me read about it in every article all weekend long.

It’s great to have Tiger back on the links, now let’s all stop talking about it and just enjoy it.

By the way, PGA Tour commercial writer — very well done: