Post done by Trent Ringle
Is he really back
Throughout history,
professional athletes have been challenged with overcoming injuries and outside
distractions on a daily basis. At some point in time every athlete will have
an injury that they will need to overcome or personal distraction
in there life that leaves them wondering if they will ever be able to play the game again. Right
now a prime example of someone who was able to beat the obstacles off the field was Plaxico
Burress. Burress who was convicted in 2009 of a weapons charge, and sentenced to 20
months in prison. For any athlete being out of the game for this long could
ruin a person career. However, for Burress he was able to overcome this and
become the NFL’s 2011 comeback player of the year. He did not put up numbers as
he had in past seasons, but he was still a major threat as a New York Jets wide
receiver which earned him this award. Could Tiger Woods possible be able to pull off
a similar outcome in professional golf? This past weekend he was able to
win his 72th title at Bay Hill. Could this possible be the start to the second
phase of Woods career? Though some will say it is I personally do not believe
it is. By winning one tournament, it does not mean that a player has made a
comeback. Tiger’s image is still not 100% back to the old form it once was. In order,
for him to fully get back to the number one player in the world status he will
need to both perform well on and off the course.
Comment by Mark Chipperfield
ReplyDeleteI really like the comparison Trent made between Tiger Woods and Plaxico Burress. Both athletes really had to deal with consequences from their poor choices and decisions. Tiger of course losing sponsorships and his reputation among fans for his sex scandal while Plaxico spent a fair amount of time in jail for shooting himself in the leg. It was exciting for me to see Plaxico Burress perform at a high level this past NFL season because he had served his time for his mistake and was moving on. I do not feel like Tiger had an equal amount of punishment but it has taken him longer to come back from it. I feel like it would be good for the sport of golf to see him return to form.
I also enjoyed the comparison of Tiger and Plaxico. Another athlete that came to mind with a similar situation is Michael Vick. Of course we all know his story and he came storming back onto the scene in the NFL to once again become a household name. As for is Tiger really back? All I can say is I hope so. I think it is good for golf when he is at the top of his game. More people tune in and the drama seems to rise at the end of each tournament. I think people should care less and less about his personal life and more and more about his performances. Everyone wants to be so concerned about how many women he slept with. Look at Babe Ruth and Wilt Chamberlin, both were womanizers and supposedly slept with thousands of women. In summary all I can say is Tiger back? I hope so.
ReplyDeleteComment by Jared King.
I liked the comparison to Plaxico also. I really didn't expect him to perform very well when he came back, but it was actually nice to see him still perform at a fairly high level. Same can be said for Michael Vick, who Jared mentioned. He did his time and paid his dues in my opinion, and it was kind of cool to see him come back and still able to perform at a high level. Many people want to put athletes down after a scandal or legal troubles, but when they genuinely learn from their mistakes and rise back to the top, it is a great story.
ReplyDeleteI would have to disagree with what Trent said. I don't think Tiger is really "back" yet. Ya he won this past PGA tournament but really was the competition of that tournament up to par? Can Tiger really play when there is a ton of pressure on the line? I guess we will have to see in April at the Masters. I am very excited and happy that he has made a strong return to golf after his entire incident in his personal life. I would really like to see make an entire come back and be one of the top golfers again. This would make golf extremely exciting to watch. Another person that wasn't mentioned is Peyton Manning. Who thinks he will be able to go out and come back from such a huge injury? Did the Broncos make the right decision on letting Tim Tebow go and hopes that Manning will pull through. He could take one big hit and re-injure his neck and be done for good. But I hope to see him back as well.
ReplyDeleteComment by Kane Godfrey
I think that Trent made really good comparisons between Tiger Woods and Plaxico Burress. While I still think the whole scandal that Tiger pulled was very wrong, I think that he's had enough time to think about what he did and how wrong it was. It's not guaranteed that Tiger won't ever do it again, but in my opinion; I think he has learned his lesson. As far as Tiger winning his 72nd title at Bay Hill, I think it's a part of what may lead to a comeback. I think that Tiger will want to go out and show everyone that the past is the past and he is going to come back stronger than before. Right now Tiger has a lot of people rooting against him for what he has done, therefore, he wants to go out and give these people a better reason to talk about him. Although people may never forget the whole Tiger scandal completely, if he has a comeback in golf, it will give the people against him a more positive aspect to talk about.
ReplyDeleteHeather Cox
I did not realize that Plaxico Burress was named "Comeback player of the Year." Like Kane, I wonder how things will work out for Peyton Manning. He did not just have one neck surgery - he had four surgeries and those can be quite difficult to recover from - I know because I had the same surgery - but only once. It does not speak well of his recovery that he had to have the surgery repeated three more times. Like Kane said, time will tell.
ReplyDelete