Oh Tiger, where did your privacy go? It seems fitting that a swing of the golf club may have helped start us down this twisted road of public scrutiny. No one believes more strongly than I that you and your family deserve privacy. And Tiger, to be sure, we gave you enough privacy to entertain women around the world with nary a word being uttered or printed. We aren’t sure if it was woman number one, five or ten who enraged your wife sufficiently to chase you down the driveway. But, we now know for certain that this was not a one-time indiscretion on your part.
How did all of this morally repulsive behavior happen? The usual way it seems. Long term adoration reliably leads to an addiction to being worshipped. And, I can’t be sure that everyone’s marriage is just like mine, but I do know that the word “adoration” does not come to mind when I think of long term spousal commitment. What does come to mind is loyalty, and dependability, and moral character, and honesty comes to mind; and respect, and now that I think about it shared values.
I don’t have a whole lot of hero worship in me. Maybe because of this “short coming”, I have always talked to my kids about the great athletes and artists or others that they may put on a pedestal. There is nothing wrong with respecting the accomplishments of others, but that respect needs to be kept on the level of the accomplishment. I don’t think anyone who knows Tiger Woods’ talent has said “I want to play basketball like Tiger Woods someday” or “I want to play piano like Tiger Woods someday”. It would however be appropriate for a young person to think “I would like to golf like Tiger “or “I would like to represent myself as well as Tiger does in front of the media”. So if you want to be a basketball player or piano player or great husband or father or mother or insert your own subject matter; then Tiger Woods was never the right person to look up to or idolize. Better it be someone who demonstratably fits the mold.
Tiger Woods ultimately was caught in the same trap that many other superstars have found themselves caught in. When one is worshipped for their talent, especially physical talent from a young age; he tends to become addicted to that feeling.
All of this seems so obvious in retrospect.
We went to watch my son Blake play baseball in Hastings, Nebraska this past weekend. He plays collegiate ball for the Hastings Broncos. We ended up witnessing an unusual feat at the ball park.
Duncan Field was built in 1941 and for a time in the 50's hosted a minor league team. It has hosted thousands of American Legion games including the American Legion World Series. I could go on, but the point is there has been a lot of high level baseball played at Duncan Field.
I know this isn't a great picture, but check out the link above to see some great pics. The ball field is 370 ft. deep in the corners, 405 in the power alleys and 408 in dead center. It's very big.
Prior to the metal baseball bat era (about 1970), there were only 19 home runs ever hit at Duncan field! Wow, sounds impossible. So, that is 19 home runs in about 30 years.
Since metal bats came around, a few more home runs have been hit. In fact, the unusual feat we saw was a home run hit by my son Blake. After he hit a 3 run towering home run on Sunday, he was told that he was the 120 man to hit a home run in the history of Duncan Field. Is that cool or what? That is an average of less than two guys hitting a home run each year in the history of the field.
Below is the article I cut and pasted out of the Hastings College website.
BRONCOS SPLIT WITH VITERBO UNIVERSITY
March 15---The Hastings College baseball team split their doubleheader with Viterbo University Sunday afternoon in Hastings, Neb. to complete their four game series with the V-Hawks. Viterbo took game one 8-0 and the Broncos were victorious in game two, 4-2. In game one, David Bates was the starting pitcher for Hastings as he went 5 innings, allowing five runs off six hits while striking out five batters. Hastings was held to two hits courtesy of Josh Mondragon and Blake Marquardt. In game two, A.J. Clark was the winning pitcher for the Broncos as he went seven complete innings, allowing just two runs off seven hits. He also struck out five batters. The Broncos had six hits in the game, none bigger than Blake Marquardt's three-run homerun in the bottom of the 4th inning to give Hastings a 4-1 advantage. The Broncos would hold on for the 4-2 win. Hastings is now 7-14 on the season and will be back in action on Monday, March 16 as they travel to Shawnee, Okla. to take on Oklahoma Baptist. The doubleheader will start at 1 p.m.
If you haven't checked out the Olympic Curling Trials in Broomfield, Coloradoyet, get going. They started February 21st and go through Saturday, February 28th, 2009.
My wife and son and I went to the Broomfield Event Center both yesterday the 21st and today. It is truly a great venue for curling and we are looking forward to going back again this week. Whether or not you have ever seen or curled yourself, I am sure you will find it interesting as the 10 best men's and women's teams face off for the chance to represent the United States in the 2010 Olympics held in Vancouver, Canada.
The Broomfield Event Center is located on Hwy 36 on the south side of the road. Take the exit after (west of) Church Ranch Road and go left. Don't take the frontage road! Instead, continue south until the next stoplight. Then take a left again at the next stop sign. You can pay $15 to park if you like spending money, or just park on the street. It's free and only a few steps farther.
And here is another tip: Buy the cheapest tickets because you can sit anywhere. Also, when the game your watching ends, head down to the lounge and you can probably stay for the next game without paying again. It's a little silly that they are attempting to get people to pay for each individual game. Cut me a break! This is curling for goodness sakes.
Oh, and one more thing that is really cool. If your not able to get to the event center, the semi-finals and finals of both the men's and women's competition will be streamed live on-line for free. Check out Universal Sports for details.
The upshot of this is that there is now curling right here in Denver at the Ice Ranch in Littleton. My wife and I are looking forward to checking things out. I know for sure that they curl on Saturday nights from 7:30 to 9:30 and we are thinking of stopping down to watch and have a drink on March 7th. Come on down and check it out with us.
Today in a truly revealing statement Barack Obama said, "People think I'm cool". All I have to say to that is thank you Barack. Now we know what is important to you.
Oh so cool.
In other news, I learned that I have a misguided training program. This last week I ran 36 miles and worked out in the water for another hour and ten minutes. I thought that was good, but I'm going to have to step up and admit that I didn't do a single bong hit.
I can't wait until the"Michael Phelps Training Program" comes out. On another note, think of how big of a hit a guy with that kind of lung capacity could take.
I'm just going to stop there. Oh, but has anyone seen a good role model lately ?
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