From the first time my parents plopped me in front of the TV on a Saturday night, I was destined to be a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. By the age of 8, I knew all the Leaf players by name, number, hometown, height, weight and which way they shot (Horton-right, Stanley-left, Brewer-left, Baun-right. Keon, Mahovlich, Walton-left. Jim Pappin-right) By the time I was 12, I wanted to be Bill Hewitt, the voice of the Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada. I figured he was the biggest Leaf fan of all. He got to see every game, and he got paid for it. What a great job.
Any time you have an event that is judged, you've got a problem. Figure Skating is the most notorious of these so-called "sports". Regardless of how well WE think the skaters performed, the result is not known until the judges submit their marks. And that's why cries of "fixed" and "rigged" are being heard from Canadians, who feel their skaters have been ripped off (once again).
I'm not proud of this. When it comes to the Sochi Olympics, there's only one sport I care about. The figure skaters, not so much. Luge, Bobsled, Cross-Country skiing, Biathalon, Skeleton....sorry. I don't know any of the athletes, and I rarely watch these sporting events, not even during the Olympics. Nope, it's hockey, hockey, hockey. That's all that matters to me, and I expect most Canadians feel the same way.
When Tiger Woods is on his game, he's a pleasure to watch. He's intense. He's engaged. He's capable of making just about any shot on the golf course. But when Tiger feels he has no chance to win, he pouts, he loses his intensity and he becomes a petulant young man who just wants to take his clubs and go home. And that's the Tiger I saw on Saturday afternoon. He just gave up.
