Something To Chew On

He hasn’t struck a tee shot since the U.S. Open. He hasn’t been televised on a golf course since the U.S. Open. He hasn’t struck his commercial pose as a Buick salesman because Buick found out it could no longer afford him.(In fact, he has a better bottom line in his business than Buick does!)

 

For three weeks he never left his residence. From the bedroom to the bathroom then back to the bedroom, or the couch. I’ve read that was his routine for three weeks. He was a recovering patient, one of an athlete’s most wracking experiences. All the while, in the background, there was the harrowing question: Would he ever be able to play golf in the style that had elevated him to the status as one of the most widely recognized athletes in the world?

 

He is Tiger Woods. Will he ever be the same Tiger Woods again? It probably won’t be until the Masters that we get the real answer, though I can hardly conceive of him passing up Torrey Pines, presuming that Buick is still in the tournament mode. Torrey Pines is like a home course to him, and a natural moment for him to make his return. Stay tuned.

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Based on one of our headlines the other day, I suppose we can expect to see Frank Wren “in there pitching,” as it read. These are becoming tenuous times for the Braves, I’d say. All sorts of names have been dropped into the hopper and the Braves have been able to rein in none of them. Except, of course, the journeyman Vasquez, a pitcher with a losing record. Jake Peavy, Ben Sheets, Derek Lowe, A.J Burnett, and lately, Andy Pettite have all been paraded past us, but the Braves have made connections with none. Jason Giambi’s name passed through the gossip, but it appears he’ll resume connection with the A’s. Rafael Furcal—forget him. I could never believe we’d ever see him in Braves clothing again. The DUI department can breathe easier now. Then there was the heart-breaking photo of Mark Teixeira slipping a Yankees shirt over his street clothes. A reminder of one of the worst dealing mistakes the Braves have made in years.

 

I can hardly expect that the Braves could possibly go into another spring banking on the revival of John Smoltz and Tom Glavine. This makes a lot of us out here nervous. Somehow it seems the old Braves’ touch has been lost. Come on, do something, and do it right.

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Yeah, Keith Brooking was never a Brian Urlacher or Dick Butkus, but are we just discovering that? (And thank heaven he isn’t a Ray Lewis, who left his tracks in Buckhead.) But the sudden piling on that followed the Chargers game, and his critical misjudgment at one defensive moment should not have condemned him to the damned. That loss was a team effort, and Mike Smith has put his own stamp on that in the aftermath. And the damning critiques that followed, likening this team to some of the outdoor freaks of old Atlanta Stadium, can hardly be justified. The closest those suffering old teams ever got to a Super Bowl was one botched pass defensive play against Dallas. Never has any Falcon team gotten to the hearts of Atlanta like this issue, beginning with Thomas Dimitroff, the designer of it all. Be happy, sing out with joy! Remember, this was a team that one sports magazine predicted would win one (1) game.