Can Spieth have the impact of Tiger?

I am a 40 year old (in a few months) Black American who grew up “Asbury Park Middle Class”. Asbury Park Middle Class is different than being middle class in Asbury Park. It’s similar to when you hear someone say they are “Hood Rich”.  We can debate what exactly makes you “Rich” in America but let’s assume it is $10 million net worth.  Hood Rich requires just a little less…basically if you have an apartment, a car, and a job (no matter the pay) that provides benefits then you are “Hood Rich”.  Likewise, Asbury Park Middle Class meant I wasn’t eating at a soup kitchen, yet our family income was less than the requirement to pay for school lunch…Asbury Park Middle Class. Middle Class in America might be $50K - $100K based on family size.  Asbury Park Middle Class is income from $18K - $40K.

All this is relevant as it relates to sports because it dictated the sports we played growing up.  Golf was not one of the popular sports in Asbury Park.  I was the first in my family to attend college and though I could have attended Princeton, Cornell, or others Ivy League schools, they were “too White” for me.  As a few of us finally made it to actual Middle Class and the new millennium approached, the sports world lost its biggest icon Michael Jordan.  The void was filled with a young brash, dominant figure from a sport we never paid attention too.  Tiger Woods, or Tiger Wu as he became known to my friends and me, dominated his sport like no other before him.  Never before had golf been a mainstream sport, but Tiger Wu was so dominant that he captured not only the attention of a few wealthy golfers, but also the inner city 30 somethings retired basketball players were now trading in Jordan’s for Tiger Wu golf shoes.  Not only did I purchase golf clubs, but I purchased a country club memberships.

We would go play early Sunday mornings so that we get home in the afternoon to see Tiger Wu capture another trophy.  I, an all-star basketball player in high school and college a football player, who never purchased a single sports Jersey was now wearing red golf polo shirts as I played my round on Sunday morning.  When Tiger was playing, golf became appointment viewing.  Like many, I was a Tiger fan more than a golf fan.  I am not the moral police so I cared very little about the now infamous Thanksgiving Day incident.  All I cared about was when would Tiger be back on the course and how soon would he catch Jack. 

I was never going to be Tiger, but I enjoyed going to the course and trying to emulate his shots and that beautiful swing.  Jack talked about how when he get older, married, and had children that his priorities change.  With the divorce and Tiger’s in ability to see his children every day, much of the time Tiger spent practicing was now spent playing with his children.   I can’t blame him. I have two toddlers and I canceled my country club membership also.  Before was playing at least 36 holes a week, I haven’t played twice in a week in at least three years. 

As Tiger returned and it became clear that he was no longer the same player, not only did I stop watching golf, but even playing became less enjoyable.  For me over the past two years, golf had become an afterthought.  I’ve barely watched and golf on TV and I’ve played maybe five times over the past two years.  That is until this year with  Jordan Spieth.  I haven’t been this excited about a golfer since Tiger in his early days.  Even though Spieth didn’t win the Open, he has been completely dominant in golf this year.  Though he doesn’t have the appeal of Tiger, he may become just as dominate. If it’s one thing us Americans can get behind is a dominate sports figure.  There are a lot of good young guns, but Spieth has the most potential.  I hope the old Tiger makes a return, but weather he does or not, I am finally back into golf and that thanks to young Mr. Spieth.  Spieth may not become as dominate as Tiger Wu in the early 2000’s and no one will have the impact Tiger had growing the game, but just maybe Spieth can bring some of us Tiger Woods fans back to golf…and I can use it if only to get a rest from chasing my two boys. 

Kobe, Please Don’t Change a Thing

As a five year old kid in 1980, my older brother introduced me to the NBA.  There is only so much a five year old kid can retain, so the NBA became three players and three teams: Julius “Dr. J” Erving and the Sixers, Larry Bird and the Celtics, and Erving “Magic” Johnson and the Lakers.  Magic and Bird were great, but no one was as exciting to five year old me than Dr. J.  When the Doctor finally got past the Celtics only to lose in the finals to the Lakers, I cried like…well, like an eight year old kid.  As great as Dr. J was, he never won a championship until Moses Malone joined the Sixers. 

The Celtics and Larry Bird had arguably the best frontcourt in NBA history.  If Magic as a 6’9” PG wasn’t enough, the Lakers also featured the NBA’s all-time leading scorer at Center in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  The Lakers won 5 Championships, Celtics won 3, and Dr. J finally got his with Moses Malone.  Of the ten championships in the decade, nine were won with a combination of an all-time great perimeter player and a Hall of Fame post player.  Of the 36 championship teams since 1980, 23 have won with that combination.  Eight of the remaining 13 championships were won by arguably the top two perimeter players in the history of the NBA in Michael Jordan and LeBron James.  In simpler terms, since 1980 86% of NBA Championships were won by a transcendent player or the perimeter/HOF combination.

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers have won five championships in the new millennium, with Kobe as the perimeter player and Shaq then Gasol as the future HOF post player.  If you listen to sports radio or any ESPN show, the Lakers are done as a relevant team and Kobe the cause of their demise.  As Kobe approaches his 20^th season, the Lakers are looking for the next Hall of Famer to lead them back to glory.  The Lakers put the full court press on Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, and LaMarcus Aldridge over the past three season and they lost out on all three.  The story is that after 19 seasons Kobe isn’t capable of being the best player on a championship team, but he expects free agents to take a backseat him.  As long as Kobe is a Laker, he expects to play the Batman role.  In Kobe’s defense, he is a five time champion and the Lakers have won 16 overall.  Howard, Anthony, and Aldridge are good players but neither have a championship.  With the skyrocketing salary cap, money has to be spent and quite a few players are receiving max contracts. Though they are getting max money, very few players are capable of being the alpha dog on a championship team.  Aldridge, Carmelo, neither Howard fit that bill so they need someone to either teach them or another player to be the first option.  You see Howard found that in James Harden in Houston.     

Making matters worse Kobe and the Lakers, three of the past four championship teams were led by pass happy stars (LeBron & Stephen Curry) who are great “teammates” and neither team had great post players.  So in the new NBA, Kobe and the Lakers are dinosaurs who need to change or become extant.  After hearing this for the past two years, it seemed as if the Lakers had finally given in.  It was widely assumed the Lakers would draft Okafor to be the Center of their next championship run, but surprising everyone at the draft, they took D’Angelo Russell.  Most of the analyst were happy because the Lakers finally moved into the future.  Then free agency started and they Lakers were back to their old ways.  Not only did they miss out on Aldridge, but he was insulted by their presentation.  For three straight off-season, the Lakers would not only miss out on their top targets, but no free agent of relevance would join them.  Even second tier free agents like Greg Monroe chose the Bucks (of Milwaukee that is) over the sunshine and star-studded city of Los Angeles.

In four years (the max length of a contract for free agents), we will look back and see that Kobe saved the Lakers from themselves.  It seems that Kobe has higher standards from the Lakers than does the current management team.  Dwight, Melo, and Aldridge are all good players, all-star players, even all-NBA players, but neither has the complete game or the ability to dominance at a level which is required to be the primary option on a championship team.  And that is only considering on court skillsets.  We’ve all heard that a team needs to struggle and “learn” to be champions.  I am sure someone will say what about the Warriors who won with no player who had NBA Finals experience.  They are champions and I am not diminishing it in any way, but most every agrees their path was made easier when they did not have to face the battle tested San Antonio Spurs.  You only need to look to LeBron James to understand the importance of winning experience.  He fled to go to Miami, not only for more skilled players, but for players (mainly D Wade) and a management team that knew how to win.  Even with an experienced Heat team, and a healthy Dwayne Wade, LeBron’s lack of championship experience costs the Heat the series against the Dallas Mavs.  After the letdown against the Mavs, you saw a different player against the Thunder the following year. 

You can’t knock Aldridge for choosing the Spurs, but if the rumors are true and free agents are not choosing the Lakers because they don’t want to play with Kobe for even a year, then Jean Buss is right and they don’t belong in the Purple & Gold.  If you are not willing to sacrifice a few shots for a year so that you can learn from one of the top 15 players all-time, then I don’t want you on my team.  Missing out on the “Dwight Howard” type free agents may cause the Lakers to miss the playoffs another year or two, but when they do find that right player (and many believe it is Russell) then they will be championship contenders, not just contenders for the 7^th or 8^th seed.  I have two sons, ages 2 & 3, and I am a season ticket holder to the lowly Sixers.  Maybe Russell and Okafor will lead the Lakers & Sixers back to NBA Finals.  I saw it for the first time when I was eight years old. That means that they have five to six years for me to give my boys the same experience. Maybe this time the Sixers will win so my boys don’t have to cry like I did.

Talk2Me

The Gap Man