RealClearSports: Tiger Leaves Us in Disbelief

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

No, we didn't believe it. Even if we watched it unfold. It was fantasy strangling reality, the impossible becoming actuality. It was Tiger Woods losing a major golf tournament.

We wanted someone to step up and challenge Tiger, wanted somebody not to melt in his presence. We thought it might be Padraig Harrington, who had three majors of his own. Or in his fading glory, Ernie Els. Instead it turned out to be a Korean named Y.E. (for Yong-Eun) Yang.

Only the day before, Harrington was saying the fans wanted someone to challenge Tiger, "to make it a battle.'' Not to beat him, but to make it interesting. This 91st PGA Championship at Hazeltine National, on the prairieland west of Minneapolis, got very interesting.

Then it got out of hand. Then it got ridiculous. Then it got head-shockingly bizarre and unprecedented.

Fourteen times before, Tiger Woods had led a major golf championship into the final round, and 14 times Tiger had won. So why wouldn't it be 15 out of 15, especially since he had led from Thursday's first round? Especially since he was paired with Yang, which everyone believed meant Yang would fold. Isn't Tiger the great intimidator?

What he wasn't on Sunday was the great putter. Took 33 putts, did Mr. Woods. Shot 5-over par 75. Went from a two-shot lead to a three-shot deficit, as Yang had a 70 for a 72-hole score of 8-under 280. Went a year without a major victory for the first time in 2009.

But he didn't go without proving what a sportsman he is, what a gentleman he is.

You can tell more about a person by the way he acts after a defeat than after a victory. It's easy to be charming, responsive, when you're holding the trophy, when they're giving you the accolades. But an individual unveils himself when he or she doesn't win.

Tiger is painfully protective. His post-match remarks intentionally are bland, even boring. If you don't say anything in particular, he believes, than nobody can misquote you or misinterpret you. So keep it simple and uncontroversial.

But Woods pulled the mask away just a bit. He was disappointed. He had to be. We thought he would win. He thought he would win. Didn't he always win before?

"Today,'' conceded Woods, "was not very good at all. I had a few misreads on putts, and I hit some bad putts too. It was a bad day at the wrong time, and that's the way it goes.''

There's a saying about golf, that it's like a love affair. That if you don't take it seriously it's no fun, and if you do it can break your heart. If Tiger's heart isn't broken, his armor of vulnerability certainly is.

Nobody's perfect. Except Tiger Woods had been with a lead the final day of a major golf championship. Now the perfection is wiped away.

"All the other 14 major championships I've won I've putted well for the entire week,'' he said. "Today was a day that didn't happen. I didn't win. I hit the ball well enough. I didn't make any putts.''

When asked whether he lost this PGA or the 27-year-old Yang won it, Woods said, "It's both. I certainly was in control. And Y.E. played great all day.''

That's the beauty of sport. There's always the unexpected. There's always a Y.E. Yang or a soccer team from Cameroon or a rookie pitcher who steps up and makes us take notice.

No Asian ever had won a major golf championship. Until Yang. Tiger Woods never had lost a major golf championship when he led after 54 holes. Until Yang.

"I don't think anyone has gone 14 for 14 or 15 for 15,'' said Woods when asked if losing was inevitable. "So I've certainly . . . like today I played well enough to win.''

Strange things happen in sports. Outfielders drop easy fly balls. That's why athletes always stay wary. It isn't over, we -- and they -- have been told, until it's over. So don't get feeling too cocky.

Tiger led the PGA from the 15th hole the first round. On Saturday, the media kept trying to get him to admit the tournament was over, that he had it locked up. Woods kept evading the question, kept insisting that he had to play to the end.

He was right. We were wrong. We thought Tiger Woods would always come in first. He always did. Until at last he didn't. We didn't believe it could happen, but we believe it now.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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© RealClearSports 2009

Newsday: Harrington blows up with quintuple bogey

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

CHASKA, Minn. -- The luck of the Irish? Not for Padraig Harrington. Not in the cruel game of golf which for a second consecutive Sunday sent him careening, this time at the major in which he was defending champion.

Last weekend, feeling rushed after being put on the clock for slow play at the Bridgestone Invitational, Paddy the Dubliner plopped a shot into the water, took a triple bogey and blew the tournament to Tiger Woods.

Virtually the same thing happened to him this weekend, only this time it was in the PGA Championship and this time it was worse. This time it was a quintuple bogey.

At the eighth hole and a shot behind the leader Woods -- who later would incur his own agony, squandering a third-round lead in a major for the first time -- Harrington hit his tee shot into the pond on the 176-yard, par-3 hole.

"I hit a little knock-down 6-iron,'' Harrington explained, "and as I was about to hit it, the wind died, and I hit it a little too easy and it just didn't carry.''

After taking a penalty drop, he nearly skulled playing partner Henrik Stenson with his third shot. His fourth sailed back over the green again and into the same pond. Dropping another ball, and now lying five, Harrington couldn't advance out of the rough. Finally onto the green in seven, he made a 5-foot putt for an 8. From a cumulative 6 under par, he had fallen to 1 under.

After starting the day tied for second, Harrington shot a 6-over 78 and finished tied for 10th with an even-par 288.

"It was a difficult tee shot,'' Harrington said of his travail, "and it was obviously a difficult second shot after you hit it in the water and pulled it left. I had been changing my chipping action a little, and I probably was more into what I was doing rather than trying to get the ball up and down, and you know, I hit a bad shot. So these things happen.''

But two weeks in a row? A triple-bogey 8 on the 16th hole at Firestone CC and now a 5-over 8 on the eighth hole at Hazeltine National?

"It wasn't anybody else,'' said Harrington. "It's all me. But I still hit all my shots out there. I got out of position only on that one hole. Obviously, it was disappointing, but I had my chances all the way through the back nine and could have got it back to 6 under.

"In fairness, I didn't feel like I could afford to make bogey by hitting left like most people. I decided I had to hit the shot, and it didn't come off . . . such is life. Some days they don't come off, and some days they do.''

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Newsday: Yang wins PGA Championship after Tiger blows lead

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

CHASKA, Minn. -- Niagara Falls didn't run uphill. The sun didn't set in the East. But Tiger Woods did lose a major golf championship, which may not be much different.

The virtually impossible became the very undeniable when Woods for the first time in his remarkable career gave away a third-round lead in a major and Sunday came in second at the 91st PGA to a deliriously excited Korean, Y.E. (Yong-Eun) Yang.

On this day of seismic shifts in golf, the 37-year-old Yang, who immediately after the final putt hoisted not a trophy but his entire golf bag like a man lifting barbells, became the first Asian to win a major.

And Tiger had perfection and dominance swept away as his record of winning all 14 times he had the lead after 54 holes in a major was gone with the wind that swept across Hazeltine National Golf Club.

Woods started the day with a two-shot lead over Yang, his playing partner, and Padraig Harrington, and everyone in the massive gallery just knew Tiger would do what he always does: win. But he didn't.

Yang took the lead by chipping in for an eagle 2 on the 301-yard 14th hole, and then embellished his round with a fist-pumping birdie at 18, moments before Tiger would close with a bogey.

Yang, going mano-a-mano with the man acclaimed by many as the greatest player of all time, shot 2-under-par 70 to Tiger's 3-over 75. Yang ended up at 8-under 280, Woods at 283.

Lee Westwood, who had the same spot in last month's British Open, tied for third with 20-year-old Rory McIlroy at 285, and Lucas Glover, who in June at Bethpage won the U.S. Open, came in fifth at 286. Harrington, who killed his chances with a quintuple-bogey 8 on the par-3 eighth, shot 78 for 288 and fell into a tie for 10th.

"I was certainly in control of the tournament for most of the day," Woods agreed. "But I just couldn't make anything today. I hit the ball great off the tee, hit my irons well. I did everything I needed to do except getting the ball in the hole."

His 33 putts were the most in any of the four rounds.

Only once previously in his career had he not won when leading by two shots or more, and that was nine years ago.

Asked if he thought he had lost or Yang had won, Woods responded: "It's both. I was playing well. I was making nothing, but still either tied for the lead or ahead. And Y.E. played great all day. I don't think he missed a shot. And it was a fun battle. Unfortunately, I just didn't make the putts when I needed them."

Thus for the first time since 2004, Woods has gone through a year without winning a major. The last time the PGA was held at Hazeltine, in the western suburbs of Minneapolis, 2002, Tiger also finished second, by a shot.

Someone wondered if this day was inevitable. The undefeated Patriots were upset in the Super Bowl. Mariano Rivera occasionally blows saves. The longer you win, the greater the odds you will lose.

"I don't think anyone has gone 14-for-14 or 15-for-15," Woods said. "I played well enough to win the championship. I did not putt well enough to win the championship."

Asked about an Asian breaking through in a major, Woods, who among others was beaten by Yang in the HSBC at Shanghai in November 2007, said, "You knew it was going to happen one day." His guess would have been K.J. Choi, another Korean, who like Yang plays the PGA Tour.

Woods' opponents on the final day of majors often are intimidated. Yang said he was. He didn't show it.

"He's always been a wonderful ball-striker," Woods said of Yang, who earlier this year won the Honda Classic. "The only thing that's held him back is the flat stick [putter]. Today, he went out there and executed his game plan. He was doing exactly what you have to do in these blustery conditions. I thought if I shot under par, I would win the tournament."

Which he would have. Except he shot over par. Woods didn't make any putts, but he did make history.

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Scotland Sunday Herald: Woods aside, a triumph for Europeans

GOLF: Harrington and Co proving strength of our Tour with displays in Minnesota, writes Art Spander in Hazeltine

The weather turned yesterday, making Minnesota seem more like Britain, a bit cooler, a bit darker. But even in the blast furnace heat of the first two rounds the US PGA Championship was a fine place to be for the numerous representatives of the European Tour.

The fourth Major of the year, the 91st PGA, out on the prairie west of Minneapolis at Hazeltine, was in effect two tournaments, one being played by Tiger Woods and another involving everybody else.

In the Tiger Tournament, Woods was playing in his usual grand style -- usual if you forget the missed cut in The Open at Turnberry, that is. By the end of Friday's second round, he had built up a four-shot lead and as defending champion Padraig Harrington put it: "If Tiger plays the golf he's capable of this weekend, he'll be a winner.'' In the other competition, there already were a great many winners, players such as Harrington, the Irishman, Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter of England, Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark, Lee Westwood of England, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and even Scotland's Alastair Forsyth.

All made the cut along with Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain, Thomas Levet of France and Francesco Molinari of Italy, an indication that even if the Euro Tour doesn't have anyone quite like Tiger -- and nor does any other tour on the globe - it still boasts a wealth of talent. Harrington, playing with Woods for the first two rounds, as he did last Sunday in that controversial final round of the WGC Bridgestone when the two were put on the clock and Harrington self-destructed, was tied with Woods for a time on Friday. Then Harrington made four bogeys on the back nine.

But even though he stumbled to a 35-38, he hit the shot of the day, and maybe of the tournament, a 301-yard 3-wood from a bunker onto the green of the par-five 642-yard 15th hole.

Harrington said: "Tiger told me he would have paid to have seen it. So I asked him for 50 bucks.'' Poulter was on two-under 142 after 36 holes and would have been closer to the top of the leaderboard but for a double bogey at the first, his 10th."It's been great,'' he said. "The crowds are fantastic out there. This is as busy a Major as I've seen all year, so it's good fun.'' Fun is a word one rarely hears associated with championship golf but this has indeed been an enjoyable tournament, due in no small part to those who have packed the enormous galleries here in an area which rarely sees the top pros.

Fisher, who briefly led the final round of The Open at Turnberry before taking that horrendous triple-bogey eight at the fifth, was tied with Tiger on Friday until bogeys at 17 and 18.

"In some ways I'm disappointed but overall I'm delighted,'' said Fisher. "I was hitting fairways, I was hitting greens but finishing bogey, bogey always leaves a little bit of sour taste. But you know, I'm still in there with a good shout.'' Fisher has made some tremendous progress - a run at The Open, a run at the PGA a month later.

"Every golfer wants to be at the Major championships,'' said the 28-year-old. "This is what we all dream of, right from when we were kids. I want to go out there and perform, not only for myself but at the same time to give the fans something to shout about.'' Fisher and Harrington were paired yesterday in an interesting twosome, the kid with potential alongside the only player not to back down where matched up against the Tiger. Harrington may have fallen apart last weekend, but that was the result on one errant shot into a pond, not being intimidated by Woods.

"It's irrelevant,'' Harrington responded when someone ask if he was unhappy that he wasn't playing a fourth straight round with Woods, who yesterday was with Vijay Singh two groups ahead.

"It's not bad to have a day off. Hopefully I'll see him again on Sunday," Harrington added.

McIlroy, widely expected to be the next great thing, was on level-par 144 after 36 holes and picked up a shot through the first seven yesterday.

"If I can iron it all out,'' said the 19-year-old, "I can get myself back where I was in the middle of the second round. I'm definitely a lot happier about my game than I was on Monday or Tuesday, so there are a few positives to take from it all.'' There are more than a few positives to take from the way the European Tour members have played this week in America. The only negative is they continue to chase that guy Tiger Woods. Then again, so does everyone from every corner of the world.

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Newsday: Harrington pushes but Woods still leads PGA

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

CHASKA, Minn. -- The lead still is his, if reduced, and presumably the tournament still is his. A name nobody expected and one everybody did expect are challenging Tiger Woods, but there is a big difference in being challenged and being beaten.

Woods played conservatively Saturday in the third round of the 91st PGA Championship, which made sense when he began the day with a four-shot lead. By the end of the day, the lead was two.

"Only mistake I made,'' Woods said, "was three-putting there at 4. But other than that, the card was pretty clean. I didn't give myself a lot of looks at putts. I was lag putting a lot. Given the conditions and my position in the tournament, I didn't mind.''

Woods, with a 71, is still in first at 8-under-par 208 for 54 holes at Hazeltine National. The spread is two strokes over Y.E. Yang, a Korean who despite a win on the PGA Tour is little recognized, and over defending champion Padraig Harrington, who was supposed to battle Woods. They are tied at 210 after Yang's 5-under 67 and Harrington's 69.

"I think everybody wants to see a battle in the hope the underdog catches up,'' Harrington said. "But when he catches up, they want the hero to win, as usual.''

The hero, of course, being Mr. Woods, who is a perfect 14-for-14 when leading a major after three rounds and 47-for-50 when leading any tournament after three.

"I had tremendous support,'' Harrington said. "I get the impression people want me to push him along but want him to win.''

Behind the top three at 4-under 212 are Henrik Stenson and the man who won the U.S. Open at Bethpage, Lucas Glover, meaning three of the top five are major champions, and Stenson has won The Players and Yang beat the whole lot at the 2007 HSBC in Shanghai.

Woods, trying for his fifth PGA title that would equal Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen (and 15th major overall), said it does make a difference who is on the leader board.

"You get guys who understand how to win major championships,'' Woods said, "and guys that know how to deal with the situation. They believe in themselves, and they know how to get it done.''

Because Harrington bogeyed the 18th hole, Woods will play with Yang Sunday in the final pairing. Had Harrington parred 18, he would have been second alone and matched with Woods for a fourth time in five rounds.

"I think I would rather,'' Harrington said of playing with Woods. "I think it would suit me better to have that sort of match-play style. I think I [would] get into it and hopefully raise my game. But I don't think I have a choice.''

Through an interpreter, the 27-year-old Yang said, "It's a privilege to be listed on the top with those great names, great players what I admire and respect.''

Sounds like a setup from a guy who Saturday made six birdies and only one bogey. Or four more birdies than Woods.

But the second of Woods' birdies was on the 318-yard 14th when he drove over the green, chipped long and then using a wedge as a putter, knocked the ball into the cup. That regained the lead from Harrington, who briefly had tied him.

"It's a rush,'' Woods said of the competition. "It's fun to go out and test what you have.''

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Newsday: Mickelson just can't find a groove

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

CHASKA, Minn. -- Phil Mickelson is caught between the sublime and the ridiculous, real life and real golf, dealing with missed putts and dealing with a wife and mother both battling breast cancer.

The good news is both women -- Amy, Phil's wife, and Mary, his mom -- appear to have made enough progress where Mickelson can say, "We're past the toughest part now, so I feel better.''

But he points out that flaws in his game cannot be easily dismissed and that though perspective is important, so is the golf he plays.

Mickelson's traumatic summer is not yet done. He shot 4-over-par 76 Saturday in the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National, his third straight over-par round, and is far back of the leaders with a 54-hole score of 8-over 224. He has one more round to play before a week off.

He did so well at Bethpage in the U.S. Open two months ago, better than anyone might have guessed while Amy was preparing for treatment back in California. Mickelson tied for second, two shots behind Lucas Glover. His courage was deemed the equal of his play, and his appearance at Bethpage was hugely popular.

He skipped the British Open, then believing his wife and mother were in good enough condition, returned to his golf. Mickelson played the Bridgestone last week and came to the PGA with hopes, if not direction.

"My expectations,'' Mickelson insisted, "are high. I'm disappointed with my performance this week. Regardless of what's going on, or off, the course, I still have high expectations.''

Surely the agony of the past couple of months has affected him. In a sport that requires the utmost concentration, at times his thoughts must wander.

Even Tiger Woods missed the U.S. Open cut in 2006 when he took a nine-week break because of the illness and subsequent death of his father.

"I think I practiced and prepared,'' Mickelson said when asked if it was difficult to compete. "But I just haven't performed well.''

It was putting that bedeviled Mickelson the first two days of the PGA. Saturday, his ball striking became a problem. He said he'll have a week to work on both phases of his game before the Barclays at Liberty National in New Jersey. "It's frustrating for me not to be in contention on the weekends of a major,'' Mickelson said. "That's the toughest thing. But also good motivation for me to work harder.''

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Newsday: Woods controls shots, takes control of the PGA

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

CHASKA, Minn. -- The wind came up, dry and hot, rattling flagsticks in the cups, sending golf balls flying off their desired lines. But in this 91st PGA Championship out on the prairie land west of Minneapolis, they were hardly the winds of change.

The tournament still was in the possession of Tiger Woods, more than ever. What started as a one-shot lead with others still holding the thought they had a chance, ended up as a four-shot lead, and is there anyone extant who doesn't believe anyone but Tiger has a chance in this tournament?

Of the top dozen or so players on the leader board at the start of round two Friday, Woods was the only one to break par, shooting a 2-under-par 70 at Hazeltine National. His 36-hole total was 7-under 137, with Vijay Singh, U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, Ross Fisher and defending champion Padraig Harrington all at 3-under 141.

"His game looked solid again today,'' Harrington said of Woods, one of his playing partners. "I think he's in good position because of the fact he's a good front-runner. He can pick and choose his shots, and he's not rushed into shots he doesn't have to hit. He's very good at that.''

He's more than very good. He's fantastic. When Tiger has the halfway lead, he has been unbeatable in majors, winning 8 of 8, and virtually unbeatable in tournaments overall, winning 32 of 38.

A victory in this would be Tiger's 15th major championship, his fifth PGA, although he refuses to think beyond Saturday's third round.

"I've got a long way to go,'' said Woods, who didn't finish first in any of the year's three previous majors. "But I'm pleased. The wind was up. It was pretty blustery. It was changing directions. It was affecting putts. All in all, it was a very difficult day, and you had to stay patient.''

While Tiger did just that, others stayed close. And then, wham. Harrington shot 38 on the back nine, with four bogeys, including one at 18. Fisher, briefly tied with Woods after 16, bogeyed the final two holes. Woods took control with birdies on 14, 15 and 16, so even a bogey at 18 didn't hurt very much.

"Today,'' Woods said of conditions, "was a day when if you looked at it -- I don't know how to explain it -- could have been worse than it is. Could have been better. I could have shot a couple over par, but I turned it into an under-par round.''

Harrington had a sense of humor. He hit a magnificent 3-wood shot from a bunker 301 yards onto the green of the 642-yard 15th for a birdie 4 but lost too many strokes en route.

Woods called it one of the best shots he had ever seen, "worth the price of admission."

"He did say to me actually he would have paid to have seen it," Harrington said. "So I asked him for 50 bucks."

Phil Mickelson shot a second 74 but made the cut on the number at 148, as did Fred Couples. Among those missing the cut was Sergio Garcia, still without his first major, who shot a choppy 78. Ernie Els made a strong move with a 68, tied for best round of the day with Fisher and Tim Clark

"I mean, yes, Tiger is the greatest golfer I think we've ever seen," said Fisher, who contended in the U.S. and British Opens. "But at the end of the day, he's just like me and you. He's just a human being. He just happens to be damn good at golf. So we've got to work really, really hard to try and compete with him and catch him."

But Woods has not lost a 36-hole lead on the PGA Tour in five years.

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RealClearSports.com: Tiger Has Us Believing for Him, Anything Is Possible

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

CHASKA, Minn. -- This is what greatness is, a young man with a swoosh on his shirt and purpose in his thoughts. A young man who has us believing that on a golf course anything is possible, because truth tell for him, anything is possible.

He's not even allowing for suspense this time. Not even needing to produce a comeback.

Tiger Woods went out Thursday and snatched the first-round lead in the PGA Championship, and in effect ended the competition after 18 holes, although there remain 54 left to play.

Woods, who usually starts slowly in a major, this time started quicker than anyone else. Woods, who usually is chasing -- and more often than not, overtaking -- this time is being chased.

He's gone through '09 without a victory in a major, even missing the cut in the British Open, but he's not going past Sunday, the PGA's final round, without one. Not the way he's performing.

You can rewrite the axiom. There is something else definite besides death and taxes: Tiger Woods with a lead in a major.

"I feel pretty comfortable if I'm playing well," said Woods. He's playing well, believe me. He's playing spectacularly. He's playing like Tiger Woods.

Tiger has five victories already this year. And he didn't even enter a tournament until February, inactive for eight months while recovering from the ACL surgery on his left knee in June 2008.

Not long ago, May, even June, impatient with his lack of progress, we were wondering what was wrong with Tiger, wondering if he'd make it back to where he was, towering over golf. We have our answers. Tiger again has his game.

He won two weeks ago at the Buick. He won last weekend, if in a controversial ending, at the Bridgestone Invitational. And almost certainly he'll win this weekend, adding a 15th major to a total, which at age 33 will put him only three behind the career-record 18 of Jack Nicklaus.

Bad weather is coming. That was the forecast. A big wind, a sweep across the prairie, across the rolling country that used to be farmland. Could it be any more forceful than Tiger Woods crushing a golf ball, crushing the opposition?

When Woods and the other two in his threesome, Padraig Harrington, the defending champ and a shot behind Tiger, and Rich Beem, were on the green of the par-five 606-yard second hole, a ball came bouncing toward their feet. It was hit by the Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, his second shot.

"He apologized," said Tiger. "Nothing to apologize for...to hit it that far is phenomenal. I used to be able to move the ball (like that). Not anymore. I just plod my way around, shoot 67."

Tiger, the guy who walks with his head down, who almost never acknowledges a congratulatory yell or a friendly wave, was having fun. The confidence is nearly palpable. He can toy with the opposition. He can jest with the media.

Whatever happens -- and the thought is something good will happen, as it usually does when Tiger is in full flight -- Woods has a new perspective. A year ago, he still was recovering.

"I was just trying to walk without a brace," he recalled. "I wasn't very good at it but trying to get a bit of flexion at the time. And walking in a pool and all those things. But I couldn't do much of anything."

He can do virtually anything he wants now. On Thursday he got around a course listed at a ridiculous 7,674 yards but in actuality probably set up 150 to 200 yards shorter, without a bogey.

"Yeah," he conceded, "I played really well. I hit a bunch of good shots, and this round could really have been low. I missed a bunch of putts."

No sympathy will be extended. Golfers always talk about what might have been. But for us there's no need. We reflect on what was. For Tiger that would be excellence, if not quite perfection.

He's not the only player on Tour, although sometimes the television ratings contradict that idea. There are other superb players: Harrington, who has three wins in majors; Phil Mickelson, although he struggled Thursday to a 2-over 74; Vijay Singh; Angel Cabrera; British Open champion Stewart Cink.

It's just that Tiger is in a league of his own. Years ago, when Jack Nicklaus set a ridiculously low scoring record at the Masters, the late Bobby Jones said of Jack, "He plays a game I'm not familiar with."

We're familiar with Tiger Woods' game. It's remarkable and dominant. But it's not good enough for Tiger. He may be the best, but he keeps trying to be better.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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© RealClearSports 2009

Newsday: Tiger eyes gold after golf gets Olympic boost

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

Tiger Woods has plenty of gold already. But he now might be in line for a gold medal.

The International Olympic Committee executive board, meeting in Berlin Thursday, recommended golf and rugby be added to the sports for the 2016 Games. The full IOC will vote on the final decision Oct. 9 at Copenhagen.

"I would love to play for the rugby team,'' joked Tiger, after shooting a 5-under par 67 for the first-day lead of the 91st PGA Championship. "No, I think it's great for golf. We're long overdue to have it in the Olympics. Our sport is a global sport.''

Woods would be 40 at the time of the 2016 Games but said unless he retires, he likely would play. His support was credited with giving golf the boost it needed to make the cut over sports such as baseball and softball.

"I can't overstate the importance of that,'' said Ty Votaw, a PGA Tour official and executive director of the International Golf Federation's Olympic bid committee.

"Tiger being involved . . . is very important,'' said Votaw, "as is the support of the top players.''

Padraig Harrington, the defending PGA champion who played with Tiger and finished a shot behind him Thursday, said if golf is included it should be stroke play, 72 holes, like a major.

"I think,'' contended Harrington, the Irishman who also has won two British Opens, "in 100 years time the Olympics could be the fifth major . . . It's only once every four years, So in time it could become the premier event in golf.

"I believe the best players will turn up. It's not too many players, even a dominant one, who are going to get to play more than once or twice because of the time frame. So 72-hole stroke would bring out a true winner.''

If golf is accepted, adjustments would have to be made to the global schedule, possibly revising dates for either the Ryder Cup or PGA Championship.

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/tiger-eyes-gold-after-golf-gets-olympic-boost-1.1368873
Copyright © 2009 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday: Tiger stays in the groove and leads PGA by one

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

The questions are different now for Tiger Woods. Nobody asks what's wrong. They only wonder if he's playing better than he ever has and the man -- The Man -- appears to be doing exactly that.

A winner the last two weeks, Tiger hasn't lost any momentum. He'll never lose his fixation for success.

"If you don't think you can win,'' Woods has said again and again, "then why enter?''

At the 91st PGA Championship at Hazeltine National in the suburbs ofMinneapolis, Woods has once again entered the zone.

Woods didn't win any of the three previous majors this year, and missed the cut in last month's British Open, but that problem should be corrected shortly.

Tiger on Day 1 shot a 5-under par 67 and is a shot in front of one of his playing partners and the defending champion,Padraig Harrington, whom he overtook Sunday in the controversial ending of the Bridgestone Invitational.

Six golfers are tied for third at 3-under 69 -- Robert Allenby, Mathew Goggin, Hunter Mahan, Alvaro Quiros and two who like Woods and Harrington have won PGA Championships, Vijay Singh and David Toms.

U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover is at 71, British Open winner Stewart Cink 73, Phil Mickelson 74 and Masters winner Angel Cabrera 76.

The day belonged to Woods, and there's no reason to think the tournament also won't belong to Woods.

"It's always nice to get off to a quick start,'' understated Tiger, who hasn't done that of late, averaging 71.8 in the opening rounds of his last five majors, and winning only one, the 2008 U.S. Open.

"I feel pretty comfortable if I'm playing well,'' Woods said. "There are times I've put it together and had some pretty good margins of victory.''

His game Thursday -- five birdies, no bogeys, only 29 putts -- is evidence this may be one of those times.

"Tiger looks like he's playing well,'' agreed Harrington after his second straight round with Woods in two different tournaments. "If he's moving away, I want to make sure I'm moving with him.''

On Sunday, in the Bridgestone in Akron, Ohio, Harrington, going head-to-head with Woods, got flustered when the two were put on the clock because of slow play. He took a triple-bogey 8 on the 16th hole, and surrendered the lead and the tournament to Tiger.

That was Woods' 70th PGA Tour victory, third all-time to Sam Snead's 82 and Jack Nicklaus' 73. That was Woods' affirmation that somehow, some way he will win.

Unless, of course, he misses the cut as at Turnberry, which he has turned into an asset.

"I had that nice little rest there after the British,'' he quipped, "I have plenty of energy.''

Seven years ago Tiger finished second in the last PGA held at Hazeltine, a shot behind Rich Beem who yesterday, in the threesome with Woods and Harrington, had a 1-under 71. It was presumed Tiger would play well this time, if not as well as he played.

"It's something I've always believed in,'' Woods said. "The first round, just keep yourself around. You don't have to be eight under. Just got to keep plodding along.''

His plodding looks more like sprinting.

When Woods, Harrington and Beem were on the green of the 606-yard, par-5 11th hole, a ball bounced up. It was hit by Quiros, the Spaniard. His second shot, a driver off the deck.

"He apologized,'' Woods said. "Nothing to apologize for. I mean that's stupid long, isn't it? It's just absolutely phenomenal. I used to be able to move the ball like that. Not anymore. Just plod my way around and shoot 67.''

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/tiger-stays-in-the-groove-and-leads-pga-by-one-1.1368897
Copyright © 2009 Newsday. All rights reserved.

SF Examiner: Untainted Tiger truly a positive sports hero

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

You want a positive force in sports? Someone who makes headlines for reasons other than being accused? Someone who keeps himself at the front and keeps the rest of us in his thrall?

That man is The Man, arguably the most successful athlete on the planet at the moment and unquestionably the best golfer in history, Tiger Woods.

Tiger has his flaws, mostly a potty mouth. He can swear a blue streak, and it’s not in private. “Unfortunately, I do make mistakes,” he agreed, “and I hit bad shots and I say bad things at times. I don’t mean to. It just comes out.”

But that’s it. No shooting himself in the leg. No torturing animals. No performance enhancing drugs. Just a temper which at times is not under control. As we know, there’s a lot worse.

This is the final chance for Tiger in ’09, the PGA Championship. He’s 0-for-3 in the Masters, U.S. Open at British Open. He’s had a spectacular year, five wins, two of those the last two weeks. But without a major, can it be a spectacular year for Tiger Woods?

“It’s been a great year either way,” Woods said Tuesday. “For me to come back and play as well as I’ve done and actually win golf events, to say at the beginning of the year, when I was feeling the way I was, I don’t think any of us would have thought I could have won this many events this year.”

He was in the media tent at Hazeltine National Golf Club, some 20 miles southwest of Minneapolis, where the 91st PGA starts Thursday. He was in a good mood. And why not?

A year ago, Woods was on crutches, recovering from that ACL surgery on his left knee. A year ago, his career if not in doubt was full of questions.

Now it’s full of anticipation. Whatever he’s done, 70 wins overall, third most in PGA Tour history behind Sam Snead’s 82 and Jack Nicklaus’ 73; whatever he’s accomplished, victories in 14 majors; Tiger is not satisfied. He wants more.

The way Joe Montana wanted more Super Bowl victories. The way Michael Jordan wanted more NBA titles. Which is understandable.

Greed not only is acceptable in sports, it is demanded. An athlete must be driven, as is Tiger Woods.

In 2000, Woods won nine tournaments, three of them majors. A few years later he was reworking his swing, making changes which he believed would make improvements. Yesterday didn’t mean as much as tomorrow.

If the Tiger of nine years ago played a hypothetical match against the Tiger of the present, someone asked, who would come out on top?

“I would win now,” meaning the Tiger of ’09. “I know how to manage my game a hell of a lot better than I did then.”

It will be interesting to see how he manages at Hazeltine where in the 2002 PGA he finished second by a shot.

“Oh, man,” said Woods, “the course is in phenomenal shape.”

So, it appears, is Tiger Woods, the untainted sporting hero.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Untainted-Tiger-truly-a-positive-sports-hero-53006307.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Tiger Controversy Is What Golf Needs

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

CHASKA, Minn. --This is what golf needs, a good controversy that involves the unquestioned best player in the game.

Maybe the people who dote on scandal and debate will decide indeed there is more to the sport than handshakes and kind words.

These are times of action, and about the only action in golf is bending over to pick a ball from the cup. Golf then must do it with reaction.

Like the reaction of Tiger Woods to being charged, along with playing partner Padraig Harrington, with slow play in Sunday's final round of the Bridgestone Invitational over at Akron.

Tiger's in a bigger event this week, the 91st PGA Championship, which starts Thursday at Hazeltine National some 20 miles southwest of Minneapolis. He's trying to win his first major of the year. He's also still trying to defend his criticism of a rules official at the Bridgestone.

Tiger's the big dog. When Tiger barks, everybody hears. Tiger barked loudly after winning the Bridgestone.

He and Harrington, coming down the stretch, separated by a shot, were put on the clock by John Paramor, a European official working the tournament because it was a World Golf Association event. In a timeless game, Tiger and Padraig were being timed, threatened by a fine and a penalty stroke.

Harrington apparently rushed his chip shot from behind the green on 16 and the ball bounced into a pond. He ended with a triple-bogey 8, losing four shots to Woods, the lead and finally the tournament. Padraig stayed silent. Woods did not.

"The way I understood it,'' Woods said Tuesday, "we were the only two in contention. We had separated ourselves. The winner was not going to come from the groups ahead. It was going to come from our group, and we were having a great battle.''

Forty-eight hours earlier, Woods stated, "I'm sorry John (Paramor) got in the way of a great battle, but that happened.''

In his defense, Paramor said the twosome was 17 minutes behind the preceding group on the 16th tee, and the warning was deserved.

On Monday, a day later, there was a story that the PGA Tour, in its speak-no-evil ways, had fined Woods for his remarks. But Tuesday Tiger said he was not fined. Neither was he fine.

"I thought they could have used better judgment,'' Woods said of being put on the clock. "It certainly influenced us in how we played and influenced the outcome of the tournament, and that's not how you want to have a tournament come to an end.''

Harrington, the defending PGA champion, was less critical than Tiger but hardly less displeased.

"As regards to what he said,'' explained Harrington, "I think it's easier for having won the tournament to take the moral high ground and say what he wants. Having lost the tournament, I'm going to take it on the chin and say it was my mistake.''

Which, literally, it was. Hassled or not, flustered or not, a player as good as Harrington, who has two British Open wins along with his PGA, is not supposed to lose control.

The people in charge of golf shudder at this stuff. They deem golf a gentleman's game and attempt to cover up any misfortune or disagreement.

At the Masters, there's a booklet with a quote from the late Bobby Jones warning fans not to cheer a player's errors. The Tour last winter refused to confirm that John Daly had been suspended, even though he had been.

But golf is better off with controversy. Baseball, football, basketball, and even tennis thrive on it. All of a sudden, you have Tiger Woods talking like a low-key Ozzie Guillen -- standing up for what he thinks is right and getting as much attention as for his marvelous play.

Woods has won five tournaments in '09, a year that begin with him still rehabilitating the June 2008 anterior cruciate ligament surgery on his left knee. Two of those victories have come in the last two weeks. However, none of those victories has been in a major.

"For me to come back and play as well as I have,'' said Woods when asked if this still would be a top year without a major win, "and actually win golf events, to say at the very beginning of the year, I don't think any of us could have thought I would win this many events.''

Told that previously he wouldn't have thought it was a good year without a win in a major, something that hasn't happened since 2004, Woods answered, "I've said that in the past, but I didn't have ACL reconstruction either.''

He had it. He's back. And he's letting golf know, with his game and his comments.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/08/11/tiger_controversy_is_what_golf_needs_96447.html
© RealClearSports 2009

RealClearSports: Aaron's Right; Time to let Pete in the Hall

By Art Spander

The right man made the right statement. Nobody in baseball, in sports, is more admired, more respected than Henry Aaron. If he says Pete Rose belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame, where Aaron long ago was placed, then Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame.

"How long does a person have to die?'' was Aaron's rhetorical question about the lifetime ban against Rose.

Rose, at 68, lives, but as a pariah, an individual whose accomplishments in uniform remain tainted by his arrogance in going against the code and wagering on the sport while managing the Cincinnati Reds. Then denying his sins.

Rose has more base hits than anyone in history. He played the game with a petulance. He was Charlie Hustle. Now he's Charlie Humbled, having agreed 20 years ago, 1989, to never again being involved in any way with the sport from which he cannot be separated.

"I think the thing that bothers me,'' said Aaron, "is (Rose) is missing out on a lot of things. He made a mistake. I don't know what else can be done or what else can be said.''

We've heard a lot about mistakes lately, about athletes accused or convicted of acts that in the context of society are much worse than gambling. We understand the sports we watch, the games we follow, are built entirely on integrity, that when there's a doubt if a team or individual is trying, there's no reason to care.

But Pete never fixed any games. Or beat up any women. Or abused any animals.

It's a different sport with a different issue, but if the NFL can forgive Michael Vick, reinstate him, allow him to have that so-called second chance we're always hearing counselors and coaches and parents contend is the American way, then why can't baseball finally forgive Pete Rose?

What do think is worse? What Michael Vick did to those pit bulls? Or what Pete Rose did to baseball?

These are complex times, not only in sport but our world as a whole. Our values have been tossed around, by the financial system, by our revised thoughts on what matters, to a point where the judgments of today sometimes have no relevance to those of the past.

Ponzi schemes and steroids and scandals in virtually every political arena offer a different perspective. Is Aaron, with his 755 pharmacologically unassisted blows still the lifetime home run champion, or is it Barry Bonds and his 762, even though he apparently had the advantage of the performance enhancing drugs prevalent in Barry's era?

The Hall of Fame's roster includes individuals who, to borrow the old Jim Murray line, were less than a group of choir boys. Ty Cobb, as you've been told, was a sociopath. In the old days, baseball had its supply of brigands. And gamblers.

Aaron said he would like to see these steroid guys have an asterisk by their name and their numbers. Why not do the same for Pete Rose? The man is a Hall of Fame baseball player -- the main street in Cooperstown, N.Y.,  has one shop after another selling Rose paraphernalia -- even if he's not a Hall of Fame person.

Contrition never has been his style. Neither, remind his critics, has been honesty. For years Rose denied he had wagered on baseball, but finally in 2004 on ABC-TV news, Rose conceded, "I did. That was my mistake for not coming clean a lot earlier.''

The confession was neatly timed with the release an autobiography, "My Life Without Bars,'' and skeptics thought the whole setup was just an attempt to sell more books. As if he and his publishers were unique in that plan.

Without the admission, in print, in conversation, there wouldn't be any chance Rose merely could be considered, much less put on a ballot. Now, five years later, there's been no progress. Until Aaron's suggestion.

There's talk the commissioner, Bud Selig, so opposed to lifting the restrictions on Rose, has had discussions with Aaron, who played for Milwaukee when Selig was the Brewers' president. Maybe Selig is softening. Maybe not.

It's time for baseball to soften, time for baseball to confront reality. For a generation, Rose has been separated from the game he played with a vengeance and such success.

If Hank Aaron, an individual of great honor, believes Pete belongs back in the game and then in the Hall of Fame, that should be good enough for the rest of us.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/08/06/aarons_right_time_to_let_pete_in_the_hall_96443.html
© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Bay Area due for a turnaround

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Football season doesn’t begin with the romantic nonsense that surrounds baseball, of spring and flowers and summer in the future. Instead it starts harshly, pragmatically, sometimes with broken bones, and in the Bay Area of late, with broken dreams.

Our impatience has reached a limit. We don’t need any more tales of the way it was, of Joe and Steve, of Marv Hubbard and the Mad Stork. We’ve been living in the past or living with potential. Neither has been fulfilling.

Time flies when you’re having fun. Also when you’re miserable — or your teams are miserable. In Northern California they certainly have been.

Six straight years now since the Niners or Raiders had a winning season. Six straight for either. Six straight for both.

It didn’t used to be this way. It shouldn’t be this way. When does it stop being this way?

August is when NFL franchises sell hope in horribly large doses. Frank Gore, we’re advised, has fresh legs. JaMarcus Russell is telling the media the opposition will be wondering “‘What are they going to do on this down, pass it or run it?’ Either way, we’re going to kill ’em.”

Since 2002, when the Raiders went to the Super Bowl and the Niners to the playoffs, they’ve been killing themselves. They had too many coaches and too few victories. They’ve had promotional campaigns, which is the way of the world in the 21st century, but they haven’t had enough substance.

Alex Smith or Shaun Hill? Russell or Jeff Garcia? It doesn’t matter. It’s not who, it’s how. Is there a quarterback out there who can win games? A quarterback who can make a change?

Who cares if Alex’s hands are too small or JaMarcus’ girth is too large. They aren’t in a beauty contest. To reuse the cliché, there are no style points, just points for touchdowns.

The coaches, both in their first full seasons, Tom Cable of the Raiders, Mike Singletary of the 49ers, are careful with their words, tough with their demands. A bad coach can lose games. A good coach, however, can’t necessarily win games.

The attitude is right, the preparation is correct. Which means very little. Show me a team that concedes it wasn’t well-schooled or a team that admitted it was unprepared.

Winning is about making something — making putts, making baskets — in football, about making plays. When you’ve had six straight losing seasons, about the only thing you’ve made is a mess of things.

Since the end of ’08, when each team finished with victories in its final two games, there’s been a lot of hyperventilation about what 2009 is going to bring. This is the year the Niners find success. This is the year the Raiders find improvement.

A skeptic wonders. Six straight years of losing makes anyone cautious. In August, yes, things appear better than they’ve been in a long while, but how will they look in December?

When we get that answer, we’ll know whether this was the season that made a difference or just another in a world of sporting failure.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Bay-Area-due-for-a-turnaround-52487192.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Legalized Sports Betting Is Inevitable

By Art Spander

Legalized sports gambling is coming. Bet on it. There's opposition from the leaders of the pro and college leagues. You already know that. It doesn't matter.

This isn't an issue of being pure and saintly, it's an issue of reality, an issue where already one state, Delaware, said it will allow wagering on NFL games and a gubernatorial candidate from another, Christy Mihos of Massachusetts, would hope his state follows the lead.

The worry is games will be rigged, that organized crime will call the shots, that when gambling becomes legit in other places, as it is in Nevada, sports will lose their integrity, and without that there's no reason to play because there's no reason to believe.

Yet as you already know, gambling, particularly on NFL games, is universal. Illegal, but universal. Point spreads, that's all we ever hear or read about. Are the Patriots six over the Bills? And we're told those spreads, out of Vegas or Atlantic City or Reno, keep things honest, because if the numbers change dramatically everyone from NFL security to the tavern owner who distributes the cards gets suspicious.

The country is going broke. States are hopelessly in debt. California, for one, is unable to pay teachers or health care providers and others who make our society what it must be. Taxes on gambling would help play those workers.

It's the economy, stupid. It was a campaign phrase in 1992 and never has lost its significance. When employment is down, foreclosures are up. Legalized gambling sounds a lot better than the fire department dropping 50 people because it can't afford them.

Americans are sometimes much too puritanical. And hypocritical. Great Britain has bookmakers every 25 feet, or so it seems, laying odds on everything. The British Open is a bettor's paradise, and names such as Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson were known to place a few quid on themselves over the years.

There have been no great scandals in the UK, at least for gambling, Plenty of sex scandals -- the Profumo Affair, as a start -- but nobody has questioned the Manchester United scores. On the contrary, every few years, some kid is accused of shaving points in an American college basketball game.

Pete Rose bet on horse races. And baseball. But did he ever affect the outcome of a game? The 1919 Chicago White Sox, the Black Sox, of which eight players who despised their parsimonious owner Charles Comiskey conspired to throw the 1919 World Series, are the ultimate example of how gambling can destroy sports. But their sport wasn't destroyed.

Joe Maloof owns the Sacramento Kings. Joe Maloof also owns a casino in Las Vegas. "When it's regulated,'' he told USA Today about gambling, "it's safer. There's no hanky panky.''

No attempt by an official, such as former referee Tim Donaghy, to make deals with gamblers.

The image the pro leagues want to exploit is of some guy with a cigar and pinky ring hovering over a quarterback an hour before kickoff. The hoods aren't going to be in control. Only a few days ago half the mayors in New Jersey were accused of taking bribes. Maybe we should rethink the idea of politics being legal.

And if the leagues are so concerned that legalized gambling will turn their sports into chaos, how come the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA, a league subsidized by the NBA, play home games at a casino resort? A lot of sleight of hand taking place.

"The hypocrisy is just mind-boggling,'' Ray Lesniak, a New Jersey state senator, told USA Today, alluding to the big four pro leagues. "The only reason they're objecting is they're not getting a piece of the action. Sports betting is legal throughout the world. Billions of dollars are bet here illegally in the U.S. It hasn't destroyed soccer and other sports overseas, and it won't destroy sports here.''

The NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball have asked a federal court to stop Delaware. If that doesn't take place, nothing and no one will stop sports gambling from becoming legal in every state.

Already, New York is terrified its citizens will jump in their cars and motor down the interstate, betting money in Delaware that could have been bet back home. The experts -- academicians, politicians -- already are making that point.

A decision has been made. Whether it's out of necessity or frivolity doesn't mean a great deal.

It's the difference of opinion that makes horse races, said Mark Twain. Gambling has been a major part of what made the NFL. Legal is better than illegal. Bet on it.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/08/03/legalized_sports_betting_is_inevitable_96439.html
© RealClearSports 2009

RealClearSports: Bonds is Looking Better Every Day

By Art Spander

Day by day, leak by leak, Barry Bonds keeps looking better and baseball worse. Bonds didn't ruin the game. Bonds didn't poison pigeons or fail to stand for the national anthem. He simply used performance enhancing drugs.

So, we learn, did a great many others, A-Rod, the Rocket, Manny and now, according to one of those anonymous reports -- this one on the New York Times web site, which makes it considerably more credible than others -- David Ortiz.

We may not be amused, but neither are we surprised, about the names or the fact the names keep being made public, despite promises no such things would happen.

Players, dozens of them, were tested in 2003 and told the results would remain secret. That would have been impossible.

If we know what's going on in the White House we're going to know what's going on in Bud Selig's House. You think those TV shows stay on the air because people don't like to talk?

Bonds now is insignificant. We went after him and his silent partner, Greg Anderson, the trainer, so long ago it's almost ancient history. Mark Fainaru-Wada and his then San Francisco Chronicle colleague Lance Williams left no syringe unturned. We acted like the sky was falling, then shrugged.

What's falling now are other names into place, the latest of those Ortiz and Manny, who in 2004 combined to help the Red Sox win their first World Series in 86 years. And just an aside, you think any of those self-righteous Boston fans would give back the title because, like the Bonds homers they yelped about, it might be tainted?

The line forms on the right. Soon there will be more stars who used what daintily are known as "performance enhancing drugs,'' or PEDs, than didn't. It was common practice. It was, some will argue, a necessity.

In their book, "Game of Shadows,'' Fainaru-Wada and Williams insist what pushed Bonds over the edge was watching Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in their magical run in 1998 and bristling that the two were getting more attention than he.

Barry got his attention and his home run record. Does it deserve an asterisk, as Hank Aaron, who held the old mark, contends? Maybe. But Selig, the commissioner, is loath to tarnish his legacy. So there aren't going to be any little stars next to a name with the notation, "Was thought to have put something into his body besides milk and honey.''

Players took steroids. Baseball did nothing to stop them until it was too late. Back in the 1989 World Series, the one in which an earthquake had us much more frightened than a little thing like illegal substances, somebody mentioned a drink called the "Canseco Cocktail.''

In theory, Jose -- looking, well, bulked up -- was ingesting stuff that enabled him to hit that shot into the third deck of the place now called Rogers Centre but then known as SkyDome.

How naïve. He wasn't taking things orally, he was taking injections in his bottom, not that the method was of such great importance.

After the New York Times disclosures on Ortiz and Ramirez -- revelations, they're not -- Canseco said he wasn't surprised. Neither was anybody else, Jose. But we have to find people willing to give their opinions, and inevitably when drugs and baseball are involved, Canseco appears as an expert witness.

The probability that anyone who starting in the mid-1990s hit a lot of balls over fences was artificially enhanced has turned into a very good one. The probability that those major leaguers who agreed to be tested "secretly'' in 2002 will be outed is an excellent one.

The feds, knowing all too well that steroids were illegal in America, if not America's national pastime, seized the results of the tests. Now newspapers are seizing the chance to make everyone look bad.

The Times says its information about Ramirez and Ortiz "emerged through interviews with multiple lawyers and others connected to the pending litigation." The lawyers spoke anonymously, the Times said, because the testing information is under seal by a court order.

Barry Bonds has a different problem. He's being hounded by the government on charges of perjury, the U.S. claiming he lied under oath when in December 2003 Barry said he never used the stuff.

But the guess is that Barry never will come to trial. And who cares anymore? He took his grief. He was the Lone Ranger, the one who stood alone until it seems there was no room left on the list for all players who were guilty. The line forms to the right.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/07/30/bonds_is_looking_better_every_day.html
© RealClearSports 2009

RealClearSports: Only in New York, the Mets Mess

By Art Spander

It was the great golfer Lee Trevino who correctly told us never to complain about what you shot. Ninety percent of the people don't care, he said, the other 10 percent wish you had been worse.

So it has been with this situation involving the Mets front office, something more Hollywood than New York. A team executive, Tony Bernazard, was fired after challenging minor leaguers to a fistfight. Then the general manager, Omar Minaya, blamed a New York Daily News reporter, Adam Rubin, for Bernazard's demise.

We know the rest of the country looks upon New York without sympathy. Troubles in Gotham? Most American sports fans wish whatever goes on would be worse.

"Tragedy," cracked Woody Allen, "is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall down a manhole. What do I care?''

Long Island didn't care because the Washington Nationals dispatched their manager, Manny Acta, recently. Yet, we're all supposed to be concerned about the Mets? New York believes so.

Everything in New York -- A-Rod's back, the unsold season tickets at the two new ball parks, the Knicks' inability to draft Stephen Curry who, heh, heh, was taken by the Warriors -- is supposed to be of national interest.

On the field, the Mets are perhaps the biggest bust in baseball, and who can ignore that collapse? But a personnel director challenging a group of minor leaguers because he didn't like their attitude? And then the GM getting into a grumping contest with a newsie? It isn't Iran or the U.S. economy, that's a given.

Unless you're a New Yorker. Then it's the only thing that matters. Unless you're a Yankees fan. My friend, Bill Madden, the sharp baseball guy from the Daily News, said the Yankees and Mets didn't have games as much as they had 162 incidents.

What Madden's paper said in the headlines on the back and front pages was "Smears of a Clown,'' and "Shirt Hits the Fan.'' And no matter what else, those lines are both telling and brilliant. Newsday bannered, "Big Apple Circus,'' while the Post, called it "Amazin' Fireworks.''

Why doesn't this nonsense happen in Minneapolis? Or San Diego? Or Cincinnati? If a Mariners executive lost his temper, would anyone in Seattle lose perspective? (Since the city is down to one printed paper, would anyone in Seattle even know?)

People screw up every day, in sports and out. You make a mistake, you correct the mistake, apologize if need be, and then move on. Except in New York. Nobody ever moves on in Gotham. Bill Buckner still is a villain or a hero, depending on your viewpoint. Twenty years from now Adam Rubin will be. In New York.

Reporters are told to tell the story, not be the story. Rubin blew that one. Rather, Minaya did. He contended Rubin wrote critical articles about the Mets because he wanted Bernazard canned so Rubin could get Bernazard's job. Now there's a new one.

Every journalist thinks he knows more than the GM or head coach or manager, but heaven help him if he actually accepted the position. Especially in New York. As the lyrics go, paranoia strikes deep.

Rubin confessed only that he didn't know how he was going to cover the Mets any longer. May I suggest with a couple of straitjackets and a hidden microphone? It's one thing when Fox News and Obama can't get along, but a baseball journalist and a GM? Help!

It's time for the Mets executives either to take a vacation or take a hike. These are ball games, not life-threatening decisions. What happened to the Mets big shots was that their team fell apart, which anywhere is looked upon unkindly and in New York is akin to passing military secrets to the Taliban.

When teams fail to meet expectations, even if the reasons -- injuries for example -- are legitimate, the sad souls who put them together, Minaya, Bernazard, et al, tend to fall apart as quickly as the ball club. For the past couple of years, Minaya was treated as both delightfully brilliant and pleasant. Then all of a sudden, he's accusing a lowly sports writer of conspiracy.

Panic is what it is. Understandably. Nothing can be approached rationally in New York, and so Minaya couldn't approach Adam Rubin's knocks rationally. There they were one of the most famous executives in baseball and one of the stars of a tabloid newspaper in a messy struggle.

How unfortunate. Or some might say, to borrow from Lee Trevino, how wonderful.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/07/28/only_in_new_york_the_mets_mess_96436.html
© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: A’s, Giants headed in opposite directions

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — The funny thing as one considers the progress of the local baseball nines, is that back in April, the belief was if either team could produce a winning record it would be the A’s. Goes to show what we know.

Maybe the Giants are not the surprise team in the major leagues, but they at least draw a few upraised hands when somebody asks for a vote.

And west of Citi Field, is there any franchise a bigger bust than the A’s?

The trades the last few days, one apiece, were a reflection of what the folks in charge think of their franchises. Oakland is always getting rid of somebody. In this case it was Matt Holliday. Conversely, the Giants are looking for help, not merely a way out.

Ryan Garko isn’t Ryan Howard, but seemingly he isn’t Travis Ishikawa, and Giants management believes the team will be better off with Garko, which we were told back in grade school was the whole idea of making a trade. Unless you were the A’s of recent vintage. Yes, Matt Holliday was brought in to be sent out. Was there any doubt?

Then again, when the A’s introduced Holliday and Jason Giambi at a media session last winter and then a few weeks later in Arizona brought in Nomar Garciaparra and Orlando Cabrera, there was a misguided thought Oakland would be less than embarrassing. Goes to show what we know.

There is no attempt here to make anyone believe Holliday is Mark McGwire, but the last time the A’s sent a power hitter to the St. Louis Cardinals it was the red-haired kid who would hit 70 home runs in a season. Sort of makes one wary.

When taunted about the Holliday trade, an A’s spokesman pointed out something about Oakland getting a potentially great young third baseman, Brett Wallace ... meaning he’ll eventually be sent to the Diamondbacks?

This is not to berate the continually berated and continually maneuvering Billy Beane — guilty, your honor — but when does the gerbil-cage wheel stop turning? Is Oakland ever going to hold onto what it has? Ever?

Long ago and far away, the A’s were champions. But so were the Raiders and 49ers. That bit of gloating, “No splash hits, four World Series,” is now irrelevant. No, the Giants haven’t won a World Series the 50–plus years they’ve been in San Francisco, but they’re trying.

The season ended weeks ago for the A’s. In Oakland, it’s always tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes. You can’t tell whether they’re at the beginning or the end or who will be showing up next February for introductions.

Over at AT&T Park, there’s a palpable satisfaction, although being miles back of the dreaded Dodgers is proof the Giants are in need of more than Garko.

San Francisco, we’re advised, has talent a year or two away from the bigs — Buster Posey, Angel Villalona, Madison Bumgarner — and yet we kept hearing thoughts like that about the A’s system. And Oakland is hopeless once more.

You can’t be certain, but the Giants seemingly have a future. All the A’s have is a past, and a potentially great third baseman.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-As-Giants-headed-in-opposite-directions-51963587.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: ESPN Rarely Exercises Caution, Why Now?

By Art Spander

So the world leader in avoiding stories it alone determines not to be true has had a change of opinion. Covering the civil case involving Ben Roethlisberger is, according to the announcement by ESPN, "the right thing to do.''

After, in tactics that would have impressed the old Soviet Union bosses, ESPN attempted to avoid all mention of the situation.

Which might have worked if the issue hadn't been covered in every daily television sports roundup and radio talk show.

The issue here is responsibility. It's one thing when a coach says his quarterback forgot the play. That's sports. It's something else when an individual is accused of rape. As was Kobe Bryant six years ago. As was Ben Roethlisberger a few days ago. That's life. Dirty, nasty, how-did-it-happen life.

There are two sides every time a well-paid athlete is accused of bedding a young woman who later claims it was against her will.

She knew exactly what she was doing, and now months later is attempting to hit the guy in the wallet big time, taking advantage of a reputation or a bankbook.

Or the jock, raised on entitlement, figured as in everything else from the time he was about age 15 the rules of society didn't apply to him and because he was rich and famous would never be prosecuted.

That another non-sports sports story involving ESPN, or at least announcer Erin Andrews, illegally photographed in her hotel room, was crashing some of the front pages at the same moments could only be described as fateful. One tale had nothing to do with the other, but they became linked.

July is a quiet month for sports journalism, meaning a bad month for sports journalism. Baseball is grinding away, relatively unchanged from the way it had been in May and June. NFL camps are yet to begin. The British Open, as compelling as the most recent might have been, is merely a blip on any screen.

So the smallest of incidents are overplayed, not to imply that what happened to Andrews was in any way minor -- it was disgraceful. And surely when a man who has won two Super Bowls, including the most recent, is involved, we're going to pay attention.

ESPN did just that. What it didn't do, until Wednesday, was treat the story the way it normally does when a sporting celebrity, say its special favorite, Terrell Owens, is involved. ESPN brings out the big artillery and big names, lawyers, former coaches, and studio analysts to attack our senses. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just around midnight, there's nothing left.

Conversely, with Roethlisberger, there was plenty left. ESPN, when the civil suit alleging sexual assault against Roethlisberger was filed in a Nevada court, issued a memo to all its outlets and reporters, "do not report.''

One feels sorry for Roethlisberger if the suit by one Andrea McNulty, claiming a year ago he lured her to his room at the Harrah's hotel at Lake Tahoe during the annual celeb golf tournament, is only an attempt at gold-digging.

One feels sorry for McNulty, a penthouse concierge, if her story that Roethlisberger demanded she fix a broken TV in his room and then attacked her is true.

One feels no less sorry for ESPN which, if it backed away from its responsibility as a news outlet only to protect its acknowledged relationship with Roethlisberger, lost more than a minimum of credibility.

It was July 2003 when Kobe Bryant was accused of persuading a concierge at hotel outside Vail, Colo., to come to his room. Now it is July 2009 when Ben Roethlisberger is accused of persuading a concierge at Nevada hotel to come to his room.

ESPN was all over the Kobe story, sending reporters and attorneys from Los Angeles and Washington as the trial unfolded. Maybe Roethlisberger never comes to trial. Maybe he doesn't deserve to come to trial -- although then again, possibly he does. But why the shift in ESPN's approach?

"Based on the sensitive nature of the story and other factors we mentioned,'' ESPN's Bill Hoffheimer told Pro Football Talk, "we initially exercised caution and did not report it.''

That philosophy is admirable, except it runs counter to the very existence of ESPN which, while most of the time does a fine job, rarely can be described as exercising caution.

The network delights in letting us know everything its workers accomplish, even when little more than "confirming'' a story that first appeared somewhere else, such as Fox Network or Associated Press.

You wish it would confirm why it treated the Ben Roethlisberger story in a most unusual manner, like not treating it at all.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And he has recently been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009. 

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/07/23/espn_rarely_exercises_caution_why_now.html 
© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Likeable Watson forced to deal with sting of defeat

By Art Spander
Examiner Columnist

Losing, we have been told, is the great American sin. But was it sinful what Tom Watson did at the British Open? Surely, it was disappointing. The idea in sports is to win.

The reality is that more times than not we lose.

“The taste of defeat,” wrote basketball star and U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, “has a richness of experience all its own.”

The memory of J.T. Snow hunched over and staring at his locker after the seventh game of the 2002 World Series forever will remain. Snow and the Giants had that Series won, had a 5-0 lead in Game 6. Yet they didn’t win.

And there was Snow contemplating what could have been, what Giants fans to this day believe should have been.

Tom Watson is very much a part of the Bay Area as the Giants and A’s and the rest of the franchises. He came from Missouri, but was a Stanford man ... still is a Stanford man.

No cheering in the press box is the yardstick to which American journalists must adhere. An event must be approached without bias. In this British Open, however, I cheered silently for Watson.

Not only because of his age, not only because a 59-year-old golfer finishing first in a major championship tournament would have been the sports story of the century, an irresistible tale of persistence and implausibility, but because in this world of fraudulence and dishonesty, Tom Watson is genuine, truthful.

In the winter of 1968 as a Stanford freshman, Watson for the first time competed in the San Francisco Amateur at Harding Park. In the match-play portion he hit an errant shot, into the trees, at the 10th hole I think it was, and after he putted out for what presumably was a par, he said he had moved the ball accidentally at address, thus had a bogey and lost the hole.

No one saw his transgression. The ball had remained virtually in the same place it had been. He received no advantage. But Tom Watson was governed by the rules of golf, as well as his conscience. For him, there was only one way to play the game.

Tom has had his moments, created his legacy. He won five British Opens, two Masters and then at Pebble Beach in 1982 in the U.S. Open. He was involved with Sandy Tatum and Robert Trent Jones II in the creation of Spanish Bay Golf Links on the Monterey Peninsula and has taken part in charity events at Stanford.

He can do without our tears, even though symbolically he deserves them.

Watson played so well for so long in the Open, until the last of the 72 holes, and then as the Bay Area, as America, as the world of golf winced, he messed up, dropped into a playoff and lost to Stewart Cink.

“This ain’t a funeral, you know,” Watson told a grim-faced pack of writers in what the Open still calls the “Press Centre.”

No, it was a defeat, supposedly enriching an athlete’s experience.

You looked at Watson as you did Snow back in 2002 and found that concept very hard to understand.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Likeable-Watson-forced-to-deal-with-sting-of-defeat-51368017.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company