Let's Get Some Perspective On This "Tiger's Knee" Business
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This is not a knock against Tiger Woods. I find it impossible to root against the guy, as he is a rare superstar that consistently gets good press and love from the fans. Not even an MJ, A-Rod or Tom Brady could remain as socially bulletproof as Tiger. Brady has three Super Bowls, but the Brady lover and Brady haters cancel each other out. The Tiger haters are severely outnumbered, despite the fact that no one on this Earth can touch his talent level.
I can't hope he loses in today's US Open playoffs, although Rocco Mediate is the hometown kid. I went to college a stone's throw from Greensburg (Latrobe. Arnie Palmer, anyone?). So I'll be pulling for Rocco, but a win by Woods wouldn't cause me to run off into a hissyfit. Hell, halfway through yesterday's round, I went out and bought one of Tiger's G2 beverages (ed. - I just found out that Gatorade Tiger and G2 are two separate drinks upon returning from the store. Yesterday, I tried the 32 oz. Quiet Storm. Today, its the same-size Cool Fusion), primarily because I hadn't ever tried one and most reviews I had heard said it tasted like the opposite of absolute dog shit (absolute cat shit).
So you know where I stand. Until Tiger brutally murders a family of 4, he can do little to no wrong in my book.
With that being said, everyone needs to shut up with this bullshit surrounding Tiger's knee. Honestly, on a Google image seach for KNEE, Tiger appears in 7 pictures on the first 2 pages.
He's so courageous. I can't believe he's golfing with a sore knee.
Shut up. Shut up right now. With all the hooplah about Tiger's surgically-repaired right knee, I found myself constantly watching said knee to see if the damn thing was going to implode upon itself. Was he going to take a shot and have the bone rip through the skin based on the amount of twist his shot gets?
I'm no expert on golf. Sure, I've taken lessons, gotten to the course from time to time and absolutely love to hit the range, but I don't know the type toll 72 holes puts on the body. I'm no expert in surgery, too. Aside from a few oral surgeries when I was a tyke, I'm a stranger to scalpels and the like.
Still, I'm amazed by the press Tiger's knee has gotten. Tiger had arthroscopic knee surgery to repair some cartilage two days after the Masters. Recovery time, according to Wikipedia:
Usually a patient can fully load his leg already within a couple of days and after a few weeks the joint function can fully recover. It is not uncommon for athletes who have a beyond average physical condition to return to normal athletic activities within a few weeks.
The Masters was over on April 13th. Tiger had his surgery 2 months ago. And you should take this in the least-gay way possible, but Tiger is ripped. Look at Lefty and Tiger side by side and tell me who is in a state of "beyond average physical condition."
But Nick, isn't this PSaMP? Why does this have to do anything with Pittsburgh?
Well, Rocco is Tiger's opponent in today's playoff. But more importantly, other Pittsburgh athletes have had the same procedure, and haven't been pampered the way that Tiger has.
Three years ago, Josh Miller, PUNTER for the Steelers, had the same surgery and expected to miss two weeks maximum. This is a dude who uses his legs/knees to kick for a living. And punter's are in arguably equal physical shape to Tiger.
But what about more high-risk players. Later in that same season, Ben Roethlisberger had arthroscopic knee surgery. He missed two weeks of games. If I was a betting man, I'd have put money on a golfer coming back from arthroscopic knee surgery faster than an NFL quarterback!
Now, for the sake of fairness, the Steelers lost the first three games in Big Ben's return. However, the team went on the tear of all tears, winning the Super Bowl as the Wild Card.
So what's Tiger's deal? Is the concern over his knee a mere media fabrication to help more people sympathize with Woods? Then what of the grimaces? Is Tiger just a wuss? How can a quarterback, who is the sole focal point of an entire defensive line, recover from a surgery in 1/4 of the time it takes the world's most physically fit golfer? I don't get it.
As I've said, this isn't me knocking Tiger. I can't fault him if he wins today, even though he'd have to beat the fan-favorite, local elderly guy in Rocco Mediate.
But can we quit it with all the nonsense surrounding Tiger's knee?
5 comments:
The media is making a giant deal out of this, just like Paul Pierce's injury earlier in the NBA finals. At one point Paul was in a wheelchair and last night he played the entire game. I admire his resiliency, but how bad could it have hurt origionally? Puss
Woods has buttloads of money, so he probably could sit back and let his knee heal completely, which is a wuss move. 2 months? ridiculous!
Ryan Malone takes a puck to the face (after already having a broken nose) and misses one shift. He gets no national media pub...same as hockey in general...retarded
Go Rocco
"Arthroscopic" just refers to the method the surgery is performed I believe. It's done with an "Athroscope" which means they just cut little slits in your knee and run equipment through them to perform the surgery with as little damage as possible.
It doesn't indicate what work they will do on the knee- there are several differnt surgeries that can be performed with this method.
I think it is safe to say different surgeries require different recovery times. So it's a little difficult to group them all together, as in this case.
That being said- I have no idea what Tiger's surgery was for. You could be right.
domski - Yeah, i coulda went into that angle as well, but then the post woulda read like a thesis or something. Had to cut it off at some point.
marc - Can't fault him. He played out of his mind. Moved up from 157 in the world to 47. He was always a favorite of mine, seeing as how I grew up just outside of both Pittsburgh and Greensburg.
Anon - According to this , Tiger had cartilage repaired. Big Ben had a lateral meniscus tear. As I said, I have no way of knowing the extent of both injuries, but it seems to me like Ben's was a more pressing case. A tear versus slight cartilage damage. The Woods link expected him to miss 4 weeks. 2 months later and people are still talking about it. Not to disrespect Tiger, and I have all the respect after he won in the fashion that he did, just trying to figure out this hooplah.
So...season-ending surgery now. Do you have an update?
I too thought he was embellishing a bit and even said during Saturday's round, "if he withdraws here or misses the British, only THEN will I believe the grimaces and winces."
I kinda believe the seriousness now. I still wonder why he hasn't recovered though. Does seem like a long time.
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