Story of the Year? Only Tiger can be No. 1
Sports editors called steroids the biggest story of 2009. Theirs, of course, was an intriguing choice last week, but it was a choice that, frankly, seemed out of step with the prevailing trend.
For the steroids story is as passé as disco dancing and polyester bell-bottoms. Steroids might have been a headline-grabber, oh, two or three years ago, but at this point in a tale of sports figures' going bad, the story doesn't resonate; it's a tired report that soon will have its eulogy read.
In sports and in American pop culture, the story of 2009 was Tiger. Yes, it was the year of the Tiger -- as in golfer Tiger Woods.
What other story proved bigger?
For Tiger's story was a profile of what has been the undoing of sports today: greed and privilege. His story speaks to the entitlements stars have come to demand.
No doubt, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz shined a spotlight on steroid abuse. Their connection to performance-enhancing drugs was the latest link to a problem endemic to Major League Baseball for the better part of the 1990s and early 2000s.
Their names were no bigger, really, than other names that have had the taint of 'roids attached like goose barnacles. Men like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Andy Pettitte, Gary Sheffield and Mark McGwire are as big as any names of this generation.
But nothing about steroids is fresh stuff; the issue isn't news anymore, despite what sports editors said. The public has kicked around 'roid abuse for longer than it should have.
To most people, steroids - and the athletes accused of using them - are a yawn, because baseball fans had moved on. Their thirst for more news about it had been quenched years ago. There was nothing new that came from exploring the topic further, aside from the disclosure of names that should have been revealed years ago.
To stack this topic next to Tiger is to compare a biplane to a Boeing 787 or a Tandy 100 to a Macbook Pro.
Story of the Year?
Please!
Tiger is this generation; Tiger is now -- today. Tiger is ESPN, VH1, MTV, TMZ, The National Enquirer, Us, People, The New York Times and every other media that cover sports and celebrities.
No story of celebrity, outside of Michael Jackson's macabre death, riveted this nation in 2009 more than Tiger's infidelity has. The story has opened the life of the world's richest athlete to scrutiny. The story has taken readers place where they never hoped to go.
They couldn't get enough of Tiger. They wanted to know more about him and his lovers. Nothing about him was off-limits, which is why the airwaves were Tiger Woods 24/7.
Pick the TV network, and Tiger's face was plastered on it. His face was there because it stood as a classic fame to infamy saga, one like O.J. Simpson, McGwire, Clemens or any number of fallen celebrities -- sports or otherwise.
The deconstruction of a superstar is always news, and what happened to Tiger Woods is news of the freshest kind. That alone makes his story worthy of heading anybody's seriousl list of top sports stories.
Stacked next to steroids, Tiger at No. 1 is an easy call.
