AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2008 > February > 28 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USHank Aaron: Tiger Woods’ domination unprecedented
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
It takes greatness to put greatness into perspective. So as the PGA Tour becomes even more of a showcase for You Know Who with everybody else sitting a few monster tee shots behind, who better to describe the extraordinary ways of Tiger Woods than Hank Aaron?
At 74, and enjoying his 33rd year in retirement as baseball’s magic owner of 755 home runs, Aaron has made golf his sport of choice these days. “Well, I’m just a Saturday and Sunday golfer, and I’m not crazy enough to bet somebody any money,” said Aaron, laughing on Thursday after working out at Turner Field.
As for Woods, the winner of his past six tournaments overall, including three straight to begin this season, Aaron walked the course that day in Milwaukee 12 years ago when Woods made his pro debut. It turned the baseball Hall of Famer into a fervent Woods watcher and admirer. The Tiger Slam. The 13 major titles, including four at Augusta. The latest streak for Woods that continued after his annihilation of Stewart Cink in match play last weekend for a 63rd PGA Tour victory. The sliding past Arnold Palmer on the all-time wins list.
The inevitability during every tournament featuring Woods that he is not only going to win but romp.
It’s a combination that has Aaron calling Woods the most dominating athlete in sports history. “I don’t know of anybody who would be better,” said Aaron, a lifelong Cleveland Browns fan who even placed Woods ahead of the Browns’ icon of the 1950s and 1960s.
Yes, that guy.
“As great as Jim Brown was, and as great as Michael Jordan was, and as great as anybody you’d want to keep mentioning, I don’t know of anybody who was as great at his sport as this man is now,” Aaron said. “I mean, he’s totally incredible. He’s phenomenal. Sometimes I hear people say, ‘He’s lucky.’ Well, you can throw that talk out. You can be lucky and good, but he is absolutely good. Even when he’s way ahead, he wants to make every putt and every golf shot as perfect as possible.
“I don’t know of anybody who has ever played any sport who was able to concentrate as much on perfection at all times as Tiger Woods.”
Somebody was close: Aaron, who did everything well enough with his bat, glove, arm and legs for 23 seasons to rank with Willie Mays and any Yankee great among baseball’s most complete players ever for those who weren’t juicing. You also had the sensational likes of Muhammad Ali, Carl Lewis, Wayne Gretzky, Magic Johnson and Mark Spitz in other sports.
None intimidated their peers as much as Woods. Consider, too, that professional golf never has been deeper in players who are better than good. It hasn’t mattered, because Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and the rest have needed to be better than great to approach Woods territory.
“Tiger is great, and there’s no question about it, but I think his competitors are so amazed by his greatness that they forget to play the golf course. They play Tiger Woods,” Aaron said. “I’ll tell you this right now: They’ll never beat Tiger Woods, because the only person who’ll ever beat Tiger Woods is Tiger Woods.”
That said, Aaron remained his eternally consistent self. For instance: He always has said records are made to be broken, including his old mark for homers that was surpassed last summer by artificially inflated Barry Bonds. As a result, it was logical for Aaron to say somebody will shatter Woods’ slew of records someday, but Aaron said as much with an asterisk as big as the one next to Bonds’ name.
“I think Tiger is going to put things so far out of reach for records that it’s not only going to take somebody very special to come along, but the game is going to have to change,” said Aaron, referring to the need of more explosive balls and new-age clubs to enhance a golfer’s game.
It’s just that all of those things also would enhance Woods’ game, which is a frightening thought.
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By The Official Terence Moore Scorecard!!!
February 28, 2008 8:28 PM | Link to this
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the official Terence Moore scorecard. The scoring grid is as follows:
Making a man ‘chuckle’: 2 pts Reference to the Oakland Raiders: 1 pt Reference to the San Francisco 49ers and/or Bill Walsh: 2 pts Reference to The Big Red Machine, Pete Rose and/or Joe Morgan: 2 pts Reference to Notre Dame: 2 pts Invoking the name of Art Shell: 25 pts Using the term ‘greatness’: 1 pt Using the term ‘goodness to greatness’: 3 pts Discussion of racial issues: 5 pts Endorsing a black head coach/GM: 3 pts Referring to UGA fans ‘barking’: 2 pts Sentences with five or less words to enhance signifigance: 3 pts Making a positive comment about and ATL pro team: (-2 pts)
TM Chart: 30+ pts: Worst Article Ever Written 25-29 pts: Goodness To God-Awfulness 20-24 pts: Touchdown Jesus Is Weeping 15-19 pts: Chuckle-worthy 10-14 pts: Bill Walsh Would Be Proud 5-9 pts: Is this Really Steve Hummer?? 0-4 pts: Someone’s Been On Jim Rome Is Burning Too Much This Week Negative Points: Best Article Ever
Today’s Article: 8 pts. Is this Really Steve Hummer??
An early flow of points and a hearty laugh…followed by squadoosh!!
By alcoholic
February 28, 2008 8:28 PM | Link to this
your a racist piece of %^$#
By Slick
February 28, 2008 9:01 PM | Link to this
Great article…totally agreed. The only thing that is keeping Roger Federer’s name off the list is his inability to beat Rafeal Nadal on clay.
Tiger’s greatness is hard to fathom.
By good piece
February 28, 2008 9:13 PM | Link to this
Terence,
Nice column. I like it that you get out and talk to Hank now and then.
I think I might take issue with your position that golf is deeper now than it’s ever been. In the 70’s Jack Nicklaus was going up against the likes of Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Tom Weiskopf, Johnny Miller, Gary Player and Hale Irwin. I’ll take that team over the guys you mentioned.
By gtwareagle
February 28, 2008 10:34 PM | Link to this
Sorry, but even considering clay court, I put Federer ahead of Woods.
By Jedi Falcon
February 28, 2008 11:20 PM | Link to this
Tiger is an excellent golfer. Hank Aaron was a great baseball player. Thanks again for stating the obvious.
Slow day at the AJC, I guess.
By Me
February 28, 2008 11:23 PM | Link to this
Roger Federer isn’t on the “all-mighty, great” list because he is white. This is an article intended to celebrate black sports players.
Say what you will, but if Tiger Woods was white Hank Aaron or Terrence Moore wouldn’t care less about him.
By AFnPC
February 29, 2008 4:05 AM | Link to this
Terrance, I appreciate your including Mark Spitz and Wayne Gretzky…What about Lance Armstrong? Rowdy Gaines? Some other white dude that was great but will never make it in your column…Call Rev. Al and JJ, get’em to bolster your article…Oh yeah, and when are you gonna switch over to politics and compare Obama to MLK Jr, Andy Young, Maynard Jackson,and just for a splash, JFK?
By PoliticalMan
February 29, 2008 4:45 AM | Link to this
If Tiger could have or would figure out how to hit the driver consistently, his records would be far more mind-boggling. Agreed - his competition is not that great compared to Nicklaus.
I put Lance Armstrong up there. Remember winning 7 tours in a row after near-death cancer. Most people have no idea what its like to ride a bike fast in the mountains for 2100 miles. It’s beyond comprehension.
By wdw
February 29, 2008 7:14 AM | Link to this
Roger Federer is the most dominting in a sport ever. Tiger is the greatest in golf, and probably will be forever. But in golf no one is trying to give you a bad shot and making it tough on you. In tennis you do have an opponent making things though on you. Federer’s shot making skills and physical conditioning, in a tougher sport that he has dominated without question for years, easily makes him the most dominating athlete ever.
By Boots
February 29, 2008 8:22 AM | Link to this
I agree. I’ve never seen anybody so dominate his opponents and sport the way Tiger has. And, the amazing thing to me how Tiger finds a way to win even when he’s not playing well.
If Tiger can remain motivated and avoid injury, he will surpass “Slammin’ Sammie” and set records that are as incomprehensible to golfers as Richard Petty’s 200 NASCAR wins.
Tiger will become the first billion dollar athelete.
Go Tiger!
By Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker
February 29, 2008 8:39 AM | Link to this
Great article Mr. Moore! I copied Hank Aaron’s hitting stance when I saw it on the Cover of Sport magazine many decades ago.
I will say that Tiger gets his incredible ability to focus and think from his Mother who is Asian. He gets his physical ability from his Father. What incredible genes!!
By White Guy with Half a Brain
February 29, 2008 9:47 AM | Link to this
Nice article, Terence. Worthy of a much better class of reader than many of those posting here.
By lookatyourself
February 29, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this
It’s funny how people (the posters) bring race into the picture more than Moore. Take a look at yourselves before criticizing others.
By Keeping It Real
February 29, 2008 10:49 AM | Link to this
The article is intended to celebrate the athlete. I am sure that Terrence left off some of the great white athletes just to get a rise out of some of the yahoos out there. Once again he is doing his job and doing it well. Keep writing Terrence so that I can get a laugh out of some of those who dislike you so much. It keeps me focused.
By JustAnotherGuy
February 29, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this
Well, you do have to consider Nicklaus.
As Ben Crenshaw states on the commercial for the golf HOF, Nicklaus won a ton of majors, and just missed winning what - 39 more? by one shot or so, finishing second.
That’s the equivalent of finishing first or second at 57 majors. There are 4 per year…that’s the equivalent of finishing 1st or 2nd in every major for 14+ straight years.
Tiger won’t match that. The fields are much stronger now.
I do think it would be very interesting to have known what Nicklaus could have done with today’s equipment, today’s course quality, etc. He might have been just as dominant.
By BullDawg Rick
February 29, 2008 11:19 AM | Link to this
Nice write TM..
While I agree Tiger is the most dominate golfer - ever, he’s not the most dominate ATHLETE ever..
Golfers (Tiger and maybe a dozen others on Tour are the exception) are NOT athletes… They walk 3 - 5 miles a day.. They do not even tote their own sticks.. They have great hand-eye coordination & mental skills.. If that’s “athletic” then chess players are world class athletes..
By zippy the clown
February 29, 2008 11:27 AM | Link to this
tiger vs. federer - once again (and i was quoted by sports illustrated), you can’t really compare the two…..if federer loses before the final day, he goes home, but not woods (assuming he makes “the cut”)……tiger never gets his heart rate above 140 bpm whereas federer lives above that range…..folks, golf is a GAME, tennis is a SPORT……i’ve played both - tennis is work while golf is leisure….the question as to which man is more dominant, well, we’ll have to let history determine that since both are still playing and both appear to be ready to make solid runs for the most majors…and don’t start comparing how many majors - obviously tennis is tougher physically so age is a huge factor….tennis players rarely play past 30-35 while golfers play into their 40’s & 50’s…..also, look at the #2 player in each “sport”, nadal is a finely tuned athlete while mickelson is a paunchy fat boy….’nuf said…..
By TradeAndruw
February 29, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this
Terence Moore’s crappiness is unprecedented.
By PoliticalMan
February 29, 2008 12:25 PM | Link to this
You want to talk about dominance, how about Dick Butkus or Wilt Chamberlain. The Stilt in his heyday was unstoppable. The man averaged 50 pts a game for a season. Now it is a big deal when someone scores 50 in one game. How about Pistol Pete for three yrs. Average 44 a game for his entire LSU career before long shots counted 3. Would have averaged at least 55 if threes counted. All these guys are great athletes. Tiger may be somewhat of an athlete which may partly account for his dominance. But he is not a Jordan, Maravich, etc.
By dt3k
February 29, 2008 12:44 PM | Link to this
Tiger Woods is only as black as black people make him out to be. He doesn’t claim to be black or even African American for that matter, it is extremely offensive to call him Black, because he is not, He is multi-racial, his father is Black, Native American, Chinese, and his mother is from Thailand, how is that an “African-American”, give me a break. If I was mutliracial and people kept calling me black I would be offended because I feel that is disrespecting the other races that I represent.
By Glenn Paul
February 29, 2008 6:32 PM | Link to this
Why does everything in this town become a discussion of race. It is really a shame we cannot offer intelligent opinions without interjecting race. And by the way, blacks did not create the rule on who is or who is not black, whites did. An offspring produced by a black and a white or a black and an Asian or Hispanic is considered black. Tiger Woods has the right to call himself whatever he wants but America views him as black no matter what he believes. I personally wish we could arrive at the point where we are all human, to hell with race!
By Lee
February 29, 2008 7:45 PM | Link to this
Hank Aaron and Tiger Woods. Two of the most over-hyped figures in sports history.
By Keeping It Real
February 29, 2008 7:57 PM | Link to this
Go to bed Lee. You need your rest.
By Nazaru
February 29, 2008 9:27 PM | Link to this
According to anthropology we are all African Americans. Anthroplogist have long agreed that mankind originated in Africa and migrated to the rest of the globe. Why so much racial hatred towards TM? He may just be your distant cousin. :-)
By golfdude
March 1, 2008 3:21 AM | Link to this
So, it’s been over ten years since Tiger came out and the one issue I’m struggling with is , why isn’t there a single African American player that has emerged as any type of a legitmate professional since then? My current working theory is this, no one in the community wants to be compared to him, so why even try. As long as Tiger is competing not a single black player will emerge. Only when Tiger is edging up against his last few years and only if he wants to take someone under his wing, that happens to be black, will it occurr. Sad mysterious reality but apparently true.