Fathers and Sons

Hey everybody,

According to blogger.com, this is my 40th post. Part of me wants to say that I don't have time to celebrate because there's so much further to go, but the truth is we should all take the time to enjoy our achievements and blessings. So thanks you guys, and happy belated Easter.

*Fathers and Sons*

For the record, I don’t think anybody could’ve been madder than I was watching Tiger Woods put the Green Jacket on Phil Mickelson than yours truly. Not for the reasons you think, however (well, maybe, ha ha).

I like to think Tiger and I have more in common than just the fact that we are viewed as ‘black’ (put in quotation marks b/c Tiger is of multicultural descent) men working in professions that are notorious dominated by whites. We’re both considered talented by our peers, enjoy and study our craft endlessly, and have hairlines that have begun the receding process before their time.

Oh, and this other thing…which brings me to the point of this blog.

Our road to success has been positively paved by the patience and persistence of a patriarchal presence.

Being able to say that in the midst of the lot of you is likely to bring mixed emotions…on the level(s) of relationships with one or both parents. I like to think that everyone has what could be considered their ‘voice of guidance’…something that they might associate with a parent, aunt, uncle…everybody has their someone. Thing is, for me, and likely Tiger…the ‘voice’ we hear when we’re at our best and worst is likely the old man’s voice.

That ‘voice’…I know for me, I’ve spent a lifetime hearing it. Also, it’s been well-documented on this site just how much my father and I can be at odds…and yeah, sometimes I don’t like the cat.

For Tiger, there’s the appearance on the Ed Sullivan show at 2. There’s teen Tiger…pretty much all of Tiger’s life, his father is somewhere around, presence felt.

Which brings us to 2006. Tiger’s words on Tuesday, April 4, 2006:

Well, it was important for us as a family, because for dad -- my dad couldn't make it out to the golf course, but at least he was able to travel. That's no longer the case. Hey, if anyone can fight and grind it out, it would be him. He's as tough as they come. It's always been a very emotional week for us as a family because my first year here as a professional, my dad, actually he was dead, and then somehow they revived him and they had complications in his surgery. He wasn't supposed to come here anyways but somehow came and gave me a putting lesson and I putted great.

This has been a very special week for us as a family.

Tiger had to deal with his father’s ailments, amongst a number of things at Augusta National, and it was interesting seeing his resilience at the course. It’s always fun and enlightening seeing someone master their craft, whether it’s Tiger, MJ, Ralph Wiley when he was here…but why leave it at sports(writers)? Oprah’s media run is sheer brilliance, and I can’t help but think that my man Dave Chappelle is smart enough to be able to bring reverence and humor to real-world topics.

But back to golf. People like myself, and most everybody else, wants to make dominance in golf seem as easy as dominance in any other sport, but I beg to differ. Especially at the Masters, you’re not only competing with other golfers, and dealing with the mental and physical conditions of 72 holes, but you’re also competing with nature itself.

What other sports can say that? Yes, a lot of outdoor sports, but I don’t think any sport forces you to be at a mental and physical peak like golf (I may regret saying that later, ‘cuz long-distance running is a beast).

Now, with all of that said, why would I be mad when Tiger put the Green Jacket on Phil’s back?

Because it seemed to me on Sunday that my man Tiger was listening to every voice but his father’s on Sunday. Maybe it was the rumblings in the gallery, the sound of a number of golfers making a serious run. Maybe it was the sound of pipes bursting from the pressure that comes from being the no. 1 golfer in the world.

Or maybe it was a faulty putter that betrayed him, where putting is the staple of Woods’ game, and where his father’s influence is best portrayed.

And especially at Augusta National, putting is everything. Anyone who’s ever won there did so because of great putting.

Here’s hoping that in the near future, Tiger (and myself) will tune out the doubters, and try to take advantage of patriarchal advice.

Epilogue:

Q. Did you bring anything of your dad's this week to have some part of him with you and do you still have that ball marker he gave you?

TIGER WOODS: I still have it, yeah.

Q. Do you carry it with you?

TIGER WOODS: No, I don't carry it with me on the course, just in case I lose it. I've been known to lose things every now and then. I don't carry it with me when I'm playing, no. But he's always with me.

Q. Over the years we've heard players make swing changes and sometimes they backfire because they are trying to get to another level and it doesn't quite work. How have you been able to channel those things into getting to another level without that happening to you?

TIGER WOODS: Well, having a game plan. You know it's not going to happen overnight and you have to have a belief in what you're doing it's going to be right in the end, and you have to have stepping stones.

Sometimes the people watching me, whether it's media or fans or whomever who are out there, they may not see the stepping stones and the building blocks. But if you hit one good shot today, it's more than you hit yesterday and if you hit two today, that's heading the right direction, and don't have any setbacks along the way.

As I've done this a couple times since I've turned pro, I think that's the whole key is I kept building and building and building and believing in what I was doing. So it's more of a long-term project.

Things a father understands, to be sure.

The Good Doctor

Guess who's going to the Masters

Hey everybody,

Just finished watching the Tournament final at work, and I know all the cats in Gainesville...pretty much everybody in Florida's jumping on the bandwagon right now...and congrats to those guys. Sorry Westside...

Well, anyway, this week's gonna be great. Don't know how many of you guys keep up with sports, especially golf, but where I'm from we associate the first or second week in April as Masters week.

Quick background: pretty much the most prestigious tournament in golf. It's almost surreal that the tournament is held in Augusta because I'm (to make an understatement) REALLY FAMILIAR with the city of Augusta, and some areas just don't give off the lofty air that Augusta National (the golf course) does. It's really exclusive also, and the 'old money' air seeps ever so slightly to outsiders.

Interesting enough, the Aiken Standard actually has some perks. I'm fortunate enough to be able to tell you guys that I'll be covering the tournament...yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah boyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, ha ha ha ha ha!

It's going to be a trip, and I want to share it with you guys. Every day I'm out on the course, I'm gonna take pics of the experience, just so you all can see how really beautiful it is. Kind of a Masters diary of sorts...should be fun to keep something like that up with the BLOG crew. Going to exclusive places, for some reason, always makes me feel militant, as if I'm breaking some ground that hasn't been broken before. In some ways, that's EXACTLY the case. For me, personally though, it's just one of those occurrences I feel happens on the way to something really special happening in life...you know, the feeling you get when YOU KNOW you're making moves quickly. A priceless feeling, one that I try to have every morning that I wake up. Shout to my homegirl, and this quote she had about what she's thinking when she gets up in the morning...

"5 more minutes."

Sounds like UCLA, UConn...U get the point.

Just to shut down the madness for good, I want to congratulate the King of Links on his tourney prognosticating, as he won BOTH the espn.com and yahoo.com tournament pools we did. Actually, he tied in the espn.com pool, but whatever. Dang you mayne...

Well, while I'm here, might as well drop my opinion on certain topics...two in particular.

First off, I really want to hear what you guys are thinking about this situation at Duke (the lacrosse team), and also about Cynthia McKinney's altercation with an officer in Washington.

Originally, I wanted to do a post about the lacrosse team at Duke called 'Stripping down the Truth at Duke'. I wanted (well, want) to try to look past the contempt for Duke, and the penchant of the media to make it (a race issue and things of that sort...which will ultimately cloud the issue enough) -see O.J., Kobe- where it may get these guys off scot-free. I wanted to look at how the stripper lifestyle has been popularized by entertainers like T-Pain and such. How in videos by Lil' Wayne and Juvenile, and in lyrics by Kanye West, it's portrayed that stripping is a viable, dang-near acceptable way for young ladies to pay their tuition. It's a risk-free, sure-fire way to make a quick buck and not be disrespected, right?

Try telling that to the young ladies in Durham, N.C.

Not saying that I'm accepting or being lenient on what these guys at Duke have been accused of...but what I want to say is that situations like these should make us evaluate being in love with strippers, being in love with the lifestyle, or selling our souls even shorter just to work under somewhere else after we get out of school.

Oh wow, kinda digressed there...but you guys get my point.

For those of you guys that really know me, I'm going back to school in the fall. Well, I guess that was for everyone. The thing about going back is this...I've learned so much in the time that I've had out of school, just about the work force, and about not being taken advantage of. It's also been interesting seeing my friends with degrees and the trials that they're having looking for jobs...you know, the post-bachelor's thing. As a result, I'm convinced that going back to school and doing my thing in conjunction with a degree is my PLAN B. I'm saying that to say it's so important for me, and maybe for you guys reading this, to understand that nobody OWES US ANYTHING. I mean, cats come out of school with the degree thinking they running ish, and they lose the hustle that inspired them through school. For you guys in grad school, got love for ya, keep doing ya thing.

Wow, I REALLY DIGRESSED, ha ha.

But my heart goes out to those young ladies, because they (like New Orleans and this rallying going on, dang it) are being used as pawns in a bigger game. The thing that tipped (and ticks) me off, (is/was) that people in Durham are more focused on the racial slurs thrown at the young ladies as opposed to the actual rape. About New Orleans, and I HAVE TO SAY THIS, where were Jesse, Al, Bill, and the rest of the gang when Katrina was making MUCH NOISE on the Gulf? Right. And now they're worried about whether people can vote? Uhhhh, do all of these people have a place to stay? Steady source of income? Stuff to eat? I think those are more pertinent issues than punching a ticket. Folks in N.O. and those of you guys that have folks in La., let me know if I'm on point with this...just want to know for sure if that's the truth from how you guys are looking at it.

Oh yeah, Cynthia McKinney. Punch this link, and we're gonna talk later.
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=77991

The Good Doctor

More where that came from on the Duke situation and on Cynthia, and other surprises. Hope I see a bunch more of you ladies and gents this week. Later.