Rock Bottom

All your success has come piling down. All the bad decisions that you have made have come back to bite you in the butt. It has happened to everyone. If you haven't experienced "rock bottom," don't worry. Your time will come. I have hit rock bottom quite a few times. Even the greatest people of all time have had to suffer at some point or another. One of the greatest athletes of our time has now officially hit "rock bottom." Yes, I'm talking about Tiger Woods. He fired his caddie, friend, and rock Stevie Williams. That separation has signaled the end of what Tiger once was. However, those that have gone through similar situations, such as Kobe Bryant and Michael Vick, have shown Tiger how to rebound from life's darkest hour. He just needs to take care of business. The rest of the world just needs to accept whatever becomes of his reincarnation.

New swing. New coach. New body. New living arrangement. New life. Now add new caddy to that list. As I have mentioned time and time again, we currently live in a world of instant gratification. We want success now. We are impatient, and we are spoiled by success. Most of us don't know how to handle disappointment. Yes, Tiger has not won in almost two years now. People don't want to accept or embrace the fact that he has gone through a slump like this before. I am certainly not dismissing the effect that the scandal has had on this current quagmire. This has been a totally different monster. However, Tiger can come back. I'm confident that he will. What does coming back mean?

The Tiger Era is over. It was not going to last forever anyway, even without the car crash, the knee problems, or the infidelity. From what I have gathered from my friends and others is that "Tiger will never be dominant again." Um, yeah, obviously. Let's be real. Tiger changed the game when he debuted. Players are now hitting the ball further. They're learning the game earlier. That means that the competition has stiffened up a little bit. Here are the facts: the only number that has driven Tiger's career is 18. He has 14. Jack won #18 at the age of 46. Tiger is 35. Golf is a sport that has no end in sight, proven by the Champions Tour, not to mention Tom Watson's timeless performance at the Open Championship two years ago at the tender age of 61. The bottom line is, no other number matters. If he reaches it, it won't matter how he got there, how many majors he choked, or how dominant he will never be again.

There seems to be a story of redemption nearly every time we open our eyes. There once was a basketball player who hit a low point in his life after he cheated on his wife and was almost sent to prison for sexual abuse. He redeemed himself by earning the respect of his teammates and harsh critic of a coach to win three more championships. There once was a football player who spent two years in prison for arranging dogs to fight and subsequently killing them. He served his time and came back to have his best year as a professional football player. Why can't we write a story about a golfer whose life went spiraling out of control because he committed mistakes, and he ultimately ended up at perhaps his lowest point? Why can't the story end with this golfer redeeming himself years later and becoming the undoubtedly, absolute best ever?

Those who understandably dislike Tiger Woods because of his actions on and off the course, I get it. I know you are laughing at his every wrong turn, every falter, every failure. However, the reality about this situation is that it's not over. If any golfer can reinvent himself, it's Tiger. He's done it before. He is too good not to. This is a complete overhaul. It hasn't finished yet. When it does, Tiger will be only a shell of his former self. Those of us who understand not only golf, but life, embrace what he will become. Those of us who have gone through the trials and tribulations, fallen and gotten back up, know that it will only be a matter of time. And when that day comes, those of us who believed in him all along, will ultimately revel in his accomplishments, while those who doubted him will only be able to scowl.

The next time I open my mouth about Tiger Woods, I will only need to say four words, "I told you so."

LeBron James v. The United States of America

Count 1: Taking talents to South Beach. Count 2: Winning not 5, not 6, not 7 championships. The USA has found Lebron James guilty on both. The thing about our "what have you done for me lately" society that we now live in, is that LeBron will be socially castrated whether he wins those rings or not. Why? It's a matter of jealousy and bitterness. If we can all be real about the situation, you may still hate the man, but maybe you can look at your own team, or self, in the mirror, and take care of your own.

Let's be real. There will never, ever, be another Michael Jordan. At least not in our lifetime. It's time to get over it. LeBron had the whole world in his hands a few years ago. We cheered him for attempting to bring his hometown a championship. After failure, we thought he would be back soon. Cleveland, along with everyone else in America who didn't have a die hard allegiance to a team, were Witnesses, myself included. Then in one foul swoop last summer, we all despised him. We, 99.8% of us despised him. The other .2% were people in Miami and myself.

I don't consider myself a Miami Heat fan. However, I admit, I want LeBron to succeed. I didn't think it would happen this year. The Big 3 almost exceeded my expectations. But the hatred from everyone else is a tad bit much, very distasteful, and quite annoying. This man did what he had every right to do, accept another job. I still maintain that the media stream had as much to do with the "Decision" as LeBron did. It was the media that was going goo-goo ga-ga in '08, claiming that the summer of '10 would be a free agency explosion. It was the media that chronicled every millisecond of LBJ's life since the moment he took off his jersey after losing to Boston in the playoffs. The "Decision" was the easiest way to answer the question that hundreds of thousands of people asked one person everyday. Did Boston care? Were the Lakers worried? No. Cleveland was bitter because they have been once again relegated to cellar dwellers in the NBA. Chicago was mad because they lost the contest. Everybody else was mad because they didn't have a chance. Get over it. Cleveland, your best deal to help LeBron deliver you a title was Antawn Jamison? You deserve to lose. Chicago, LeBron and D-Rose would have been a great 1-2 punch. You're doing alright without one of them.

Is LeBron guilty for teaming up with another superstar or two? Perhaps. But if so, he's not the only one. What about Clyde Drexler not being able to beat Jordan, so he goes to Houston to win a title with The Dream? What about Boston's Big 3 joining together? Did Shaq not go to Hollywood and win a few? What about the future of the NBA? Are we going to hate every player from here on out who decides he wants to go play somewhere else to win? It's not realistic. This is a new era in sports. This isn't the 1990s. This is the 21st century. We fire coaches after one season. We thrive on the instant fix. We have no perspective on the future. We want what we want, and we want it now. And because the Heat did not win the championship this year, he's a failure.

Guess what? LeBron's not retiring, at least for another 8 - 9 years. The Heat need more role players in order to accomplish their goal. Pat Riley doesn't like losing. We have not heard the last of the Miami Heat. LeBron didn't have his best showing in the Finals. He probably will be criticized until he wins one. It's not his fault. There's 11 other players on the Heat's roster that failed. Eric Spolestra failed to make adjustments. And let's give credit where its due. Rick Carlisle did a phenomenal coaching job. All the role players for Dallas progressively improved throughout the series. And Dirk, well, he went to another level.

Lebron has been excessively and repeatedly described as an arrogant asshole. If we step back and look at both of those words, we should find that he isn't the only one. Throughout the time of sports, those who have been pegged as the "greatest" of their field, have been arrogant at some point or another. Face it, you have to be even a little arrogant to be great. Those who are great and humble are in the minority. They include Peyton Manning, Hank Aaron, and others. And even they were arrogant at some point. Others like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, even Kobe Bryant, are cocky. They had to be in order to succeed. I thought that Kobe was a pompous prick back in the day. Guess what? He has 5 rings to show for it. Did you see Michael's Hall of Fame induction speech? That was the most self-centered speech I have ever heard. As for asshole, or bad person, that's just not fair. LeBron has not committed a crime. He hasn't cheated on his wife (Tiger, Kobe, many other athletes). He doesn't have a problem (Charles and MJ - gambling). All he has done is play a game. And all he did was switch teams. If that makes him a bad person, then look at yourself in the mirror. Nobody is perfect.

This season is all said and done. We overanalyzed, overwatched, overdid every single little thing that the Miami Heat did this season. Next season, let's just watch basketball, as fake and entertainment-driven as the NBA is. LeBron is guilty because of our jealousy and bitterness. Not because he did something wrong. His punishment: expansion of the "HATE HEAT" and "LeBum" population. Not even winning a title soon will drop the charges. I'm convinced he's OK with that. I have lived life not letting things that you cannot control bother you. I'm sure LeBron is thinking the same way.