Not Out of the Woods

American hype is not to be believed. Literally. According to American mythology, if an American is not involved predominantly in something, it's not worth anything. You can see this very clearly in sports: if an American is not the dominant figure, very little, if any, attention is paid to it in U.S. media.

Or, as is the case now with Tiger Woods, the media insists that the sport "needs" him. Really? According to this theory, if Woods were to die, golf would disappear from the face of the earth. Well, for the past six years, in which he hasn't won a major tournament -- and by the looks of it , he may never win another one -- golf has done just fine.

This reminds me of the time when John McEnroe took six months off to take care of his newborn son -- the one who was arrested for drugs recently -- and when he came back, he was never the same player and had to retire soon after. Then, it was said that men's tennis "needed" McEnroe. Well, guess what?

A sport is bigger than any one player, no matter who he or she is. And that includes the ones from the USA.

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