Sports thoughts
Tiger Woods is back and so is all the excitement. He has wrestled with all his demons, straightened himself out physically, and more importantly raised the golf ratings on TV so high everyone wants to watch.
This is America, a place where a large majority forgives and forgets the transgressions of our heroes. Tiger is not alone; American sport fans have accepted fallen and tragic heroes before in the NFL, NBA and MLB. Unless they land in prison, we seem to root for their ascension back to glory.
Some fans don’t forget. Maybe the athlete in question committed acts that would ruin a person’s life. A commission of a felony pretty much wipes the average person out of the job market, but we are not talking about average people. Whatever you believe is OK with me. My only thoughts on sport heroes today are they are put under a microscope and hounded, overpaid and have a legion of reporters waiting for the fall. Tiger in red on Sundays will bring millions to golf.
Speaking of millions, millions of people are tearing their hair out or their March Madness brackets up. Enough upsets for everyone. I know that there were not many a dry eye in Yuma, when the Cats went down. Don’t feel bad, people in Virginia are still walking around in a daze. The winner of your local pool may be the secretary, who knows nothing about basketball, but likes the name of the school, or her second cousin’s child went there.
Is there parody in college basketball? Sure looks like it. I think it’s good for the sport, especially when its been dragged through the mud, exposed and investigated. I get a kick out of all the elite in the NCAA becoming alarmed by money transactions between players, coaches and sports companies. It’s been going on for ages and where there is money to be made, nobody is better at it than American entrepreneurs.
When you talk about ages there is a group of young swimmers in Yuma who are heating up the pools around Arizona and Southern California. The Yuma Heat (sorry, bad pun) is a group of about 100 swimmers ages 3-14. This group not only teaches kids to swim, but teaches them to compete against the best in the state. These boys and girls finished third in the Arizona Junior Olympics. This meet featured swim clubs that numbered over 80 teams. Keep your eye on the Yuma Heat, I’m sure our Yuma High Schools coaches are.