A Common Fan’s Sports Diary

Even the great Michael Phelps can't master all the swimming events - there are so many of them

One of the great sporting discussions of our times is to compare Tiger Woods and Roger Federer. This discussion inevitably spills over into a comparison of the sport of golf with tennis – so as to understand how the feats in one sport compare with another.

Someone who has a decent knowledge of both sports can make a reasonable comparison but most people don’t and that leads to some vague assessments

A lot of Federer supporters claim that the Swiss has now won majors on all surfaces whereas Tiger hasn’t won on all the golf courses that he’s played on.

Another often heard argument is that Fedex usually ends up in the top 4 or top 2 of any tournament that he plays but Tiger often ends up way down the leader board.

Anyone who knows both sports will tell you that comparisons between them are not so straightforward.

I have often tried to explain the same to people; reasoning that the two sports require vastly different levels of versatility. Mostly I have not managed to get my point across for lack of a good analogy.

Finally I think I have a decent one.

Golf is like the sport of swimming. There are four different styles and races involve different distances. There are races which even involve a combination of all the four styles. All combine to create more than 20 events with a different challenge for each race. Fundamentally you are doing the same thing (swimming) in each race but each one of them requires a different kind of physical conditioning, training, preparation and tactics. There is no one who has managed to master every kind of race over his or her lifetime.  The greatest of them all, Michael Phelps, has managed to win six individual events at one event. If we wanted to and gave it his all, he could master any race but thanks to the time and effort it will take, he won’t be able to master all of them in a single life.  It is impossible and that is how it will forever be.

Tiger Woods could also master any golf course if he wanted to – he could make alterations in his game and gain familiarity for the course through regular practise. But to master all of them, it will take more than one life.

Scherbo and Federer mastered every challenge that their sport had to offer

Tennis on the other hand is like gymnastics. There are six routines and then there is the all round event. Again the basic requirements for all are the same but each is different in terms of the preparation, practise and planning it takes achieve mastery over it. But the fact that there are only six of them ensures that a really talented gymnast can master all of them. Vitaly Scherbo won a world or an Olympic title in each of the six events and won the all round too. It’s not easy and it takes a special talent but it can be done.

Roger Federer has also done a Scherbo, winning major titles on every surface. But like the gymnast he too had a lesser challenge in terms of the number of variables he needed to master.

Vitaly Scherbo’s complete mastery over gymnastics doesn’t make him a greater champion than Michael Phelps, who hasn’t conquered everything in swimming.  And that is exactly what we need to understand whenever we are engaged in a Federer- Woods discussion.

Tiger could have been the best caddy in the world

Recently, John Abel had Tiger Woods caddy for him. And Tiger like a true sport went the whole hog as a caddy – carried the bag, handed over the clubs, the balls and the towel, held the flag when Abel putted and offered the usual caddy advice on what club to use and what line to follow on putt. While he is expected to do a good job of the last task, he did not disappoint Abel with any of the others either.

John Abel was truly in Sports Fans’ heaven

I would love to be the guy on the green

The unique role of the caddy in golf was the singular reason John Abel got to experience this – I don’t there is anything else which can quite compare to this

No other sport has anything like a caddy – someone who is completely involved in the game without any involvement in the playing part – someone who makes you feel like a king

The best you can do in other sports is be coached by a superstar player or play with one. But what fun is it to play with someone who is light years ahead of you in terms of talent. Would you really enjoy Tendulkar smacking you all over or Roger serving ten aces in a row?

I wouldn’t.

Fedex needs to learn from the guy on the right

On April 5, 2007, Jeev Milkha Singh became the first Indian to play at the US Masters in Augusta. This event is the golfing equivalent of Wimbledon. Two days later, he went one better. He is now the first Indian to make the halfway cut; being placed a creditable 15th after two rounds. He has held his own against the best players in the world, tying with world no 1 Tiger woods, and being comfortably ahead of no 2 Phil Mickelson. Well done, Jeev.

The day after, however, there is collective ignorance of this massive achievement. The BCCI meeting and UP polls are all over the media waves, and Jeev fails to get, even an honorable mention.

His glorious title winning run made many head-lines last year. The achievements of other golfers like, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa, have also been well documented. So, how come, nobody took notice, while history was being made on the hallowed greens of Augusta National?

It’s called the affliction of cricket. The media, for all their rhetoric on, ‘thinking beyond cricket’, seems beset with a similar cricketing myopia.

I’ am not going to let that bother me, though. I will be cheering for Jeev all night, as our man goes in pursuit of further glory. All the best to you, Jeev