Tiger Woods and Mike Tyson: eerily semilar

Tiger Woods is back!

Wait, what does that actually mean now? Yes, Tiger is back in action after undergoing surgery in March...but this Tiger bears no resemblance to the golfer that put on those smedium red Nike polo's on Championship Sundays. The golfer that trotted behind his putt shot...pointing at the ball as if to say....

"See what happens to you if you don't go in that hole".

The golfer that showed his emotions, that swore, that completely psyched out his opponents before he ever took a swing. The ultra confident and competitive golfer that dominated the sport, both on and off the green. It wasn't a matter of if, but when he would become the all time leader in majors victories.

You know, the one from all those video games. The one with no wholes in his game, or persona.

Where's that golfer?

The Tiger we've seen lately, even when healthy, strikes fear in no one. There's no yelling, there's no swearing. There's no swag. And most importantly, there are no more victories. In fact, Tiger had his worst finish at a majors tournament today. And he didn't even qualify for the last tournament, and that was a tourney that he personally hosted.

How could a player that was so dominant, so clearly superior to his peers, just lose it like that? Is it as simple to think that his "off the course" demise directly affected his "on the course" play?

Ask Mike Tyson and he might say yes.

In the mid 80's, a young unknown boxer invaded the heavyweight division. In those days, boxers had entrance songs, and wore those colorful "Rick Flair" like robes to the ring a la professional wrestling.

But not this young boxer.

No robe, no music, no fanfare. Just a cut up white towel draped over his shoulders and black shorts. Young Mike Tyson was all business, and his opponents knew it. I remember enjoying the referee's instructions during Tyson's bouts. The look in his eyes when the boxers came together suggested that pain was on the menu. The look in his opponent's eyes suggested they might just high tail it out of there.

But Tyson rarely gave them enough time to.

He quickly disposed of his opponents with Terminator like precision. Not only did Tyson become the youngest heavyweight champion in the world, he created a public persona that he was in fact a Terminator, a machine if you will. A man with no holes in his game, or persona.

Then it started crumbling.

First it was a highly publicized, and messy divorce to actress Robin Givens. Then came the highly publicized, and messy divorce with the training crew that helped him reach superstar status. Then his highly publicized, and messy fight with promoter Don King.

"Hey wait a minute, he's no machine. He's human just like the rest of us".

So it's no coincidence that Tyson's first loss as a professional (title loss to Buster Douglas in 1990) occurred right when his personal life was spiraling out of control....on national television...for the whole world to see. By the time his legal problems were behind him, folks were lining up to get a shot at Tyson. And they were beating him, too.

A career with so much promise, a career that had a potential to be best of all time status, came to a screeching halt. Out of the ring issues, which led to a shattered public image, played a huge part.

Which brings me back to Woods.

Let's be honest, Tiger Woods was on top of his game prior to the release of the salacious details regarding his personal life. The fact that he had no "holes" in his persona made the story massive. Not Tiger Woods...THE Tiger Woods?

You can imagine his post divorce tournaments. Opponents were now whispering among themselves..."Man he ain't so tough after all. He's human just like us."

Before we quickly dismiss this notion let's check his pre - post scandal tournament record. It's hard to overlook. It's not like he forgot how to play. Neither did Tyson.

But to his credit, he was able to make a nice career for himself post boxing, even though he never vindicated himself in the ring. It was largely because of his openness to becoming a caricature of himself. His ability to laugh at his mistakes, and the consequences of them, allowed us to laugh along with him. He seems ok with not becoming the best of all time now.

Tiger, on the other hand, has a ways to go before his career is said and done. But if he doesn't start winning soon, he may want to start working on some celebrity roast jokes of his own.