Sick day…
So, it looks like Sunday was the official “The old guys just ran out of steam” day today – first, Tom Watson and than later on, Lance Armstrong. I don’t know if Lance can make up that 1 minute and 30 second time difference he has and, from the interview he gave to ESPN, it looks like he might be resigned to that fact.
Still, if he should finish the tour at second place (where he is now), that should be a HUGE victory especially given all the inner team turmoil his team was dealing with… would Lance still be in this position if he was on a team where HE was the leader? That’s a debate for people who are more experience or knowledgeable about bike racing than I am and I’m sure that will be brought up time and time again from now until the next TDF. It will be interesting to see what will happen next year if Lance decides to ride again.
And Tom Watson’s run was quite an amazing story. It’s just sad that there seems to be quite a few sports columnists out there that think what Tom did yesterday was a joke – or at least shows how unspectacular golf is right now. It’s amazing how we can look at one person’s sports achievement and marvel at it (like the 40 year old female Olympic swimmer whom I can’t seem to recall her name at the moment), yet we can look at another sport achievement and ridicule it for the exact same reasons.
The crazy thing about sports is its unknown and unpredictable nature – no matter WHAT the sport might be. Simply because an elderly athlete is “in the zone” for a particular sporting event doesn’t mean that sport is a joke – it just means that that guy or gal rose to the occasion on that particular day, week or Olympic where others couldn’t. Where is the criticism of Tiger not making the cut? Or Micholson being with his wife as she recovers from breast cancer surgery? Did any of these events help pave the way for Tom Watson’s remarkable run this weekend?
No.
Tom Watson was responsible for his own remarkable run this weekend.
Sometimes, great things happen in sports. No matter what the age, race or gender of the participate.
I we should relish and appreciate those moments. Not criticize them.
Just my own two cents on the matter.
-Chris
