As a still-developing takesmith, Iâve obviously grown to admire Stephen A. Smith for the extreme temperature of his views and the strength of his convictions. So when I saw heâd given a First Take monologue on Tiger Woods and the state of golf fandom, I opened my ears and strapped in for the ride, ready to take some mental notes.
By the time I finished listening, I tried to untangle my freshly-blown mind enough to write a response. Here now is a line-by-line breakdown.
Stephen A. Smith: Ladies and gentleman, trust that I know this.
Dylan Dethier: Okay, Stephen A.! Gimme some truth!
SAS:Tiger Woods has won 79 official PGA Tour events. 14 majors. Heâs 14-1 all time with a lead or share of the lead heading into the final round of a major.
DD: Incontrovertible.
SAS: At his height, he was the greatest golfer weâve ever seen. his long game, his short game, and everything in between was just surreal. Again, I know this. And the fact that he was black in a sport that was never known for being too welcoming to folks with a darker hue only made Tiger Woodsâ accomplishments that more riveting, that more mesmerizing. Bravo brother (clapping), hats off to you.
DD: YES! Transcendent player. Invaluable to the game. Couldnât have put it better myself.
SAS: Having said thatâ¦
DD: Uh oh.
SAS: Can we say this: that was a long time ago? Whatâs all the fuss about now?
DD: Uhhâ¦well, Stephen, remember all those things you said before? The guy with the wins and the surreal golf game and the unprecedented transcendent appeal? That guyâs back playing competitive golf! At a high level! Thatâs what all the fuss is about.
SAS: Tiger Woods just finished 12th in the Honda Classic event this weekend. Thatâs 8 strokes back from a sudden death playoff. He finished 8 over par in a three-hole stretch on the back 9 redesigned by Jack Nicklaus years ago.
DD: Yes, thatâs true! And what a week it was for Tiger, in just his third official Tour start in the past year. I think what youâre saying is that were it not for that three-hole stretch, thereâs a good chance Woods would have been right in the mix, possibly even in that playoff. As for the architectural history, well, sure, thatâs a nice touch too.
SAS: In other words, heâs nowhere close to what he once was and may never return to his old form. So what am I missing here?
DD: Whoops! It turns out that you were making the exact opposite point than I expected. Respectfully, Stephen A., I think what youâre missing is that Tiger Woods was the worldâs best player in 2013 and looks like heâs making a lot of progress in this latest comeback. I donât think anyone is arguing that weâll see him get back to the form he showed in, say, 2005. But heâs a heck of a lot closer than when he hobbled off the course a few years ago.
SAS: At some point the fact that Tiger Woods hasnât won a major since capturing the U.S. Open in 2008 and that he hasnât won at all since capturing the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 5 years ago in 2013 cannot be the storyline.
DD: Somewhere in here is a fair critique of the Tiger-reliant coverage plans of golf mediaâ¦
SAS: And if thatâs not going to be the storyline, why donât we stop playing games and get down to saying why? Itâs because Tiger Woods needs his mojo back. Itâs because he canât get it.
DD: Oh no, weâre going here? I donât think Tiger needs his mojo back so much as he needs his back back. The guy has barely played in years! Heâs four surgeries in, playing on a fused spine! I donât think mojo has been at the top of TWâs list of issues of late.
SAS: And guess what? Weâre all the reason why. What if we didnât care, yâall? What if weâd wrapped our figurative shoulders around Tiger Woods and said âmy man, we could give two cents about your personal life â just keep handling your business on the golf course?â
DD: I am not sure that wrapping our shoulders around Tiger and not giving two cents would have saved his back, nor his ACL, for that matter. Sure, it may have gotten his glutes firing a bit more easily⦠but this feels like a little bit too simple, doesnât it?
SAS: Who knows what may have come of that? Instead we placed our moral compass on his shoulders.
DD: Picturing Tiger with Flava Flav-sized compass hanging from his neck, weighing him downâ¦
Now look at us, desperate for Tiger to make golf interesting again for someone other than the avid golf fan, all because we wouldnât mind our damn business. Thatâs what we get for messing up a great thing.
DD: Okay, by now Stephen A. has worked me into a mental pretzel and Iâm not sure I can get out. Maybe it wasnât Tiger that cheated on us⦠nor was it injury or age that set him back. Maybe it was us that betrayed him all along?
Given that Tiger Woods is playing his best golf since 2013, now seems like a particularly strange time to drop this sketchy take. He finished 12th, Stephen A.! He averaged 320 off the tee! Heâs not all the way back, sure, but isnât this a weird time to be writing his obituary?