Tiger Wood's Revolution in Golf

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the extraordinary talent and popularity of golfer Tiger Woods. The paper provides a biography of Woods and his father's guidance throughout his entire life. It discusses other great African-American sports stars who broke ground with the "country club" sports, like tennis player Arthur Ash. The paper describes how great talent can break cultural boundaries like no other political vehicle.

From the Paper:

"Golf has long been a maligned sport in American popular culture, most famously by Mark Twain as a nice long walk spoiled by a small white ball. Although it is a popular game in terms of people who participate in it, it is hardly what one might call a "cool" game like basketball. Basketball is a sport whose cache and celebrities may be considered to have kept the brand of Nike alive and well for decades.
Nor is golf a venerated game like baseball (as witnessed in the success of such spiritually conscientious films as "Field of Dreams" and "The Natural," in contrast to "Caddyshack.") Golf is not a culturally significant sport as football has been in the American psyche, with the focus the Super Bowl has had as a national event and pastime. Golf has not been the center of controversy for the violence or the practices of golfers in the national media. Golf has long been thought of as the game of the "leisure village" set, or overfed and overpaid white, male executives. On a symbolic level, nothing could be less cool or more reactionary than golf, so the thinking went.
That is, until Tiger Woods came upon the scene. Tiger Woods has given the game of gold a "coolness" that was lacking. "Until the last few years with Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour spiking ratings, the ratings haven't been relevant to golf," commissioner Tim Finchem said last week in defending declining ratings on the Senior Tour. Now, Woods often helps golf draw a larger TV audience than the NBA. (Ferguson MSNBC.Com) "

More papers on Tiger Wood's Revolution in Golf:

• Essay # 34728 : "Minorities in Golf"
• Book Review # 70929 : "Reflection on the Revolution in France"
• Cause and Effect Essay # 88934 : "The Causes of the First Industrial Revolution in Britain"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: