Extreme Bias: Tiger Vindicated

Preface: I wrote this Article about who was More Dominate Tiger or Jordan. Dom tried with all his bias might to rebuttal here.

Let’s start by saying that every great rebuttal that is completely factual and relevant starts off with over a page of personal attacks. He pull out all the stops including short jokes which don’t bother me since it makes me more aerodynamic all the better to navigate through your bias. By the time you got done reading Dom’s post the best thing you could have come away with is the clear fact that he is a homer. I mean I am honored that it took a whole paragraph devoted to me missing an apostrophe to get his momentum going, but really it’s all about the facts here kids. Grammar? We’re talking about Grammar? Not the Debate….Grammar… I’ll let Lebron make my point for me (and he is doing just fine for himself let me remind you)…




Rookie Campaigns:
I mention that Jordan won rookie of the year and made the all-star game as a point of reference to their careers. Rookie of the Year is a big start to a career and a good way to round out a resume in retrospect. The addition of the All Star team is icing on the cake. I mention this because Tiger also won the award, but failed to mention that in addition to finishing in the top 25 in 7 out of his 8 starts he also won the PGA Points Championship that year a little more impressive then a bias All Star Appearance.

“All Team Honors”:
Ok so Dom had to take my point of making the money list the equitable thing for All Team Honors and trying to break it down to make MJ’s stats look better. Well then lets get rid of my Top 5 and Top 10 designations and make them Top 2 and Top 4 like he suggested. By doing that Tigers numbers change from 11 first team honors to 9 first teams and 2 second teams. By you are right money isn’t really a good way of going about those rankings. Instead lets break down the field and prestige a little better. In 19 seasons Jordan had 10 first team honors while going against roughly 450 other NBA players. Lets say that makes him roughly in the top 10% or so at his position. Tiger would have received 11 First Team Honors if you were looking at rankings at One or Two in the World Golf Rankings. That makes him in the top 2% of players in the World seeing as it ranks the top 1,000 golfers.

Championships:
Ok so 4 chances at a Major in one year, fine. Jordan could have had an off game and still won a championship that doesn’t happen in a major…but we’re not going to get into that. If you want to talk about PGA Points Championships, which is like an NBA season with multiple events rewarded points for placement at tournaments throughout a season we could work with that too. In that case Tiger has won 7 out of 12 championships sitting him at 58% of the championships since he started the tour which includes a season like Jordan’s where Dom claims he only played 1/3 of the season. The difference is unlike Jordan, Tiger still won the championship that year. Side Note: Did I mention its only possible for one person to win a major or championship and not 15 like in the NBA?

MVP Amended:
I decided that this category should be reworked. Instead of MVP seasons, since were talking about domination, we should look at combined accomplishments. In this case MVP + Finals MVP + Championship in a single season. If we break it down like that Jordan is sitting with an impressive number of 4 in 19 seasons which is 21% since Dom loves percentages so much. Tiger on the other hand has had 6 seasons in which he has been ranked number one in Money, PGA Points Championship, The World Golf Rankings, and named PGA Player of the Year (That excludes 01 where he was Money Leader and #1 in the World, but #5 on the Tour and the 8 years he won a Major). It also excludes Fedex Championships and numerous other accomplishments).

So I leave you with one of “Jordan’s Clutch Shots”…need I remind you that when you have a thirty foot putt to win a Major there is no one to push off of to get a better line. You miss one in Augusta and there won’t be any “No Calls” to save you, it’s in or it isn’t.




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Most Dominant of All Time: Tiger vs. Jordan

The great sports debate: Who is the best of all time? Well complicate things more by comparing athletes in different sports (team vs. individual) to determine the most dominant player of all time. I saw a little blurb on ESPN about who was more dominant athlete in their respective sport ,Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, and this time I couldn’t let it go. The phrase “He is the Michael Jordan of (Insert Anything Here)” is common place, and Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. Tiger, on the other hand, has always had the arguably tag thrown before his best golfer of all time description and most of the sports world is just waiting for him to break certain records before committing to that idea. You have to realize that I am coming into this debate knowing that it is next to impossible to compare individual and team sport performances, That being said I will now break these two athletes down with comparable accomplishments as close as sportingly possible.

Rookie Campaigns:
Jordan came into the league out of the 1984 draft as the third overall pick and secured the 1985 Rookie of the Year Award. During this year he average 28.2 ppg and also made the All Star Team (This is a big accomplishment for a rookie which is why I included it, but I will not take Jordan’s 13 other appearances into consideration because it is primarily fan based and there is nothing comparable in golf).

Tiger started on the PGA Tour in 1996 and was named the Tour’s Rookie of the Year. This was after a campaign in which he only he was an amateur for the majority of the year, but made 8 starts as a professional. In those 8 starts he had 2 wins, 2 3rd places, and finished in the top 25 in 7 of those 8 tournaments.

“All Team Honors”: In the NBA 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Teams are Awarded which means 15 totals players are awarded with such an honor each season. I’ll make the equivalent to this honor the list of top money earners in the PGA.

Jordan received 10 First Team selections (Top 5) and one 2nd team selection (Top 10).

Tiger has been in the Top 5 the last 11 years in a row, missing only his rookie campaign where he was an amateur most of the season.

Championships:

Jordan took home 6 championships in the form of two 3petes. Yes, he was the Finals MVP in every series, but since we comparing this to an individual sport that would make Tiger the MVP of every championship he won ( No Caddy MVP controversies in the PGA).

Tiger has won 13 Major Championships in his 12 years on the Tour. That includes Two U.S Opens, Four Masters, Two Open Championships, and Four PGA Championships. To compare to a three-pete we look at 2000 where he claimed the Open Championship, PGA Championship, and U.S Open. Also added to the consecutive championship idea are Back to Back Masters in 01 and 02, PGA Championships in 99 and 00 as well as 06 and 07, Open Championships in 05 and 06, or the fact that since 99 the only year he didn’t win a major was in 2004.

MVP Seasons:

Jordan took home the NBA MVP in 5 seasons including back to back honors in 91 and 92.
Tiger has taken home PGA Player of the Year and Tour Player of the Year each 9 times. He won it from 98-03 and from 05-07.

Bonus Facts For Arguments Sake:

Jordan:
Most Scoring titles: 10
Highest Career Playoff Scoring: 5,987
Third On All Time Scoring List: 32,292
Highest Career Scoring Average: 30.12
Highest Career Playoff Scoring Average: 33.45

Tiger:
Holds Largest Margin of Victory in Three Majors:
Masters 12 Strokes
U.S Open 15 Strokes
Open Championship 8 Strokes
(In Winning the 2006 PGA Championship he became the only player to win all four majors by more than 5 strokes)

I think it safe to assume who I believe to be the most dominant player in any sport ever. Woods is a mere 5 Majors and 19 wins away from tying the all time records, and he is only 32 years old. The dominance that Woods has portrayed is unparalleled and continues on year after year. To date Woods has won 8 of his last 9 World events, and last 4 PGA tour events. I could go on for pages about Woods accomplishments, the circumstances in which he won, and the absolute absurdity of his performances. Jordan may be the best player in NBA history (Debatable because of team aspects, and the help that he had on those championship teams), but as a single Athlete Dominating in their sport Tiger takes it hands down.


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