Well, Now That Tiger’s No Longer the Best…

I knew it. What a fraud. Tiger Woods – number one in the world? Ha, ha.

It was only a matter of time before this showboat was exposed. Couldn’t even make the cut at the British Open! Come on, Eldrick. Champions don’t wilt under pressure. Five over par? Five over par? Puh-lease! Jack or Arnie or Ben or Sammy never would have slinked off the world’s biggest stage like that. Enough with the commercials and sponsorships, already. Come back when you’ve won something....

Oops! Sorry. I digressed, there, into the black hole of sports logic often employed by today’s “what have you done for me lately” pundits and fans. Case in point:

“LeBron James? NBA Most Valuable Player? How can that be, when he still hasn’t won a championship? He had his chance this year, and he blew it. Wilted, right there on national T.V.! And Kobe didn’t. He won the championship, which clearly makes him the greatest player in the game today.”

Except, of course, it doesn’t make him that, at all. I’m not sure when “championships won” became the defining criterion for greatness, but that’s the twisted logic that, to many, determines who the truly great ones are in sports.

No question, a few championships under the belt cement a star’s legacy. But to demote LeBron from best-in-the-game status to another-bum status, just because the Cavaliers lost in the Eastern Conference Finals, is ridiculous. Yet that’s what many fans and sports writers did. Wilt Chamberlain struggled to win two titles during his career, and he clearly was the most unstoppable force the NBA had ever seen during his playing days. Bill Russell’s teams won eight in a row. People like to argue that Russell was better – as if he didn’t have any good teammates on those Celtic teams (or a Hall of Fame coach, for that matter). I disagree, always have.

It’s absurd. Tiger had two bad days, that’s all. He’s human. His humanity got the best of him. He’s still, quite clearly, the best player in the game, and will take his place as the best ever in a few more years.

LeBron didn’t make it to the NBA Finals this year, which was a huge disappointment for him, personally and professionally. But it shouldn’t tarnish his reputation at all. Will his day come? The same question was asked of John Elway, who didn’t win a Super Bowl until the sunset of his career. And it was asked of Dan Marino, perhaps the most famous, accomplished athlete of our generation to never win a title. LeBron could win six, like Michael Jordan, or be lucky to ever win one. Time will tell.

But great is great. Tiger is great, and so is LeBron. Why can’t we leave it at that?

Grady Being Grady, and Tiger Being. . .Well, You Know

One of the mysteries of the first two months of the baseball season was the inability of Grady Sizemore to get things rolling. The Indians' centerfielder is widely regarded as one of the finest players in the majors, and, with a batting average hovering around .250, he was performing at a level far below expectations.

That's changed of late, and, with it, so have the Tribe's offensive fortunes. He's not alone in picking things up, of course. Ryan Garko, Jamey Carroll and Casey Blake have shown important signs of life as well, to go along with the solid hitting of Ben Francisco and Shin-Soo Choo.

But as Grady goes, so goes the Tribe, and his hot streak continues of late, just as -- no coincidence here -- the Indians have won two consecutive series. His batting average has gradually climbed to .266, and his 17 home runs (five in his last five games) rank second in the American League.

Baby steps, to be sure, but Sizemore must continue to sizzle if the Indians are to climb back into contention in the A.L. Central.

Playoff classic

When we last wrote about the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods had just climbed back into contention after a remarkable finish to Saturday's third round. It's no surprise that he sank a putt to tie Rocco Mediate and force an 18-hole playoff, and no surprise that he won that playoff to claim his 14th major victory.

But what a great story. Mediate was Everyman for a day, if not for a weekend, and twice almost pulled out the victory -- once on Sunday, and again on Monday. His engaging demeanor and the way he handled the spotlight with such optimism and grace made the golf world fall in love with him, and, truth be told, root for him to win the first major of his career. Mediate has 15 PGA Tour victories, so he's no slouch, but he's also 45, and only the Nicklauses of the world won majors that late in their career. Well, maybe until Tiger is that age.

Mediate battled Woods tooth-and-nail throughout the day and actually led the playoff by one stroke heading to the 18th hole. But he drove his tee shot into a bunker and opened the door for Woods to tie it up, which, of course, he did. No one handles the pressure of the big stage better than Tiger Woods. One extra hole was all that was needed for him to wrap up his 65th career win, which, oh by the way, moved him past Ben Hogan for third place on the all time list, eight behind Jack Nicklaus and 17 behind Sam Snead.

An honor for C.C.

Amidst all the contract talk -- will the Indians trade him or keep him? -- C.C. Sabathia was honored as the A.L.'s Player of the Week Monday, after winning a 1-0 complete game victory over Minnesota last Wednesday and outdeuling Greg Maddux and the San Diego Padres on Sunday. He issued only one walk in 17 innings in the two games, while fanning 15 to pass Charles Nagy on the team's all-time strikeout list. Sabathia leads the A.L. with 97 strikeouts in 99-1/3 innings pitched (also a league best).

Unparalleled Excellence

Saturday's amazing finish by Tiger Woods to Round 3 of the U.S. Open was stuff of legend, yes, but in some ways not surprising, because it's the kind of thing we've come to expect from this giant of sport. Certainly in my lifetime no athlete has risen to transcend his sport over such a prolonged period of time as has Tiger, and Saturday's superhuman display just added to his legacy.

First came a ridiculous 70-foot eagle putt on the 13th hole to put Woods back in the running. Four holes later he one-hopped a chip on 17 for a birdie, and then he drained a 30-foot eagle putt on 18 to give him the outright lead heading into today's final round. Who does this stuff? Only Tiger, year after year after year. Michael Jordan certainly set the bar high during his playing days, but even basketball players have to admit they're only as great, ultimately, as the teams they play on. Golf is an individual sport, and the mental grind can be overwhelming. To witness what Tiger does, and the way he rises to the occasion on the sport's biggest stages, is simply breathtaking.

That he pulled off Saturday's tour-de-force on a bum knee that buckled on him on the 15th tee and caused him to wince in pain and use his driver as a cane was even more surreal.

"The stuff he does, it's unreal," said Rocco Mediate, who watched his once-comfortable lead over Woods evaporate from the group right behind Tiger's. "It's just the most amazing display of athletic, mental power that there is, that there ever was."

Maybe Tiger will win the Open today, maybe he won't. It matters to him, of course, but it doesn't matter to us. There are dozens of phenomenal athletes in sports today, and there have been thousands over the years, but Tiger is the best, plain and simple, and the most dominant in a particular field that sports has ever seen.

Witnessing LeBron James is cool, but to witness Tiger Woods is to witness history.

Charlie Jones

Last weekend the sports world lost one legendary broadcaster -- Jim McKay -- and later in the week it lost another. Charlie Jones, long-time announcer of the American Football League and countless other major assignments on ABC and NBC, died Thursday night in his home in La Jolla, Calif.

Jones' first major assignment was covering the AFL for ABC in 1960, and he followed the league to NBC in 1965. Like McKay, he contributed to ABC's "Wide World of Sports" and later did similar assignments for NBC's "Sports World." His resume also included the Olympics, the World Cup, and more than 25 college football bowl games.

Jones, like many of his era, had a distinctive, one-of-a-kind voice that became synonymous with major sporting events. Like McKay's, his was a comfortable, reassuring delivery that transcended the events he covered. And, like McKay, he exuded joy in his on-air style, making the broadcasts he anchored even more enjoyable to watch.