July 19, 2000
Page B2
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Metro/Sports
(Obi
The eye of the Tiger
by
Joi
R am o s
or T he P ortland O bserv er
Ever since Tiger Woods came on to
the professional golfing scene, his
meteoric rise to fame and fortune has
been nothing less than phenomenal.
He has brought to the sport a new
kind ofenergy with a strong following
from fan s w o rld w id e. S p o rts
Illustrated M agazine named him
“ S p o rtsm a n o f the Y e a r” and
promoters have referred to him as
sport’s next Messiah. Woods is by
many people’s estimation,
all that - a source o f pride for
minorities, youths, golf enthusiasts,
and non-golfers.
Tiger’ s emergence has opened g o lf s
doors to all minorities. “He wants to
be an ambassador o f change in golf,”
said a Nike spokesman. His visibility
as a young professional o f mixed-
race heritage has served as an asset
in g e ttin g p e o p le to see past
stereotypes and be willing to change
them. T hrough N ike, T iger has
c a m p a ig n e d
a g a in st
the
discriminatory practices o f some golf
courses. A TV commercial shows
him saying, “There are still golf
courses in the United States that I
cannot play because o f the color o f
my skin. I’m told I’m not ready for
you. Are you ready for me?”
As a tribute to Tiger Woods for
winning at the Masters Game in April
o f 1997, the chairman o f Augusta
National, Jack Stevens, stood up and
led a standing ovation for him during
the cerem ony. His gesture was
atypical in a setting with a dark history
ofbanning Blacks from playing at the
higher levels. Jack Feinstein, sports
a u th o r an d c o m m e n ta to r said,
“Usually during those ceremonies,
themembers o f Augusta don’t getoff
their chairs, but I think they felt that
it was the right thing to do, to say not
only are you now an honorary member
o f our club as a Masters champion,
but we welcome you.”
Many still remember Woods when he
show ed his form on the "M ike
Douglas Show” at age 3 and "That’s
Incredible” at age 5. Even as an infant,
his father remarked that “Tiger knew
how to swing a club before he could
w alk.” Now at 24 year old, Tiger is a
powerful lure to a young, urban
demographic group who have not
flocked to golf. He often stresses to
youths the values that underlie any
sport: do your best, play fair, embrace
every activity with integrity, honesty
and discipline. His foundation offers
golf camps to inner-city kids such as
the one in Portland hosted by Heron
Lakes GolfCourse which he sponsor's
annually. A merica’s love for Tiger
Woods is evident in his ratings where
his seventh-straight win in the Buick
Open in February was seen by more
people than the NBA All-Star game
that same day. This year’s U.S. Open
pulled in 19 percent more homes than
last year’s event. The only two other
A frican A m erican athletes that
compare to Tiger Woods in being
able to draw in fans outside their
sport is Muhammad Ali and Michael
Jordan. Being a dominant force in the
golf world, Tiger is favored to win at
this w eek’s British Open in St.
Andrews, Scotland. He is by many
critics, the standard for the modem
golfer. A ccording to Ron Sirak,
managing editor o f G olf World, after
Tiger’s numerous winnings so far
since turning professional, “Tiger has
only one opponent-history. Heworks
h a rd e r, is m ore focu sed and
concentrated. H e’s trying to be the
best ever.” This was evident during
the Memorial Tournament in Dublin,
Ohio last month where Tiger shot 63
in a round which left him dissatisfied.
After signing his scorecard, he called
over his coach Butch Harmon to say,
“Meet me on the practice range in 15
minutes. We have work to do.” They
returned later that day to the range
practicing for hours til dark.
W ith h is w id e sp re a d a p p e a l,
companies like Wheaties, Buick, and
American Express have wooed him
Fred
M eyer
C h a lle n g e
promotions
to
benefit children’s
charities
CONTRIBUTED STORY
with multi-million dollar endorsement
contracts. Reports uncovered that
Nike has sweetened the deal for
Woods with an offer o f $100 million
or more to promote their apparel and
g o lf ball called T our A ccuracy
produced and designed specifically
for Tiger Woods.
He has won the last two tournaments
with the ball. On top o f all money, he
has earned through his tournament
winnings, over $5 million.
W oods is clearly on his w ay to
becoming the biggest money-making
athlete in history.So w hat's a young
man whose already won several
madeajokeoutofthe 100th U.S. Open,
he clearly needs new w orlds to
conquer.”
“So what does he do next? Put
M icro so ft back to g e th e r? End
drought? Putt with his shoe?”
Major tournaments, loved by fans
the world over and garnered millions
do for an encore? Thomas Bonk o f
Los Angeles Times wonders just the
same. “Now that Tiger Woods has
completely wrecked Pebble Beach and
G olf may be name o f the game,
but it’s local children’s charities
that are the big winners at the
annual Fred Meyer Challenge/
Washington Mutual Pro-Am golf
tournament. In support o f the
tournament’s aim to contribute
funds to select charities, in
separate prom otions General
Mills and local FM radio station
Rosie 105 FM have stepped up to
help the cause. General Mills has
produced m ore than 30,000
special Fred Meyer Challenge
Double Packs o f cereal that will
be sold during the month o f July
exclusively through Fred Meyer
stores in Oregon, Washington,
Idaho, and Alaska. From those
s a le s , G e n e ra l M ills, in
conjunction with Fred Meyer,
w ill
d o n a te
$ 7 ,5 0 0
or
approximately twenty-five cents
a pack to Fred Meyer Challenge
Children’s Charities.
Tickets for the 2000 Fred Meyer
Challenge are on sale now at
Fastixx locations (503) 224-TIXX
(8499), at www.fastixx.com, and
at Washington Mutual branches
in Oregon and SW Washington.
Information call (503) 526-9331.
LAQUISHA’S
BEAUTY SUPPLY
309 N.E. Wygant
Phone: (503) 249-7329
Owner: Anthony Huff
Blazers aid Loaves and Fishes
Free delivery with purchase of $25
dollars or more.
Spend $30 and receive a free T-shirt.
On Thursday, July 13, the Portland Trailblazers and fro n t office sta ff as well as volunteer community builsers
served meals to Loaves and Pishes clientele and helped assist with clean up and other duties in North/Northeast
Portland It was their way o f reaching out to Portland's communities. Members o f the program are (from left to
right) Nicole Hubbard, Blazer intern; Harry Hutt, Blazer Senior Vice President o f Marketing Operations; Nick
Jones, Blazer Community Ambassador; Tyese Campbell, Organizer fo r "Loaves & Fishes" Meals on Wheels.
'
LAQUISHA’S BEAUTY SUPPLY
“WHERE MAKING OUR
CUSTOMERS
HAPPY IS OUR GOAL”
Earth-Service
Lawns - $25 Extra with tall grass
Weeds - $7 Depends on bed size
Bush - $7 And up
Hedge - $4 And up
Trim - $ 11 And up
Edging - $9 And up
Hauling, Tough Task,
and Odd Jobs
Open 7am-7pm
Phone 504-7292
*
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