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The Michael Jordan Syndrome
May. 25th, 2003 01:17 pmThoughts about Annika Sorenstam:
There seems to be this undercurrent -- even by Ms. Sorenstam herself -- that somehow the whole venture was a failure.
This mystifies me. Even if we have seen it before.
It's true, Ms. Sorenstam didn't make the cut, that halfway winnowing of the field.
But.
But she did beat eleven other players, and tied with five. Even though this was her first PGA tournament ever. Even though she was, basically, a rookie.
I'm reminded of the progress that's been made in the marathon.
Back in 1969, the men's world record for the marathon stood at 2 hours, 8 minutes. The women's record was at 3:07.
Today, a full generation later, the men's record stands at 2:05. Male marathoners today are a whole 3 minutes faster than they were 34 years ago. And the women's record?
2:17.
That would be fifty minutes faster, and a mere 12 minutes behind the men. At that pace, the handwriting is clearly on the wall -- within my lifetime, women will quite probably be beating men in the marathon.
My point? My point is that, sure, Ms. Sorenstam didn't make the cut -- this time. But what would happen next time? Or the time after that?
Still, don't look for Ms. Sorenstam to be out there anytime soon. She's been quoted as saying, "I've got to go back to my tour, to where I belong. I'm glad I did it but this is way over my head."
Which is wrong on both counts.
We've seen this all happen before, of course. Which is where the title of this post comes in.
A few years back, many may remember how Michael Jordan tried to break into Major League Baseball. An effort that, again, while not stellar, was certainly better than about 1/4 to 1/3 of the players currently out there.
The trouble was... He wasn't a star. He wasn't MICHAEL JORDAN.
And, apparently, that was more important than his "dream" of being a professional baseball player. The clause we never heard about was that he wanted to be a baseball star.
Now Ms. Sorenstam appears to be falling into the same trap. Could she play at the PGA level, and even make a living at it? Based on this weekend, yes, she could.
But would she be a star, the way she is in the LPGA?
Well, no.
But, sooner or later, the number two or the number three player in the LPGA is going to realize, "You know... I might not beat eleven the first time out, but I bet I could beat five.... And I bet I'd get better..." In other words, sooner or later, some woman is going to realize that successfully playing the game is more important than being a star.
And that's when history will be made.
There seems to be this undercurrent -- even by Ms. Sorenstam herself -- that somehow the whole venture was a failure.
This mystifies me. Even if we have seen it before.
It's true, Ms. Sorenstam didn't make the cut, that halfway winnowing of the field.
But.
But she did beat eleven other players, and tied with five. Even though this was her first PGA tournament ever. Even though she was, basically, a rookie.
I'm reminded of the progress that's been made in the marathon.
Back in 1969, the men's world record for the marathon stood at 2 hours, 8 minutes. The women's record was at 3:07.
Today, a full generation later, the men's record stands at 2:05. Male marathoners today are a whole 3 minutes faster than they were 34 years ago. And the women's record?
2:17.
That would be fifty minutes faster, and a mere 12 minutes behind the men. At that pace, the handwriting is clearly on the wall -- within my lifetime, women will quite probably be beating men in the marathon.
My point? My point is that, sure, Ms. Sorenstam didn't make the cut -- this time. But what would happen next time? Or the time after that?
Still, don't look for Ms. Sorenstam to be out there anytime soon. She's been quoted as saying, "I've got to go back to my tour, to where I belong. I'm glad I did it but this is way over my head."
Which is wrong on both counts.
We've seen this all happen before, of course. Which is where the title of this post comes in.
A few years back, many may remember how Michael Jordan tried to break into Major League Baseball. An effort that, again, while not stellar, was certainly better than about 1/4 to 1/3 of the players currently out there.
The trouble was... He wasn't a star. He wasn't MICHAEL JORDAN.
And, apparently, that was more important than his "dream" of being a professional baseball player. The clause we never heard about was that he wanted to be a baseball star.
Now Ms. Sorenstam appears to be falling into the same trap. Could she play at the PGA level, and even make a living at it? Based on this weekend, yes, she could.
But would she be a star, the way she is in the LPGA?
Well, no.
But, sooner or later, the number two or the number three player in the LPGA is going to realize, "You know... I might not beat eleven the first time out, but I bet I could beat five.... And I bet I'd get better..." In other words, sooner or later, some woman is going to realize that successfully playing the game is more important than being a star.
And that's when history will be made.
