One for the ages

As I write this, Tom Watson, at age 59, is leading the British Open Golf tournament. Tiger Woods, a mere 26 years younger, didn't make the cut.

I heard some ESPN guys yesterday bemoaning this fact because it didn't fit the pattern most people thought would happen.

One of the biggest problems we have in athletics today is many people go into events with a pre-set idea of what will happen. When the predicted result goes askew, they are aghast and ask why. In some ways, ESPN has been the worst thing to ever happen to athletics because it does a lot of predicting and not nearly as much anticipating.

The idea of playing a game (or a sport) is everybody starts at zero and then you see what happens. My mother-in-law, at age 80, was still a very formidable Scrabble player. That may not be the same thing as golf but it is the same concept.

The sooner we go back to simply showing up and playing or watching to see what happens, the better off we will be.

In the meantime, go Tom Watson. Good golf, whether it is played by a talented 33-year old or a crafty 59-year old, is still fun to watch.