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Tiger Woods is no Nelson Mandela By
Tiger's father, Earl Woods, was recalling recently the day his son, Tiger, met South Africa's former president, Dr. Nelson Mandela: "it was the first time Tiger met a human being who was equal to him, who was as powerful as Tiger is." Hello!? Brother Earl, Tiger "equal to" Mandela? Nonsense. I've also also met and seen Mandela. Tiger Woods can hit a golf ball, alright, but he probably does not know (or relatively do much) about the fact that millions of kids of African heritage, White kids and, in fact, among those of his self-styled 'Cablinasian' heritage who go to bed hungry, everyday. Those kids whose parents can afford it, see him on cereals packages. So much for his impact on their lives; or shall I say breakfast plates. My point? Tiger Woods does not show a significant measure of social concern and progressive values to merit this "equal to Mandela" drivel. To say the least, Earl Woods engaged in a scandalous abuse of analogy. While I agree that that Tiger Woods is a great sports personality, on historical consequence, powerful value and range, to bring such a one-on-one measure of the young man against Mandela's record, Mandela's inscrutable but majestic presence, Mandela's unwavering but gracious and principled fights against all forms of injustice and bigotry, is to engage in privileged banality and simplistic reductionism of history to sheer sports entertainment. To say the least, Mr. Woods engaged in a scandalous abuse of analogy. Worse, he seemed carried away in an unreflective sense of ahistorical measurement and a walk away from reality. Tiger can wow the crowd and adoring fans, seasonally, but Mandela's contributions to mankind, his well-deserving mythology and gravitas will endure to the end of comprehensible history of mankind. Shall we say, simply: Tiger Woods is famous, and has shattered a number golfing records, and carted away a dozen or so trophies. Before Tiger Woods was even born, and for that matter decades before his father Earl could play in any major gold club, Mandela was fighting against apartheid and setting a global standard against discriminations and assorted theologies of hate. He has starred down and overcome, historically, ethnocentricism and institutionalized racism in his country. More than anything else, he liberated minds. Mandela has stature and global statesmanship which the young Woods' Grand Slam championship and Masters trophies can never buy or earn. His cheerleaders are taking their golf game too seriously when his father compares Tiger as "equal to him." my goodness! Where's his sense for proportion? I have walked (in the company of Walter Isaacson, managing editor of Time magazine, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and others in March 1998, during President Bill Clinton's visit to South Africa) inside the particular prison cell where the very distinguished Mandela was held at an isolated spot at the ignoble Robben island operated by the goons of apartheid. Mandela; I have seen the statesmanship of Mandela on issues of race relations and nation-building, and especially on forgiveness; I have seen Mandela speak his truths firmly and certainly to the face of power and privilege that it's almost entirely obscene to compare our father, the most credible and respected leader alive today to the competitive tallies made by hitting a milk-colored ball on lush, well-tended golf courses. Pointedly put, Tiger is a golf phenom, that is, too, a unilinear personality in a particular sport. To rank Tiger as "equal" to Mandela, in historic and present terms, is a maddening leap in grandiloquence. Hopefully, Earl is embarrassed, and should be, by this lack of proportion. Tiger is not, and has never been, and will never be in Mandela's league. Yet, for those who find any value in Earl's spin, comparing Tiger to Mandela will be like to comparing Lakers' Kobe Bryant to Martin Luther King, Jr., the late and esteemed civil rights leader. Rather than Mandela and Tiger, it should be a comparison between Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. I believe Jordan is a more consummate and complete sports personality. Where do you start: is it Michael's unique hang time? I believe that hang-time is a rare moment where physics and sporting agility and creativity mesh into one consummate show of skill and grace and power. Or is it Michael's capability and every opponent's fears that he could slam-dunk 10 points in 4 minutes? Don't get me wrong, Kobe is very good and imaginative; but there's one MJ, the master of he artistic flourish with the ball. Any comparative example should be between MJ and Tiger (sports figures, not world political figures); but even there, MJ was a better sports artíste and had gazillions more charisma and flair to his game than Tiger. Even as he's retired as an active player, contemplates a return, and currently works as an executive and basketball coach for the Washington Wizards, Michael Jordan remains one of the greatest icons of sports and moreso the living legend of this game of basketball. In my view, as I've stated previously at USAfricaonline.com, he's the magic and the magician, all rolled into one. He brings the thrill, as much as he's the thriller, of basketball. Even more than Tiger Woods, MJ played his game is such that whenever he plays, he elevated our minds and sports imaginations. In short, he draws a compelling, anticipatory suspension of our sports senses to ...what will MJ do this time? Who else in basketball can create such animations of our sporting spirit and ululations of the mind? No one else but the Michael Jordan. The sheer artistry of his magic on basketball courts makes poetry. His hang-time is a mathematically executed footwork set on a mission to slam, dunk, and you recall the rest. The fact is, were Michael Jordan a painter, we'd call him Michelangelo. He paints sporting and athletic masterpieces on the canvas of basketball courts. Hopefully, I've made the case that comparing Tiger Woods to the titan of African nationalism Nelson Mandela reflects such a reckless chutzpah and imaginativeness. Earl Woods probably needs to understand Mandela's roles and global consequence in the transformation of minds and measurable movements in the recent history of the world. Mr. Woods' spin that his talented son is "equal" to Mandela reflects a monocular view seeing nothing but sports celebritude; to be specific, golfing celebritude. He fails to look at the more important angle of historical consequence, transformative value, social conscience and multi-platform value to mankind. He may be forgiven as merely reflecting the sheer joy of a proud father as opposed to amounting to any serious, contemplative measure of the two individuals: Mandela, being the man; while the Tiger is a gifted and hardworking young fellow galloping into all the known records in one sport. Mandela is not just about a single sport or sheer charisma. Mandela, rock ribbed nationalist, visionary, exemplary icon in personal dignity, durable boxer, principled symbol for all believers in the inevitable triumph of committed democratic forces over any army/gang of tyranny and oppression in Africa and elsewhere, has become this decade's ultimate measure for statesmanship, leadership, character and will. To rank Tiger as "equal" to Mandela in historical and present terms, is a maddening leap into uncertain phantasmagoria and imaginative assumptions. Long live Nelson Mandela. May your lineage endure! Tiger, your best years are ahead, and hopefully, yet to come... *
Nwangwu, recipient of the Journalism Excellence award (1997), is Founder and Publisher of USAfricaonline.com (first African-owned U.S.-based professional newspaper to be published on the internet), USAfrica The Newspaper, NigeriaCentral.com, BBJonline.com and The Black Business Journal. He also serves as an adviser to the Mayor of Houston on international business (Africa) and appears as an analyst on CNN, VOA, NPR, CBS News, NBC and ABC news affiliates, and South Africa Broadcasting Corporation, SABC. http://www.USAfricaonline.com/chido.html
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