Capelle On Golf

What can we make of the media? They love a great story with staying power, yet they will hasten its demise. Take the Democratic Primary. A good percentage of the media have been campaigning for weeks now for Hillary Clinton to throw in the towel prior to the last primary on June 3. And yet she keeps winning elections and will likely win the popular vote, but lose the nomination due to the electoral vote. Still, who knows what those wishy-washy superdelegates will do, which means there are reasons for this to continue.

Rather than being upset that Barack Obama has not closed the deal, the media should have been celebrating because Obama vs. Clinton has been the most compelling presidential primary contest in history. We have a charismatic black man locking horns with an extremely tenacious lady, both vying to become the first African-American or woman to become our Commander in Chief.

The press has an incredibly great story on their hands, yet they seem anxious for it to end. You would think, from the media’s perspective, that they’d want it to milk it for all it’s worth – clear through the Democratic Convention in late August if that’s possible. While John McCain vs. Obama or (by some miracle) Clinton will have some sizzle, it will be hard to top the drama that’s been going strong for more than a year now.

Tiger Woods quest to surpass Jack Nicklaus’ records (that’s a very important “s”) and to become the unquestioned Best Ever is an equally compelling story for golf fans. Will he surpass the Nicklaus Standard and become the new number one? Or will he (or his knee) buckle under the stress of an assault on the record books that’s now in its twelfth season? After all, he only has the entire golf world watching his every move under a high powered microscope.

Who knows? But that’s the fun in watching. Those in the media who are rushing to judgment are like those who delight in telling you the ending halfway through a 400 page mystery. Sure, there is a case that Woods is the best, but there is, at this point, an even stronger argument in Nicklaus’ favor.

So why don’t those who feel they have to “call the race” as early as possible, as the TV announcers like to do on election nights, just relax a bit and let Woods’ quest unfold. There will be plenty of time to write about why he’s the new best ever when that day comes – if in fact it ever does.