Tigers and Bears... Oh my!

Everyone knows the biggest debate surrounding golf is who is the better player, Tiger or Jack Nicklaus? This is often a heated and interesting debate but it falls into that category of things hard to compare because of the large time differential. For those of you who don’t know golf, Jack Nicklaus currently holds the Professional Golfers’ Association Majors Record (PGA Championship [5], The Masters [6], US Open[4], British Open[3]; total=18). Tiger is currently hot on his heels with 12 PGA Majors victories. What Tiger has already accomplished in his 10+ seasons as a professional is unreal. Jack hit 12 majors after 13 seasons, but only 6 majors in the last 22 years of his career. That gives Tiger too much time to just annihilate that record.

With all this considered I still have to make the claim that Jack is the better golfer… for now. To be the best you have to own the records and although Tiger is well above the pace, no cigar yet. Also to be considered are these facts:

1. Jack Nicklaus played in the 60’s and didn’t have this incredible technology we have today. That made the game more skillful in my opinion. The ‘sweet spot’ was about the size of a quarter then, it’s almost a baseball now!

2. What the Majors record overshadows is the fact that Jack has 19 runner-up finishes in Majors. He also has 9 third place finishes. What this means is Jack was almost always in contention while Tiger seems to ebb and flow quite a bit.

7/18 Facilitation – Kids in Pro Sports?

My topic for the debate on Wednesday will be focused on whether or not teens should be able to make the jump to the professional level before a year of college? Should there be a minimum age requirement enforced for all professional sports?

Background on age requirements:

Recently 16-year-old Tadd Fujikawa announced that he is forfeiting his amateur golf status to pursue a professional career in the PGA. Fujikawa did something few thought possible in January, upstaging Michelle Wie and becoming the second-youngest in PGA Tour history to make a cut. But should he be able to make the big leap in to the PGA without proving himself in college for a year or two?

The LPGA, NHL and PGA have a waiver option for athletes who are younger than 18, which enables athletes an opportunity to turn pro before the age of 18 if they fulfill certain requirements.

The NFL age requirement prohibits young football players from turning pro right after high school. The NFL and NCAA claim that the NFL age requirement protects young athletes by shielding them from physical injury and requiring them to mature emotionally and receive an education before entering the world of professional sports.

In 2005 the NBA moved the age requirement to 19, forcing kids to experience one year in college. The NBA has experienced two drafts after implementing the age requirement and it has helped better the talent of its NBA prospects.

Major League Baseball requires athletes to be 16 years of age to tryout for farm teams. And tennis has been more lenient about teen players, although they limit the number of events they can enter.

Reasons for it being unfair:

• The biggest area of concern for the college athlete is the potential for a career-ending injury occurring before they are able to cash in on the monetary value of their talents. The possibility of being hurt while playing in minor leagues or college is of great concern.

• It is a free country, and if a teen is good enough to compete at the professional level then we should let them.

Reasons for it being fair:

• College expands education and enhances both social and public relations skills, even if the athlete is in college for only a year or two. The time spent in college allows athletes to develop into a more complete player.

• Enforcing minimum age requirements for all sports will force teens to better themselves at the colligate level, therefore making them a more polished player when they turn pro.