Sean Foley will need patience to deal with those that lack it.
Foley, the Canadian from Burlington who took over as Tiger Woods’ swing coach last year, has been at the center of finger pointing and negative commentary as the former best golfer in the world struggles to find his game. Late last week, on a televised roundtable discussion on Golf Channel, former major championship winners turned television pundits Nick Faldo and Johnny Miller both suggested Woods return to working with Butch Harmon, who coached for a decade ending in 2002. Woods won eight major championships under Harmon’s tutelage, including a stretch during 2000 when many felt he played the game better than any before him.
It was the latest salvo by those who feel Woods isn’t progressing under Foley, with scrutiny increasing after the golfer was handed a first-round knockout by Thomas Bjorn at last week’s Accenture Match Play Championship. Everyone seemingly has a theory about Woods’ work with the Canadian swing instructor, who also works with Sean O’Hair, Hunter Mahan and Stephen Ames. The latest to weigh in is former Woods instructor Hank Haney, who worked with Woods until last summer.
Haney told a golf columnist in the U.S. that he found Woods’ lack of progress “confusing,” adding he expected the golfer would adapt to working with Foley more quickly.
Foley, who makes two appearances at the Toronto Golf Show this week, is having none of it.
“I couldn’t explain how little I care,” he said when asked about those who are critical of his methods with Woods. “I absolutely don’t care. And if people think I’m brilliant, I don’t care about that either. I’m more focused on how I feel about myself than how others feel about me. If it were my Mom or my Dad or my wife or my brother, well they have earned the right to say something about me because they know what makes me tick. Everyone else has some sort of agenda.”
Everyone is QUITE excited about the prospect of playing your favourite video games with no controller. The Xbox Kinect situation brings up a few not insignificant dilemmas first raised by the introduction of the Wii a few years ago. First, if I want to walk, jump, punch, swing for real, why wouldn't I be doing it outside instead of playing video games? And second, video games have been the last refuge for the uncoordinated to enjoy success in sports. Why are you taking that away from me, Xbox?! WHY?!
As you can see from the wizard-like review above, sometimes swinging around your room pretending to play sports real or imagined can end up in destruction or injury. Or just look really funny. Either way, just imagine this guy playing NHL 11. Or UFC.
I don't know about you, but I'd much rather run around a magical land of fun and excitement patrolled by bears and dragons and smiling elf-like creatures than my real neighbourhood. And since no one should eat mushrooms right before a jog, I'm obviously talking about Wii Fit. Why run somewhere when you can run in place, right? Besides, going for a run in your living room makes it a lot easier (and safer) to reach your beer while exercising.
The 11th incarnation of Mr. Woods' blockbuster video game franchise comes out in five days and we're pretty sure everyone's forgotten about all that cheating/whores/creepy goatee business from forever ago. Right? Ah.
Well, even so, this new game features a little thing EA Sports likes to call "team play." Yes, just like a certain someone teaming up with any number of promiscuous ladyfriends, perhaps on a private jet or some other exotic locale, golf gamers will now be able to play as a group.
Of course, whatever you may think of Woods, as a golfer, a man or an example of perfect dental hygiene, experts agree that playing his video game on the Wii will no doubt be "pretty f*%$in' sweet."
Sports video games have been around for more than three decades, getting more technically advanced and accurate with each passing year, to the point now where there is little difference between the skills and strategies used by pro coaches and athletes and their on-screen counterparts.
With this increased level of detail, do the current crop of pro athletes, and those kids hoping to join their ranks, have an advantage over old-timers thanks to video game sports providing hours of virtual practice?
The latest issue of Wired just landed in my mailbox (cover story: The New Industrial Revolution), and in it is a great story by Chris Suellentrop about this very subject. Suellentrop focuses primarily on football, using this past season's amazing play by Denver Broncos' Brandon Stokley (see video after the jump), who caught a deflection with just seconds left in the game, then ran along the touchdown line to run down the clock. It was move straight out of Madden NFL, as Stokley proudly admits. The Wired piece isn't online yet, so do yourself a favour and pick up the mag off the newstand.
Obviously football, with its volumes of playbooks and set stop-and-start play action is ripe for this sort of analysis. But do athletes in other sports feel they gain an edge in the cerebral portion of their sport, thanks to video games?
