QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 21, 2006 -> 10:48 AM)
Which if I am not mistaken, is the name of the game, is it not? To be friendly to those that support you versus being a jag who doesn't have the time of day to even respond to a compliment of "nice shot"? I don't care what Phil is, but I've never had a bad fan experience with him and had several with Woods.
Thanks for answering the analogy; that puts things into perspective for me. I feel I just put less emphasis on what they do outside of their sport, as I consider them my favorite athletes and not my favorite people.
However, Tiger would have a hard time acknowledging the crowd when they're saying he has a nice shot. Golf crowds have completely changed since he's come on the scene 10 years ago. No matter what he kind of shot he makes you'll always hear "GET IN THE HOLE! YOU DA MAN TIGERRRRR! GREAT SHOT!" After a while you're just going to block that out.
His father taught him to block distractions like that out at an early age. When he was little, his dad would try interrupting his swing by making noises, throwing keys, etc. at him during a shot. He's really just doing what he was taught.
Good discussion. I'm on my way back to Bloomington in a matter of hours, so I probably won't get to see anything after this until sometime tomorrow afternoon when cable gets hooked up again at the apartment.