"Tyger, tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night.
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"
- William Blake
The above poet was writing about what kind of wise and knowing God could breach the gulf of creation and make such a marvelous beast as a tiger in the woods. This columnist just wonders what it takes to get such a marvelous golf swing as Tiger Woods has.
Tiger has been burning bright in the forests of microphones, endorsements and expectations. After this past weekend and his unprecedented win at the Masters, the golfing wunderkind can add a forest green blazer to his wardrobe.
While traveling this weekend, I saw a manifestation of the
Woods-mania that has swept the country. At the tail end of the Masters television coverage, the sports bars and television monitors at Denver International Airport were crowded with throngs of mostly white, mostly middle- to upper-class travelers. They were taking in the fearful symmetry of the multicultural youth. These were the kind of large crowds you'd expect to see for an important Rockets or Cowboys game, not a golf match.
Why do we like Tiger? Perhaps the attraction is because Tiger Woods is a welcome addition to the mostly whitebread world of professional golf. He is himself a human melting pot, a personal reflection of America's diversity.
Perhaps the attraction is that during the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball, Mr. Woods shows us how far the United States has come and how far it has to go in race relations. Maybe too, the attraction is more mundane.
Perhaps the attraction is that he is so young. Perhaps the attraction is he seems so pleasant. Perhaps the attraction is that he is so assured. He said he thought he could win the Masters. It wasn't exactly a cocky boast like Joe Namath before Super Bowl III, but it was confidence, spoken like a person who knows what he's doing.
Or perhaps the attraction is that he can play golf so well and hit the damn ball so far.
I find golf a dreadfully boring game. I find golf matches broadcast over television to be a cure for insomnia. More importantly, after growing up in a small town that judged you and your family on whether you belonged to the country club or not (my family did not), I still have problems feeling comfortable on either the greens or the club house. The sport is tinged with elitism.
But Woods, a young man burning brightly in the fairways, greens and Nike commercials of our nation, is making me examine the game anew. Perhaps it wasn't golf that was flawed, but us.
Perhaps this Tiger is helping to show us the symmetries of beauty and achievement, dedication and mission, harmony and strength that can be found in the dimpled, white ball and within all of us.
Non-golfer Epp is a UH Law Center graduate student.