Golf, Tiger and a ghost

Twenty-two-year-old Irishman Rory McIlroy won the U.S. Open, capturing the hearts of fans and the media along the way. Though Tiger Woods did not play, the press couldn't wait to, well, Taketh His Name in Vain. Teasing the next segment before a commercial break today, MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarboroug asked, "Is the Tiger Woods era over? Co-host Mika Brzezinski gratuitously gushed, "Oh I hope so." Where'd that come from? (She didn’t elaborate.) In another gratuitous dig, a Los Angeles Times headline read: "Rory McIlroy could be golf's next superstar, without the baggage." Graeme McDowell, winner of last year's U.S. Open, told the Times, "Maybe golf is ready for the next superstar," even though McIlroy (a brilliant golfer) is still a long ways from being in Tiger’s league. The Washington Post practically called Tiger uppity when it painted him as "long on ego" in contrast to McIlroy's comfy Irish "charm." And even before Le Scandale, you’d be surprised at how often I heard remarks (by whites) like: "I'm tired of seeing Tiger win so much." What’s that about?

Now, in the wake of McIlroy’s well-deserved win, some folks seem to be in an awful rush to push Tiger in front of the train. Why?

As a society, we've largely evolved beyond the prejudices that once fueled the "Great White Hope" lunacy. That said, there is something deeper at work here relating to Tiger, and it goes beyond the scorn he earned from scandal. I can't help but wonder if we're still haunted by a ghostly echo of Jack Johnson, even if it’s unconscious. Like Tiger, Johnson was for a time "the most famous and the most notorious African-American on Earth," as Ken Burns noted in his documentary (Unforgivable Blackness) about the boxer. Like Tiger, Johnson was a groundbreaking figure who forced the tectonic plates of cultural change to shift. Resentment, the daughter of fear, is often a byproduct of societal change, and may lie at the heart of the Tiger backlash. Viewed in this light, the outbreak of feigned “Tiger fatigue” makes a bit more sense. (It also may explain some of the vitriol spewed at President Obama from the right.)

McIlroy himself, of course, is a class act. About Tiger, he said, “Everyone is going to draw comparisons. It’s natural. I’m just happy to be sitting here with a trophy that has his name on it.” A name, I might add, that is etched on it three times.