Frontpage Features

BY RON BARR

There’s a report that Tiger Woods is getting back into golf shape.  It’s reported that he’s working out and hitting golf balls at a driving range near his Florida home and where he wrecked his Escalade.  He returned recently from a week of family counseling in Arizona.  Woods hasn’t announced any timetable for his return to the PGA tour.

Woods’ step back into the competitive golf world will be interesting to watch.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Woods’ therapist didn’t recommend that he get back to work as soon as possible.  His mental and emotional health needs discipline and daily preparation and competing will do that.  He also has to test himself to see if he’s gotten over his “sexual party animal” cravings.  The answer he gets to that question will determine whether he stays married or not.  Tiger’s identity is tied to golf and his success in the sport.  I’m sure he loves his family, but his love for Elin is a different matter.  Therapy has given him a better understanding of himself and what he wants in his personal life.  Now he has to decide whether Elin and being married to her is a part of that self-awareness.  He has two choices: Be happy with Elin and his family, or write her a big check and get on with his life and continue to explore his cravings.  

I bet he chooses to write the big check.  

There’s another difficult chapter in Allen Iverson’s life unfolding.  The Philadelphia 76ers announced that A.I. wouldn’t be returning to the team for the rest of the season.  He has been absent from the team for a month dealing with his 4-year-old daughter Messiah’s illness.  The 6ers released a statement saying, "After discussing the situation with Allen, we have come to the conclusion that he will not return to the Sixers for the remainder of the season, as he no longer wishes to be a distraction to the organization and teammates that he loves very deeply.  It has been very difficult for Allen and the team to maintain any consistency as he tries to balance his career with his personal life."  

Iverson is a former NBA MVP and a four-time scoring champion.  With the 6ers, a team he led to the NBA Finals, he was averaging nearly 14 points a game.  But at 34, he only showed flashes of his former playmaking self when he ruled the NBA as one of the league’s best guards.  Fans and the public in general tend to see pro athletes merely as over paid, over indulgent, ego driven people.  Not for a moment do they see them as human beings that have feelings and problems like you and me.  In some cases that image is deserved.  But, there are jerks in all walks of life.  

Iverson grew up as a troubled black kid in the south.  He had little family structure to guide him and basketball became his way to a better life.  As he matured and garnered millions of dollars playing the game he loved, he continued to make bad choices and bad decisions.  But, nothing that gained him more than an occasional embarrassing headline.  Iverson finally found stability and purpose in life with his own family and children.  He has come to realize basketball will come and go, but the people you love won't.  In a recent A.P. interview, Iverson said, "It was tough to leave her and my wife and kids.  But I do have a commitment and an obligation to be with my team and to do my job. But it is rough."

His daughter’s serious illness has forced Iverson to make a choice between basketball, and life and love of those now important to him.  A.I. you made the right choice and we’ll keep good thoughts for Messiah.

Lebron you’re about to do something very stupid.  Lebron James has filed paperwork with the NBA to change his number from 23 to 6.  He says he’s doing it to honor and out of respect for Michael Jordan and his contribution to basketball and the league.  Nice sentiment, but stupid decision.  You see, the number 6 is the number Hall of Famer and one of basketball’s all-time greats, Bill Russell, wore.  If Lebron is honoring Jordan with the switch, then he’s snubbing Russell.  Six is the number James wore on the Olympic team, but the NBA does not have to grant his request. If James switches teams, he can choose any number he wishes. The change only applies if he stays with the Cavaliers.

James is the face of today’s NBA and he’s done everything right on and off the court.  But, let’s hope the NBA steps up and stops him from making a foolish, mis-guided mistake.  The great thing about sport is tradition and the respect for it.  In this case, respect for one of the game’s pioneers and all-time greats, Bill Russell, should take precedent.  Michael Jordan has been honored and respected and I’m sure if you asked him he’d say it was a nice gesture, but not at the expense of another great player.  

Hey Mike pickup the phone and tell Lebron to do the right thing.   

I’m Ron Barr.

Ron Barr is an Emmy award winning writer and the host of the nationally and internationally syndicated sports talk show, Sports Byline USA.