May 03, 2006

Earl Woods dies at 74: Earl Woods, father of PGA star Tiger Woods, has died at age 74 after a long battle with cancer. Has any other father ever been more a part of his offsprings' career and fame?

posted by wfrazerjr to golf at 02:36 PM - 28 comments

More information here.

posted by wfrazerjr at 02:36 PM on May 03, 2006

Joe Simpson...ok, ok, bad example:)

posted by chicago4eva at 02:44 PM on May 03, 2006

Todd Marinovich's dad.

posted by holden at 02:54 PM on May 03, 2006

Walter Gretzky. Still, the success of Tiger is measured significantly in light of the coverage of his Dad's death. Think of the ovation Tiger's going to get the next time he steps up to the tee.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:57 PM on May 03, 2006

Earl Woods had an interesting life story of his own, and as a father, he obviously, in my opinion, did an exceptional job of raising Tiger, not just to be a golfer, but to be a decent human being. He may have injected a bit to much enthusiasm in statements made to the press about his son, but he sure had plenty to be enthused about and proud of. His story speaks for itself.

posted by mjkredliner at 03:09 PM on May 03, 2006

If Tiger ever had something to motivate him, this is going to be it. He is going to play in memory of his dad. Don't be surprised if Tiger doesn't get beat for a better part of the rest of the year.

posted by dbt302 at 03:15 PM on May 03, 2006

Todd Marinovich's dad. Now there's a dad with a purpose. The man had Todd on a weight program in grade school. He married a nutritionist to make him fit. He destined that boy to be a NFL QB and succeeded. (though because of all that also turned his son into a coke head) :-)

posted by bdaddy at 03:20 PM on May 03, 2006

The one thing I like about Tiger is the fact he dosent make a public jackass out of himself. Look at other guys with talent that continue to be "assholes with money" Those values came from having a good family base.

posted by lightman at 03:49 PM on May 03, 2006

Cal Ripken Sr.

posted by rcade at 03:59 PM on May 03, 2006

The contrast between Tiger and John Daley's recent revelations in his book are striking. It says a lot about Earl Woods and the values he instilled in his son.

posted by BikeNut at 04:01 PM on May 03, 2006

Walter Gretzky. You know you did something right when they make a TV movie about you recovering from a stroke. Since Wayne Gretzky is pretty much the squeakiest-clean athlete out there (he even came out clean from the gambling mess), Walter (and his wife) did good.

posted by grum@work at 04:10 PM on May 03, 2006

Tiger Loved his Dad he will take awhile to get over it and he Will Come Back like we all expect him to

posted by luther70 at 04:12 PM on May 03, 2006

God Rest Your Soul., Earl.

posted by what the? at 04:13 PM on May 03, 2006

.

posted by Joey Michaels at 04:20 PM on May 03, 2006

Good Man, Good Person , Viet Nam Vet, Good Moral Character, and a man who did the best in raising a fine young man. "Que Dios Te vendiga." May the Lord bless him.

posted by mustang71 at 04:32 PM on May 03, 2006

Having read a few books about Tiger and his dad, the thing that impressed me most is that when Tiger was little, Earl didn't try to force a love of golf on him. He (Earl) would go about hitting balls and playing, but he made Tiger have to really want to play and learn. He didn't force the game on the kid like so many father's tend to do in various sports (thus making it likely the kid grows to resent it down the road (Marinovich)). If you didn't get choked up when Tiger hugged his dad after his first Master's win, then you truly have no emotions. RIP.

posted by dyams at 05:31 PM on May 03, 2006

Richard Williams?

posted by jackhererra at 05:34 PM on May 03, 2006

r.i.p earl. you did a great job.tiger is living proof.

posted by kckurtbusch at 09:17 PM on May 03, 2006

john elway's dad

posted by MNJ1193 at 10:30 PM on May 03, 2006

dbt302 I second that. His mental game can be as good as his physical game and it just got sharpened. He will be tough to beat.

posted by hoyty at 01:44 AM on May 04, 2006

Perhaps I'm overly cynical, but when I read this I think "This is news why exactly? Peoples fathers, sadly, die every day." KCKurt: Success is a not an indicator of whether someones parents did a "good job".

posted by Drood at 05:07 AM on May 04, 2006

sounds like a great man but remember tiger has step brother(s)and sister(s). you never here what his other kids are like or doing.

posted by laabdog at 06:02 AM on May 04, 2006

tiger i'm truly sorry to hear about your loss god bless your father and your family a fan

posted by FrankySP at 07:49 AM on May 04, 2006

"This is news why exactly? Peoples fathers, sadly, die every day." Agreed. I think it's a combination of factors: 1) His son is one of the most high-profile athletes on the planet. Anything to do with his personal life is going to be "news". 2) Earl Woods himself was somewhat of a celebrity, having written a best-selling book, had numerous interviews with the media, and had appeared prominently in many major sporting moments. The most memorable one being "the hug" after Woods won his first Masters tournament. 3) The affect of Earl's health on the mental state of Tiger had been debated by many insiders. Now that he has passed away and Tiger can grieve and cope, people are interested in how he'll respond. This doesn't excuse the "tabloidification" of modern day "news", but does explain why something like this would be a #2 or #3 story on a sports broadcast.

posted by grum@work at 10:25 AM on May 04, 2006

Tiger is a class act. I want for more children to make him as a role model. Too many children are acting too (sorry) NBA type. example...sagging pants and bad grammar. I do not want to implicate that all of the NBA are as such. But I most definitly will try to lean my children to the class of golf. Thank you Earl and god bless.

posted by jennbwest at 10:58 AM on May 04, 2006

Tiger is a class act. I want for more children to make him as a role model. Too many children are acting too (sorry) NBA type. example...sagging pants and bad grammar. FYI, many people believe that role models should not be chosen based on their use of slang or the type of clothes they wear. Some people might look to social conscience, character, and integrity. For these things, you might have to look past the sagging pants.

posted by bperk at 11:21 AM on May 04, 2006

Richard Williams? Is this supposed to be a joke?

posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:01 PM on May 04, 2006

I think so, but obviously Mary Pierce's dad would have been funnier.

posted by yerfatma at 08:37 PM on May 04, 2006

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