Earl Woods, the father of Tiger Woods, died yesterday at the age of 74. Earl Woods was another one of those sports fathers who pushed their kids into a life of sport far too early for such a thing, and it's worth noting that even though his predictions of Tiger's eventual dominance turned out to be true, that's not the case with most dads.
Not that it decreases Earl Woods' influence, or his somewhat irrepressible and amusing lack of political correctness. Here's our favorite Earl Woods quote:
"And now Tiger has a wife, a great wife. It's hard for a caveman to go out on a hunt, bring the damn food into the cave, light the friggin' fire, do every other damn thing, and then sit there and eat alone."
That was the first and last time we'd ever heard Tiger Woods compared to a caveman in any way, shape or form. Rest in peace, Earl.
Tiger's Dad Gave Us All Some Lessons [ESPN]
(A reader retorts: " Uh, no. He never pushed Tiger to play golf. Every article/obit you could have read yesterday rehashes the stories of how Tiger himself was driven to play, even when he was told to take time off to do other things. He never lasted more than 2 days. Earl also kept him off the tour until he was ready to handle it. He was probably the most responsible parent of a sports prodigy we've ever had."
That may be true, not that it's a difficult title to hold.)