Could all the clean athletes please stand up?

Posted: Mon Feb 9 11:35 AM

By Gerard Gallagher, Golf Editor

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Quick: What's the worst thing you know about Tiger Woods? I know, I know. I'm thinking hard, too.

- Sometimes Woods is curt with photographers on the course, that's one thing. And he often curses within range of microphones. But, like Jack Nicklaus' saltiest qualities, the only thing Woods' mini-meltdowns prove is that he is all business on the course.

- Like a lot of the best athletes, Woods has the rare quality of mostly being able to block out the distractions around him. Even when he gets distracted, it's not for long. Think about how many times he's stopped his club mid-swing to the tune of a snapping camera. And ask the guys who have played with him on Sunday how much Woods talks on the course. Even somebody like Rocco Mediate ends up talking to himself. But what might be mistaken as misanthropy on Woods' part is really just deep focus, plain and simple.

- Woods has sometimes been criticized for not being more engaging as a public figure. He has been sought out for his opinions on, among other things, politics, and has been reluctant to step out (although, without little more than a nod about its historical significance, he did take part in President Obama's inauguration week festivities). But why should a professional golfer be expected to let us into that part of his life?

And that's about it. Other than Woods' reluctance to publicly admonish caddie Stevie Williams for calling Phil Mickelson a [doo-doo head], and his mushy responses to race-related controversies involving Fuzzy Zoeller and Kelly Tilghman, there isn't a whole lot more to be critical about the world's best golfer.

Which is exactly the point.

He may be curt, prone to cursing, a little distant and unengaged, but one thing Woods isn't is a cheater.

In the wake of the Sports Illustrated report linking Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez to a failed steroids test in 2003, it helps to put that controversy into perspective.

Suppose this had been the first paragraph of SI's piece:

"In 2003, when he won nine PGA Tour events and three major championships, Tiger Woods tested positive for two anabolic steroids, according to four independent sources."

What would the consequences of a report like that be for golf? It would be nothing short of a catastrophe for the sport -- and for the sports world in general. Imagine if Woods had been using steroids while he completed the first leg of the "Tiger Slam," the same way Rodriguez was allegedly juicing while he won the first of his MVP awards.

Woods would have detonated the sport he spent so much time perfecting, knocked down all the blocks he laid building a historic resume, and thrust every other good player into an unfair spotlight defined by our suspicion.

And say what you want about Woods, but he would never do that to golf. I'd bet my job on it. (OK, I'd bet your job on it.)

These days, there aren't many star athletes you can say that about. How many of the greats can be we sure aren't using performance-enhancers to get ahead? Among the best of the best, there might be a dozen sure-thing good guys.

Roger Federer is one. Peyton Manning is another. LeBron James seems clean to me, especially since he's had a man's body since high school. And Tiger is certainly one of them.

One of the good guys.

We ask a lot of Woods. We need him to rout strong fields, to win in tight spots, to give us those "Did he just...?" moments, to win majors, to build children's academies, to have a beautiful girlfriend, to be perfect on Sundays.

Sometimes we ask too much.

But guess what? We need one more thing from him right now -- from him and his clean friends. We need them to stand up, to shun the advice of their unions and ignore criticism from their fellow players and think about their fans and their sports. We need them to step up and say, "See, I'm proof it's possible to be great and honest."

For, although some among us might tolerate cheaters, certainly all of us are getting tired of hearing about them by now.

How many more A-Rod's can we take?