Press Box: Dwelling on things like the state of Tiger Woods' career, less-than-fun flights

News Tribune Sports Commentary

As I was standing around the other day, waiting for my glutes to activate, some thoughts crossed my mind.

• Tiger Woods is done. Almost.

For a 15-year stretch, Woods was the best golfer ever. The biggest question going into the major championships was whether you would take Tiger or the field. Take one guy or nearly 100 others. That's how good he was.

But swing tinkering, marriage philandering, fatherhood and injuries have taken their toll. In his last 11 tournaments, Woods has three missed cuts and three withdrawls.

Plus, it looks like he just doesn't want to play anymore. The Tiger intensity has been replaced by the Tiger grumpies.

And there's no way he was practicing enough, because if he was, there's no way a professional golfer would chip like the worst player in a four-man scramble at Railwood.

So a few days ago, Wood said he was taking a break from competitive golf. He will return when he feels he can compete.

"Right now, I need a lot of work on my game, and to still spend time with the people that are important to me," he said in a statement released by the PGA Tour.

Those are two very different things. It looks like Woods is at a crossroads, deciding between being truly competitive in golf or spending time with his two children and girlfriend Lindsey Vonn.

Woods is going to win again, his talent will come through for four straight days. And I still believe he has a good chance to put on another green jacket at Augusta. But his opportunity of catching Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors is gone.

Woods was never going to be someone you would see playing on the Champions Tour. But as he closes in on the age of 40, he needs to decide if he wants to be on the PGA Tour.

• Missouri head basketball coach Kim Anderson's misadventure returning from a recruiting trip Wednesday brought back a similar memory for me.

The twin-engine plane in which Anderson was traveling had to make an emergency landing Wednesday in St. Clair after one of the engines stopped working. Anderson could see a line of emergency vehicles waiting for their arrival at the airport. The plane landed without incident and Anderson drove back to Columbia.

About 10 years ago, a couple family members and I were returning from a trip to Reno, the Biggest Little City in World. We had never been there, heard good things and when the opportunity came because of a convention, decided to go.

The Biggest Little City had its way with me and four days later, I took my seat on the plane returning to St. Louis with approximately $3 in my pocket. I was not all that happy, especially with a stop in Dallas stuck in between.

We flew from Reno to Dallas, where we sat in the airport for four hours as they "fixed" an undisclosed problem with our plane. I had a full-blown case of the Tiger grumpies.

So, we finally get back on the plane and get to St. Louis. And we circle. And circle. And circle. And dump fuel. And dump fuel. And dump fuel.

Finally, the pilot comes on the intercom, saying there was a warning light that meant our landing gear might not be locked into place. But the control tower said the gear was down and we were going to land. Murmurs throughout the plane, prayers, a bit of crying. No, not by me. I just thought if I was going to go, I'm not sure I wanted it to be coming back from Reno. With $3 in my pocket.

So, with fire trucks and airport personnel lining the runway, we landed without incident.

I learned three lessons from that trip that stick with me to this day. One, never fly, let's just call it Red White and Blue Airlines, ever again. Two, always go non-stop. Three, take more money.