Ronaldo - a Devil or King Next Season?

Marca has done it's job, CR7 missed the penalty that should have made him stratospheric, Calderon and Schuster have played their part and so have Robinho, Heinze etc. Fergie has said what he has had to say, Queiroz, Dennis Law, Becks, Mourinho, Capello, etc. The question remains, is CR7 going to remain a Red Devil next season or will be go to the Royal Club despite the era of the galacticos being bygone?

In this posting, I am not looking at whether he wil be treated as a Devil or a King when the season starts. But whether he will be at Madrid or not.

CR7 wants money and glamour and he is being greedy at both. Felipe had to issue a ban for media announcements from him in the Portugal camp as he was disturbing peace there. He is going the Beckham way where he is becoming too big for himself and he is just fueling this talk so
that he either gets a good deal with Man Utd to be the highest paid at Man Utd (which he deserves) and maybe even hold up to be the highest paid in the world (which he doesn't deserve yet even if he gets the ballon d'Or and the FIFA 1 Award.)

Portugal was being watched by 12 000 people who paid to watch them train and they are the only team to charge for training. Mostly this is because of CR7; it happened with Becks with Man Utd, England and Madrid. Their (Portugal) last two trainng sessions were behind closed doors to keep away the hundreds of paparazzi and adoring fans.

Back to the young man, he will stay. He has said he will stay so long as Fergie is there. But I have said it a number of times, the winner if he moves are the clubs and he will be the loser because he is not going to command the attention he gets at Man Utd. There is Guti and Raul at the Royal Club and those two are royalty there. Ronaldo will have to come down the pecking order ala Becks. Becks is even better at handling problems . . look at how he handled Capello at Madrid. He came out the victor with capello losing his job for handling the affair badly.

Ronaldo cannot even handle the refs' decisions that go against him.

He will stay because Man Utd will not sell even at 120 million pounds. This is because business wise, Madrid would benefit, not with all the image rights and sells etc. Further, Man Utd wants to be seen as the top dog, they have previously sold to Madrid players they didn't feel they needed like Becks, Heinze and Ruud but they will not sell their most-prized possession (aside of Fergie, Old Trafford, the trademark and Balance Sheet).

The scenario is either

1. CR7 will say something silly and he either gets sold to another Team like Barca in exchange for Messi or cash but not Madrid or he is shunted into the reserves like other players have been treated in the past. He may even be allowed to play in the team after being told he is not being sold but the backlash from the fans would be so bad he would lose his glamour and form. But he would never go to madrid this year. We all remember how Heinze never went to Liverpool. Fergie is stubborn and likes winnng both on and off the pitch and so he would love to win over CR7 and his agents. Or
2. CR7 asks for payrise gets it but does it so nicely the fans still like him. This would make him one of the highest paid players in the world which he derserves. This scenario I expect despite David Gill and Fergie so salary increase shall be entertained.

Fergie is not joking by saying he could stick CR7 in the stands just to prove a point alongside the Glazers. he knows letting Ronaldo go just like that may pave way for Rooney, Rio and Tevez among others to move whenever they want.

It is a different kettle of fish when Fergie leaves in 2010 as he announced.

Ronaldo has been told by Beckham, Pele, Queiroz, Capello, Dennis Law and others to stay but Scolari and others tell him to move on. As for me and my house, we know CR7 will be at Old Trafford next season but he is unlikely to be my favourite player ever again. I am really ashamed of his behaviour.

Rooney to do Well after Ronaldo Saga

Saying Manchester wouldn't do without Ronaldo is funny in the least. Manchester has always gotten goals from midfield. Remember the haydays of Paul Scholes, Becks and Giggs. So somehow we shall still get goals from the wing irrespective of Cristiano Ronaldo (CR or CR7) being there or not. But of course he is not leaving so this hypothesis is not going to be tested just yet.

Rooney should come out of his shadows now whether Ronaldo leaves or not and this saga has just helped his case for more goals.

This fact supports the thought that the rise of CR has come at the expense of MU as a collective attacking unit. The best attacking performance last season was perhaps vs Arsenal in the cup. And CR was not involved. Coincidence?

It was said Manchester would not recover past scorers like Cantona, Beckham, Ruud and others. But any club, especially the European Champions should always have no problems when they lose a single player. Some players will step up and do the scoring. It always happens; Henry left Arsenal and they did very well, Ronaldo left Real and they still get goals, george Weah left Chelsea and now there is Drogba. Wishing Manchester to hit poor form is another thing.

As suggested and backed by statistics, Manchester loses when Rooney is not playing not when Ronaldo is not playing. This is clear for the 2007/2008 though in the 2006/2007 season, we lost when Ronaldo was not playing. This is because when Rooney is on the pitch, he takes on the defenders and leaves space for the free-roaming Ronaldo to exploit the spaces and score.

Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring graphs for United had been running parallel on an upward curve until last season. When the England striker joined the Reds in 2004, he hit 17 goals in his debut campaign. It was Ronaldo's second Old Trafford season and he contributed nine goals. The term later both increased their tallies. Rooney inched up to 19 for the season and the Portuguese winger crept up to a dozen.

In 2006-07 Ronaldo soared to 23 and Rooney matched it with an increase to finish on the same amount. Last season, Ronaldo blew Rooney's effort out of the water and raced ahead to 42 goals while Rooney suffered the first dip in his account during his four seasons at Old Trafford as his contribution fell to 18.

Many United fans believe Ronaldo's phenomenal increase has been at the expense of Rooney's haul. While the winger operated as a centre-forward for the Reds as his purple streak grew, Rooney has been asked at times to operate in a wide left berth.

If Real Madrid succeed in their bid to land Ronaldo the Reds support are comforting themselves with the thought it may free up Rooney to bag a few more goals and get his graph climbing back towards the top.

Sir Alex Ferguson will continue to employ the England forward in a disciplined wide role when the occasion demands it. Fergie recognises that in certain situations Ronaldo is not best suited to carry out the disciplined role. Ronaldo does his fair share of tracking back and work but there are moments when he switches off on that side of things. You cannot afford that particularly in away ties in Europe. But with Rooney you get the fully switched-on player. He keeps the discipline. That is while in away tough matches, Ronney is the target man.

If the manager asks Rooney to stick out wide left and stop the opposition defenders coming through that flank, then he'll do the job from the first minute to the last. Sir Alex asked him to do that job a few times last season e.g. away to Roma and away to Barca. Fergusson yesterday spaeking after beating Orlando Pirates mentioned this and even said Rooney had done this without complaining.

This has even made Rooney to be praised by Lippi, the Italian National Team coach when he called Rooney the ideal player who all Italian players should emulate.

No matter what people might be saying now about Ronaldo, the fact is he did appreciate the work others put in. In fairness to him he acknowledges that a number of times. Ronaldo knew that you can't be great unless you are surrounded by very, very good players. Fergie particularly showered praise on Rooney when United played Roma in Italy in the Champions League quarter- finals for his sacrifice in the Stadio Olimpico.

Obviously, tackling back can diminish the goalscoring part of his game. But that has always been the case. That is the kind of player he is. I don't think United would want to change that.

The only situation where he might get a bit more freedom up-front and be relieved of those defensive duties is if Ronaldo goes and a winger, like Ryan Giggs, comes in who you can rely on to work back and concentrate on that job for 90 minutes.But even then I think we might always want Rooney's discipline, particularly in a European situation. If that comes at a slight cost to his goalscoring figures, then I think both he and United would accept it.

Rooney's shooting / finishing is woeful, at the moment, he missed sitter after sitter last season. add his touch and passing to that list as well. If Ronaldo does go, then it may give Rooney's career a boost as it needs one soon as possible. If Ronaldo stays, Rooney will still get a boost because people now know that there should be life after the little 'diver' has gone. Even Fabio Capello the England Coach said Rooney needs to finish off his chances.

And when I say Rooneys career needs a boost, you may ask if I am mad. After all, he was an integral part of the team that won both the Premier League and the Champions League. Rooney is a team player and his attitude is awesome. And yes, if Ronaldo leaves he will become more visible, and get more credits because of that. He won't necessarily play any better, he'd just play differently.

If I had to choose between Rooney and Ronaldo I'd definitly pick Roo. As Sir Alex often say; "There's no doubt about that.".

Wayne Rooney will become a Man United legend. Ronaldo wont. Whether he stays or goes to Madrid. Loyalty is the word.

Ronaldo - Great Footballer but Studpid Man

Listen to Ronaldo after the final were he missed a penalty and would have cost us the trophy. The Portuguese star admitted he felt he had cost his side victory when Petr Cech saved his penalty but Terry hit the post for Avram Grant's side and Van der Sar made the decisive save from Anelka.

"I thought we were going to lose," conceded Ronaldo. "I had played well and scored but I had missed my penalty and it felt like the worst day of my life. But the lads did a proper job and I feel very proud for them. It means everything to me - now it is the happiest day of my life."

Some people have called Man Utd a one-man team, in reference to Ronaldo's 42 goals last season. Well their opinions respected on him winning us the Champions League single-handedly. And if he did, he did it as a Manchester Player and we are proud of one of our players doing that. What a great feat. That is why I say he is such a great footballer. But, ya but, he is a lousy and stupid man who has no respect for people and doesn't know how to behave.

Ronaldo is a great footballer. I have no doubt he shall be the World Footballer of the Year this year and why he came out third not second last year is still a mystery. He broke George Best's record by scoring more than 32 goals in a season from midfield but broke other records before the end of the season including wiping the slate clean on awards available for individual accolades. Though he didn't beat Ferguson in the scoring stakes who notched an impressive 45 goals for Dumfermline...42 years ago, Ronaldo only failed by 5 goals to become the club's highest scoring player in a single season - a mantle currently held by Denis Law who scored 46 in the 1963/4 season. He also failed to reach Van Nistelrooy's record of 44 goals per season though this would have been different had Ronaldo been an out and out striker.

But the achievements were still too great to have been imagined at the beginning of the season. He is exceptional; he has perfected his penalties and free-kicks.

And with the money he earns, TV coverage of the EPL even in America as opposed to La Liga and Serie A, the Ronaldo brand including his CR7 brand, has grown. Cristiano Ronaldo can become the Tiger Woods of football and rival golf's No.1 as the most recognisable face in global sport. Why he even wears a red shirt. Just like Tiger. Three of the most influential men in the art of marketing and making money - big money - reckon Ronaldo is already on course to outplay David Beckham in terms of multi-millionaire, iconic status. One of them, sports management boss Chubby Chandler, reckons Ronaldo has the potential to fly far higher than that, starting by becoming the first £200,000-a-week footballer in the world.

He is that great.

If he can handle the pressures of football on the pitch so well, how come he can't just handle his dealings of the pitch better for the liking of the masses? Why doesn't he just activate his escape clause if he has it or buy out his contract whilst he is at it?

As Man Utd, we are not clinging to Ronaldo. We signed a deal with him which says he is with us. We are not asking him to sign now. We own his signature for the next 4 years. So clinging is not the word.

Employment contracts have a dissolution clause or a get-away clause. Ronaldo would go if he were to follow one of them; which is to buy out his contract but in football, he can only do that when he has two years to go. FIFA say so not Yours Truly.

As for salaries, Rooney gets less money than Ronaldo right now and only Rio gets more than Ronaldo. Giggs and Scholes both get less than Ronaldo and so it is not like the young man is short of cash. He is a millionaire with big house and big cars. And how much was he getting when we bought him? US $500 per week. So much for mistreating the boy and slavery as Blatter puts it!

Yes we can move between companies if a good offer comes but do we do it in the press and keep fanning flames of acrimony between the two companies? No. If we do that, we become stupid. We move between companies by resigning following what the contract allows. By the way, Ronaldo has the right to ask for a transfer but he know that once he does that, no loyalty allowances shall be paid to him and because he loves money, he hasn't done that.

My saying he is stupid is not that he has wants to move to another club. It is that he has not handled the saga well. He kept the story going this way and that way and up to now, people are not clear about things. A good man, like Sneijder will say I'm staying at my club or like Asharvin shall say I am leaving, so that people have time to make plans etc. Not acting like a prima donna and wanting all the attention on himself.

I am starting to believe what Mourinho said about the young man's background and education. Yes he has advisers but can an adviser like agents say stay at Man Utd when he is supposed to get millions from a transfer? Haven't many advisers told him to stay or announce if he is leaving and he is saying nothing up to now? Didn't he lie to the world that he is going to announce about the future in three days and it is now weeks after he lost his Euro match? Just shows you of someone not having a stable program.

We know he wants to go to Real and we shall allow him to go but only when we want to. Bayern did it with Hargreaves. In fact we did not make noise over Hargreaves in the press. We put in a bid which was rejected and we waited until the club was ready to trade the young man and we are happy. We didn't say he should ask for a transfer and the club should say he is for sale before we move in like Real is doing. That is why Bayern yesterday was telling off Madrid. And by the way, this is the first time a 3rd party football club board is making a comment on a deal between two clubs.

The of course we have head the likes of Wenger against Madrid, redknapp, Pele etc.

May be the stupidity I see is in the public relations but businesswise, he may be very shrewd. Time will tell.

People Tired of the Ronaldo Saga

Its been a long summer (northern hemisphere summer and hence English Premier league summer) and I am happy that finally people seem tired of the Ronaldo Saga as it looks more and more likely that he is staying at our club; a fact we Man Utd (or as our rival football fans call the team ManUre) fans knew from day one.

This means only one thing and that is peace for us poor souls. I know you would be happy to see us lose the young man and your teams then would have better chances against us.

The press in Spain and London, and fans of rival teams like Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Madrid in particular, have been stirring this whole saga up for months and months, and repeatedly fanning the flames. I think everybody's sick of it and its about time it stopped. They hate United and will do anything, anything, to destablise Man Utd simply because we're the best, biggest and more famous club in the world and they can't stand to see it, and are jealous of us.

I think we've been treated dreadfully by the press and you guys. Our magnificent double seems to mean nothing and all that is being written about is how nasty we are for wanting to keep Ronaldo against his wishes. (Rio Ferdinand did admit that the shine of the double had been dulled by the Ronaldo saga but he said Ronaldo would still be welcome to the Old Trafford dressing room at the end of it all).

Have we treated Ronaldo so badly in the all the time he has been here? Have we acted wrongly to say that he is not for sale as one of our best young players? Obviously we're the ones at fault simply because we are Manchester United, envied all over the world. I tend to think of it all as a positive because it's sure to get the fans' backs up and just remind of us all of our siege mentality. I don't have any fears over our future because there are so many talented players at the club and the unity between them is too great to be destroyed by Cristiano Ronaldo and his "dream move".

And about Madrid not being punished by FIFA, Man Utd rushed to FIFA to show their level of seriousness in wanting to stop Madrid pursuing Ronaldo aggressively though they knew that there was no full case at the time. But it is also a move which allows FIFA to act as soon as sometime goes wrong; more of a "proactive suit" as opposed of retrospective one.

You see . . . Real will never pay up, its as simple as that. They don't have the funding required to make the transfer happen and United will not be forced to sell their player either. United didn't want Beckahm or Van Nistelrooy and as a result they lost out on gaining these players full transfer values by maybe as much as a further £25m. The lesson has now been learned and United won't let it happen again.

Heinze on the other hand wasn't forced out but wanted out. His choice though wasn't Real Madrid, no, he wanted to swap allegiances for the bin dippers of Liverpool. The reason of course was he knew he'd be 2nd choice to Evra and at his age wanted to be 1st choice. As we all know though, SAF told Heinze that he'd never allow such a transfer to happen and the result was a move to Real with a return on the £6.9m we'd originally paid for him. Ronaldo should take careful note of this scenario!

Ronaldo should also be very careful of Real Madrid and their tactics. The Madrid rags of AS and Marca have been spouting "leaked" figures of an £80m transfer fee + Ramos or Robinho and £300k a week wages to get "their man" Ronaldo. Thing is, if they're now saying they can't afford the mere £80m + Ramos, SORRY I mean "won't be held to ransom" for Cristiano then what makes Ronaldo think that they'll be true to their word and pay him £300k a week? Or £200k depending on your source. If Ronaldo were to ask for a transfer (which he won't if he's smart) then he'll have weakened his own hand. Should Madrid somehow find the money needed to sign him whats to stop them offically offering CR7 only half the wage being mentioned. What then does he do? He'll be an outcast at United and Real will hold all the cards. Didn't the same thing happen Beckham, losing out on his image rights and also offered £30k less than had been "leaked" as well.

To my mind Real Madrid are trying to play both United and Ronaldo in a game of 3-way chess. Hoping to lure United to the transfer table and also turn Ronaldo's head enough to make him request a transfer in a bid to gain an advantage in forcing United to sell and also in making a more realistic offer to CR7 of about £150k a week. Neither will work, United have Ronaldo tied to a contract with 4 years left to run and can of course simply do nothing and cash in when they want to in 2 years time. Ronaldo is now sweating because he will lose out on any loyalty bonus his contract has and will become an OT outcast placing his whole career in jeopordy should he buckle to Real's "the player must state he wants to play for us" tactic. Real, having applied this tried and trusted technique many times with success also know that should Cristiano say nothing then they won't have any leverage in the battle and will simply have to go back with their tails between their legs and tell their own fans more lies just as they did when they failed to "get their man" with Fabregas and Kaka. Maybe they are not just as big and great as they'd have everyone believe eh!!!

And another thing, the fans don't decide this one; SAF does and I have no doubt he will not sell. For months he has said he is not selling Ronaldo. He has also been backed by the two other factors in the decision-making process of selling the player: the chairman David Gill and the club owners, the Glazers. He has further gone on to advise that leaving Man Utd would bad for Ronaldo's career.

SAF wont sell because the next time we develop Anderson or Nani into the next big thing all & sundry will think it's a possibility for them to leave as well to whatever their dream team. If Ronaldo stays it will be because SIR ALEX FERGUSON wants him to stay. If he goes it will be becuase SIR ALEX FERGUSON wants him to go. The Glazers would never overrule SAF. Ask keane, RvN or Becks.

This is what I predict. SAF won't sell and Ronaldo will stay. Ronaldo will not go on strike and SAF won't leave him in the stands or on the bench. He will be back like nothing ever happened and after the first couple of goals go in (as Ronaldo himself said during one interview) it will be as though this saga never happened until next Summer (or until we face Madrid in the Champions League) when Madrid will try and ramp up the pressure again...

When Ronaldo was interviewed was asked about how he would be received by Man U fans after all this saga and he said "After a couple of goals they will be all happy"...so i think he also knows his chances of moving this season is slim to nothing.....

I choose not to quote the millions of people who have spoken for or against Ronaldo going to Madrid but suffice to say this was the saga of the summer what with the following having commented: Arsene Wenger, Blatter, Platini, Pele, Becks, Canavarro, Scolari, Mourinho, Robinho, Raul, Rio, Redknapp, Keane, Sneijder, etc.

Support the Team and Live the Dream..... Believe!!

My Life as a Small Time Golfer

Who is winning the Ryder Cup this year? America this time or Europe continues dominating? Is the fact that Tiger is out going to favour Europe or Europe was gonna win anyway seeing this has happen with Tiger in the Team?

I know in Zambia we talk about football alot but I also happy that there is the occasional Wimbledon, the occasional Heaton vs Mayweather discussion and other sports. One thing for sure is that we are sports men or sportsmen or at least people that love sports alot. I decided to l0ok at golf seeing it is the gentleman's game and I rarely fantasise about the fairway when twist and turf on the turf at Barclays Sports Complex playing football. I know cricket and tennis are the ultimate gentleman's game but a game whose name is sometimes argued to have come from the moniker "Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbiden", in short GOLF, sounds sexy.

What made me think was golf was two things this week, football personalities have of late been getting into other sports to try and divert attention away from football what with such sagas as Ronaldo's. First Calderon took advantage of the Spanish Euro win and Nadal's win to use the attention from tennis onto his Ronaldo pursuit instead of away from football. On the other hand SIR Alex Ferguson has urged his United team to take inspiration from Padraig Harrington's successful British Open defence as they look to repeat the heroics of last season. Granted he knows winning big competitions in successive years is "terribly difficult", Ferguson remains energised and enthused by the ability of top sports people to maintain their focus under extreme pressure. Using Golf, Fergie praised Sunderland supporter Harrington for the way he retained his title at Royal Birkdale - and challenged his players to show similar drive and ambition in the months ahead. He said "Harrington, however, was so cool and showed to me he had the bottle. When he needed to perform in the last six holes, he had four birdies. His second shot at the 17th, right on the pin... unbelievable. He thoroughly deserved the victory." On retaining the European Cup and chalking up a hat-trick of Premier League victories Ferguson said: "It can be done.

The second Golf moment this was, again related to Harrington's win, is when American players complained of the conditions at the British Open. This is how BBC Blogger Robbo Robson put it about those who were complaining of the conditions: "Yanks mostly, who bleated on about how nasty it is to have to play golf when it's windy and raining. Ah, bless! But just where do you think golf was invented? California perhaps where every day is the same day and the grass never changes and the bunkers are filled in with sand imported from the Outer Hebrides? No, it was invented in Scotland, that haven of climatic peace and serenity. Shut up or go home!" Robbo then ended "I can't wait for the Ryder Cup! All we need is a light breeze and the Americans will just hand it over while they put on their anoraks and hide in the clubhouse".

Golf and yours truly go way back. . . if 1998 is way back. But for a guy who spent along time in the village during my formative years and so never had a chance to go to trust schools or tag on Dad's spurs to a golf course, that is way back. I remember buying an almost complete golf set (3 woods, 2 putters, lots of irons with only about two clubs missing). We used to go to Chainama Golf Club to pick stray golf balls and then go play at the University of Zambia (UNZA). This was during the 8 month closure. I must admit it is a very tough game to play and the skill levels involved plus decision-making vis-a-vis opportunity costs are as high as probably only in the mini-game of Pool or Snooker. Every shot in golf is a compromise between length and precision, and long shots are often less precise than short ones. A longer shot may result in a better score if it helps reduce the total number of strokes for a given hole, but the benefit may be more than outweighed by additional strokes or penalties if a ball is lost, out of bounds, or comes to rest on difficult ground. Therefore, a skilled golfer must assess the quality of his or her shots in a particular situation in order to judge whether the possible benefits of aggressive play are worth the risks. And then there is the wind and the slope when the ball lands etc.

Problem was on the first two to three times we tried playing golf, my first short with the 3 wood always got the first ball into the Goma lakes. I had to buy a book from the UNZA Bookshop to improve my swing and understand my scoring etc. It worked. As more balls dropped into the lakes, we had to move away from the water and "teed off" near the back gate of UNZA with the "greens" nearer to the water. We played both stroke play and match play and this was foursome or singles etc. I am not sure what my handicap is now but back then, it came close to the average entrant at Chainama Golf Club. So we enlisted as student members at the club. Then we got excited one day and starting playing on one green during an actual game instead of being at the practice range. This infuriated the club captain and coupled with us having untucked our shirts, hence breaking club rules, we got de-registered barely two weeks into our membership. And that was the end of yours truly's golf career. It ended before it started. I guess now that am a bit mobile and can behave better, I would consider going back to Chainama Golf Club. Any volunteers to join me? I still love the way they score in Golf: birdie, albatross, eagle, condor (these are bird-related or feathered) etc. I guess only cricket has a better scoring system. What can beat wickets, runs, not outs, centuries, etc? But cricket is for another "blog". But the types of shots in golf (i.e. drive, approach, chip, punch, knock-down, lay-up, flop shot, draw, fade, shank, chunked shot or turfed shot, duffed shot) are only rivalled if not beaten by pool and snooker which has top-spins, english-left, jump shot, scratch, bottom-right, etc.

Am thinking of being a small type golfer again. Not to rival Madalitso Muthiya (pictured above) or Machael K. Chiluba. But maybe we can make use of some holidays and afternoons better. All that is needed is golf clubs (quite expensive I must say), golf balls, golf shows, a golf bags, some golf t-shirts, good slacks and belt (ha ha ha!) and pins of course. On clubs, a full set typically consists of a driver, two fairway woods (generally 3- and 5-woods), a set of irons from 3 to 9, a pitching wedge, a sand wedge, a putter, and one more club of the player's choice. Many players opt to avoid the 3- and 4-irons (which are more difficult to hit). Another common variation is to use only the 3, 5, 7 and 9 out of the numbered irons. The extra space in the player's bag can then be filled with more woods, easier-to-hit "hybrid" clubs, additional high-loft or intermediate wedges, and/or a specialized chipping club or multiple putters. Good way to invest into a better future as a mature. Not starting golf when it is too late.

Which reminds me, Madalitso Muthiya has the distinction of being the first and only Black African and Zambian to play in the U.S. Open in 2006.

But before I go, a few other things golf, Tiger Woods (the guy is aptly named for golf right), gets too much money compared to his colleagues and at more than 100 million dollars from sponsors and appearance (this is not including prize money but just endorsements and other contracts), he makes the likes of CR7 look poor (there I go to football). With Schumacher gone and Mike Tyson history, he is going to take long to beat. He deserves the money though. Tiger Woods has helped 'revitalize' world interest in golf. On Sunday April 8th, 2001 he created history by holding all 4 major championships simultaneously: the US Open, British Open, US PGA, and the Masters. In 1930 the legendary Bobby Jones won what is generally regarded as a golfing Grand Slam, when he won the then 4 majors in the same calendar year: the US and British Open and Amateur titles. Maybe the unique title 'GrandMaster of Golf' describes Tiger Wood's achievements.

This inspired the joke "What do you call hundreds of rich, adult white males chasing one black man?" Answer: "The PGA Tour".