2008 US Open

I have been thinking, why was this past US Open championship such a big deal... Tiger was not playing at his best, thus whoever challenged him at their best is still lacking by a big gap comparing to the best at his top form.

So why is it so exciting? Enough to stir the media, the community to commend it as the best Open? Yeah, there was some circumstantial moments where the ball seemed to roll in for the sake of continuity of the game, but what the heck? In simply put, it was fun because the best had lowered his standard to good and he was more touchable, thus the competition was more enjoyable and more exciting?

What are the spectators' psychology behind? Emotion was moved because the best was more "reachable" now, they could feel the downfall of the best? Justification was leveled because the best was not so god-like anymore? or simply because of jealousy and feeling the sour-grape? or just like to watch the show because that was not something in concern in real life but something to talk about over a beer?

Personally, I like to see good become great. I like ultimate winning, I like dominance. I like the raw American absolute power. I like to see the best wins by a margin, the best is untouchable, unreachable by common folks. I like to see a human challenges the physical limit and break the rules set and reaches a level of unexpected, of unanticipated. All these mean something to me.

Whether it is a show or there is much competition now, it is a matter of sparking lights that go away quickly. I like to explore the universe, to break the boundary of what knowledge could bring us now. Tiger winning by margin kind of resembling this, whereas if there is another challenger to compete him and make the game more exciting, is immeasurably small. We are already living daily lives that are monotonous enough most the time, what is the point of watching something similar?

Tiger's shutdown for the year, is a disappointment to many, to me. The continuing of the legend, the boundary breaking fantasy, is once again put into the unknown territory.