Doug Glanville on cleat chasers, Tiger Woods, etc

[OleMissCub]

I thought this was a really terrific piece by Glanville.

 

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/not-just-tigers-temptations/?ref=opinion

 

I was just 20 when I was drafted and it didn’t take long to understand that a new kind of woman was interested in me: the sort of woman who in the past had stirred my insecurity. It was like a kid finding Batman’s belt in the lost and found. No point in giving it back until you’ve tried all your new powers. But we forget to ask, will I be able to stop once I’ve tasted these powers?

 

I remember returning to campus and, after appearing on a closed-circuit cable show to discuss my new career, having the attractive hostess offer to walk me home. Wow, that never happened before. Apparently, I had skipped a few of the steps to social acceptance, and before I knew it, “unapproachable” and “woman” were no longer being used in the same sentence.

 

In an athlete’s environment, money can be its own pollutant; you can become desensitized to the significance of what it can buy. Typically, if a person spends hundreds of dollars on arrangements to pass time with someone, that someone would be important in his life. But when you have extensive financial resources, it’s easy to send similar signals to people who are meaningful only for a moment.

 

The pro athlete’s world is self-centered at best. Schedule is fixed, practice a must, travel a given. Anyone choosing to share that has to get on board and fit in. It can get to a point where the relationship is strictly one-way (the athlete’s way), and the other party becomes insignificant, more a prop than a true relationship partner.

[fromthestretch]

That really is a good read.

[Roast]

Glanville has had a couple really good reads on the NYT now. Good for him.

[wekse]

didn't glanville go to penn? i think i remember that about him...smart dude.

[fromthestretch]

didn't glanville go to penn? i think i remember that about him...smart dude.

 

Yep.

[SouthSideRyan]

didn't glanville go to penn? i think i remember that about him...smart dude.

 

And he was an engineering major. It'd be nice if people like him would fill the role the John Kruks and Mark Graces of the world are filling. Though I guess Glanville wouldn't have a whole lot of desire to have that schedule either.

[wvcbxl]

I thought this was a really terrific piece by Glanville.

 

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/not-just-tigers-temptations/?ref=opinion

 

I agree - very thoughtful piece.