Michael Lawson
“A champion is someone who gets up when he can't.”- Jack Dempsey
While the brewing brouhaha of College Football begins to bubble, with SEC Media Days sucking up oxygen in the sports world like me at the tail end of a 5K run…while the NBA free agency period offered daily eye-poppers from contracts in the 7 to 9 figure range (Enis Kanter got how much money?)…while ESPN glitters at its own award show offering trophies for everything from homeruns to sex changes…there is a seismic happening in the world of sport that no one seems to notice.
It is possible that history could be made in the next few weeks, and no one seems to notice. It is possible that two of today’s great American sports figures will do something unheard of…unthinkable…unspeakable just a few years ago…and no one seems to notice. Serena Williams and Jordan Spieth have a chance at the ‘”Grand Slam” in their respective sports…and no one seems to notice.
Golf and tennis are, each, a different breed of sport. Unlike football, or baseball, or basketball, or hockey, and most others that command our attention…these sports are “individual” sports. Meaning, when they get out there, it is just them. It is a single person against the course…or a single person against the person on the other side of the net (I’m not getting into the pedantic argument of caddie and coach as a team. Yes, they are important, but…).
Golf and tennis lend themselves to the virtuoso…the soaring solo…the epic spotlight on an otherwise dark stage. Each of these sports expose you…the player…whether it be good or bad…you are exposed fully. Each of these sports requires that you perform with crowds chanting and yelling…and, when there are 50,000 people hushed with anticipation of your next move. In some ways…they are far more difficult to master and conquer on a grand world stage than other sports. In other sports, you can have bad days and your teammates “pick you up” (one of my favorite things of playing sports growing up)…but not in golf or tennis. You have a bad day…and, you go home…which is why the recent exploits of Ms. Williams and Mr. Spieth require attention.
Serena Jameka Williams is, according to the Women’s’ Tennis Association (WTA), the No. 1 ranked women’s singles player in the world, and we all know who she is. She’s been at this winning thing for a while. Williams holds the most major singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles combined amongst active players…male or female. She has 21 “Grand Slam” singles titles, thus far…one shy of the legendary Steffi Graf…and just won her 6th Wimbledon title…which is why I’m writing this. You see…in the tennis world, the four “Major” tournaments/titles in the calendar year are the Australian Open (Jan.), French Open (June), Wimbledon (July), and our Championship… the U.S. Open in August (These make up the elusive Grand Slam). In winning Wimbledon last week, Serena Williams put herself in a position no one has been in…male or female…since 1988…with a chance to win the grand slam…”The Calendar Grand Slam”…”The Golden Slam”. Graf did it in that storied year of 1988, and as a kid, I remember hearing that we might never see this again. And we might not…except, that The U.S. Open is played on a hard court surface…and that happens to be Williams’ best and favorite. She is ¾ of the way and about to play at her national tournament…on her favorite surface.
Jordan Spieth is a different sort of story, but somehow finds himself in the same position (almost) as Williams. Spieth is a 21-year-old golf phenom…who happens to be American…at a time when American golf has lagged behind the Europeans for a while now…and with no end in sight. That is…until Spieth….this year. All he has done this year is win the 1st two majors of the year (The Masters and The U.S. Open), and now is favored to win at The British Open (or The Open if you are a pretentious Yank or are British) this weekend at historic and bucolic St. Andrews (The British Open and The PGA Championship make up the last two). There have been a few golfers in history to win the 1st half of the Grand Slam, with Tiger Woods being the last, but none has won the 1st three major tournaments, much less all 4, in a calendar year since the great Bobby Jones…in 1930! No one…male or female… has won all four major tournaments in a calendar year in the modern era in golf…not one person. If Spieth wins this weekend, he is ¾ of the way there. And think about this…the “Career Grand Slam” is the gold standard for both sports. Meaning, if you, in your entire career, win all four of these majors, you are considered a legend. These two have a chance to do that in the same year…as each other.
Look…I get it. Golf and tennis aren’t as flashy as the other sports. They require muted praise and muffled congratulations…because, they are sports wrapped in a cloak of peaceful and serene setting. The nature of these games is such that the “awe-shucks” is elevated over the “I told you so”. Still, just because the Aurora Borealis is silent…it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take notice of the beauty and wonder…and applaud. Heck, if either of these two great champions achieves this accomplishment, maybe they can get a trophy at next year’s ESPYs. Maybe even for courage…I mean…Arthur Ashe was a tennis player, after all.
(W. Michael Lawson is an alumnus of Lee University and University of Richmond. Mr. Lawson currently hosts a weekly radio show “The Strong Sauce Hour” and Co-hosts a daily sports show “The Sports Drive” on 101.3 FM/1570 AM. You can follow him on twitter @thestrongsauce.)