What's the Fuss?

I don’t usually disagree with such a respected and powerful publication such as The Wall Street Journal, but I will now. The financial bible of America has typically stayed at bay with its sports reporting, covering it from an arms-length distance. It writes, by many standards, safe, analytical sports stories, that usually concern the most pertinent sports issues that day or week.

On Friday, the Journal went in over its head. The WSJ took up most of a full page with a story headlined “The World’s Greatest Athlete?” The story says that the Journal “asked a panel of sports experts to sift through a mountain of date and pick the fastest, strongest, most agile man of Earth.”

Five judges, mostly exercise health and science experts, from across the country, started with 79 male athletes and came up with 10:

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Recently crowned U.S. Open champion Tiger Woods will undergo reconstructive anterior cruciate ligament surgery on his left knee that will cause him to miss the rest of this year’s PGA Tour season, according to a statement on his Web site.

Woods was also suffering from a double stress fracture in his left tibia discovered in late May, just before the Memorial which was Wood’s initial target to return. Woods’ Web site attributed stated the stress fracture was a result of intense training by Woods to meet his target return date of the recently-completed U.S. Open.

A surgery date has not been set yet.

“I know much was made of my knee throughout the last week, and it was important to me that I disclose my condition publicly at an appropriate time,” Woods said on his site. “I wanted to be very respectful of the USGA and their incredibly hard work and make sure the focus was on the U.S. Open. Now, it is clear that the right thing to do is to listen to my doctors, follow through with this surgery and focus my attention on rehabilitating my knee.”

Woods initially injured his ACL in July 2007 after the The Open Championship and elected to not have surgery.

Last week, Woods, who recently celebrated his 500th week as the world’s top-ranked player, was visibly in pain throughout this five-round playoff win over Rocco Mediate. He winced during tee shots and used golf clubs to help him walk.

“I was determined though to do everything and anything in my power to play in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, which is a course that is close to where I grew up and holds many special memories for me,” Woods said. “Although I will miss the rest of the 2008 season, I’m thrilled with the fact that last week was such a special tournament.”