The better sire: Richard Williams or Earl Woods?
Richard Williams and Earl Woods are two of the most interesting people on the American sports scene in the last half century, though neither played sports at a high professional level.
Both black men raised children in country-club sports but outside the country-club environment, and both raised those children to be the best in the world. And said so. And succeeded.
Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer of all time, while Serena and Venus Williams have been the dominant female tennis players of this decade.
No one would dare say the Williams sisters surpass Tiger in accomplishments, but here’s an interesting way to gauge them. Which of the sires, Earl Woods or Richard Williams, will have the most major championships from their offspring? Right now, Richard Williams leads Earl Woods 17-14. Serena has 10 major titles and Venus seven, and it certainly looks like the sisters will add to that total this weekend at Wimbledon.
Golf is bigger than tennis in the U.S., so no matter what, the Williams sisters wouldn’t be bigger than Tiger. But if not for Venus, Serena would be close to Tiger in major championships, 14-13. Serena thrice has lost to Venus in major finals.
Golfers have a longer shelf life than tennis players. Tiger could be winning majors well into his 40s. Tennis players do little after their 20s.
But for now, Richard Williams leads Earl Woods. The race is on.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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Comments
You don’t know what you’re talking about. Tennis is bigger than golf in America. Serena has 10 grand slams, not 13. The Williams sisters have actually changed the sport of tennis unlike Tiger. Sorry, don’t write about what you don’t know, and don’t ever criticize the Williams sisters.
AB, you are on crack. Tennis is not even close to golf. The Williams sisters are some of the worst sports figures based on their attitudes and they get it from their dad. They did not change the sport of Tennis, and to say that Tiger has not is ignoring the obvious. Maybe, you should not criticize others.
How can you even compare Tennis and Golf anyway. You HAVE to be an athlete to play pro tennis. You can play golf at the professional level 100 lbs overweight smoking a cigarette while intoxicated. Golf is popular because anybody can ride around a golf course in a golf cart.
Both fathers reflect the same controlling nature of drilling the ‘practice makes perfect’ mentality into their children. Given Woods recent transgressions, you’d have to argue that Richard Williams made a better job of raising better rounded athletes.
Too bad Richard Williams didn’t teach his daughters any class. They are a disgrace to tennis with their poor sportsmanship.