The Sports Truth

Sam Alexis Woods.

She’s likely to be up there in cuteness with Zion Wade, the daughter of Dwayne Wade and the former Siohvaughn Funches.

Or Bryce Maximus James, the second son born to LeBron James and his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson, earlier this month.

Golf god Tiger Woods and his wife, Elin Nordegren, welcomed their first child, daughter Sam Alexis, the golfer announced Monday.

“Both Elin and Sam are doing well and resting peacefully,” Tiger Woods wrote.

“We want to thank our doctors and the hospital staff for all their dedicated and hard work. This is truly a special time in our lives and we look forward to introducing Sam to our family and friends over the next few weeks. We thank everyone for their well wishes and continued respect of our privacy.”

The couple’s first child was born less than 24 hours after Woods finished second in the U.S. Open, one shot behind Angel Cabrera, on Sunday.

Woods announced the pregnancy on his 31st birthday in December, saying, “I have always wanted to be a dad. I just wish my father could be around to share the experience.”

His father, Earl Woods, passed away earlier in 2006.

Woods and Nordegren, a Swedish model and former nanny to Jesper Parnevik who he met at the 2001 British Open, were married in 2005.

So you tell us: Who’s the cutest celebrity baby?

• Unborn twins of Mia and Nomar Hamm
• Bryce Maximus James
• Manny Ramirez, Jr.
• The other Manny Ramirez, Jr.
• Jayden James Federline
• Sam Alexis Woods
• Suri Cruise
• Zion Wade

Roger Federer had won eight of nine Grand Slam finals going into Sunday, but the 25-year-old Swiss star said he was particularly nervous.

The same could be said of anyone playing in front of a new friend for the first time. Especially if that friend were Tiger Woods.

The world’s top golfer attended the U.S. Open final as Federer’s guest, sitting in the front row of his personal box. Federer did not disappoint (he rarely does), besting ninth-seeded American Andy Roddick, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, for his third straight Open crown.

Federer said despite all the pressure surrounding the final in and of itself, he was aware of Woods’ presence.

“You get that feeling. It’s like maybe the first time your parents see you do something special, or somebody comes to you, you really maybe look up to,” Federer said. “For me, it’s like when I go out there and I see Tiger sitting there, it’s like, I try to play well, you know? I try to kind of get my act together and focus and get off to a good start.”

Federer achieved that and then some, taking the first set in 29 minutes to set the tone. While the American battled gamely, taking the second set and pushing Federer to the brink in the third, there was little doubt who would prevail. He demolished Roddick in the fourth and final set, allowing the bewildered opponent only 13 points as he clinched his ninth Grand Slam.

(more…)

Tiger Woods is good. No, Tiger Woods is awesome. No, Tiger Woods is sick-ill-nasty. And Tiger Woods is probably going to be considered the greatest golfer to ever play the game when all is said and done.

But I’m not ready to give him the crown yet.

Supposedly he’s just hitting his prime in golf years. Tiger Woods has been in his prime since he left the womb. It doesn’t matter where Tiger plays or who his competition is, if he wants to win, he will. But until Tiger wins seven more majors to pass Jack Nicklaus (18) and thirty-one more tournaments total to pass Sam Snead (82) for the all-time record, we can’t call him the greatest ever. Not yet at least.

Too many things could happen to Tiger in the meantime. The names Ricky Williams, David Duval and Sammy Sosa come to mind. I just refuse to jump on the bandwagon of everyone proclaiming and comparing current sports stars to past legends. Let the athletes play and the wannabe TV stars/sports writers argue until the cows come home. They can waste their time, but not mine.