First and Last

As I was thinking of the biggest sports stories of the decade it occurred to me that the 2 biggest events were actually the first and last of the decade. The death of Dale Earnhardt and Tiger Woods apparent fall from grace showed how sports stories can become major news events. It also showed how 2 entirely different men, with as diverse of backgrounds imaginable, could dominate their professions and change how the business and marketing of sports was conducted. The similarities of their childhoods would be the drive instilled in them by two strong fathers to not just succeed, but to dominate their chosen professions and become arguably the greatest of all time. Ironically the deaths of their fathers impacted them more than any other events in their respective lives. With the help of his business-savvy second wife Teresa Houston, Earnhardt was the first to license his signature and make his autograph a trademark of his business empire. He was the first to create his own sports marketing firm to sell and distribute his merchandise to his fans and create the template most commonly used by today's athletes to run their personal business empires. Tiger on the other hand rarely signs any autographs, making the rare few worth a small fortune. Dale and car owner Richard Childress took corporate sponsorship to unprecedented heights with their merger of Chevrolet / GM Goodwrench and raised a small "niche" sport "to big boy" status. Woods on the other hand used his primary corporate sponsor Nike, to do the majority of his marketing and eventually became the world's 1st billion dollar athlete. With their mass fan appeal , they raised the economy and salaries of everyone associated with their respective sports to extraordinary levels. Although NASCAR continued to grow after Earnhardt's death , it now seems as if it was more of a curiosity to see how so many people could love one man and a sport so deeply. We've seen for years the disparity in a Tiger Tournament, and a PGA Tour event in ratings , attendance and interest so there are grave concerns for what could happen with a prolonged absence could do to the PGAtour. Golf and NASCAR were alredy facing monumental challenges dealing with the recession due to their dependence on sponsorships.