Stargazing

Trey Smith

I'm more than happy to be a run-of-the-mill bloke. I'd hate to be a "star" like, say, Tiger Woods!

Over the past two years, Woods' play as a professional golfer has been erratic, to put it mildly. This year alone, he won a tournament for the first time in more than two years, then missed the cut in his next two tournaments. Because he is a star, sportswriters always have an opinion to offer after his every round of golf.

When he posts a low score, almost everyone screams, "He's back." They act as if this one round means that Woods will regain his luster as professional golf's biggest superstar.

Yet, if he follows his low round with a high round (several shots over par), these same writers are ready to write his epitaph! These learned pundits will tell you that Woods has "lost it" and he may never get his mojo back.

Since Woods has had an up-and-down year, it's been fun watching the contortions that the sportswriters have gone through. Just about the time the majority are ready to write him off as a has-been, he posts a low round and they do a somersault to declare his second coming!

Because I'm not a star, there aren't news sites and blogs dedicated to critiquing The Rambling Taoists. When I'm able to cobble together a well-written post, there aren't a bunch of rabid pundits ready to declare me as the front runner for this year's Pulitzer Prize!

By the same token, when I'm having an off day and I write a crummy post, there aren't critics announcing to the world that I must be the worst writer on the face of the earth and that this blog should be shit-canned as quickly as humanly possible.

There is a certain freedom in being nobody special!