“Being in the money doesn’t mean anything unless you’re starving to death.” ~Jack Nicklaus, 1962, Ohio’s greatest champion, on winning.
You may be aware that there is an interview being aired on CNN this week with one of the world’s most famous athletes and one of Ohio’s native sons. This interview and the contents therein have been painted as a transparent attempt to keep oneself the center of attention and a media ploy with an aim of “upstaging.”
I don’t necessarily agree with that but I do think perhaps the focus this week should be on another native son – Ohio’s greatest champion - Jack Nicklaus. The Golden Bear is in the sunset of his life and the week of the Memorial Tournament has come to be just that – a memorialization and celebration of the greatest golfer who ever lived. I understand he is not currently dominating his craft, but instead of handwringing about summits and free agency motives, I think it both appropriate and prudent to spend some time appreciating and standing in awe of the fortune and pride that this fellow Buckeye has bestowed upon our state. Golf may be off the radar for you but we are talking about, according to Sports Illustrated, the greatest individual athlete of the 20th century – a son of Ohio.
