Phenoms

In April 2005, friends and family of golfer Chris DiMarco were crossing their fingers when Chris found himself tied with Tiger Woods by the end of the Masters. In the first sudden death hole, we thought Chris was going to win as Tiger was off to the left and long. But then the impossible happened. As the AP reported, Tiger chipped in and his ball aimed straight and true to the hole, where it paused right on the cup’s lip. After a second or two, which felt like an eternity, the ball slowly rolled over into the hole giving Tiger another Master’s win. To this day, that shot is considered one of the most amazing golf shots in history. How could Chris have possibly competed against that?

I think Chris and that guy who lost to Michael Phelps by a fingernail should get together and talk. I should probably extend that invitation to anyone who lost to Tiger Woods or Michael Phelps or Bolt, that amazing runner. But it doesn’t only happen in sports. Ask Hillary.

Tiger, Phelps and Bolt are all what I would call “Phenoms”. And heaven help anyone who competes against them. I truly feel sorry for the DiMarcos, and other swimmers for if it had not been for these rivals they would have easily won. But they had the bad luck to be on the playing field when these Phenoms are at the top of their game.

Obama is not a true Phenom, such as these athletes. It wasn’t until he started to gain momentum earlier this year that he turned into a Phenom. Even though people still were voting heavily for Hillary, the media had crowned him the next political whiz kid, the next JFK. It was to be expected that because of their similar racial mix, there were more and more articles comparing Obama to Tiger Woods, thereby implying that Obama was as much a winner as Tiger. The stories grew until everyone, even Obama, assumed that he was unstoppable. That Obama was “The One”.

The convention this week will work to convince the rest of the world (and I do mean world and not just the USA) that Obama is the chosen. Once both conventions are over the race moves into overdrive for the next two months. As DiMarco, and many of the Olympic athletes would tell you, it is not easy to defeat a Phenom.

McCain’s campaign, however, is doing a brilliant job. Athletes are Phenoms based on measurable results. But other than barely beating Hillary, Obama is a Phenom because the press said so. It is sort of like the old story about the emperor's clothes. This time it is McCain’s campaign which is pointing out that the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes, or rather that Obama is not a Phenom. In fact, McCain is ridiculing Obama for even thinking that he is “The One”.

Will this strategy work? I don’t know but I sure hope so. Making fun of Obama is better than believing the hype. For then McCain would be trying to compete against Obama as a Phenom, and as Chris DiMarco and many many others can tell you, it is nearly impossible to win against a true Phenom.