As a young golf professional, Michelle Wie is finding out that winning is not so easy.The world has told her that she is the next Tiger Woods.She has been told that her time is coming and that no one can stop her.Luckily Wie has a few other things going for her besides winning, because that ain’t happening anytime soon.
Youth
Michelle is young, very young.And as Martha Stewart says, “That is a good thing!”As young as Wie is she can correct many of the mistakes she is currently making and if she doesn’t, she can still go to college and find a new career.Unlike many men I know today, it’s too late to change careers when you are 40, but for Wie she still has several years to decide what she wants to do.
Endorsements
Wie has millions in endorsement deals already so if she saves her money wisely she may never have to work again.My advice to her is not to go crazy and spend it all because those deals will eventually dry up if you don’t win, but for now enjoy.Michelle just signed a new endorsement deal with a Korean construction company.That deal was reported to be worth close to a million dollars.With deals with Sony and Nike she already exceeds what I will earn in my lifetime.
Beauty
Enjoy your youth, with those long legs and pretty smile you can always marry well.Should your earnings dry up, just find yourself a rich guy and get married.That shouldn’t be too hard.I bet it’s easier to do than win the Women’s British Open.Leave that for the likes of 46 year old Inkster or some of the other old ladies of golf.It’s not like you are dominating the elder stateswomen of golf, so beat them at the marrying game.
These are just a few of the ideas I have for Michelle (Winning Isn’t Everything) Wie.If you have other ideas, just add them to the list.
MD, you are so right about the fame. That gives her things that she would never have had. She better enjoy it fast though because without the wins she will become famous like Danny Bonaducci.
good stuff socal...there are some similarities between her and danica patrick. neither can win, although they've come close. both are females who (even if it's not intentional) use their bodies to get huge endorsement deals. both are trying to succeed in a male dominated sport. patrick in a sport where very few women even get their foot in the door, and wie on the mens tour of a sport which has a specific tour just for women. 1 other thing....in the past couple weeks or so, both have shown in different ways, that the stress is taking its toll on them. wie had to leave a tourney with "heat exhaustion" and patrick blew a gasket (aka a #### fit) after running out of gas with only a couple laps to go. next thing we know, wie will be switching teams (not that team). do they have teams in golf?
With her age, I suppose she can only get better, but right now she is just a "cash cow" in the fact that the networks overhype her, and it works, people tune in, and we are talking about her, so I think the networks won.
Good post. When Tiger first burst onto the scene, I was skeptical because I had long since tired of "The next ____" talk, regardless of the sport. I think part of the reason Wie is getting so much attention is that on the heels of the Tiger phenomen, the media, and a lot of fans, want to believe that she is "The next ____."
She's not. Only time will tell what she becomes. But I could list a lot of golfers, not to mention other sports, who were supposed to be, and never were.
And I'll go on record here as saying I don't watch her based on her "potential." Annika appears to be ten times the player Michelle will ever be. I'd much rather watch Annika right now. Why? She is greatness before our eyes. She has proven it and probably will continue to do so. Ten majors. Enough said.
Ricko, madman, cuz, I agree with all of your statements.
Mr NFL, people are tuning in, but soon they will stop if she does not win. No one wants to watch a loser. Everyone loves a winner. Wie will be no different. Yes she is only 16, but soon there will be the "next" teen phenom who will replace her if she does not start dominating soon. Coming in second, while that is good, is not the same thing as blowing people away. Annika has 60 wins, now that is an accomplishment. Tiger has 50 wins, and both started winning from the first year they were on the tour. Wie will eventually figure it out and stay on the LPGA full time, then we will see how good she is.
I think Michelle will eventually win, and win consistently, on the women's tour, PROVIDED she doesn't get burned out because of how she's being handled which in my opinion is a crime....
However, if she doesn't succeed, she should, as you said, be set for life as long as she doesn't get ripped off by someone she trusts.
In any event, she could start a "Famous For Nothing" tour, and travel the country signing autographs and making appearnaces at state fairs and the like. Joining her on tour could be Anna Kournikova, Paris Hilton, both of the Simpson sisiters....
I am tired of hearing about her and seeing her rounds shown on sportscenter. She hasnt won a thing and she hasnt earned anything either. Espn shows her over the actual winners and women who actually know how to win.
She needs to stay the hell away from mens tourneys and even some womens pro tourney and face some kids her own age and see if she can even beat them. And if she can, great, at least she will learn how to win.
Half, I think she has enormous potential, but her handlers have done her a huge disservice and may completely ruin her confidence.
Bob, I also agree that ESPN shows every birdie or bogie and meanwhile Sorenstam or Inkster, or even Steinhaur received little if no attention on the way to her win.
It appears they are definitely working on it because now I see in my email the notifications are titled simply "FoxSports Blog Comment Notification" instead of showing what article you had commented on.
Thanks for the confirmation, and since I'm not an early riser I had no idea it was down earlier.
Once again Wie has faltered when she supposedly had a contestr within her grasp. Needless to say she's not that concerned yet with winning as she's earning a tremendous amount of money outside the sport. While she's able to do this I doubt that there'll be great pressure on her to win. Understandably she's still learning the game and it can be seen with the weakness of her putting, overall it's her short game that has become her Achilles' heel.
