It's no coincidence that NBA ratings have belly-flopped since the retirement of Michael Jordan and the dismantling of the Bulls dynasty. Not because of competitive parity but because the PGA Tour has turned into Tiger and 124 guys named Mo. He was Rookie of the Year in 1993 and two years later, at 24, won the first of his three Winston Cup championships. Everybody assumed Gordon and Woods would dominate their respective sports for the next 20 years. When Gordon lost crew chief Ray Evernham and most of his Rainbow Warrior pit crew after last season, it wasn't exactly like Tiger saying goodbye to Fluff.
Auto racing is like horseracing.
No matter how good a jockey Lafitt Pincay Jr. is, he's not going to win the Derby on the back of Shetland pony. We all just figured Gordon was so good that he could win driving a riding lawnmower. We errantly assumed that Gordon was 90 percent of the winning formula and Evernham was 10 percent. In reality, it was probably more 50-50. Obviously, Gordon hasn't been the same since Evernham left in September to start his own team next year.