Is Tiger Doing The Right Thing With Charlie

When it comes to Tiger Woods' son Charlie, is Tiger doing the right thing by letting him compete against men twice and three times his age?

Pretty much everyone seems to be familiar with Charlie Woods.  Charlie is Tiger’s 15-year-old son.  And, to no one’s surprise Charlie fell in love with the game of golf at an early age, just like his father.  Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen videos of Charlie playing in junior events, many times with his famous father on the bag.  We’ve also seen Tiger and Charlie participate in the “hit & giggle” event that is the PNC Championship.

But this week, Charlie is taking his golf to an entirely different level.  As I write this, Charlie is currently playing in a “pre-qualifier” event for next week’s Cognizant Classic on the PGA Tour.  If Charlie was to finish in the top 5, he would then qualify to play in the Monday qualifier for the tournament.  If Charlie finishes in the top four on Monday, then he would qualify to play in the tournament.

The odds of him getting to the Monday event are long.  The odds of him getting to the tournament, even longer, but he is the son of Tiger Woods.

Far be it from me to lecture Tiger on parenting, it does seem by all accounts that he does a great job with not only Charlie, but also with Charlie’s sister, Sam.  But I can’t say that I’m a fan of Charlie dabbling in these events.

Two people come to mind.  The first is Charlie’s dad, Tiger.  Tiger’s father, Earl, seemed to make it a point to make sure that his son played in as many age-appropriate tournaments as possible.  Earl also wanted to make sure that Tiger dominated as many of those events as possible, solidifying the idea of winning, and how to win in Tiger’s arsenal of tools.  As we now look back on that, it seems a pretty successful model.

Now consider Michelle Wie.  In her early teens Michelle was teeing it with the men in professional events.  She continued to play in a lot of tournaments through her teens.  She never really played on the junior circuit, especially compared to Tiger.  She didn’t get the feeling of winning often and dominating her peers.  She was playing with adults and trying to make cuts.  Today, Michelle Wie West is married, and a mother.  A fulfilling life indeed.  You can’t say as much about her life as a professional golfer.  Did she win? Yes, five times including the 2014 US Open.  Did she fulfill the expectations from her teenage years, I think many would say no.  She didn’t get that winning experience.

To date, Charlie doesn’t have much of that winning experience either.  His high school team did win a state championship, something his father didn’t do, but that was a team event.  Now Charlie is on a much bigger stage.

To be fair to both Tiger and Charlie, maybe moving forward Tiger will steer Charlie to more AJGA events, junior tournaments and such, even the large ones and this playing is more of a “one off”.

I hope that’s the case.  Charlie already has a lot to overcome, as the children of highly successful professional athletes have discovered for years.

I hope Charlie does well today.  Maybe just not too well. I'd like to see him be a kid for as long as possible.

Growing up, cartoons were often a big part of our lives.  There was nothing better than grabbing a bowl of cereal and sitting down in front of the TV on a Saturday morning. And when it comes to favorite cartoon characters, it might depend on the generation you were raised in. But when it comes to the best cartoon characters ever created, who wins the top spot?

A website called MovieWeb.com put together a list of the 35 All-Time Best Cartoon Characters Ever Created, Ranked. And on this list, you'll find a wide range of cartoon characters.  Some of these are classics, while others were created in more recent years.  Another thing about cartoons, through the years, they have evolved. Originally, animation seemed geared more toward children. Now there are animated shows that are anything but kid-friendly.

There's no doubt that these animated icons become like celebrities.  Disney has done a great job of branding their characters. And there's no shortage of apparel, stuffed animals, and more merchandise with their iconic characters images on them.

As consumers of cartoons, there's no doubt you have your favorites. Every character has a personality, and we all connect with them for different reasons through the storylines.  I'll share my personal opinions and favorites below. But first, let's look at who MovieWeb has on their list.

According to MovieWeb.com, these are the top 10 best ever created.

While I do think these are some great characters, my list would look a little bit different.  Here are my top 7 favorites!

The Rugrats gang came in at number 12 on MovieWeb's list.  But I had to add them to mine at a higher rank.  I will say, I didn't have cable growing up, so when I did get the chance to watch Rugrats, it was always at someone else's house-- like a family member or babysitter. It was definitely a show I enjoyed anytime I got the chance to see it.  I think Tommy would be my favorite character out of the whole gang though! Looking at the more recent photos... it seems it's changed a bit, but the main characters are still there!

How could you not include The Jetson family on the list? They came in at number 29 on MovieWeb's list. Can you believe the show aired from 1962-1987? I was always so fascinated by the futuristic stuff on that show.  Pretty sure the dog, Astro, was one of my favorites on the show... but does that surprise you?  I also liked the robot housekeeper too!

Fred Flintstone did make MovieWeb's top 10 at number 5.  Personally, I loved the whole cast... and Fred was quite entertaining.  But out of all of them, I think I liked Pebbles the most.  Pretty sure I was even Pebbles for Halloween one year.

Scooby-Doo was number 8 for MovieWeb, but I ranked him at number 4 for me.  It's a dog, so he definitely ranked high for me.  But I didn't always get to watch Scooby-Doo, again because I didn't have cable. A lot of these shows didn't come on regular TV when I was growing up.  But even today, I feel like I could sit down and watch an episode of Scooby-Doo and be just as entertained as I was as a kid!

The whole cat and mouse duo... This was one of my all-time favorites.  MovieWeb ranked them at 6.  They made it a little higher up on my list. This duo was always getting into some kind of trouble to leave you laughing. I feel like this is a cartoon that has withstood the test of time.  The show originated in 1940, and is still iconic.

MovieWeb ranked Tweety and Sylvester together at number 16. This cartoon originated in 1930!  Isn't that crazy?! It was still massively popular when I was growing up. And while I loved the duo, of the two, Tweety Bird was always my favorite.  In fact, I even have a few Tweety Bird ornaments I still hang on my tree each Christmas!

I honestly couldn't believe this one didn't make the top 35 with MovieWeb.  Winnie the Pooh will always be my all-time favorite. Each character has such an impact on the show, but at the end of the day, it's Winnie the Pooh who ultimately had my heart.  And Tigger comes in close second on the show. When the Christopher Robin movie came out in 2018, I had to go see it. And yes, I cried.  I can't explain it, but I just love Winnie the Pooh that much!