No, we’re not saying you have to get huge and ripped like Tiger Woods! Plus, you won’t have the private trainers and other assistance he has at his disposal.

That said, many of us aren’t in the best shape after the holidays as we work through the winter blahs. If you didn’t take advantage of golf holiday packages, many of us plan an escape to a golf resort in warm weather or an iconic location at this time of year. But we often don’t realize how grueling all that golf can be. It’s not the same as weekend golf breaks that you take during the season when you’re at the top of your game.

You can make your trip so much more enjoyable, and also improve your scores, by making sure you get back in shape before you take off for your trip. Think about endurance and feeling strong on the back nine . . . or on your second round if you play 36 holes per day! All of those holiday meals will catch up to you, so you should be hitting the treadmill now. Also, we all know that the best golfers improve the distance of drives and other shots by getting stronger and more flexible. Sure, your technique and form are still critical, but strength is also important. You don’t want to look like an out-of-shape fool on your trip who keeps coming up short – right?

You won’t be battling Tiger on the tour in the Middle East or challenging China golf pros on the Asian tour, but you’ll be able to put in a good showing with your buddies during your golf getaway.

Do some research on some of the best golf exercises and get to work.

SI recently published a fascinating profile of Walter Iooss Jr., who has spent over 50 years photographing athletes and swimsuit models. The man has led an incredible life, and he also happens to be a great storyteller.

In this article, Iooss recounts stories of his favorite athletes and models, like Micheal Jordan, Reggie Jackson, Paulina Porizkova and Christie Brinkley. Sports fans should read the whole article and you’ll get a real sense of the bravado and charisma of people like Reggie Jackson in his prime.

Iooss loves to tell stories of how he had to charm people like Tiger Woods. With Tiger, the swimsuit pictures got his attention right away, and Iooss could then get Tiger to do what was necessary to get the shot.

And then there were the difficult ones like Barry Bonds and the prima donnas like LeBron James. His story about LeBron is very telling:

I first photographed LeBron James in 2003, when he was a rookie in Cleveland. He was pretty raw as a teenager; he didn’t have any of the smoothed edges he has now. When I shot him six years later, in 2009, the difference was amazing. He walked in like a king that day, and he took over that room. And not only physically, although he was massive then. I’ve never seen an athlete look like that. He was muscular, charming, articulate, the prince of hoops. He couldn’t have been more of an ambassador for the game.

Times change, and sadly, LeBron became a villain to many after The Decision. I’ve seen a lot of entourages, but none like his. In July 2010 I got an assignment from Nike to shoot LeBron right after his TV special announcing his move to the Heat. We rented the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, where the Lakers and the Clippers used to play, and there were 53 people on my crew—including hair and makeup artists, production people, a stylist. I had $10,000 in Hollywood lighting. It was huge. When LeBron arrived, it was as if Nelson Mandela had come in. Six or seven blacked-out Escalades pulled up, a convoy. LeBron had bodyguards and his masseuse. His deejay was already there, blasting. This for a photo shoot that was going to last an hour, tops.

This is how crazy it was: I wasn’t even allowed to talk directly to LeBron. There was a liaison, someone from Amar’e Stoudemire’s family. I would say to him, “O.K., have LeBron drive right,” and then he’d turn to LeBron and say, “LeBron, go right.”

LeBron had guards in the portals on the mezzanine level, talking into their hands. Really, what was going to happen? And then at the end of the shoot they all got in the Escalades. My God, I’ve been around Michael Jordan, but with him nothing even came close to this. Unimaginable.

It was obvious that this clown had a problem when he and those around him started referring to him as King James, but this episode demonstrates just how out of control LeBron’s ego had become.

One year later, LeBron is now a punch line after his embarrassing performance in the NBA Finals. He’s gone onto ESPN to discuss how he should have done things differently when he left Cleveland last year and how he made the mistake of embracing the role of the villain. He’s going back to having fun. We’ll see about that. But more than anything he needs to get rid of the obscene entourage, and I don’t see that happening.

I had no idea that caddies were so important.

Steve Williams has been getting ripped for his self-centered reaction.

I know Tiger Woods isn’t very popular these days, but Williams seems so determined to rub it in that he comes across like a fool. Adam Scott won the tournament, not Williams.

There was a time in Tiger Woods’ career when it almost seemed guaranteed that he would not only match Jack Nicklaus’ record for 18 majors victories, but surpass “The Golden Bear’s” historic feat.

Now it almost seems guaranteed that Tiger won’t touch Nicklaus’ landmark.

After playing only nine holes at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday, Woods withdrew from the event citing multiple injuries. He visibly winced after hitting his approach shot onto the fifth green and observers noticed he was limping following the round. Clearly the same knee that was surgically repaired two years ago after his victory at the U.S. Open was giving him trouble yet again.

Whether it’s nagging injuries or a wide range of personal problems, Tiger appears destined to struggle for the rest of his career. That may sound dramatic, but it’s been nearly two years since he last won a PGA Tour event (the BMW Championship in September 2009) and nearly three years (the 2008 U.S. Open) since he last won a major.

It’s not surprising that Woods’ golf game fell apart right around the time when the entire world (not to mention his ex-wife) found out that he was sleeping with anything with two legs and a pulse. But golf observers just assumed that he would eventually get past the embarrassment and be Tiger again. Everyone assumed he would return to the winner he always has been.

Call it karma, fate or anything else you believe in: but he hasn’t. Now people are left to wonder if this is it for Tiger – if he’ll continue to struggle from here on out.

Surely he’ll win more events before he hangs up his cleats for good – maybe even a major. But the four majors he needs to catch Nicklaus? That seems like an insurmountable task for someone playing on a balky knee and who mentally may have checked out the moment his wife took a swing at him with his own 9-iron. (Sorry, allegedly took a swing at him with his own 9-iron.)

It might be time to come to grips with the fact that Nicklaus’ record for majors is safe until the next once-in-a-generation golfer comes along and threatens it again.

It might be time to come to grips with the fact that Tiger will never be Tiger again.

After shooting a dismal 5-over through the front nine at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday morning, Tiger Woods has decided to withdraw from the tournament tweets the Golf Channel’s Jason Sobel.

Tiger is citing “multiple injuries” for his poor shooting and his decision to withdraw. At this point, it’s unclear what injuries he sustained but Sobel is reporting that the news shouldn’t come as a surprise because Woods “was injured coming into the week and looked injured today.” Ironically, he also withdrew from The Players Championship last year when he was dealing with a bulging disc.

According to ESPN.com, Woods “played bogey golf and visibly winced after hitting his approach shot onto the fifth green.” Nobody was sure whether the reaction was from pain that he was experiencing or frustration over his play, but it’s clear now that he hurt himself on that hole (or at least aggravated a previous injury).

TPC Sawgrass has been a major nemesis of Woods throughout the years, as he has not recorded a single top-10 finish there this past decade. He did win the event in 2001, but since then the course has proved to be a major pain (pun definitely intended).

You’d have to go back to September 13, 2009 for when Tiger last won a PGA event.

Listen as commentator Ewen Murray tongue-slaps Tiger Woods for spitting on the 12th green at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic over the weekend:

The European Tour wasn’t pleased with Tiger’s actions and announced Monday that it will be fining him an undisclosed sum. Tiger has since taken to Twitter to apologize about the grave injustice to the world of golf.

The Euro Tour is right – it was inconsiderate to spit like that and I know better. Just wasn’t thinking and want to say I’m sorry.

Murray obviously has a point: nobody wants to put through Tiger’s spit and Woods should have apologized for not having more awareness. But I don’t think there was any reason for Murray to channel his inner Joe Buck.

Relax, Joe.

- Tiger Woods battled some rough conditions to shoot an even-par 72 in Dubai. (Golf.com)

- The labor agreement delay may cancel any free agency movement in the NFL and force free agents to stay with their current teams. (SI.com)

- Packers give general manager Ted Thompson a well-deserved contract extension. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

- Is Matt Holliday willing to take a paycut to help the Cardinals re-sign Albert Pujols? (St. Louis Post Dispatch)

- LeBron James gets into it with a fan after said fan mentioned LeBron’s momma. (ESPN)

- Hey, the Cavs finally won a game! (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

- The Penguins and Islanders racked up 351 penalty minutes in one game last night. Yikes. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

There’s an unwritten rule in baseball that says rookies need to mind their own business, shut their mouths and always show veteran players respect.

Apparently these same rules don’t apply to golf. Either that, or Brendan Steele doesn’t follow them because he recently called out one of the best golfers the sport will ever see.

From SI/Golf.com:

Rookie Brendan Steele didn’t see eye-of-the-tiger intensity from Tiger Woods when he was paired with Woods in the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on Sunday. Steele shot 70 en route to a T17 finish, while Woods shot 75 to finish tied for 44th. Afterward, Steele said that Woods appeared to lose interest in his round Sunday once he started to struggle, according to an article in this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated.

“I don’t think he gave it ­everything today,” Steele told SI. “Once it started going in the wrong direction, I don’t think it had his full attention.”

Here’s the deal, even if you think Tiger didn’t give it his all, you don’t say that. You tell your buddies about it when you’re kicking back a few cold ones or smoking some cigars, but you don’t tell Sports freaking Illustrated. Somebody needs to teach that boy some r.e.s.p.e.c.t. Find out what it means to me…uh, him. (To be fair, Steele had nothing but respect for Tiger before the tournament, stating that he was excited to be playing alongside one of the greats.)

That said, I think it’s obvious that Tiger lost his confidence in 2009. He clearly hasn’t been the same player since his ex-wife may-or-may-not-have taken one of his nine irons to the side of his dome and he hasn’t regained his swagger. Maybe he will eventually, but right now he’s in a major funk.

Every athlete goes through phases where they struggle with their confidence. They feel as though they’ll never get another hit, have another 100-yard rushing day or win another tournament. It happens. Tiger just needs to fight through it and find the motivation to be great again.

Years from now, when people look back on 2010, what will they remember as the defining sports moment? Uh, they can only pick one? We discovered that Tiger Woods likes to play the field and that Brett Favre doesn’t mind sending pictures of his anatomy to hot sideline reporters via text message. We found out that LeBron listens to his friends a little too much and that Ben Roethlisberger needed a serious lesson in humility. But we also learned that athletes such as Michael Vick and Josh Hamilton haven’t blown second chance opportunities (or third and fourth chances in the case of Hamilton). It was also nice to see a certain pitcher turn down bigger money so that he can play in a city that he loves.

Contributors: Anthony Stalter, John Paulsen, Paul Costanzo, Drew Ellis and Mike Farley

Tiger Woods gets around.

We hesitate to put this under “golf” because the only clubs involved were his wife’s nine-iron hitting the window of his SUV and the various establishments where Tiger wined and dined all of his mistresses…over a dozen in all. This was the biggest story of the early part of the year, but it got to the point that whenever a new alleged mistress came forward, the general public was like, “Yeah, we get it. Tiger screwed around on his wife. A lot.” He has spent the rest of the year attempting to rebuild his once-squeaky clean image, but it’s safe to say, we’ll never look at Tiger the same way.

LeBron wilts when his team needs him most.

Say the words “LeBron” and “Game 5” in the same sentence and NBA fans everywhere know exactly what you’re talking about. In the biggest game of the season, LeBron looked disinterested, going 3-of-14 from the field en route to a 120-88 blowout at home at the hands of the Celtics. There were rumors swirling about a possible relationship between LeBron’s mom and his teammate, Delonte West, and there’s speculation that LeBron got that news before tipoff and that’s why he played so poorly. Regardless of the cause, LeBron played awful in that game, and it turned out to be his swan song in Cleveland as a member of the Cavaliers. Talk about leaving a bitter taste.

You can auction off your talented son’s athletic abilities and get away with it.

The NCAA set a strange precedent this season while dealing with the Newton family. The always inconsistent and completely morally uncorrupt NCAA decided in its infinite wisdom that despite discovering that Cecil Newton shopped his son Cam to Mississippi State for $180,000, and that is a violation of NCAA rules, that Cam would still be eligible because it couldn’t be proven that he knew about it. Conference commissioners and athletic directors around the country spoke out about the decision, while agent-wannabes and greedy fathers everywhere had a light bulb go off in their own heads: As long as we say the player doesn’t know about it, it could go off without a hitch. What was Cecil’s punishment in this whole thing? Limited access to Auburn for the last two games of the season. Easy with that hammer there, NCAA. Read the rest of this entry »

What do we think will happen in 2011? Ha! We’re glad you asked. As part of our 2010 Year End Sports Review, we see good things ahead for Duke, the Celtics and the Saints. We see cursed days ahead for the Phillies and Giants, and one Florida Gator-sized reunion in Denver. We also like Carmelo to play for the…hey, why are we telling you all this? Read for yourself below, lazy. (And have an open mind – we had some fun with this section.)

Contributors: Anthony Stalter, John Paulsen, Paul Costanzo, Drew Ellis and Mike Farley

You think he’s gone? He’s not gone. He’s never gone!

Brett Favre has duped us before with his retirement talk, so why should we buy what he’s selling now? Lord Favre says 2010 will be his final season, but after spending a couple of months on his ranch next summer, he’ll get the itch to return. And some team will welcome him back. And the media will torture us with their 24-hour Favre watch. And the dreaded cycle of death will continue. So which lucky team will have No. 4 in uniform next season? While we wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Favre returning to the Vikings for one more year now that Brad Childress is gone, that’s not a very fun projection. Thus, what about Da Raaaaaaaiders? Huh? Can you see it now? Lord Favre and Al Davis at the podium holding up their pointer fingers and saying, “Just win baby.” No? Ah, you’re no fun.

Carmelo will be a Knickerbocker next year.

Book ‘em, Danno. The writing is on the wall. He hasn’t signed the three-year extension that the Nuggets offered last summer and has reportedly decided that the only team he’ll agree to be traded to is the New York Knicks. This means that if the Nuggets are hoping to get something substantial for him, they’ll have to move him before the February trade deadline. Since there appears to be only one team in the running, the deal isn’t going to be very good. We wouldn’t want to be Nugget fans right now — the rebuilding process is about to begin.
Read the rest of this entry »