SZVETITZ: Rocco took a page from ‘Rocky’

It’s easy to draw comparisons between Rocco Mediate and Rocky Balboa.

And I’m talking about the first Rocky. The 1976 version. Not Rocky V or VI, which, by the way, never happened. Never.

I’m talking about the original Rocky. From the streets of Philadelphia. Drinking raw eggs. Running up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Punching frozen slabs of meat.

The underdog. The real underdog. The guy no one gave a chance in a heavyweight fight against the best in the world.

You know, Rocco.

Mediate vs. Woods. It reeked of Balboa vs. Creed. Didn’t it?

Of course it did. And it was great.

The stage was set for a beatdown. Much like Balboa’s first bout against Apollo Creed.

How could it not?

Number 1 vs. No. 158.

Thirteen major championship victories vs. five ho-hum PGA Tour wins.

The prodigy vs. the “hey, wasn’t he an announcer a couple years ago?”

The best vs. someone who will be forgotten by the end of the week.

Tiger Woods vs. Rocco Who? The Medallion Stallion.

Exactly.

But they played anyway Monday on the South Course of Torrey Pines. The U.S. Open rules state that you must play a full 18-hole playoff if you are tied after regulation.

So they did. A formality.

Wait. Not so fast.

Rocco stood toe-to-toe with the best golfer to ever hold a 5-iron. He even had the audacity to wear a red shirt under his black sweater vest. 

After a few back-and-forth holes, Tiger took a three-stroke lead. Ballgame. Right? Nope. Rocco stayed in there and swung back. Hard.

And the most impressive thing was that he withstood a furious barrage from Tiger and kept standing. Haymakers, if you will.

And Rocco didn’t go down. He wouldn’t go down. Kind of like what Rocky told Mickey midway through his fight with Creed.

I ain’t going down no more.

And he didn’t. Not even after the uppercut Tiger threw from a fairway bunker on the 9th. Oh, but he was on the 15th hole. Tiger’s “you got to be kidding me” bunker shot from the sand on a totally different hole to 6 feet was the knockout blow.

Or was it?

Rocco was stumbling. Covered his face with disbelief. But he wiped his brow, steadied himself and rammed in a birdie putt, hitting Tiger back in the gut. Then Tiger did the unthinkable. He missed his birdie.

What?

The tide changed. The momentum changed. The world stopped spinning.

Tiger was human. Rocco wasn’t. Not anymore. The also-ran not only was winning the fight, he wasn’t scared or intimidated by the world’s most dominant player.

Say what?

Somewhere in the gallery, you could here Pauly yelling “Let’s go, Rocco!“

But just like the movie, it wasn’t meant to be.

After letting a one-stroke lead slip away on 18, forcing a sudden-death playoff, the underdog was dog tired.

An errant tee shot followed by a pulled second from a fairway bunker gave Tiger the 14th major championship of his “no one’s ever going to
catch me” career.

When it was all over, the two warriors hugged. Tiger thanked Rocco for the fight.

Then, in an interview with NBC, a wounded, but not defeated Rocco Mediate said what he was most proud of was never quitting. Not even in the face of the best player in the universe.

He never gave up. He never quit. Never.

Just like Rocky.

Adrian!!!

MIKE SZVETITZ is sports editor of the Opelika-Auburn News. He may be reached at or 737-2513.