|
I respect Sorenstam's decision to alter her focus, but she should continue playing while she can. There have been other women who have had families while continuing to play (Nancy Lopez and Juli Inkster come to mind) and other althletes that have had businesses and other ventures while playing sports (Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams etc.) She may not perform as well with her time divided, but she is too young and good to stop playing now - don't pull a Barry Sanders and leave the game that has given you everything in life before you have given it everything back.
She has the opportunity to break all of the LPGA records. How exactly does this fit into her desire to retain the #1 position in the world again? Given Ochoa's lead, she can't catch her this year. Why make this announcement 7 months before retiring? It will only add to distractions this year and make playing at a hihg level all the more difficult. What impact does she think this will have on her business? Without continuing to play and without the records, her name will not have the same cache as it does now and will fade much faster than the likes of Michael Jordan or Nicklaus.
If she wants to cut back on her playing time to devote more time to family etc., great, but she should not flat out retire.
|