Ah, self-belief - perhaps the most important ingredient in sporting success. One champion who has faith in himself in abundance is Tiger Woods. He always talks about "trusting" his golf swing, and going into yesterday's opening round of the Masters, Tiger was in more confident mood than ever that he could do what no modern golfer has ever done - win all four of the sport's major tournaments in a single calendar year.
The great Bobby Jones did it back in 1930, but then the relevant events were the US and British Opens and their amateur equivalents. Tiger has himself won all four of the current majors in a row. That, however, was spread across two seasons. Now, the way he talks, it wouldn't be a miracle at all if, at the end of 16 days of golf between yesterday and mid-August, he captured all four.
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Certainly, he's now in his prime, aged 32, he has only five majors less than Jack Nicklaus' record 18, he's won seven of his last nine tournaments and he's definitely playing better than ever. Last year's Masters winner, Zach Johnson, tells the story that when he returned to his Orlando home after his surprise triumph, the pastor at his church had only one question: When he heard the distant cheering as Tiger burned up the course in the final round, "was he more aware of God's presence or Tiger's?"
A devout believer, Zach replied: "If this were somewhere else, some people would say, 'what's the difference?'"
Already, Tiger has four Green Jackets (awarded to the Masters winner) hanging in his cupboard. He may be confident that on Sunday evening he'll have completed a full green hand, but it's no blind faith. He's under no illusion just how difficult it is to see off the challenge of the world's other elite golfers.
"Most of the top guys are playing well this year. And, a lot of things have to come together in order to win a major championship. One break where you hit a tree and it goes out of play and doesn't come back in, or it happens to catch a slope or a gust of wind - all these little factors can come in just one time and can prove to be the difference between winning and losing. It's hard to quantify that to people. You ask all the players and caddies - they are the only ones who really understand the difference between winning and losing, how fine a line it is."
'Average Avram'
Caddies and players yes, but definitely not ardent fans. When Confucius applied his wisdom to his rice paper and wrote of "the superior man" being "intelligently, not blindly, faithful," he clearly didn't have sports fans on the tip of his brush. The Bard got much closer to understanding what makes us fans tick when he posed the rhetorical question: "Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and furious/Loyal and neutral, in a moment?" It's important for Tiger to temper his faith in himself with wariness of his opponents. But, what's called for from fans is absolute - you could even say, blind - loyalty. Stamford Bridge is packed and the question is buzzing around Fred who is sitting alongside the only empty seat in the whole stadium:
Who's seat is that?
"It's my wife's," Fred clarifies.
Where is she?
" She died."
Couldn't you have brought one of your friends instead?
" They couldn't make it - they're all at the funeral."
In contrast, absolute lack of loyalty is one of the hardest things to accept - certainly the most difficult thing for a young sports fan to grow up with - accepting the brutal faithlessness of a guy to whom one day you were willing to swear undying loyalty, but who has now suddenly chosen to move on.
True, this kind of agony is mostly a thing of the past in our fickle money-driven world where coaches, stars and run-of-the-mill players are all liable to turn their backs in a flash on a club and the fans who have nurtured, cared for, and loved them body and soul. And, for a paltry few billion, to transfer even to our cross-town rivals.
No matter what he does on behalf of the Bridge faithful, it seems that Avram Grant is never going to earn their loyalty. His critics, though, really are going too far just because Roman Abramovich so treasures loyalty that he brought in super-faithful Avram to replace the irredeemably disloyal Jose Mourinho.
"Average Avram" we hear some of the disgruntled in the Chelsea dressing-room have taken to calling their boss. All the more reason why we need to keep our faith with him - as we do with all underdogs! Perhaps Avram is average. But, perhaps too, he's proving that managers are not really as important as they're cracked up to be. Or, paid to be. And that the players are really the thing.
If you missed it on the IHT sports pages a few days ago, it's worth having another read of the astute analysis of the Grant predicament by the unmatched master of soccer writing, Rob Hughes: "Uncomfortable is the right word for Grant's first season in charge of Chelsea. He was rushed into Mourinho's job, inheriting Mourinho's squad, when the relationship between the coach and the proprietor broke down last autumn. The owner craved a more attacking style and imagined that his billions afforded him the right to have a team please him as much as Barcelona's does its fans on a good night. Mourinho delivered what he promised, a team of pragmatic winner-takes-all intensity.
"Fissures between Grant and the players he inherited from Mourinho were inevitable. The new coach asked for more creative expression than they appear capable or willing to offer. That is surely their loss and will be so if Grant is still in the job next season and is able to buy players who share the belief that real soccer is more than grinding out results.
"What are they - orphans without Mourinho telling them how to perform? Should they fall short, it will not only be Grant whose worth is questioned, but their own."
But, perhaps "average" and definitely introverted Avram's ultimate tests are still to come, both in the Premiership race and ultimately in the race for European glory, in a contest with two out-and-out extroverts - the canny Man. United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, and his effervescent Portuguese goal-machine, Ronaldo.
So, come Sunday night in Augusta and come a few weeks from now on England's soccer pitches, and it's more than likely that we'll have good cause to re-address these personality questions and the importance of self-belief as we come to reflect on the identity of this season's winners and also-rans.
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