Posted on Roger Federer's 30th birthday, Jon Wertheim's requiem for one of sports' all-time "bromances"—that of Fed and golf titan Tiger Woods—was wistful and timely.
We have to wonder what truly goes on behind the scenes with such platonic power couplings, but Fed knows best. And he certainly knows better than Tiger in general. Perhaps the most telling and sobering morsel of Sports Illustrated scribe Wertheim's piece is this parenthetical: "(That Federer and Mirka have socialized with Woods's ex-wife, well, that says plenty.)"
Not to delve into amateur psychology (but to delve into amateur psychology), it probably just didn't fit into Fed's worldview, what Tiger did. It flew in the face of everything he is about, which is order and good taste and iron-clad image management and just ... moderation. The only addiction that Federer seems to suffer from is his much-ballyhooed training regimen. Indeed, he runs a tight ship. There's no way to get to age 30 in tennis with as incredibly few tournament- or just day-ending injuries as he has turned in without putting in the work.
So say what we will about arrogance or finger-wagging, but Roger's basically earned the right to do whatever he wants. Even when that involves having his monogrammed initials stitched in gold on his Wimbledon warm-up apparel or presumptuously wearing the number 15 in the same way after dashing Andy Roddick's dreams in a 16-14 marathon fifth set.
Federer released a refreshingly brief video message to fans on his 30th birthday. In it he worded some things in precious and strikingly Swiss fashion ("My childhood has been very nice, thanks to my parents"). It also seemed after the 0:30 mark that, in mentioning how he became a father and then a husband, he was all but ready to let fly another of his patented rivers of tears.