By Joey Kamide

Over the past two decades, there have been two athletes that sports fans have held to a different standard, looked upon as a cut above even the best of athletes and considered the best finishers of their generations, if not of all time.

Just in the past few months, however, we’ve seen those two icons — Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods — make decisions that have proved that even they are mortal and capable of making the same mistakes we make.

Jordan, at his induction speech to the National Basketball Hall of Fame in September, made himself to look petty and bullish in picking on everyone from former high school teammates to college coaches to NBA rivals he competed against over a career many consider to be the greatest of all-time. An admitted gambler who was accused of adultery before divorcing from his wife a couple years ago and returned to the court twice after retirements, Jordan has shown for years the ability to bounce back and come away better than ever.

This latest misstep will prove to be no different for Jordan. Mark my words, within two years, when people talk of MJ, it will be about the highlight reel dunks, championships and classic commercials, and not the embarrassing speech in Springfield.

Now, Woods, who has been about as squeaky clean as a new pair of Nike golf shoes since bursting onto the scene at the 1997 Masters, has apparently shown some kinks in his armor with the latest car accident/wife smashing out his car window with a golf club/alleged voicemail to mistress ordeal that has dominated SportsCenter for the past week.

For days, Tiger ducked the issue before finally coming out with a comment on his web site in which he apologized to his wife and family for “transgressions” he’s made and the bad decisions that apparently led to everything happening over the weekend at his house in Florida. Now, we get to see how he responds (or at least will when he resumes playing and facing the media on a regular basis next month), and will see for the first time how perhaps the best clutch golfer of all-time performs under a different kind of pressure, away from the back nine on Sunday at Augusta.

Jordan made a living out of dominating his opponents, then coming back after drawbacks in his life and regaining the form that sold all those Nikes during the 80s and 90s. I’m interested to see how Tiger, who many believe was on his way to becoming the greatest golfer to ever live, is able to respond to his first misstep away from the golf course and the backlash that has already begun to occur as a result.

As sad as it may be, the deciding factor in determining the greatest closer between the two may be how well Tiger plays now, after we’ve seen how human he can really be.