Cigars and sports have been known to be joined together on many occasions. Whether it was in celebration after a victory, or seeing a famous current or former athlete smoking one, these two things have managed to go hand and hand.
Is there anything in life more compatible than golf and cigars? While some may argue in favor of peanut butter & jelly, that certain someone would not be Michael Jordan. It would be questionable whether the greatest basketball player of all-time is even capable of completing a round of golf without the accompaniment of a fine cigar. The same can be said of Miguel Angel Jimenez, Spanish Golfer and winner of 18 European Tour Tournaments. He was rumored to have no less than 400 cigars in his home humidor at any given moment and can rarely be seen without one protruding from his mouth.
While cigars and golf do indeed go hand-in-hand, the brown, leafy, and aromatic shaft is ubiquitous across all sports. Perhaps there’s a universal appeal, as one can choose to go with mild, medium, or robusto–to really pack the punch! Perhaps that was what captured the attention of former heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson. Although, surprisingly the tough guy was recently spotted smoking a tiny cigarillo with his pal Bobby Brown. That seems a bit mild for a powerhouse like Tyson, but far be it for me to challenge him on that!
In the world of basketball, legendary Celtics Coach, Red Auerbach, practically christened the concept of the victory cigar, having celebrated each of his 16 NBA championships with a stogie in hand. It would appear that this tradition still endures today. The former dynamic trio of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh celebrated each of their two NBA Championships with victory cigars of their own, proving to the world that they can pack their own variety of “Miami Heat”.
Former Bears’ player and Coach Mike Ditka loves his cigars so much that he once stood before the Chicago City Council to protest the proposed indoor public smoking ban – sadly to no avail!
Finally, former Tampa Bay Lightning players, Dave Andreychuk and Stan Neckar, used to find their way around these restrictive smoking bans. They would bring a large trailer (aka, mobile cigar lounge) to events that did not permit smoking. Now, that’s putting the regulators on ice!