Sports Illustrated was probably thinking shock and awe when it recently named Tiger Woods the toughest athlete, followed by Alaska dog musher Lance Mackey.

We’ve all done it in the media, come up with something just to create controversy. Not me, of course. I have too much integrity to do something so tawdry.

So let me fall into SI’s little trap. No way is Woods tougher than Mackey, or any musher for that matter.

I used to live in Alaska. I covered the Iditarod, usually from a warm, dry place. Still, I ventured outside long enough to know that to drive a team of sled dogs 1,100 miles over some of the most hostile terrain on the planet and in weather that would kill aliens from Pluto requires a little more toughness than playing 72 holes of golf over four days.

I’m not saying Woods isn’t tough, mentally anyway. His mental fortitude is superior to every other golfer on the PGA Tour. But, he isn’t even in the same ballpark as Mackey, or any hockey player for that matter. I’ve also covered a lot of hockey: Woods would be praying for the penalty box.

Alaskans are up in arms, of course.

“Woods isn’t even tough enough to wear Mackey’s underwear, let alone stay in freezing weather longer than the airport terminal to the limo,” wrote one reader to the Anchorage Daily News.

“What are they thinking?” wrote another. “I would love to see Tiger Woods on the back of a sled in 40-below. He would last maybe a second. Makes me want to puke!”

“I’m sure Lance is having a good laugh,” said yet another.

It’s beyond laughable. It crosses the boundary into the absurd. It’s one thing to come up with a list like this to start a discussion, but the ridiculous ranking renders it irrelevant.

If you take it seriously, it’s an insult to much tougher athletes, like Mackey. If you don’t take it seriously, it’s just a waste of time and space.

Why am I even writing about it? I’ll stop right now, damn it.

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