True mythos is hard to come by these days, especially in professional sports.  Athletes used to be heroes, or at least that’s what I’m told.  Now, they’re just celebrities who wear the same clothes every time they perform.  But there’s one guy who has managed to keep heroism alive, at least on the field of play. 

He was a confluence of races with a sovereign smile and a killer name, and he arrived as if he had been born not just to win golf tournaments and out-earn everyone except Oprah on the Forbes list of highest-paid celebrities, but also to redeem the racist history of his sport and cure a thousand other ills as well. Over the top with pride, his father, Earl, was quoted calling him “the Chosen One” and prophesying that Tiger would “do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity.”

And with that unusual prediction, thus begins this great profile of Tiger Woods, whose international fame is going on 12 years, and whose mythos only gets better.

Some pro athletes don’t know when to quit; they try to hold on to the glory as long as they can, fueled by the cheers and adoration of their fans. Others are able to walk away from the sport and pursue other avenues of fulfillment. This week, two star athletes, both at or near the top of their game, decided to get off the pro-sports merry-go-round and see what else life has to offer.

Annika Sorenstam has been one of the greatest women golfers in the history of the game. The 37-year-old Swede has won 72 tournaments, including 10 majors; is the only woman to shoot a round of 59 in competition; and was good enough to take on the men in a PGA Tour event. In recent years, her supremacy on the LPGA Tour has been challenged by Lorena Ochoa, but lately she’s looked like the Annika of old, winning last week’s tournament in Williamsburg, Va., going away and leading this week’s event in New Jersey.

On Monday, Sorenstam announced she would retire at the end of the season. “I’m just very happy with life,” said Sorenstam, who has hinted in the past that she would like to settle down and start a family. “You start thinking, ‘What else is more important in life, and what else do I want to achieve on the golf course?’”

Justine Henin, at just 5 feet 5 3/4 inches and 126 pounds, can dominate tennis opponents much bigger and stronger than she is. So much so that she’s won seven Grand Slam events, including four French Opens, and has found herself atop the WTA rankings for more than 100 weeks.

On Wednesday, just a week and a half before the next French Open, the 25-year-old Belgian announced she is hanging up her racket for good, but unlike Sorenstam, her retirement is effective immediately. “I had reached my limits, and I feel strong and relieved that I could take this decision,” said Henin, the first woman to quit the sport while ranked No. 1. “There are plenty of things that I can do. There are no regrets. I did everything I had to do in tennis.” Henin’s retirement comes exactly a year after fellow twentysomething Belgian Kim Clijsters, a former No.1 player and Grand Slam winner, called it quits. Clijsters has since married and become a mother.

Both women stated that burnout caused by the daily demands of professional sports led to their decisions. In comparing herself to recently retired Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, Sorenstam said, “One of the things he said was that he loved the competition but not the daily grind. I feel the same way.” At her press conference, Henin said that for her, “Everything became harder. I felt, deep inside, something was getting out of my grasp.”

Sure, golf and tennis will miss them and their athletic prowess, but Sorenstam and Henin should be lauded for having the courage to just walk away from the cheering and adoring crowds and find the blessings to be had beyond the spotlight.

Since way back on August 5, when the Steelers marched over the Saints in the Hall of Fame game, you football fans out there have had gridiron action to look forward to nearly every weekend. Now that the Giants have pulled the big Super Bowl upset over the no-longer-perfect Pats and another weekend’s upon us, where do you sports fans turn your attention? Yeah, I know, the Pro Bowl will be played in the land of leis tomorrow afternoon, but does that count? (I don’t think so.) Glancing through the “Sports on TV” section of USA Today, here are your options:

• Boxing: Welterweights rock ’em and sock ’em tonight in California.
• Bull riding: The PBR series bucks its way into Anaheim this weekend.
• Bowling: The PBA sets its pins up in El Paso tomorrow.
• Tennis: The United States will be volleying in Vienna in Davis Cup action against Austria today and tomorrow.
• Golf: Choose from the PGA European Tour in India (I think there’s somewhat of a geography problem there), the Champions (a.k.a. “seniors”) Tour in Boca, and the PGA Tour’s best playing alongside a gaggle of celebrity hackers at Pebble Beach.
• College basketball: Both the men and the women will tip it off in a number of TV games across the country this weekend, wrapping it all up tomorrow night with the Clemson men trying to put an end to their school’s amazing streak of futility (0-52) against North Carolina in Chapel Hill. With Tar Heel point guard Ty Lawson ailing, this may be the year for the Tigers.
• Pro basketball: ABC and ESPN will offer 11 consecutive hours of men in long shorts tomorrow.
• Motor sports: The NHRA’s Winternationals power up in Ponoma, Calif., while NASCAR’s 2008 season gets into gear tonight in Daytona with the Budweiser Shootout followed by pole qualifying tomorrow afternoon for next Sunday’s 500.
• Oh yeah, and there’s a hockey game on Sunday: Ducks and Wings (sounds kind of fowl).

But if you still need a taste of NFL action, skip the Pro Bowl and tune in tonight to the Gospel Music Channel, where you can catch Giants Super Bowl star receiver David Tyree and players from every team in the league singing together in a gospel choir.