Tiger's place in streak history

Now that Tiger Woods' run of making the cut in 142 consecutive tournaments is over, let's examine where it ranks among the more famous streaks in sports.

This week's top 10, Streaks Edition:

. 10. Cael Sanderson. The Iowa State wrestler became the only collegian to finish his career undefeated, a perfect 159-0. No flukes, no mistakes, no overtime heartbreakers, just perfection.

. 9. Eric Gagne. The Los Angeles Dodgers reliever converted 84 consecutive save chances over a two-year period, ending last July.

Not really being convinced of the importance of the save (and the closer), it's possible I am undervaluing this streak.

. 8. Tiger Woods. No doubt, the streak is impressive. But let's not kid ourselves here. It's not like Tiger was playing every tournament every week to make a living. He had plenty of weeks off to avoid a mental letdown and injury.

Still, it's something no other golfer has done, and we won't likely see it again until the next prodigy comes along.

. 7. Brett Favre. The future hall-of-famer has started 208 consecutive games, including playoffs, and is still going. This is a streak of durability, but also of excellence - nobody better has come along in 13 years.

What's amazing is that in the most brutal game out there, Favre has avoided serious injury, and has had the good fortune to get a bye week when needed to heal up.

. 6. Johnny Vander Meer. Most of you probably just said "Who?" But the Cincinnati Reds left-hander threw back-to-back no-hitters in 1938, first at home against the Boston Braves, then on the road against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Vander Meer is the only pitcher to accomplish the feat.

. 5. Rocky Marciano. Like Sanderson, Marciano dabbled in perfection, retiring an unblemished 49-0, 43 of those wins by way of knockout. The Brockton Blockbuster won the heavyweight championship in 1952, knocking out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round. He defended his title six times, getting five KOs in the process.

He retired after defeating Archie Moore in 1955 with a ninth-round knockout.

. 4. Orel Hershiser. The second Dodger on this list, Hershiser pitched 59 consecutive scoreless innings in 1988 to break Don Drysdale's - yet another Dodger - record by a third of an inning. Hershiser added another eight straight scoreless innings in the NLCS.

This was right before the big home run era got started, and it's unthinkable that this record will even be approached in today's baseball climate.

. 3. Lou Gehrig/Cal Ripken. Sure Ripken broke Gehrig's consecutive games played record, but you still have to give a nod to the Iron Horse. When Ripken was approaching the record in 1995, Keith Olbermann wrote a column (on EPSN.com, I think) that it's very likely Gehrig played a good portion of the 1938 season - his last full campaign - while feeling the effects of the disease that come to bear his name. And yet Gehrig still managed to bat .295, hit 29 home runs and drive in 114 runs.

. 2. Lance Armstrong. He has won six straight Tour de Frances after being told he was going to die from testicular cancer. The accomplishment stands by itself.

. 1. Joe DiMaggio. His 56-game hitting streak is revered as baseball's most unattainable record. In the 20th century, only three players put together runs of at least 40 games, with Pete Rose coming the closest at 44.

Amazingly, the 56-gamer isn't even DiMaggio's personal best. He put together a 61-game streak in the minors.

Andrew Hinkelman is a sports writer for The Daily Inter Lake. He can be reached at hink@dailyinterlake.com