As Tiger Woods prepares to make his public statement today, I can’t help but feel a little sorry for him.
The press around Woods’ well-documented cover-up has been astounding. While I am witnessing the image downgrade that he is experiencing, I began to think about some past transgressions of athletes – all of them in other sports…the primary culprits have belonged to the NFL or the NBA.
It somehow appears that less would have been expected of Woods if he was dribbling a ball and tackling someone on the gridiron. America (and the world, in general) likes to stereotype, and I honestly believe that we have unconsciously committed our own transgression against the legendary golfer.
The attributes required to succeed in golf have little to do with physical strength, speed or stamina. Estbalished golfers rely on their knowledge of the course that they are playing on. Golf is the ultimate game of skill, where the laws of physics prevail over workout regimens in the weight room.
NBA star Kobe Bryant has moved past this horrible period in his life.
In addition, the corporate world uses the game as a tool – to further connections, entertain prospective clients and close business deals. So, there are millions of middle to upper class people that are addicted to the game that Woods plays so well. And that is definitely contributing to the backlash against Woods. By now fault of his own, Tiger is the most skillful master of a game that we deem its players to have higher moral substance.
The process of recovery is going to be a long one. He need not look any further than Kobe Bryant, who has left his detractors in the dust. But, unfortunately, Woods is going to take longer. Today’s press conference will do absolutely nothing to bring us clsoer to Woods. In fact, the format which he is holding his statement – he will be reading to a select group of reporters and no questions are allowed - will only widen the gap between himself and those who struggle to understand his actions. Even in his moment of confession and redemption, he is controlling and manipulating the actions of others.
So through it all, it’s actions like these that fail to convince us that Tiger will change at all.
__________________________________________________________________________
Update: Here’s a portion of Tiger’s press conference.
There’s much more that he talked about – namely his mission to “protect his family” from the media. He seemed to believe that the media should not be trying to track down his wife and children based on his wrongdoings.
Newsflash Tiger – that’s exactly what the media does. They want to let the public see how your issues have directly (or indirectly) affected your family. And, unfortunately, it is part of the territory that comes with being the best golfer in the world. Maybe the media will leave you alone if you give away all your money, stop playing golf (for good) and move to a deserted island. But otherwise, you are just going to have to deal with it.
Like
T Lamont is an administator and author covering all sports for Ball or Nuthin'. Send T Lamont a question or comment for future discussion (tlamont@ballornuthin.com). 
Loading ...
Comparatively I am still amazed at Tiger's teflon nature. All other high profile figures have been hit harder than Tiger. Kobe was hit harder, Clinton, Mark Sanford, Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards, David Letterman, Jerry Faldwell, etc. Now it is all comparative. The less known you are the less exposure, the more known you are more exposure. So comparatively all these other guys can slammed and slammed hard. I never heard anyone fans or analysts tell other people to back off. But some how Tiger gets a pass and sympathy. I don't get it. Don't really care, but it's just interesting how relatively speaking Tiger is coming out of this without a big PR scratch. It took Kobe years to get his sponsors back. I expect it will take Tiger a few weeks.
[Reply]
TLamont Reply:
February 24th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Yeah, it has been pretty interesting. Tiger's initial statement was consistent with his most recent press statement – and he's basically told everyone to leave him alone. Kobe's case is really the only sport figure case that we can compare it to – but the major difference is that there were allegations of sexual assault and rape against Bryant. None of that is the case for Tiger – he didn't force himself upon anyone (that we know of) – he just had an insatiable desire for other women which he carried out.
Word around the NBA was that Michael Jordan was a bonafide cheater (hence his divorce), but that never even hit the tabloids. And that was Michael Jordan – the biggest name in the history of basketball.
So, in comparison, I guess it shouldn't be as bad as Kobe. But, yes, somehow the fact that he should be accountable for the consequences of his actions seems to have escaped him…mainly because one of those consequences is that the media is going to seek greater access to his private life.
[Reply]
I think the brouhaha about Woods infidelity is BS.
First he is not the first man to do this.
Second it has and was no secret that Woods had women on the Tap for years.
He never hid it, when he was in Vegas he walked around with different women all the time.
It was no secret! All his inside buddies and his caddy knew.
All his inside reporters knew.
Now let's talk about his wife, the lady they are painting as I'm not sure what.
She was a nanny before she met Tiger, a nanny, not a PHD Physics' teaching at a prestige's university.
The BS she was bred to be this and that, BS she was a model then she was a nanny. Nothing more nothing less.
Now she knew about Tiger and is harem for more than 3 years. It wasn't until it hit the papers that she got upset.
She wasn't that good looking anyway! With a ton of make she was ok, but she was not all that.
How it got outted, 2 of the women in his stable got drunk and had a cat fight and a Enquirer reporter over heard it.
He approached one she said no, he approached the other one she said okay.
And she told her story expecting to get p-a-i-d and that would be the end of it.
Wrong-go-via, it took down the whole golfing world.
Golf without Tiger is like baseball without strikeouts and home runs.
[Reply]