The Tiger-burg Address
Posted: February 20th, 2010 | Filed under: Other Sports | 65 Comments »
You know what I miss? I miss those days when being a sports fan did not also require a deep and textured understanding of body language. I miss the time when you could follow the games people play without having a hyper-sensitive scent for sincerity. I miss the time when being a judgmental sports fan meant only that you made moral judgments about a manager’s decision to bunt or not bunt in the third inning or a golfer’s choice to go for the green in two from a balky lie.
This is what I was thinking about when watching Tiger Woods carefully read from his prepared statement on Friday. Within minutes of him finishing, sports fans and countless pundits around the country and the world would be engaged in a detailed breakdown of the speech: What did it mean? What did he want it to mean? Was he sincere? Was he sincere enough? Was he sorry? Was he truly sorry? What does it mean to be sorry? Why did his voice sound as flat as a dial tone? Why did he use those weird hand gestures? Why didn’t he speak from the heart? Was he speaking from the heart? What does any of that matter? Was he sorry? Was he truly sorry? When will he return to golf? When should he return to golf? Who was he hoping to win over? Why didn’t he take questions? Why should he take questions? Why should he be sorry to anyone but his wife? Was he trying to overpower the Accenture tournament? Was the timing unavoidable of his schedule? Didn’t Accenture drop him as a spokesman? Was he sorry? Was he truly sorry? Who wrote this little speech? Did he sound angry? Was he angry? Where was Elin? Was he sorry? Was he truly sorry?
On and on and on … a million questions and comments and judgments about a 13-minute statement made by a brilliant golfer who cheated repeatedly on his wife.
The absurdity here is that this isn’t absurd anymore. To be a sports fan in this new time, you need advanced insight into the maze human frailty and a solid quartz sincerity-meter for the apologies that inevitably follow. How many sports apologies has it been in recent days? There’s Mark McGwire, of course, Alex Rodriguez, Rick Pitino, Michael Vick, Kobe Bryant, Roy Williams (for that weird Haiti exchange), Roger Clemens (for cheating, not steroids), Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi, Vince Young, John Rocker, Randy Moss, Bob Knight (sort of), Mike Tyson (sort of), Tony La Russa, Latrell Sprewell, Steve Lyons, George Steinbrenner (for losing), Steve Phillips, and, of course, Pete Rose, always Pete Rose, especially Pete Rose, apologizing without apologizing, apologizing while sort of apologizing, apologizing even while angrily insisting he should not apologize because has already apologized.
And there’s Tiger Woods, the first apology that was ever boycotted by the Golf Writers Association of America. I don’t blame the people from GWAA for refusing to be background scenery in what was clearly meant to be little more than a Tiger Woods photo-op. However, it should be said that there is some absurdity here too. Arnold Palmer is, perhaps, the most beloved golfer of the last 50 years. Arnold Palmer also had a well-known reputation as a ladies man in his day. Reporters, yes, reporters from the Golf Writers Association of America, often ran into Palmer with a woman on his arm, a woman who was not his wife, Winnie. They never reported it, and more they never even THOUGHT about reporting it — “It was none of our business,” one of those writers told Ian O’Connor for his seminal golf book “Arnie and Jack.” Now, the golf writers insist that it is not enough for a few of them to hear Tiger Woods apologize about his business, no, they insist that they must have more participation in the process and they insist he must answer questions or they won’t even listen. Yes, the rules have changed.*
*Palmer, on that subject, told Ian that his reputation was “more the talk than it was an action. It was a myth.”
So, Tiger found himself walking through blue curtains into what seemed an airless room with a carefully selected audience, and he read words off a few pieces of paper, words that said he was sorry, that he had let himself believe he was entitled to live a wild life, that there have been a lot of lies written and said, that he hopes after some time that people can yet again believe in him.
And then, like Olympic judges, we are left to rate his performance. On sincerity: 9.1. On emotion: 9.3. On artistic inerpretation: 9.0. His technical score: 8.7. Oh, the Spanish judge really scored him low on that one.
How are we supposed to judge these apologies? I have no idea. I clearly have a fault barometer for sincerity. I thought that Alex Rodriguez’s apology — largely because he spent so much of it railing against the reporter who broke the story that he used steroids — sounded thoroughly insincere, even though he wore a very sincere looking blue sweater (blue, I think, is the most sincere of colors). A lot of people disagree and despise that reporter too. I thought that Mark McGwire’s apology — even though he refused to concede that steroids made him a great home run hitter — did seem sincere, perhaps because to me he did not seem to blame anyone else. Even more people disagree.
Well, they may be right. I may be wrong. Or I may be right. They may be wrong. Or none of us are right. And none of us are wrong. That’s where we are. One of the great thing about sports is that, if you can slow down the video enough, you will find that a runner is out or safe, crossed the plane of the end zone or didn’t, got the shot off before the buzzer or did not. In sports, most of the time, almost all of the time, there’s a winner and a loser, a right and a wrong, and few shades of gray. That’s part of what makes sports so appealing.
Apologies, meanwhile, are all gray. I suspect that even the person apologizing is not entirely sure about the depth of his or her own sincerity. There’s a great exchange in Robert Penn Warren’s classic “All the King’s Men” that delves into the pointlessness of trying to figure out what being sorry even means …
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“You’re not, Jack,” she said, “you’re not sorry. Not really. You aren’t ever sorry about anything. Or glad, either. You’re just — oh, I don’t know what.”
“I am sorry,” I said.
“Oh, you just think you are sorry. Or glad. You aren’t really.”
“If you think you are sorry, who in the hell can tell you that you aren’t?” I demanded …
“That sounds all right,” she said, “but it isn’t. I don’t know why — oh, yes I do — if you’ve never been sorry or glad then you haven’t got any way to know the next time whether you are or not.”
“All right,” I said, “but can I tell you this: something is happening inside me which I choose to call sorry?”
“You can say it, but you don’t know,” she said.
In Tiger Woods case, I’m not even sure why I’m supposed to be forgiving him. At least with A-Rod and McGwire and the various PED users and the law breakers, well, you could say that they misled the fans who were cheering them. But this Tiger thing is different. I don’t know his wife. I don’t know these women he cheated with. These aren’t close and personal friends of mine. He never promised me that he would lead a chaste life. He never misled me. I may be surprised he lived the way he lived, and it might lessen my opinion of him as a person (assuming I already had an opinion about him as a person) but all in all, I never really had any intention of asking Tiger Woods to babysit my kids.
So, I’m left judging only his apology performance, like he’s auditioning for a part in my forgiveness play. And my verdict? Sure, I’d give him the part. It wasn’t that I thought his words were especially moving or that his reading was especially stirring. I didn’t. I thought the speech bounced all over the place. I never understood why he was angrily lecturing people for making assumptions about Elin hitting him when he had always refused to SAY what happened, leaving everyone only with a scene of busted car windows, a wife with a golf club, and Tiger himself lying on the ground. I understand that it’s nobody’s business. But you can’t keep people from talking.
And I thought he looked robotic, his voice hummed; he seemed like one of those Animatronic U.S. Presidents at Magic Kingdom. I remember, years ago, when I was a paper boy I got into a fight with one of my customers, who insisted that I had given him too little change. I was sure he was trying to cheat me, and I said so. We argued for quite a while, and I got quite belligerent. Finally, the man shrugged. When I got home, we went over my collections and found that the man was right, I had cheated him. My parents made me go over to his house, return the money and apologize (while they watched). I did. And I remember my bland and empty voice sounded much like Tiger Woods’ voice Friday. I thought it was telling that Tiger Woods’ mother was in the front row … his was the sort of apology you give with a parent watching.
But, that said, I really WAS sorry I had cheated the man even if I did not sound it. And I suspect that Tiger Woods really is sorry for leading a selfish life. To me the most telling part of the whole thing was that, while most people thought Tiger Woods would announce his return to golf, he did not. That’s something more than words. We all know how much breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record means to him — it’s one of the few things he was ever publicly emotional about. Now, he seems willing to give up much or all of this golf season to put his life in order. He seems determined to be a better person on and off the golf course (I thought it was interesting that he talked about treating the game with more respect). He seems like he has figured out what’s important to him, which I think is a big first step in determining how you live your life. I respect that. It never is about what you say, anyway. It’s how you live.
And, in the end, it’s just not hard to forgive someone you don’t really know. I hope Tiger Woods becomes the person he wants to become. And, someday, I hope to once again watch him play golf so I can say out loud: “I cannot believe he’s using three-wood here.” That sort of judgment is a lot more fun.
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When I was little my grandfather goaded me into taking a piece of candy I was sucking on out of my mouth and placing it on the velour of his new la-z-boy chair. Then when I followed his directions he beat the crap out of me. Most sportswriters aren’t nearly as psychotic as my grandfather was, but the point is the same: Sportswriters demand that the athlete who has transgressed make a public apology, and when they do make that apology they turn around and say, “Gee, was that really necessary?” Yeah, I’m talking to you, Buster Olney.
I quit this when you compared the media now to the media when Arnold Palmer was playing 25 years ago.
Think more are write less, Joe. You’re losing your fastball by spewing so many words
quit this, rick.
Rick doesn’t need to use punctuation or spell check because that just slows him down.
Rick turns off Glenn Beck after two and a half minutes because he’s just repeating himself.
Rick emailed ESPNews to tell them their ticker was too slow.
Rick stopped playing Frogger because he couldn’t get that purple thing at the end of the log to stop eating his frogs.
Leaving comments on blog posts about how you didn’t finish said post is kinda douchey. Been seeing more of that type of thing here lately.
Please think twice before you write, Rick. Most of us aspire to be better than that here.
@Rick
Huh? I loved that part, I’m in my 20′s and didn’t know Palmer was looked at as a ladies man. That anecdote helps frame how ridiculous this witch hunt really is…
Great stuff Joe!
I don’t need an apology from Tiger Woods about his personal life and behavior. Those that say that his behavior should be left as a private matter between he and his wife are correct. It truly is none of our business. However, if he wants and needs to apologize to golf fans for something (as is apparently required by his “therapy”) then apologize for ruining all of the future Sundays when we would have been able to enjoy and be entertained by watching him hit a great shot, sink a long putt, and win another major. Even if he stages a comeback and starts winning again (which he probably will) it will never be the same. The media will never leave him alone, he will never be the same Tiger, his image and legend will never be the same, and he will carry this baggage with him forever. Apologize to us for that.
Rick as in —k. If you look at any of the great athletes, public figures, etc of the past, there was a LOT that went unsaid. JFK, anyone? I thought the GWAA stand was hypocritical and petty, but there it is. Tiger tried to control the message, as usual, but the best thing he said was about how the words really didn’t mean anything compared to the actions. I’m rooting for him, but his own personal redemption with his family is a long way off…maybe forever.
I feel sorry for Tiger. He had this GREAT apology written but had to abandon it after he saw it posted almost verbatim on a web site. He had to go with Plan B lest he be charged with plagiarism. No wonder he appeared a bit tied to the text and unrehearsed.
One of my favorite things about the comments on this website, normally people don’t spend the time bashing each other….So while Rick maybe an idiot, he is entitled to his opinion..
Great job analyzing Joe, definately nice you can throw out a column like this in a blog format, as opposed to a more rigid column in the KC star.
The rules have changed since Arnie’s day, some for the better, some not as much. Unfortunately when you aspire to be the greatest of all time, you are setting yourself up to be scruntizied at all times. Tiger never owed us any of us anything though..Having said that though, its going to be fun rooting against him. Every sports needs a villiian
I’m a bit surprised Tiger has gotten so much attention and taken so much heat, because unlike some athletes, he’s NEVER made the slightest attempt to act like a nice guy, to pose as a positive role model, or to connect emotionally with his fans.
To put it another way…
If Tim Tebow were caught going to prostitutes or Kurt Warner were screwing around with IHOP waitresses, a lot of their biggest fans would be hurt, because those guys built their image around being good Christians and supporters of traditional family values. If they got caught doing what Tiger did, much of what people admired them for would be lost forever.
Joe Dimaggio embodied class in public. Privately, he was a vindictive prick without a true friend in the world. If his fans had known what he was really like, they’d have been hurt. Those fans were embracing him for his classy image as much as his athletic stature. Take away that classy image, and there’s a lot less to admire.
If Sting is secretly a polluter, if Bono is secretly a racist, if Bruce Springsteen is secretly living in the lap of luxury and giving almost nothing to charity, well, something dear would be lost, to their fans, because those guys are admired for what they symbolize as much as for the music they make.
But back to Tiger… what has this guy EVER stood for besides great golf?
Did people love him for his charm or wit? No, because he never showed those things to his fans. Did they love him for his humanitarianism? No, because he never showed himself to be generous or caring (maybe he IS, but he never tried to show that side of him to the public). Did they love him for his warmth and graciousness and good sportsmanship? No, because he was always icy and distant to fans.
So, if fans loved him, it was SOLELY, 100% because he was the greatest golfer in the world.
Well, he still is. So, if you loved him 6 months ago, I think that was silly and irrational… but I can’t think of a single good reason you shouldn’t still love him now.
Joe – your writing has been awesome lately. You write with way more common sense than other sports columnists out there.
Steve’s comment is dead-on (sorry about your Grandpa being weird). Media keep demanding apologies and end up being upset when they don’t meet their standards.
astorian – good point, but Tiger does have a gigantic foundation for kids that has done a lot of good, so I’d say he is generous. However, generosity and infidelity are pretty different traits, so your point stands.
I’m much more interested in Arnold Palmer’s tour life than I was before.
The analyst from the Golf Channel who cried about Tiger needs to hold a press conference to apologize for crying about Tiger.
This whole thing takes absurdity to a new level. Tiger Woods does not owe an apology to anyone in the media or any of the fans. I would have had more respect for him if he told everyone to go to hell and just played golf.
This is probably going to sound more critical than I mean it to be, but if it wears you out to write about athlete apologies, Joe, why write the last two posts?
This is your blog and you’re not under any obligation to write about the big story of the day. Most of the people here, me included, would be just as happy to read 3000 words about Oscar Gamble or Fruity Pebbles.
As for the statement itself, when someone says they’re trying to become a better person my default position is to believe them and root for them until they give me a reason not to. I’m for Tiger.
JoPo seems to have some compassion as opposed to his former worker at The Star, Fatlock.
As for the people bashing Tiger, what part of “I made a mistake and I’m sorry” don’t you get ???
By the way, I just went over Tiger’s transcript and I would note that he apologized to the following people: his friends, his family, people connected to his foundation, families whose kids looked up to him.
I totally agree that Tiger does not owe an apology to adult golf fans, and he didn’t offer one. That strikes me as a significant and conscious omission. He didn’t apologize to “us” and he doesn’t have to.
The funniest thing about the whole day was the GWAA boycotting the “apology” event due to lack of proper representation and not being given a chance to ask questions.
The other thing that’s noteworthy is that there are over 900 writers who are members of the GWAA. No wonder media credentials are so hard to come by.
@11 Astorian
Unfortunately, Tiger’s dad claimed that he’d be more than a role model. Something along the lines of Jesus or Gandhi. I feel sorry for Tiger for having to put up with those expectations.
I think that’s probably why people placed a greater responsibility on Tiger, even though he never claimed to be special (although maybe he did, and I’ve just forgotten).
Anyways, I think he sounded sincere yesterday. I’m rooting for him to get his life and family back in order.
I also don’t understand the backlash against not taking questions. Anyone that’s listened to one of Tiger’s press conferences knows that he’s great at deflecting questions and giving non-answers.
I mean, how would the questioning have gone.
Q: How sorry are you Tiger?
A: Very sorry.
Q: What happened that night with Elin?
A: That’s between Elin & I.
Q: Why did you do all this?
A: I was selfish. I’m terribly sorry.
On and on and on…instead of a 13 minute speech, he would have said the same stuff in answering questions for an hour.
I honestly don’t get this whole thing. I don’t think Tiger Woods owes an apology to anyone but his wife.
The reason Woods made a public apology was that his sponsors demanded he do so in order to try to repair his public image. They don’t want to associate their brands with a guy of questionable character.
This little scene was 100% corporate and commercial, nothing more and nothing less.
Joe, your columns and posts are usually excellent, as you well know, but I think you blew it on this one. Oh, well, Whitlock was a lot worse, as usual.
yeah, but after the 4 minute mark, fruity pebbles get nasty real quick; so you gotta be fast.
tza if you can click your heels together three times before you pour milk in the bowl you can get an extra 3-4 minutes.
Apologize to public, that is nothing but a show. Matter most is between him, God and his wife and children. If they sort these thing out sincerely that is the most important. If Tiger do this sincerely, you will see changes in him. On the other hand, without fans he wouldn’t become what he is today. You become famous in the spot light, you must clear it out in front of the spot light.
I think Astoria has it about 80% right. Tiger (and I’d put Jordan, Jeter, and countless others in this category as well) intentionally revealed nothing about himself for years and years. People who admire his golfing ability have a blank canvas where his non-golf attributes would be. What Astoria failed to mention is that on that canvas they paint the attributes and personal characteristics that they want Tiger to have. When an event happens that runs counter to the image they have painted on to the canvas, it’s like someone came along and drew ugly black lines all over the picture they had worked so hard on. That’s why they’re so angry.
All of this is absolutely stupid.
I agree with Mikey: what exactly is the purpose of this column? It seems a bit misguided and kind of hypocritical. It’s oddly defeatist in tone–”Why has the modern sports media atmosphere forced me to write this?”
Thanks, Joe. Yours is a good vantage point, and you place the matter in proper perspective.
I think the problem with the speech was the wooden way in which he said it, and the very characteristic way he tried to control it. He did little to mask the seething anger underneath.
If he had acted human after the accident, explaining some of the reasons why it happened, it almost definitely would not have gone to this point. Instead he tried to go into his cocoon, and it all got progressively worse as the media smelled a cover up. I don’t see it getting alot better now. Much of the speech seemed to chastise the media and tell it what to do. The media laughs at this.
I never thought of Tiger as a role model, I thought of him as someone who dedicated his life, from an absurdly young age, to one thing. He became the best ever at the one thing, but other important parts got short changed. He has never pretended to be some kind of great man (as some stars do), or even put forth a version of his personality or image- even a funny commercial is all about Golf.
Someone that focused naturally becomes a control freak, grows up with very few people close to them, admirers but few friends. Cheered but not asked to hang out-at lest not more than once.
Most really focused “control freaks” have a tendency to spiral out of control once they let their wilder side out, all the while trying to control the spiral. When they try to rein the beast back in, they try to go back to their base- and Tiger’s base is control.
Control is gone for Tiger now, and his refusal to realize it makes for good theater, and promises his further undoing down the road.
I kind of feel sorry for him. He is emotionally unequipped for the storm he has been through-not to mention the one that is coming.
If Tiger Woods made his living wholely and solely by playing golf he’d owe an apology to nobody beyond his wife and a few close friends – assuming he’s got any.
Tiger Woods, golfer extraordinaire, could tell everyone to naff off, as the English say. And probably would.
But he’s the chairman of the board of Tiger Woods Inc, a sizeable corporation with a large number of people relying on it for their livelihoods and with substantial charitable commitments to meet. If the income streams for that dry up there’d be a fiscal train wreck.
The apology wasn’t, therefore, directed to us as golf fans, it was directed to us as customers. Tiger and his handlers know that nobody’s giving up playing or watching golf because of his behaviour. The worry is that they’ll stop buying his sponsors’ fine products.
His apology, its content and his delivery, shouldn’t have been compared with those presented by other sports stars; it should have been compared with those presented by heads of corporations.
I don’t follow US business news too closely so I’ve no idea how Tiger’s performance rates against recent attempts. But I’ve got to say it’s way ahead of the railway fella’s “send this guy the bed bug letter” effort.
dang, I didn’t mean for my comment at #28 to sound as harsh as it did. I did NOT mean that Joe’s blog post was “absolutely stupid”, I was referring to this whole Tiger sh!tstorm.
Astoria and Khazad hit it right on the head. The man in a golfer. Period. I don’t care about his personal life, I don’t care about his wife and kids and I damn sure don’t care about his “image”.
I care about his approach shot on the 18th at Pebble Beach. Period.
In Tiger Woods case, I’m not even sure why I’m supposed to be forgiving him. At least with A-Rod and McGwire and the various PED users and the law breakers, well, you could say that they misled the fans who were cheering them. But this Tiger thing is different. I don’t know his wife. I don’t know these women he cheated with. These aren’t close and personal friends of mine. He never promised me that he would lead a chaste life. He never misled me. I may be surprised he lived the way he lived, and it might lessen my opinion of him as a person (assuming I already had an opinion about him as a person) but all in all, I never really had any intention of asking Tiger Woods to babysit my kids.
Nailed it.
I think he should have done the old Mark McGwire on the Simpsons bit:
“Would you kids rather know the truth, or just watch me hit some dingers?”
“Dingers!”
No. 13: “good point, but Tiger does have a gigantic foundation for kids that has done a lot of good, so I’d say he is generous. However, generosity and infidelity are pretty different traits, so your point stands.”
You could say that he was *exceptionally* generous, in a certain respect, which would make your point stronger … in a certain respect.
I’m ripping this off of Rachel Maddow, but we’re 35 comments in and nobody else has mentioned it yet….
To me, the most obvious sign of sincerity in Woods’ (prewritten, and woodenly delivered) apology was the almost moving portion in which he described being raised a Buddhist and how he had failed those teachings.
The easiest and surest way to forgiveness in our society is to praise Jesus to the skies. By *not* reflexively embracing Christianity, by not taking the easiest possible way out, by telling us that there are lines he won’t cross just to gain our forgiveness — that screams authenticity to me.
Mark S @ #33 (and a couple of others)
Tiger Woods’ tour earnings since he turned pro are somewhere around the $90 mil mark.
His total earnings in that time are closing in on $1000 million . . . may have passed it.
The man is a long way – a long long way – from being “a golfer. Period”.
Check the stock prices of the companies whose products he endorsed before and after he drove into the fire hydrant.
This whole story should be on newspapers’ business pages. It has only a circumstantial connection to golf.
Graphite:
Every nickle he made is because he is the greatest golfer of his generation. Not to mention the fact he was famous long before he stepped on to the PGA tour and started to earn the big bucks.
His celebrity comes from his golf game. He quits golf, you think Nike is still going to pay him half a million a year (or whatever).
His golf IS his ENTIRE commercial life.
I’m guessing here (and it’s just a guess) that a public apology is a requirement of Tiger’s therapy/recovery.
(Another) Rick
The one nice thing about JoPo’s comment section as opposed to Fatlock’s comments is that here with a couple of minor exceptions you have some common sense and cogent dialog.
Great post Joe, and same for the one about what you would have said if you were Tiger.
I admire Tiger the golfer for the incredible performance over the years; Tiger the husband is none of my business; Tiger the pitchman doesn’t get to me bercause I decide what I want to purchase for needs that I have and not because a famous athlete tells me to buy. So Tiger doesn’t have to appologize to me, I couldn’t care less about his personnal life, and as a BR said before, he didn’t became famous for being a warm guy.
As for the GWAA, is there one of them out there that have reported on Tiger’s private life before this all happened? Or course not, it was personnal or irrevalent … So if you weren’t on the reporting business thing, the aftermath is also personnal or irrevalent, so just shut up and report on the golf thing, which is really all that interest most of us.
I can’t believe how the media has been treating this. Don’t get me wrong. This is big news.
But I think people are going overboard.
For example, I actually heard an ESPN reporter say that Tiger’s speech is one of those big moments in history where you’ll say, ‘Where were you the day Tiger Woods gave his speech?”
Are you kidding me?
9/11 is one of those moments. The 1989 earthquake during the World Series is one of those moments. But Tiger Woods’ speech?
Seriously?
I’ll always remember that I did not watch Tiger Woods’ speech.
I think generally people realize that someone like McGwire or Woods doesn’t really owe us any apologies. But we know those with real power who actually ruin lives aren’t ever going to say they’re sorry for squat. So we eat up public apologies for adultery, steroids, or racist comments because hey, we take what we can get.
Spud, I’m jealous… I wish I’d never watched. But, mostly I wish that sports writers weren’t so holier than thou on this (sort of like how they are with steroids in baseball), even Bill Simmons railed against Tiger’s apology.
Yet, thankfully, there’s Joe. Great incite, articulate, and well written as always.
“He never promised me that he would lead a chaste life. He never misled me.”
This is where I disagree, Joaldo.
I think his entire media created persona promised exactly that. That he was the dedicated man, the honorable man. He made a billion on that image – I could not escape it, or my kids. Every sports magazine, billboards on freeways, everywhere – Tiger the perfect family sports hero. And when you tell 50 million kids to “be you” or to say “I am you” then well, you’ve made a promise and according to perhaps 48.5 million of those kids parents, you have misled them for I doubt they want to see their kids emulate his behavior and end up apologizing in one of his scripted direct into the camera moments, to all those kids.
His comments about “respecting” the golf course and how kids are emulating his club throwing tantrums after a flubbed shot was also telling. This is a narcissist to the nth degree and we gullible Americans who get our politics from sound bytes and desires from marketing executives who have studied the brain for years have no chance but to fall hook line and sinker and start “needing” Nike clothes and “needing” things we don’t even want.
Justyo if you or your family are using actors, musicians, politicians or athletes as role models, you’re setting yourself up for a lot of disappointment.
I’m tired and currently unconcerned if I come off as a crass a–hole* and I need to study.
@ #2 Rick, others had better comments so I’ll pile on with a simple mindless quip of disrespect and disagreement – F— you.
*It’s sort of a strange concern when I only identify myself as “Brad” and I know sometimes I can be, anyway.
Azzo – Did you even read my comment?To clarify, it wasn’t about me and my family. It was about the millions of kids (and adults) out there who ran around saying a corporate slogan “I am Tiger Woods” and if you think that campaign didn’t sell products you live in a nether world.
Unfortunately not everyone is as conscious and as enlightened as you are which was my point – and which “I’m sorry” you missed.
Mark S
This is sort of correct (apart from the “half million”, which is way out): “His celebrity comes from his golf game. He quits golf, you think Nike is still going to pay him half a million a year (or whatever).”
Nike wouldn’t pay him a dime if he continued to play golf and continued his philandering. Nike is paying for more than the golfing ability; it’s also paying for that cheesy grin, for that sculpted body, for that family man image.
And Nike would continue to pay Woods – a wholesome Woods – even if he did quit golf. If his knees completely collapsed and he had to give up competing he’d remain their spokeman for years to come. His cheques wouldn’t be quite as large but they’d keep rolling in.
And then there’s General Mills, American Express, Accenture, Buick, Gillette – none of whose activities have anything at all to do with golf. Why have they been paying this guy tens of millions? For his golf, sure. For the publicity his continual winning brings. But more for his image. If he won every major every year but looked like Tim Herron and behaved like John Daly, none of those companies would want him associated in any way, shape or form with their products.
He hasn’t lost his endorsements because he stopped playing golf; he’s lost his endorsements because his private life ran off the rails.
His income streams may have started to flow when he turned pro but there’s no way that golf is the sole provider these days. The business of America is business and he’d have investments in real estate, banking . . . you name it, he’d have it.
Finally, the public knowledge of his philandering does not affect his ability to earn money on the golf course, not by a cent. But the public knowledge of his philandering has put a huge dent in his ability to earn a living off the golf course, and by a king’s ransom.
The “Tiger apology” was a business announcement, pure and simple.
I guess I misunderstood your intent.
Brad you are one very rude person. In your case, suffering from DSB or “cumlocked” would be your excuse.
@42 – The Tiger Woods speech was the Nixon Resignation, the JFK assassination, The 80 US Olympic Hockey Triumph, and the Challenger explosion all rolled into one. Didn’t you realize this?
Agreed, the commentary of the “significance” of the moment was utterly ridiculous. This whole episode screams for a good Saturday Night Live or Daily Show skit.
Graphite,
So good to “read” from you again. Saw your response to a Musial story a couple years ago and it reached out to me, as I had just lost a grandaughter. I borrowed “A Painted House” and really enjoyed a non-fiction book that I would otherwise not have taken time for.
Here is a hint, Americans drink flouridated water. Don’t try to reason with them . If you need proof, leave New Zealand, come to the U.S. and let me drive you around and show you! If you survive the I-can-talk-on-the-cell-phone-and-drive/illegals/uninsured/too-slow-in the-fast-lane/too-fast-on-the-shoulder/drunk/applying-makeup/reading/eating/sleeping drivers, you might begin to understand Americans. Then we will go to the ballpark and enjoy!!!
Baseball is only 5-1/2 weeks away.
My favorite, FAVORITE, part of the media’s coverage of the Tigerwoodsapology is how universally they bashed his decision to not allow questions, control the statement, etc.
Of COURSE they are going to do that — they want to ask questions. But Tiger did not HAVE to do anything. He did not have to speak, at all.
I kind of wish he had just shown up for a tournament without saying anything, except perhaps “I have many serious issues to work out in my private life. I have apologized to my family profusely and will continue to do so. I will offer no public apology because I did not do anything to the public.”
I agree with those who are sort of baffled by this column. I have literally only paid Tiger Woods any bit of attention twice in the last week: Joe’s two columns. If Joe hadn’t have written a blog post, I would have succesfully avoided all Tiger press conference coverage. To say I don’t care is an extreme understatement.
There’s Olympics going on. They happen to be pretty good, if you actually follow the events. College baseball started this weekend (LSU, 3-0!) which means balls are being hit in anger. Pitchers and catchers have reported to spring training. No one is forcing the modern sports fan to stare into one man’s infiedelity and his level of sincerity. This modern fan is having a great time… watching sports.
Really, who gives a f*ck?
Newsflash…sporting star with massive ego cheats on his wife and later feels bad about it, but only since he got caught.
This isn’t newsworthy and I am stunned that wallstreet basically stopped to watch it, that is effing pathetic.
i absolutely do not care about any of this, whatsoever. tiger has no reason to apologize, and frankly it annoys me that the media is so stupid that he feels he needs to.
Don’t Jinx The Dirt
(Private correspondence.)
We’ve got all those people here, too. And fluoridation. Except for driving on the wrong side of the road (how did that happen?), I think I’d be right at home. Especially if home was West Virginia. I live on a five-acre block in an area of similar small-holdings. The tarseal ends 6km away in one direction, 2km in another. My neighbour up the back, the one who bred pitbulls and broke his back in a trailbike accident, is currently doing time for manufacturing methamphetamine. The bloke across the road lives in a shack because his jilted girlfriend came round in the wee small hours and burned down his shanty. The cops got interested but the fella himself wasn’t fazed at all. His fridge escaped damage so his beer’s still cold. From round the corner, that woman who’s always described as a recovering alcoholic isn’t recovering any more but the guy who’s on his fourth wife – the last three by mail-order – is over his bout of depression. Not sure what caused it.
We do weird pretty well down here, believe me.
Americans tend to cop a bit of flak for not knowing much about other countries, but I find them pretty well informed, given that they have to, apparently, keep up with about 120 foreign nations and the rest of us just the one – the US of A. Seems unfair to me. My sisters are going to the US tennis Open this year and then on to Arizona. The one who didn’t organise the Arizona sidetrip was asking where it was and when I explained she said: “Oh. It’s a state. I thought it was a city.”
Unfortunately, I won’t be going with them or I’d take you up on the ball game offer.
All the best and cherish your granddaughter’s memory.
I’m sorry ….
I don’t give a fine flying bu** Fu** about Tiger Woods’ cheating on his wife. That’s between him and his wife, so no apology to the general public is necessary. I have yet to figure out what public benefit there is in all the news coverage, except to tweak the prurient interests of the public. Once Tiger’s wife knows, the news has reached everyone who needs to know. A sports figure who cheats at their sport is a different matter. That person has cheated all the people who follow and enjoy the sport out of a fair contest.
So tired….I don’t care about Tiger and this stuff. When I go to cnnsi or espn, I want a golf story, not a story about a guy that isn’t playing because he doesn’t know how to be a grown up.
And, I hope you are pretty much done with this topic Joe….
Great article Joe. Although I care even less than mike in MN. You’re like a great chef who could actually make a plate of liver I would eat. But like mike said I hope you’re pretty much done with this story.
[...] I guess that means he’s on the right track. He sounded like a dial tone when he talked: Joe Posnanski: “And I thought he looked robotic, his voice hummed; he seemed like one of those Animatronic [...]
When I was in 8th grade I was dating Angie Nelson. Her parents were divorced and she spent a month each summer at her dad’s house a few hours north. When she was gone I kissed another girl (and saw my first boob!). I want to publicly apologize for this transgression that affected none of you since none of you know me or Angie. But I still hope you guys can forgive me.