But golf has seemed to be immune to this tabloid pandemic. Unfortunately, Tiger Woods' enormous popularity placed him under its greasy microscope. All it took was something minutely unusual in the petri dish for them to pounce. That indeed occurred over Thanksgiving when Tiger drove his Caddy around like a carnival bumper car with his wife going all Nicholson on it (let's just hope it wasn't with his priceless Scotty Cameron putter!). Like a herd of great whites drawn to a drop of blood, the media descended upon Tiger's Isleworth sanctuary with dollar signs in their eyes. Could this be evidence of a domestic issue?!So friggin' what? A couple of years ago on my Bandon Dunes golf vacation, a friend of mine told us he knew a person close to Tiger's entourage. According to him, Tiger was quite the Casanova who was not opposed to "stepping out" and playing much more than just 18-holes. He also emphasized that it was more about quantity rather than quality. I didn't entertain the discussion because I didn't really care. Lots of people step out and it's almost a given amongst pro athletes. Big deal.
It turns out that it is a big deal to many. The Chinese have gone so far as to create a CGI re-enactment of the whole incident. Not quite Pixar, but way too polished than it should be and just another sign that the end is near (I wonder if they actually mocapped Elin swinging that club!):
But why all this attention? My guess is that people somehow build up a fanciful notion that famous people lead perfect lives. When anything surfaces to dispel these fantasies, it devastates them. It's just absurd. In the case of Tiger Woods, why should we think that he is better than us commoners at anything outside of playing golf? As a society, we need to come to the realization that all people suffer from faults. No amount of fame can make them go away. If anything, fame does the opposite. It would be naive to think otherwise. Accept it and move on. There are many more important things in the world be concerned.
To those who still think that most famous people stay on the straight and narrow, just remember that a wise man, Chris Rock, once said, "A man is only as faithful as his options." Ponder that for a minute. It's probably safe to assume that virtually all famous people are cheating. Certainly that's a better assumption for us as a whole than to deitize them if we want to put an end to the tabloid fascination. Lastly, for the record, I'm an extremely faithful guy by choice, not due to a lack of options!
P.S. Check out some of my blog friends' posts on this topic:
Hooked on Golf Blog
Mike Pederson Golf
10 comments:
yes no matter how talented you are in any field you also have weaknesses. The thing is we tend to hide them well. But when you are Tiger you are always under the spotlight and thought in a God figure to some its only natural that people just wait for him to falter and they pounce. He needs to be strong tell the truth to stop all speculation and set him self free again. He is still a champion in my eyes. Werner 84 Olympic gymnast australia
Oh sure, we are all human and that means we are all the same. Tiger is a champion in GOLF and I admire him because of his golfing prowess, he is superior to most golfers and that is why he is an iconic figure. I guess why we feed on iconic figures' human failings, as much as we have in ourselves because it makes us feel good that we are not the only ones to have the same level of failings and weaknesses , if you like, but share it with famous people. Silly satisfaction, but kick all the same.
We should leave Tiger alone to do what he does best and linger to admire him for that. His private life is PRIVATE and the media should not intrude into his family life other than how much he loves and cares for his family.
Guys,
Tigers transgression = no 19 Majors. I will be surprised to see if he can even win one in next 2-3years.
Forget morality, propriety and the sanctity of marriage for a minute. If this is the first time this week that you have done that you should get out more. Let’s take a look at this Tiger thing from a more pragmatic stance. Let’s dissect this thing in a way that may actually help others.
If I was one of Tiger’s boys here is what I would say to him.
What the hell were you thinking? Of all the dumbass common ways to get caught, texting and talking on your cell phone is the worst. Especially for a guy that is sponsored by AT& fricking T. All you would have to do is make one call to any of your people and tell them that you not only need a new cell phone once a week…month whatever and it’s done. Tell them you have a stalker or some other easy to remember lie. Have the phone sent to the locker room each week or your office. You keep the original one that your wife calls you on and make sure that she never sees the other one.
Secondly, you have a phone sent to the girl or girls. No voice mail set up, you already learned that one the hard way didn’t you? Texting is OK but she will never be able to prove that it is you. These girls already know that you are married. You didn’t have to lie to them. So to ensure their discretion you make sure that your ass is covered.
And finally, and this is the most important part, hire someone that you trust to manage your booty. Booty management usually falls under the caddy’s heading but in this case Stevie probably has enough to deal with on his own. If you think this is a dumb idea think again. Tiger already has a staff of dozens, what is one more guy? Put him under the heading of public relations. Hell, call him your short game guru if you want but make sure that whenever crap falls from the sky it lands on him.
I guess they didn’t teach a class in booty management at Stanford.
In truth I hope that Tiger has some boys that he can talk to about all this. Every man finds himself in a compromising situation at some point in his life. Inevitably these compromising situations involve either money or sex, usually both. What gets you through these times is generally your boys. A good bartender helps too, just stay away from the cocktail waitress. I hope that Tiger has some boys that he can have a beer with and unload a little bit. If he doesn’t then the price of fame is way too high.
by: John Maginnes
www.kerplookee.com
why is everyone giving him a special treatment over privacy when u can read bundles of news about others? Are we telling everyone fame and money can buy privacy?
Now that tiger has fallen from his pedestal he can finally breath- now that the world sees he is simply an imperfectr human being, with imperfect male tendencies he can focus on what he is great at- golf.
I personally do not care about what he does in his personal life. He is the Michael Jordan of Golf!
I wonder if Sandra Bullock has consulted Elin Woods regarding club selection.
I wonder if Sandra Bullock has consulted Elin Woods regarding club selection.
I hope he now uses his common sense. He is a great golfer and should focus on that.
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