A wise man once said,"If you stick your neck out above the crowd, be ready to be hit with some tomatoes."
Welcome to our daily special, Tiger Woods ala Tomatoes.
Since his fateful rendevoux with a fire hydrant, Tiger has experienced a media and public smackdown of epic proportions.
And never has the world of sports seen such a dramatic and staggering fall from perfect to flawed.
Lurid text messages, multiple women claiming affairs, tabloid stories of impending divorce, this just to name a few of Tiger's mountainous indescretions.
But the Tiger book we have always read was almost comic-book perfect: a chiseled athlete under a Nike hat, an adoring supermodel wife, photo shoots with their two adorable tots and their dog, Solomon-like wealth, all coupled with seemingly superhuman feats on the golf course.
Tiger's armor was impenetrable, built from a dogged determination to keep his private life separate from his public persona. (Why else would he name his private yacht, Privacy!?)
We saw only what Tiger wanted us to see: his golf. Off the course, we knew nothing, squat, nada, which is exactly what Team Tiger wanted us to know.
Tiger's veil of secrecy is now gone forever, ripped to shreds by saved texts and voicemails from women who apparently knew this fall from grace would come.
Many people now scream, including me initially, "it's his personal business, let him be and move on!"
Truth is Tiger owes no one a public apology. Tiger really only owes his family and friends some mea culpa.
But if Tiger wants to regain his spot on the sports world pedestal he once owned, he will have to do what he's never done: show his human side.
No more intimidating, I only answer what I want to answer, interviews.
No more robotic, cliche golf-speak answers to all questions.
No, it's now time to take off the cape, the Nike hat, push aside the agents and advisors, and start a new Nike campaign:
Just Be Real.
No more scripted statements on his site.
No more Team Tiger responses.
No more Tiger, the golfer.
It's time for Eldrick Woods, the person, to just look us in the eye like a man, and with sincere emotion, tell us he's human after all, that he really messed up, and most of all, tell us he's sorry and ask for forgiveness.
2 comments:
You sort or mirror my sentiment on Tiger. He owes no comment to thepress on his private life. He does, however, owe genuine contrition and repentance for failing as a man. The sooner he does this, the faster his healing can begin. To try to dodge the criticism out there will only show he is not remorseful. He needs to man-up and take the lumps and get on with his life. I always admired Tiger for his attempting to keep a low profile and be professional looking as he led his sport. Now he needs to take the lead, show repentance, and be a man of integrity that is aware that he is capable of failing. I hope a true Christian is in his life to show him that forgiveness is possible and needs to be sought.
Good thoughts Jeff. I agree.
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