Maybe the most unsettling part of that speech was, "I don't know when I'm coming back to golf." I was hoping he would make the Masters.
The thing about this situation to me is more about America and the general populace than Tiger. I've understood the why from the beginning. It's just that everyone has an excuse for being an ass these days. That part bothers me. The hero worship part from the public bothers me. I don't get standing 40 rows deep to see a glance at a guy who puts his pants on like me.
I'd love to talk to the guy on or off the record about a lot of topics but autographs... yawn. I'm not a celebrity worshipper. I am a cultural observationist.
It disturbs me that virtually every public figure in America is incredibly self serving at their core. That bothers me. That they can acknowledge the were doing the wrong thing and yet... who cares... I am above recourse. It's honestly not hard at all to not be a dbag whether you have billions of dollars or just a regular living.
OF course the story is compelling because of who it is and his image but it's not really shocking. I mean what if people actually followed Phil or Davis Love around? I have country club peoples wives making out with each other in the club house bar. I'm not really shocked.
Of course the editors of Sportsbyfletch had to respond:
A little back story: The speech last Friday was thirteen minutes long, and in it he admitted that he “was unfaithful,” and was “deeply sorry.” Tiger noted that he “has a long was to go,” and hopes that one day people will “believe in [him] again.” Finally Tiger seethed that it angered him that “people fabricate a story like [Elin attacking him].” In his speech Tiger admitted that he will not be playing golf anytime soon and PGA commissioner Tim Finchem revealed to the press that Woods would be heading back to therapy.
I say this was horrible. No, not the way Woods delivered the speech that made him sound like he was a seven-year-old reading a book report for his second grade class. Not the way that the “press conference” was limited to certain members of the media and allowed just one network to provide cameras, leading to the front camera “breaking” nine minutes into the speech and the angle was forced to switch to an awkward side angle for parts. I say it was horrible that he even had to do it at all. Tiger didn’t owe me an apology and he doesn’t owe children out there an apology. He is still a tremendous golfer which is all he should have been to the world. To his family, yes he owes an apology. A big one. But he didn’t need to do it on TV and in front of the media that covers him, by the way, AS A GOLFER.
If I had been Tiger’s PR people, I would have had him do an apology a LONG time ago, like maybe the week after Thanksgiving, perhaps. Then I would have had him offer his resignation to each of his sponsors and that way, he wouldn’t have had to do that silly apology which wasn’t for the fans or the family but for his sponsors. He is JUST a golfer that way. Then I would have had Tiger out on the golf course immediately and after the round, ONLY answer questions about his round. This way he isn’t the poster boy for NIKE or Gatorade, he is just a golfer out there doing his thing. The endorsements would have come back eventually and they would have been stronger than ever. This thing was handled very poorly and Tiger’s speech the other day was laughable, considering it sounded like he was aiming for a gold star from his elementary school teacher instead of Buick’s approval.
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