Catch a Tiger by His Tales

First off, have you seen his wife?? Why would he need to cheat on THAT?





















In what may be the biggest water-cooler-gossip-muck-someone's-reputation-through-the-mud incident since Michael Jackson (that's NOT that long of time...tells what kind of society we live in), figured I chime in on this whole traffic accident meets triple affair ordeal.

First off, I think Tiger does owe an explanation...to alot of people, actually. Whether he and Charles Barkley like it or not, they are role models who hundreds, maybe thousands of people look up to, mostly kids. What kind of example is this to set? Little Timmy, Tiger cheated on his wife, maybe three times...maybe once right before his wife gave birth to his first child, but he's a good guy, be like him. Oh, and he lied, told some lame excuse about his wife 'saving' him from a fire-hydrant accident by smashing a golf club in his back window (when, if she was really saving him, that's a little far from the driver). But yeah, good guy. Remember, Team Tiger, we are your first employers.

Tiger apologists, who there are many, will say it's his personal problem and we should leave him alone, let them deal with it privately. I agree, if he were a private figure. But he's not, and if he wants all the rewards and accolades and media attention for doing good, he better expect the reverse treatment when he does bad. The media have been just short of waving pom poms and doing the splits when cheerleading for Tiger. He's had his mulligans, so now he needs to explain this to his buddies in the media. Employer #2.

Then there's the responsibility to his sponsors. Golf is still a conservative sport...I mean, there are still ass-backwards people who have issues with Tiger even playing the game. Those same people, hypocrites as they may be, might not want to buy products from a wife cheater who hangs out with skanky cocktail waitresses. I think he owes a good explanation, and maybe pay back some endorsement money (will never happen) to his third round of employers.

Listen, I've always liked Eldrick Woods...even did a promotion where my 'job' was to follow him around for 18 holes, which was pretty awesome. It's a sad turn of events, because he has been an amazing athlete who has more than lived up to expectations. And he will recover from this, albeit with a lowercase 't'. But like other high-profile figures during our time, from Bill Clinton to that punk A-Rod, he needs to move out from behind his little statements and really own up to these mistakes. Oh, and he should get demerit points for just being stupid. Text messages and calls on cell phones?? C'mon, watch an Episode of the Sopranos and you'll know not to do that!

One positive thing that has come from this saga: since it's blurred the lines between sport and celeb gossip, it's a common ground for me to talk to the girls at work about.