Tiger Tiger Burning Bright, Do Not Go Gently Into that Good-Night
The number of golf tournaments Tiger Woods won isn't nearly as important as the number of women he's slept with. A sad commentary on today's media. by Raven West
(libertarian)
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Tiger Woods, a name which once was synonymous with excellence in golf, has now been thrashed by every puritanical, sanctimonious news and sports reporter who has a microphone, or internet access. While this holier than thou attitude has brought down governors, congressmen, almost a U.S. President and nearly the Catholic church, but when it comes to sports, most athletes, the public and the media, just let it ride.
There is a huge difference between hypocritical self-righteous preachers of "family values" and a guy who hits a little ball into a hole.
The guy who hits a little ball into a hole with almost super human precision, was discovered to be only an ordinary man who couldn't keep his putter in his pants. Tiger Woods never preached family values in order to win an election. Woods never took a solemn vow of chastity, then hooked up with little boys. Woods never bet on his sport, or dog fights, took steroids or murdered anyone.
Before he was married, the media didn't care that Woods enjoyed sex. The media didn't care that Woods enjoyed sex with many women. But wow did they suddenly care that he enjoyed sex with many women who were not his wife.
Tiger Woods is an athlete. He's a man who has somehow managed to excite the world's most boring sport. Even the fans are boring.
Back in the day, sports figures like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and "Broadway Joe" Namath to name only a spare few, were notorious for their wild behavior. Not one of them were forced to take an indefinite leave from their game. The list of wild and some law breaking celebrities could fill a football stadium, and the public eats it up. And the public buys their albums, and the rag-mags with their faces on every cover, make millions at the expense of individuals whose only "crime" is that they wish to excel in their chosen profession.
Not Tiger Woods. He didn't call a press conference. He didn't stand on a podium next to his wife and cry before the media. He said that his private life was no one else's business except his and his family's. Then he took his little ball and went home.
And the press, ever diligent, keep on talking. It was no longer important how many Golf tournaments Woods has won, but how many women he supposedly slept with. The numbers are mounting, the talk shows are inundated with calls for interviews of Wood's line-up of ladies. I'm almost certain there are book deals being offered with million dollar advances.
The "sharks" continually feed off the blood of this one incredible young man who could hit a ball into a hole better than anyone else....ever.
Tiger Woods and his foundation actively promote parental responsibility and involvement in the lives of children. He's used his fame and fortune to help support the Rainforest Foundation Fund
and help create the Tiger Woods Foundation and the Tiger Woods Learning Center.
But none of that matters anymore.
The evil men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones.
Tiger Woods "cheated" on his wife. His career is over.
And golf is still boring.
Tiger Woods, a name which once was synonymous with excellence in golf, has now been thrashed by every puritanical, sanctimonious news and sports reporter who has a microphone, or internet access. While this holier than thou attitude has brought down governors, congressmen, almost a U.S. President and nearly the Catholic church, but when it comes to sports, most athletes, the public and the media, just let it ride.
There is a huge difference between hypocritical self-righteous preachers of "family values" and a guy who hits a little ball into a hole.
The guy who hits a little ball into a hole with almost super human precision, was discovered to be only an ordinary man who couldn't keep his putter in his pants. Tiger Woods never preached family values in order to win an election. Woods never took a solemn vow of chastity, then hooked up with little boys. Woods never bet on his sport, or dog fights, took steroids or murdered anyone.
Before he was married, the media didn't care that Woods enjoyed sex. The media didn't care that Woods enjoyed sex with many women. But wow did they suddenly care that he enjoyed sex with many women who were not his wife.
Tiger Woods is an athlete. He's a man who has somehow managed to excite the world's most boring sport. Even the fans are boring.
Back in the day, sports figures like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and "Broadway Joe" Namath to name only a spare few, were notorious for their wild behavior. Not one of them were forced to take an indefinite leave from their game. The list of wild and some law breaking celebrities could fill a football stadium, and the public eats it up. And the public buys their albums, and the rag-mags with their faces on every cover, make millions at the expense of individuals whose only "crime" is that they wish to excel in their chosen profession.
Not Tiger Woods. He didn't call a press conference. He didn't stand on a podium next to his wife and cry before the media. He said that his private life was no one else's business except his and his family's. Then he took his little ball and went home.
And the press, ever diligent, keep on talking. It was no longer important how many Golf tournaments Woods has won, but how many women he supposedly slept with. The numbers are mounting, the talk shows are inundated with calls for interviews of Wood's line-up of ladies. I'm almost certain there are book deals being offered with million dollar advances.
The "sharks" continually feed off the blood of this one incredible young man who could hit a ball into a hole better than anyone else....ever.
Tiger Woods and his foundation actively promote parental responsibility and involvement in the lives of children. He's used his fame and fortune to help support the Rainforest Foundation Fund and formed the Tiger Woods Foundation and the Tiger Woods Learning Center.
But none of that matters anymore.
There is a famous quote by Julius Caesar which states, "The evil men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones."
Tiger Woods cheated on his wife. His career is over.
And golf is still boring.
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The views expressed
in this article are those of Raven West only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
Raven West is solely responsible for the contents
of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated
with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Posted By: Ross Williams
Date: 2009-12-22 10:57:24
Tiger's a public figure; that imbues the public with the luxury -- frequently hypocritical -- of roasting the guy over the coals "to a nut-brown discomfort" [to quote Ambrose Bierce].
All good things must come to an end, and the opportunity to use this event to craft very bad Tiger jokes is a good thing; it will run its course. Few remember, and no one cares, that Anne Heche has an alter-ego named Celestia who barges in on strangers and takes showers in their privvies. She's moved on [in many ways], and so have we.
Tiger's corporate sponsors, wary of how their razor blades will sell among the 5% of shaving Americans who equivocate spokesman behavior to corporate policy, have "redefined" their relationships. Though in truth, Gillette would be better off playing off it; there's not many men who are not thinking: "There but for the grace of not four-putting go I". They deserve marketing directed at them the same as anyone else. "The best a man can get" indeed.
And suddenly, when the bad jokes have been told and the last few snickers of thinly-veiled transference have died away, Tiger's "putter" will stop being relevant and his putter will come back out. The endorsements will follow.
We will have moved on to the bad jokes about the celebrity du jour's peccadillos.
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