Five months ago, Tiger Woods was seen in the eyes of the public as simply the greatest golfer on the planet. Since that time, it seems his face has appeared on TMZ more often than on ESPN. This weekend, the butt of everyone’s jokes since November finally made his return.
After Tiger Woods’ performance at The Masters, can all of this talk about his affairs stop?
Since November, people have heard constant reports on Woods’ personal life. Whether it be another woman coming out and saying she had an affair with him, his mother in law being taken to the hospital, or photos being taken of his children while they were attending school. Enough already. Was what he did right? Absolutely not. Did his actions affect you or me? Nope.
Tiger Woods is a golfer. He’s not a teacher. He’s not a doctor. He does not have an obligation to be a role model for children and grandchildren despite what Augusta Chairman Billy Payne might think.
Woods has built up a squeaky clean image over the years. If you’ve bought into it, that’s your fault. Though he has gained a reputation that would lead you to believe he was a faithful husband and someone that kids could look up to, he didn’t force anyone to believe it. If you chose to believe that Tiger was perfect, it was not his fault when you found out he wasn’t the Messiah that you thought he was. He tried to make you believe that he was that person, and you took the bait.
The public knows way too much about athletes today and celebrities in general for that matter. If this had taken place in the 1960s, we wouldn’t even know about Tiger’s infidelities.
Muhammad Ali may be the most respected athlete in American history. He has been married four times. He cheated on his second wife with a woman named Veronica Porsche who he ended up marrying. He then divorced Porsche and married his current wife Yolanda Ali. Had you heard that before you read that last sentence? I’m sure not many heard about it back when it was going on either.
My father, like many kids who grew up in New York in the 50s and 60s idolized Mickey Mantle. He could hit the ball. He could play incredible defense in center field for the Yankees. Kids like my dad knew all this. They knew he was a 16-time All-Star. They knew he was a seven-time World Series champion. They knew he won the Triple Crown in ‘56.
What they did not know at the time was that Mantle was not the type of person they wanted to be at all. Mantle was an alcoholic. In 1995, Mantle had to have a liver transplant due to years of drinking. At a press conference, Mantle said, “don’t be like me.”
Today, with 24-hour news channels, more stories must be made. So the media is forced to find out just about everything there is to know about a celebrity’s personal life. Athletes and celebrities should not be role models for what children should grow up to be as people. If Tiger Woods keeps winning majors, all of this will be an afterthought. Just look at players who have admitted to taking steroids in baseball. A year after Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids, Yankee fans see him as a playoff hero. They’ve all but forgotten about the steroid thing. You can bet if Manny Ramirez has a big year for the Dodgers all will be forgiven.
The same can be said for Tiger.
If he wins one or two majors this year, he will go back to being loved. Old Tiger fans will come back. New ones will be made. And the endorsement deals will continue to pay his bills.
Let’s just appreciate Tiger Woods for what he is. He’s not a model for children. He is the greatest athlete on the face of the earth. The sooner we realize this, the better.
You can reach this columnist at sports@theeagleonline.com.
