If you do a quick perusal of our golf coverage here at MSF it will be pretty clear to you that I am much more of a Tiger Woods fan than I am a golf fan.
I always have been, and I probably always be.
I enjoy playing the game, although I do not play it all that much. And I enjoy watching the game, although I do not watch it all that much if Tiger is not playing nor a prominent story.
For me, Tiger Woods is golf, and I have followed him as much as I’ve followed any athlete over the last decade.
Part of the reason for that is because Tiger is so dominant at his sport, so fascinating to watch from an athletic perspective, so famous, so wrapped in sporting mythology, and so ubiquitous.
And part of the reason is that, like many men my age (I am 28), Tiger has always been like the high school senior that most of us probably looked up to as freshman.
- He was finishing college and joining the PGA Tour as I finished high school and looked towards college.
- He was establishing himself as the dominant force in his chosen profession as I was finishing college and searching for a chosen profession.
- He was getting married to a beautiful woman and having a family as I was finally starting to gain a solid post-collegiate footing.
- And now…
Well…now…what, exactly?
I think for many people who have watched Tiger, cheered for Tiger, and bought into the mythology of Tiger, the past week has probably seemed far more surreal than it has real.
If you would have told me at any point before last week that Tiger’s name would someday be linked to an affair, I would have scoffed and called you crazy, despite the readily accepted notion that all athletes cheat.
And maybe MSF’s good friend Robert Littal from Black Sports Online was right when he said via Twitter:
Certain athletes people “want” to believe are perfect..Tiger was one of them which is why white people are shocked..lol
Well, I am certainly “white people” and I am certainly shocked. And truth be told, after I read the alleged “sexting” text messages from Tiger, I immediately began to find every single aspect of this story distasteful whereas I had previously found every little nugget of info fascinating.
I can’t really explain the sudden change, except to say that I have always been predisposed to athlete worship. My dad was a college football coach, I grew up in locker rooms, I had prominent (mostly African-American, as my dad was a defensive secondary coach) Big Ten athletes as my baby sitters and the guys who picked me up front school, and I always considered athletes “better” somehow than the rest of us.
And even though I’ve learned over the years that, rationally, these expectations, inferences, and judgments were subjective at best and flat out wrong at worst, it’s still hard to change first impressions and predispositions.
So I’m not sure exactly how I feel about the Tiger Woods story right now. One of my favorite athletes has been tainted…but by what exactly? His athletic achievements are not being called into question. He is not being accused of drug abuse, or murder, or something as egregious as failing to support a child.
He has been, according to reports that still may or may not be true (but probably are, in my opinion), linked to numerous affairs. And while, as a man, I know that is bad and worthy or rancor, I still sit here rationally wondering a) why I really care and b) how soon we can just move past all of this.
The fact of the matter is that Tiger Woods is not my dad, my brother, or my friend. He’s not married to my mom, my sister, or my friend. He’s just a guy with marital and perhaps self-control issues, and he just happens to have an other-worldly gift to play golf.
His golfing ability is what I cheer. It’s why I even know his name. So why do I, or should I, care about the other stuff?
I don’t know. I guess I’m one of those “white people” that Robert was referring to. If my reaction to this past week has taught me anything, it’s that I did — subconsciously or otherwise –Â want Tiger to be perfect, on the course and off of it. I don’t know if it has anything to do with Tiger being a minority, but I wouldn’t rule it out as a part of the reason.
Why do I care that Tiger is alleged to have cheated away from the golf course, when my only connection to him is on the golf course? I don’t know. I just do. Someone else, someone further removed from my Tiger-worship, might be more qualified to answer the why than I am.
I do know this: I got caught up hook, line, and sinker in the marketing machine that created Tiger Woods, and I rooted for the kid, and then the man, without ever really knowing much of anything about the real Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.
And you know what? That’s precisely how it was supposed to be.
I was one of the minions, and I certainly wasn’t alone.
But I do wish that I had read the articles that I have posted below before tonight. None of them, either individually or collectively, would have caused me to stop rooting for Tiger Woods, but they would have added a much needed layer of perspective to my Tiger fandom.
You see, when Earl Woods and IMG imagined who they were selling Tiger Woods to, it was probably someone a lot like me. I think I’m probably about as middle-of-the-road America as you can get. And I bought into Tiger Woods, wholeheartedly.
And you know what? Even with what I “know” now, I’m still a buyer and still would have bought in retrospect. But I do wish I’d been a more savvy and informed — and less naive — consumer.
If this week has taught us anything, it’s that Tiger Woods is just a man. We can all decide for ourselves now if we believe him to be a good man, a bad man, or simply a flawed man, but he is, contrary to the mythology, a man.
And you know what? That’s what he should have been all along.
Here are the articles I was referring to above. Read them. I spent a decent chunk of tonight reading them and am quite glad I did.
- The Man. Amen. — Controversial 1997 Esquire piece by Charles P. Price
- Is This the End of Tiger Woods? — A reflection, posted 12/1/09, by Charles Price on his 1997 piece linked above
- The Tiger Woods Creation Myth — by Charles P. Price in March, 2009
- My Vacation From Hating Tiger Woods — by Chris Jones
- Why Tiger Woods is the Opposite of Hope — by Tom Chiarella
- In a Kind of Biblical Awe of Tiger Woods — by Scott Raab
As a post script, I will simply tell you what I would tell Tiger if given the opportunity to provide him with one piece of advice: come clean, 100%. Fess up to whatever it is will end up coming to light anyway. Do right — at least, as right as you can, all things considered — by your wife, your children, and the rest of your family.
In the process of telling the truth, I suppose that you would also be doing right by your fans.
I don’t believe that Tiger owes me anything, per se. He entertains me, I consume his entertainment, and it’s a pretty even deal. But as someone who will undoubtedly continue cheering for Tiger to get Majors #15, #16, #17, #18, and #19, I would like to see this salacious sideshow left in the past. And there is only one way for that happen:
Tiger needs to get out in front of the truth.
If recent history has taught us anything in this ever-evolving age of the media, it’s that the truth is truly the only thing that shall truly set you free (repetition purposeful and for effect). Tiger and his team missed their opportunity to get out in front of the story from the beginning and frame the narrative. All they have left now is a chance to dictate the epilogue.
If the current accusations being floated about prove true, even if they are only “proven” true in the court of public opinion, that epilogue must be written with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
There is perhaps no subset of America (other than music fans) more forgiving than sports fans. Tiger, you’d be wise to do whatever it takes to help us all accept and move past this salacious off-course nonsense and quickly as humanly possible.
Ultimately, we didn’t start cheering for you because you are, or were, a good father and husband. And though many may now question their previous level of Tiger Woods idolatry, the majority will simply be looking for a reason to accept the events and accusations of this past week and move forward so that they can resume cheering Tiger Woods, the golfer.
We’re used to forgiving athletes for far worse than what Tiger Woods is alleged to have done. Perhaps that is sad to say, but it certainly is realistic and true. Yet, we are not used to seeing an athlete of Tiger’s stature and previously omnipotent control face such an onslaught of unexpected negativity in such a short time.
Welcome to 2009-10, the age of the Internet, blogs, TMZ, and Twitter.
In the end, we started cheering for Tiger Woods because of his wizardry from tee to green. Whenever he steps onto a golf course again, most of us will continue to cheer this golfing greatness.
Right now though, Tiger Woods’ life, past and present, is like an onion, and every day is the peeling of another layer. The quicker Tiger can peel it all himself, and become the owner of the truth, the quicker we can all go back to following him for what were really interested in all along.
Without the golf, there would have been no mythology in the first place.
Now, there is simply no mythology.
So all we are left with is the golf.
And that’s fine by me, because the golf has always been mythic enough.
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* – Elin and Sam Alexis photo credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP via Golf.com
* – Tiger celebrating photo credit: Baltimore Sun
About Jerod Morris
