Archive for December, 2009

You wouldn’t know it from the lack of media attention (rather ironic given the grotesque overplaying of many items that have surely been made up during this saga), but the announcement today that AT&T has dumped Tiger as an endorser is potentially by far the most significant news since the scandal broke over a month ago.

The reason that this development is so important is that the PGA tour announced that Tiger will NOT be the host of this year’s AT&T National on July 4th weekend.

This is shocking news because there are only two rational interpretations of this event. Either Tiger has no intention of returning to golf by July, or the PGA Tour has decided to strip Tiger of his title as a punishment of sorts.

Quite simply, no other scenario  makes sense. If he were to come back before July there is no chance he would agree to play in a tournament that would so publicly humiliate him and yet he couldn’t blow off the tournament that still benefits his foundation. Since it would seem suicidal for the PGA Tour to piss Tiger off with this type of action against his will, the most likely explanation is that Tiger has made it known that he will not be playing golf in July, which, in itself, should be MAJOR news.

It should also be noted that if he already knows that he will not be playing in July, then it seems to me that it quite possible that he will not play at all in 2010.

Regardless, it is hard to imagine how the AT&T National remains “Tiger’s Tournament” in the long run after this kind of slight, especially when the home course (Congressional Country Club) had very l;ittel interest in hosting it even before the Tiger scandal broke.

This development is is extremely significant and marks the first essentially permenant stain on Tiger’s long term legacy and viability.

Happy New Year.

Today is Tiger’s 34th birthday and it will obviously be the worst one of his life.

When I was still Pastor of the now defunct “First Church of Tiger Woods” I always feared that Tiger, like many other great talents, would die far too early. I was most concerned about the year he was 33, which has taken several important historical figures. I always assumed that if Tiger died it would be in a car accident. I just never figured that it would be his reputation which would be killed off because of a car accident while he was 33, but that is indeed what has ended up happening.

While real news surrounding the Tiger scandal has pretty much stopped for now, it is interesting to note that for the first time in memory The Golf Channel is NOT officially doing “Tiger Week” to celebrate his birthday, though they are running a lot of Tiger-related programing. Gee, I wonder why. Just one of the hundreds of things that have happened in the last month that I never thought were possible.

Meanwhile, I understand Osama bin Laden has been trying to get in touch with Tiger to get tips on how not to be found.

The more I think about it, the more certain I am that my 90% prediction that Tiger will not play in the Masters is very sound. He needs to inflict some real pain on himself for both his wife and the public to forgive him. Without at least giving up a Masters in his prime, then this “break” will be seen as just a hollow attempt to finally take some of the fire out of the story. If I had to predict when he returns I would say either the Ryder Cup or his own Chevron Challenge, one year after the downfall began. I still think a more permanent “retirement” could be in store.  

 Forgetting the marriage for a moment, from a golf and PR perspective, I think Tiger needs to take enough time off where people are publicly begging him to come back. This way the expectations for when he returns will be much lower (because of the long, unprecedented, self-imposed layoff) and it will likely make the inevitable circus surrounding his return at least somewhat manageable because the story will no longer be fresh and the tabloids will have mostly moved on by then.

Assuming Tiger takes this approach, Elin stays with him, and his golf game returns (all very big ifs) I am beginning to think that Tiger may emerge from this different, but in some ways stronger and better than ever. He will never be worth of the same sort of worship again (those the pending end of this web site) but he could still end up being, in some ways, “bigger” than he has ever been. In fact, if he were a stock, I would buy Tiger Woods right now. Since he has fallen so low his upside is much larger than his downside.

As ticked off and disappointed as I still am with Tiger, there are others in this story that also deserve to be castigated. Many of them are members of the news media who were mostly either absolutely irresponsible or completely gutless. Almost no one got it exactly right, though, to my shock, The Golf Channel, after a very slow start, actually has done a pretty good job of covering what could end up being their own funeral.

A special place in hell (if there is such a place) should be reserved for all of those black commentators who tried to make Tiger’s choice of mistresses into a race issue all so they could increase their own profile by inserting themselves into the circus. Tiger is NOT “Black.” He is more Asian than Black and almost as Caucasian as Black. He has always called himself “Cablainasian.” To think he has any obligation to take up “Black” causes is almost as absurd as blaming a man for race of woman he finds attractive. If Tiger can be criticized for anything in this particular area it should be the relative ugliness and scankiness of his mistresses, not their race.

Speaking of the media, when did TMZ and Radar Online become reputable news sources for allegedly legitimate organizations? While I am sure they have gotten some things in this story first and correct, I am equally sure that a lot of what they have reported is completely made up. For instance, TMZ reported that Tiger told a friend that he had to go get Elin a “Kobe Special” because she had gone “ghetto” on him. This was ridiculous on many levels and obviously fraudulent. Not only would Tiger never use that type of language in this situation, but no one that close to the inner circle would ever tell that to TMZ because they would be immediately excommunicated. Will TMZ ever retract such nonsense? Of course not.

I am particularly suspicious of TMZ because it seems very clear that they have some sort of arrangement (official or unofficial) with Gloria Allred to help facilitate a pay off by Tiger to her client. Some of their reports appear to have been written by Allred herself. And yet many members of the “lamestream” media still pick up their reports as if they are inherently credible.

The worst offender from the group of media who used to have actual journalistic standards has been NBC. On both the Today Show (in a live nine minute interview) and Dateline NBC they interviewed a woman who claimed to be one of Tiger’s mistresses. This act violated journalistic ethics in numerous ways.     

First, while NBC claimed on the Today Show that they did not pay for the interview, what they reported on Dateline indicates that this may only be technically accurate. Secondly, the only evidence that she ever had an affair with Tiger was a couple of innocuous photos of what she claims were the inside of his house. Thirdly, since when is it remotely “news” when a woman claims to have sex with a married sports star who has already admitted “transgressions” in his marriage and who isn’t even accused of any crimes?

The answer is clearly: never. In this case the ratings were just too good to resist. Journalism died with the 2008 Presidential election, but the Tiger Woods story has buried the casket.     

The media intensity of this story has exceeded (largely because of the emergence of the Internet) that of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal and that involved the President of the United States and numerous felonies.

Perhaps an even better analogy (one that was used in the latest SNL), is that of John Edwards who had a love child with a woman on his campaign payroll while he was running for President and his wife was dying of cancer. Even though Edwards’ “transgressions” were far worse than Tiger’s and were also first reported in National Enquirer, they were never repeated by the mainstream until his campaign was long over.

So golf is much bigger news than a Presidential election? Actually, Tiger’s story was just much sexier and didn’t involve bringing down a liberal politician. 

But John Edwards isn’t the only one who has to be looking at this madness and thinking, “Damn, I had it easy.”

Arnold Palmer, who was a notorious womanizer, Phil Mickelson, who has long had some freaky stories in his closet, Nick Faldo who once (for sure) had a girlfriend take an iron to his automobile in anger, and Greg Norman, whose much romanticized marriage with the wife of his former friend’s wife, Chris Evert, lasted only fifteen months, all have to be at least a little thankful they never reached Tiger’s level of stardom.

I am still angry at Tiger, but the level to which he is being treated differently than anyone else ever has already started to create a bit of a backlash in his direction.

Well, as I have been predicting on numerous radio shows for the past few days, Tiger Woods is “retiring” from golf. Notice I didn’t say “taking an indefinite leave of absence.” Make no mistake; this is a retirement of sorts.

 Those in the media who were delusionally holding on to the now absurd notion that Tiger could have ever come back and played on the tour in January, are now laughably claiming that by the Masters everything will be back to “normal.” Baloney. It might not be permanent, but this is not a John McCain suspends his campaign indefinitely moment. Tiger Woods is essentially retired (in the modern sports definition of the word) from golf.  This is not a “break,” this is a “break up.”  

 Why am I so sure? Let me count the ways.

 First, what is the remotely logical scenario where he comes back by March/April? For that to happen, his effective “time with the family” would be all of two months (because he would never come back without his golf game being in top shape, especially now, and there will no ability for him to keep even a semblance of game while fixing his life/marriage, especially if, as reported, he will be in Sweden). Two months would obviously not be enough time to heal the wounds in his family and it certainly wouldn’t be effective as a PR stunt (which, btw, I don’t believe this is).

 Coming back at the Masters is a total non starter from both a golf as well as a logistical perspective. You can’t possibly take over four months off, have your life turned upside down and compete at the Masters. It’s impossible. Plus, the membership at Augusta National would not appreciate the absolute circus that will surely ensue if and when Tiger ever does return to action.

 So, once he misses the Masters (which I am 90% certain he will) and sets the precedent that he has missed a major (something he didn’t do even after his father died), when would he come back?

Well, at that point all bets are off because, as imbecilic as it sounds, the longer it takes him to return, the longer it will take him to return. What I mean by that is that for him to be ready after a month layoff it might take him a week of heavy practice, two months/two weeks, three months/three weeks, etc.

 One of the many things non golfers don’t seem to understand is that there is a massive difference between practice golf and playing golf in a major tournament, especially since in this case he would be dealing with massive psychological trauma.

 This means that he can’t return at a major, or even the Players Championship in May, or else he will embarrass himself and allow the wolves to begin circling around his career.  Which tournament before the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach could possibly endure what would still be an exercise in media madness? Jack’s tournament? I doubt he would do that to Nicklaus. So now it becomes hard to see how he plays in the U.S. Open.

 The only tournament I see as a possible return for next year would be his own in D.C. in July. But one of the many potential problems there are that AT&T is the sponsor and they have already put out a statement saying they are “reevaluating” the relationship. Not only that, but the membership at Congressional Country Club wasn’t thrilled with hosting the tournament before the scandal broke.   

 If he goes into July, obviously St. Andrews would not be the place to go to reenter the golf world from either the golf or the tabloid perspective.

 Here is the bottom line. I think Tiger is being mostly sincere here. I think he is doing this honestly not having any idea when or even if he is returning. If there is a “strategy” here (other than saving his marriage, which may not even be possible at this point) it may be to take so much time off that the story eventually does die down a bit and maybe even reach the point where people are begging him to return. Once that happens, expectations and logistics would be far more manageable. In my view that won’t be until at least his own 2010 December tournament (assuming it still exists), which he just blew off.

 One of the most difficult parts of predicting any of this is that there is a great potential for the environment to change dramatically and instantly. If the marriage fails, if all his sponsors drop him, if the PGA ratings drop off the cliff and they start to lose tournaments, if his foundation tournaments collapse, all bets are off. But right now, I will be far more shocked if he plays in the 2010 Masters than if he doesn’t play at all in 2010 or even beyond.

Here are a few prominent articles from around the world on the Pastor’s decision to shut down the Church and this web site due to recent revelations of Tiger’s inappropriate behavior.

 http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jqbabxyIfltGK6F9al-eICNRA5ag

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6267041/18682894

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4708179&name=sobel_jason

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/lawrence-donegan-golf-blog/2009/dec/03/golf-tigerwoods1

http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/story.html?id=2302834

Here is one of a couple of television interviews that the Pastor has done to explain his decision:

http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/tiger-woods-off-fairway-3225663/video

Here is a Los Angeles radio feature on the Pastor’s reaction:

http://www.knx1070.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=4206967

Here is a column written by an apparent non golfer that seems to nail the situation pretty well:

http://www.startribune.com/sports/78739607.html?page=1&c=y

Here is an interesting analysis of the famous (infamous?) Sports Illustrated article which inspired the First Church. It correctly cocludes that “the machine won.”

http://deadspin.com/5422770/the-machine-won-10-preposterous-moments-from-sis-1996-tiger-woods-profile/gallery/

After several days of evaluation, I have decided to disband the First Church of Tiger Woods (as indicated by the graphics at the top of this web site) and I will not renew the TigerWoodsIsGod domain name when it expires in a couple of months. Any future commentary on this site (which may not happen at all) will be regarding Tiger’s failings in relation to his affair/accident debacle which continues to unfold almost by the hour.

Because the First Church of Tiger Woods has been in existence since late 1996 and this web site has been around since early 2000, you might think that such a decision might be difficult. In this case, it was not. Unfortunately, Tiger Woods has made it all to easy to realize that he is no longer worthy of any special admiration.   

The events of the past few days have revealed Tiger to be a serial adulterer, a blatant liar, and a selfish coward. While I am sure I will always respect his ability as a golfer, that was only a very small part of why this much misunderstood web site was created and why it became such a big part of my life. 

As I have documented in my columns below, Tiger is clearly no longer deserving of being seen as a role model or a hero and he has needlessly squandered his unique potential to be a positive force in our country and the world. While I am relatively sure that Tiger will make a comeback from this sad episode and that there will be great moments for him in the future, I personally am done with Tiger Woods and I doubt that I will even care very much about whatever else he might achieve on the golf course (for someone who once vowed to make sure he lived until he saw Tiger get to 19 major championships, I have a hard time believing I can write those words with such ease).

For the record , here are a list of Tiger’s “sins” that make it impossible for me to continue with this web site.

He has had multiple affairs with sleazy women while married to the mother of his children and he has, to this date, not told the truth about them.

He has lied about the circumstances surrounding his accident in an arrogant and insulting fashion.  

He has bailed on his own tournament and foundation just to shield himself from the media and lied about why he was doing doing so.

His silence to the police and the public has been an embarrassment to his fans and leaves us with no rational choice but to assume the very worst about what the truth really is.

In the end, this situation, like much of life is all about expectations. To whom much is given, much is expected. No one has ever been given more than Tiger and therefore our expectations for him were also unprecedented. He has failed to live up to those expectations and he has shattered a sacred trust that cannot be repaired. Therefore, Tiger Woods now has at least one less supporter. I am quite sure that I am not alone.