To say the least, it’s been a rough fortnight for Tiger Woods.
First, during the wee hours of Black Friday, he crashed his Escalade in his own driveway, during which, at some point, his wife, Elin, smashed the back window of the car with a golf club. This, of course, sparked a media firestorm of incessant speculation over the circumstances surrounding the accident, including rumors of possible domestic strife between Woods and his wife. Then, news broke of his supposedly numerous dalliances with nearly a dozen or so women—ranging from VIP hostesses at upscale nightclubs to aspiring adult-film actresses—all across the country. Soon, major corporate sponsors began distancing themselves from the golfer.
Woods – who has been invisible since the initial accident – eventually issued a statement, acknowledging his infidelity and announcing that he would be taking an “indefinite” break from golf to sort out his personal issues.
All in all, the past two weeks could not have gone much worse for the world’s preeminent Asian-American athlete. (You are forgiven, of course, if you forgot that Tiger is predominantly Asian-American – it’s true, he is one-fourth Chinese and one-fourth Thai. He even identified himself as “Blasian” – a mix of African-American and Asian – in an otherwise crass text exchange with one of his paramours.) But don’t feel sorry for the guy (if that’s even possible), because he’ll bounce back from this stronger than ever. Here’s why:
As long as athletes keep winning, we don’t care about their moral compasses. Perhaps it doesn’t say too much about our society, but it’s true. For instance, recall when Kobe Bryant was accused of rape back in 2003. People were similarly shocked, and Bryant even lost some key sponsorships with Sprite and McDonald’s. Nearly six years later, the incident has been largely forgotten, in no small part due to the success that Kobe’s had on the court since then. Similarly, when Alex Rodriguez had a huge postseason to propel the Yankees to their most recent World Series title, most fans forgot that ARod had been embroiled in a steroids controversy just seven months earlier. As Nike figurehead Phil Knight correctly observed, this incident should be a “minor blip” in Woods’s otherwise illustrious career. In fact, most fans will have forgotten about it around the time Tiger is putting his arms through another green jacket after winning the 2011 Masters.
Golf needs Tiger more than Tiger needs golf. PGA Tour pro Geoff Ogilvy summed it up best: “Indefinite is a scary word. If Tiger Woods indefinitely doesn’t play golf, that’s not good for us.” No Tiger means less sponsorship and prize money to go around for the entire field. When Tiger was recuperating from knee surgery during the latter part of 2008 and early part of 2009, the ratings for some tournaments dipped as much as 50 percent from the previous year when Tiger had played. If Tiger’s furlough extends past the Masters in April, PGA president Jim Remy will practically beg for him to return.
If nothing else, America loves a good comeback story. According to F. Scott Fitzgerald, “There are no second acts in American lives.” Well, Fitzgerald was wrong: America may be the land of opportunity, but it’s also the land of second opportunities. After all, this is the same country in which Marion Barry can be re-elected mayor of D.C. after being caught smoking crack in a hotel room during his first term. It’s the same country that’s now embracing Michael Vick, who served 18 months in federal prison for financing a brutal dog-fighting operation out of his backyard. Heck, even Hugh Grant has enjoyed a successful box office career long after his 1995 arrest for shopping for love.
So with that in mind, keep your head up, Tiger – a nation will soon turn its lonely eyes to you.
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Hmmm… Timothy. I think you are jumping the gun a bit with your summation of the situation and of the consequencs to Tiger. His “success” in the financial meaning is not from Golf but from the spin off image as a marketable commondity of mature, devoted, focused, integrity which “brand”/image was bought into by major corporations. T’s billionaire status is from adverts not from golf tournaments. Those corps are dropping off the line up as we ‘speak’ here.
It wasn’t his golf game that they bought it was Tiger’s way of presenting himself while playing golf.
Granted T can live off his current assets for several lifetimes even if he never golfs or does another advert again. But I doubt that life would satisfy him very much. He loves competing in golf tournaments and winning.
Not even Tiger is sure he can salvage the situation and fix the mess in the personal, professional or financial arena.
Also T’s legendary on course self-containment and unflappableness (is that a word? well, it is now) in the future is uncertain in my view. He shot himself in the foot psychologically when his self deception, about getting away with it without consequences, collapsed in front of the world, not just the golf world.
I foresee real and permanent damage to this marvelous talent. What a jerk he was and no one to blame but himself. He sacrificed his future, on the altar of risky self-indulgence in the church of celebrity/fame/wealth. This realization of losses is quite apparent in his face now.
For Elin’s sake and self-respect, I hope she leaves him and takes a chunk of $$$ with her. Tiger discarded their relationship and the seemingly endless public accounts of his exploits only reinforces that reality to her every day..
Your adolescent male wishful thinking about “no consequences” vav unacceptable betrayals (not just thinking about Elin here) is way out of step with the changing dominant paradigm. It’s time for the boys to grow up. Foreseeing consequences and choosing carefully and with concern for safeguarding trusts, is part of the ‘grow up’ process. Tiger will give it a shot perhaps but I am not sure the many people who valued him (including me) can trust him now. Tiger is quite intelligent and he will notice this dynamic I bet.
A very wise person once said: “Fool me once… shame on you; fool me twice … shame on me.” Forgiveness is not the same things a being gullible; and my being gullible will not generate his trustworthiness.
Forgiveness is a process. I may at some point decide that Tiger has earned forgivenessand some measure of regard, flaws and all, but I will not chose to be gullible, even so.
I am just sayin’…
The thing that distinguishes Tiger is the fact that he is probably the only athlete in the world that transcends his sport. He is in the same class as Jordan, Ali, and Babe Ruth. No one would care this much if it were, say, Roger Federer. What also adds intrigue to the Tiger Woods story is the fact that Tiger seems to have a white fetish (allegedly). All I have to say about that is way to go, Tiger! Way to represent for us Asians! He truly is living the American dream.
awesome article !!