Whatever
Tiger Woods did that he�s confessed to, or may have done that he
hasn�t confessed to, has nothing to do with him playing golf. You
don�t know how long I�ve wanted to say that, but this week was one
last pitiful plea from the media to drill Tiger, supposedly �no
holds barred� before the largest (and most prestigious) golf tournament
in the world. And the PGA accommodated it for fear of continued
distractions during the Masters Tournament.
Tiger�s
always been a mass distraction to the PGA, but as long as it was
favorable publicity that benefited the tour, raised purses and endorsement
opportunities, it was okay. Tiger Woods is always going to be three
things; Black, great and popular. I know Tiger thinks he�s Caublasian,
but trust me on this one�that�s not working out real well for him.
It�s an issue that never goes away. The problems folks have always
had with Tiger Woods from the start of his career wasn�t that he
showed immediate greatness. It�s was that he was black and great
in sport where there was no such a thing.
They
want to say that the sport of golf is about �character� but Tiger
is far from the only one out there on �the tour� bedding private
resort cocktail waitresses, I mean� �lounge executives.� But Tiger
got caught, hurt his mouth, needed recovery time and rehab and now
he wants to go back to work. What�s the big deal? The hypocrisy
of media that somehow it all hasn�t been said is just that, hypocrisy.
Like the old song goes, �What else can I say dear, after I�ve said
I�m sorry.� Obviously, the media don�t know the song. Whether it�s
football, basketball, baseball, tennis, boxing or golf, we�ve seen
character-challenged �meanies� but that didn�t make them any less
great.
Everybody
wasn�t rooting for Tiger at the start and they aren�t rooting for
him now. But the more they rooted against him, calling him �all
media hype,� the more he won. The more people watched to root against
him, the more other folks watched to root for him. The PGA looked
up and it had a golden goose, one that people watched to see him
lose and others watched to see him win. Other just watched because
he was something golf had never seen before. Whatever the reason,
people watched Tiger Woods play. They didn�t want to know his story.
They just wanted to know why he was as good as he was.
But
suddenly now, they want to know his story - even after he has told
them. No, he didn�t tell it directly to them. He told it to two
media outlets. That wasn�t enough. He had to tell the story to every
media outlet. So this week, he went before every media outlet.
They asked him questions like �how could you have fooled so many
people for so long?� Well, where did he fool them? Certainly not
on the golf course. They count every stroke he takes, along with
a hundred million person television audience that triples every
time he plays.
So
Tiger didn�t live up to his choir boy image? He cheated on his wife
- which was very wrong, but he didn�t cheat on his sports.
Is that enough to make him to quit the sport (which is what some
really want, but not the PGA and CBS who were kissing the
feet of the Pope for the special blessing of a Tiger reappearance
to substantiate those huge advertising rates that go along with
the Masters). They wanted to know if he was returning to golf �too
soon.� Any average Joe would have to go to work after falling out
with his wife - no matter what the reason - why would Tiger be any
different? They wanted to know why his wife wasn�t coming to the
Masters this weekend. Why the hell you think she ain�t coming? How
many guys you know whose wives come out with them when they�re pissed
off. Again, why should Tiger be any different?
His
wife ain�t playin. Golf is a lone sport. No teammates. They wanted
to know if his �activities� distracted him last year (from winning
any majors). He still won more tournaments than anybody else. He
probably got bored. There was even a steroid question. Hey, why
not kick �em while he�s down. Nobody could possibly win as much
as Tiger did, knowing what we now know. But come to think about
it, he did win. A lot. And that�s a scary proposition if Tiger was
unfocused. He
says he�s now reformed, focused and spiritually centered again.
What�s the competition think about that? Something for his competition
to chew on. The point here is, nothing new came out. Just a media
exercise.
In
the meantime, there are some that care what Tiger has done and there
are those of us that could care less what Tiger did or who Tiger
does. In fact, there�s nothing else to say. But CBS is expecting
the highest ratings of all-time this weekend, to cheer Tiger or
to boo Tiger. Win or lose, the return of Tiger Woods is really what
America wants to
see.
They
just want to see him play. So, Tiger� enough talkin�. Just play.
BlackCommentator.com
Columnist,
Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad, is a national columnist, managing director
of the
Urban Issues Forum
and author of
Saving The Race: Empowerment Through Wisdom. His Website is
AnthonySamad.com. Click here
to contact Dr. Samad.
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