What Did Tiger Expect?
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Gary [email protected]
That's how I was this past week after the Tiger Woods story broke wide open. I just couldn't get enough of it.
I mean, I know that's bad. I know I shouldn't care about the private life of some golfer guy. But I couldn't help it. I wanted to know every gory detail.
And it's kind of weird because I never really felt that way about the lives of the rich famous. I couldn't care less whether Brad is stepping out on Angelina.
I have no idea what nonsense the likes of Paris Hilton, Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan are up to and I don't care.
I never read past the headlines when Kobe Bryant was accused of that sex stuff in Colorado.
I will say, however, that I paid attention to the OJ Simpson trial, but that was murder and from a news standpoint, it was pretty historic.
But honestly, OJ is the only celebrity case I ever recall really caring about - until now.
I've been plowing through tons of pages of blogs and Web sites trying to extract every little kernel of information I can with regard to the foibles of Tiger Woods.
And I think I know why.
I think it's because of what he does for a living.
Golf.
See, I play a little golf. I know how difficult and involved the game can be. I consider Tiger Woods to be the GOAT golfer. (That's greatest of all time.)
Sure, I think he will eclipse all the records of the greats before him. But those are just numbers.
What makes Tiger the GOAT - in my humble opinion - goes way beyond the numbers.
It's the comebacks and the miracle finishes and the record margins of victory.
It's the long putt on the 72nd hole for the win.
It's the seemingly impossible 2-iron shot from under the tree 240 yards away that has to swing 40 yards to the right over water in front of the green.
And in any tournament he enters, his opponents - whether they would admit it or not - feel like they're playing for second place.
Tiger has good days and bad days just like any other golfer, to be sure. And of course he doesn't win every time he tees it up. But he plays the game like no other golfer and he makes shots that no other golfer can make.
I am sure there is a certainly level of genetics involved here - some level of natural athletic ability - that makes Tiger a good golfer.
But to be the GOAT, it takes much, much more. It's diet, physical fitness, a study of the game, a study of the swing, a study of course management and more practice than any of the rest of us could ever imagine.
To be the GOAT takes an enormous amount of dedication, determination and self-discipline.
I think it's that last characteristic - self-discipline - that drives me to want to know everything about Tiger's troubles.
It's a vexing question.
How could someone who possesses the level of self-discipline necessary to become the world's greatest golfer - or the world's greatest anything, for that matter - be so sorely lacking in self-discipline when it comes to sex?
I don't mean to sound naive or anything, but come on.
And how could someone who has the mental acuity to become the GOAT golfer not be smart enough to know he could never carry on like that without the tabloids tracking it down?
The guy's texting and leaving voicemails. He's running off to hotels with these women.
Seriously.
He's one of the most - if not the most - recognizable people on earth. Didn't he know that walking into and out of hotels with women other than his wife - who is probably the third or fourth most recognizable person on earth - would raise eyebrows?
Aside from the abject deficit of self-control and morality involved here, how could he be so stupid?
One of the editors from US Weekly was interviewed on one of the cable channels. He was asked why his magazine decided to go public with the story.
He said the magazine's reporters had numerous tips about Tiger's escapades over the last three years, but couldn't really nail anything down.
Yeah, like, "Hey, I was in Vegas and I saw Tiger leaving this hotel with this woman who wasn't his wife. What's up with that?"
Well, the magazine heard that enough times to start thinking where there was smoke, there was probably the phenomenon of combustion manifested in light, flame and heat.[[In-content Ad]]They start digging and out comes a story about Tiger and a woman in Australia.
Then comes the early morning Escalade accident and the speculation that it was the result of a tiff between Tiger and his wife over the Australia article. (Hey, why wasn't he driving a Buick, by the way?)
Within hours of the crash there were jokes flying around the Internet:
The difference between Tiger's wedge and his Escalade?
He can back up a wedge.
The similarity between his Escalade and his tee shot?
They both wind up in the trees once in a while.
Then comes the woman with a recording of a panicked, pathetic-sounding Tiger asking her to take her name off her voicemail because his wife might call and the rest, as they say, is history.
Eventually, all the sordid details will be unveiled and the public - and I - will lose interest.
I am confident Tiger will land on his feet. I know he won't miss a step with regard to his game or his endorsements. I know that I will get to watch him play golf next season. I don't feel bad for Tiger. Any emotional turmoil he must endure, he deserves.
But I hate to see his wife and kids suffer. They don't deserve it.
I hope they can work things out. I hope he can somehow find a way to repair the damage he's done to his marriage and keep his family together. I hope he can learn and grow and, as he said on his Web site, "strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves."
I'm pretty sure he can muster up the self-discipline to pull it off - if his wife doesn't throw him out first, that is.
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That's how I was this past week after the Tiger Woods story broke wide open. I just couldn't get enough of it.
I mean, I know that's bad. I know I shouldn't care about the private life of some golfer guy. But I couldn't help it. I wanted to know every gory detail.
And it's kind of weird because I never really felt that way about the lives of the rich famous. I couldn't care less whether Brad is stepping out on Angelina.
I have no idea what nonsense the likes of Paris Hilton, Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan are up to and I don't care.
I never read past the headlines when Kobe Bryant was accused of that sex stuff in Colorado.
I will say, however, that I paid attention to the OJ Simpson trial, but that was murder and from a news standpoint, it was pretty historic.
But honestly, OJ is the only celebrity case I ever recall really caring about - until now.
I've been plowing through tons of pages of blogs and Web sites trying to extract every little kernel of information I can with regard to the foibles of Tiger Woods.
And I think I know why.
I think it's because of what he does for a living.
Golf.
See, I play a little golf. I know how difficult and involved the game can be. I consider Tiger Woods to be the GOAT golfer. (That's greatest of all time.)
Sure, I think he will eclipse all the records of the greats before him. But those are just numbers.
What makes Tiger the GOAT - in my humble opinion - goes way beyond the numbers.
It's the comebacks and the miracle finishes and the record margins of victory.
It's the long putt on the 72nd hole for the win.
It's the seemingly impossible 2-iron shot from under the tree 240 yards away that has to swing 40 yards to the right over water in front of the green.
And in any tournament he enters, his opponents - whether they would admit it or not - feel like they're playing for second place.
Tiger has good days and bad days just like any other golfer, to be sure. And of course he doesn't win every time he tees it up. But he plays the game like no other golfer and he makes shots that no other golfer can make.
I am sure there is a certainly level of genetics involved here - some level of natural athletic ability - that makes Tiger a good golfer.
But to be the GOAT, it takes much, much more. It's diet, physical fitness, a study of the game, a study of the swing, a study of course management and more practice than any of the rest of us could ever imagine.
To be the GOAT takes an enormous amount of dedication, determination and self-discipline.
I think it's that last characteristic - self-discipline - that drives me to want to know everything about Tiger's troubles.
It's a vexing question.
How could someone who possesses the level of self-discipline necessary to become the world's greatest golfer - or the world's greatest anything, for that matter - be so sorely lacking in self-discipline when it comes to sex?
I don't mean to sound naive or anything, but come on.
And how could someone who has the mental acuity to become the GOAT golfer not be smart enough to know he could never carry on like that without the tabloids tracking it down?
The guy's texting and leaving voicemails. He's running off to hotels with these women.
Seriously.
He's one of the most - if not the most - recognizable people on earth. Didn't he know that walking into and out of hotels with women other than his wife - who is probably the third or fourth most recognizable person on earth - would raise eyebrows?
Aside from the abject deficit of self-control and morality involved here, how could he be so stupid?
One of the editors from US Weekly was interviewed on one of the cable channels. He was asked why his magazine decided to go public with the story.
He said the magazine's reporters had numerous tips about Tiger's escapades over the last three years, but couldn't really nail anything down.
Yeah, like, "Hey, I was in Vegas and I saw Tiger leaving this hotel with this woman who wasn't his wife. What's up with that?"
Well, the magazine heard that enough times to start thinking where there was smoke, there was probably the phenomenon of combustion manifested in light, flame and heat.[[In-content Ad]]They start digging and out comes a story about Tiger and a woman in Australia.
Then comes the early morning Escalade accident and the speculation that it was the result of a tiff between Tiger and his wife over the Australia article. (Hey, why wasn't he driving a Buick, by the way?)
Within hours of the crash there were jokes flying around the Internet:
The difference between Tiger's wedge and his Escalade?
He can back up a wedge.
The similarity between his Escalade and his tee shot?
They both wind up in the trees once in a while.
Then comes the woman with a recording of a panicked, pathetic-sounding Tiger asking her to take her name off her voicemail because his wife might call and the rest, as they say, is history.
Eventually, all the sordid details will be unveiled and the public - and I - will lose interest.
I am confident Tiger will land on his feet. I know he won't miss a step with regard to his game or his endorsements. I know that I will get to watch him play golf next season. I don't feel bad for Tiger. Any emotional turmoil he must endure, he deserves.
But I hate to see his wife and kids suffer. They don't deserve it.
I hope they can work things out. I hope he can somehow find a way to repair the damage he's done to his marriage and keep his family together. I hope he can learn and grow and, as he said on his Web site, "strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves."
I'm pretty sure he can muster up the self-discipline to pull it off - if his wife doesn't throw him out first, that is.
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