Tiger busted and now it's his business, not ours

One of these years, Elin Nordegren might end up as the No. 2 money winner on the PGA Tour.

The unsurprising news that Tiger Woods has, indeed, been caught with his pants very publicly down, ratted out by a cocktail waitress who is creating this ultra-modern brand of reality TV, at least changes the questions now.

For instance, Where were you going at 2:25 a.m.?

What does it matter now? He was busted by his wife, who may or may not have taken a piece out of him before he cracked up his car. That’s now the least of his worries.

Unless there’s a divorce in the future – and sometimes there is and sometimes there isn’t – this story, which began with that breathless (and flat wrong) bulletin last week that he had been “seriously’’ hurt in a car wreck, has pretty much run out now.

Woods made an apology on his website, he has suffered the shame and humiliation of being found out twice, once by his wife and, officially, by the rest of us. Whatever he has suffered as fodder for the 24/7 news cycle surely pales in comparison to what his wife has gone through and will continue to go through.

No one will ever look at the two of them the same way again. Woods now goes back to being the best golfer in the world, one with the same failings as millions of others: He thought too much with the little head.

Finally, though, he is doing something right and that had to happen eventually. He said what he had to say, forced into it by tape-recorded revelations from his lady friend, and if he is smart, he will say no more about it. He owes his fans golf and no more and his sponsors, with no charges laid other than a traffic ticket, are free to determine whether they wish to hang in with him. (Here’s guessing most do.)

The rest of it is personal, how he makes it up to his wife and his family, or if he can. And if he can’t, well, depending on the pre-nup agreement, think of that first paragraph.

And once again the rest of us need to remind ourselves that the best athletes aren’t necessarily the best people, that the two characteristics can, and often do, run on very different tracks. Once upon a time, the first part was all we concerned ourselves with; athlete infidelity was never a news subject. If it were, there wouldn’t have been enough newsprint.

Now, it comes up more than occasionally, if the subject is “big’’ enough, like a U.S. President, or Alex Rodriguez, or now Woods. At some point, “their’’ business became everybody’s business and reputations were flushed forever.

Comments

[Bl33d Blu3]

You know... TMZ is notorious for taking things out of context based on how they look.

The phone message could be less than it appears to be. ANY wife would be upset if their husband was speaking to a former girlfriend.

Maybe he was sleeping with her, maybe he wasn't... the voicemail says neither.

Text messages can be faked... and it isn't Tiger that needs the money TMZ is paying for that trash.

Even if it is all true... It's the media that made Tiger out to be the perfect human. It shouldn't surprise ANYBODY that a rich, powerful athlete is sleeping with other women.

[jim]

Ok Dave, like you say, end of story, so we dont want to hear another word from you either, in regards to this story.

[Sal]

"He thought too much with the little head."

Awww, why'd you have to go and ruin the article with such a puerile, white trash saying.?

[Peter O'Donnell]

Whenever a story like this breaks, I find myself asking, "Where were his 'true friends' - the people who cared enough about him to challenge him to face the truth about himself?" Accountability seems to have fallen out of favour in general, but Tiger's biggest problem may be that he has nobody in his life that a) knows him well enough to know what's really going on, and b) is willing to say, "Stop being a jerk." Sadly, I suspect he's no more 'at risk' in this area than most of the rest of us. When someone fails to live up to their intentions, it's often a sign of a shared failure of the person and those around them, and it's more likely to be true of those 'famous' (or rich) enough to attract a lot of people who are anything but 'true' friends.

[Mark]

I'm just glad that unlike Tiger Woods, I am safe from the constant advances of beautiful models, hostesses and socialites by my "protective shield of mediocrity"....

[angela mular]

Maybe he was sleeping with her...maybe he was not...WHAT DO YOU NEED GRAPHIC PICTURES? Anyone with a brain and believe you me a woman can put two and two together...He is a Billionaire Pig..... with endorsements....If he is unhappy with his wife he should get a divorce and spare himself and his family the embarassment of making a fool of himself in public with his stupid mistresses (tramps)blabbing..on on on and on and on...

[Nate]

I'm not even going to read the whole thing - a waste of your time to write anything on the subject.

Halladay is being traded, Bosh and co. have serious problems with their defence, and the Leafs are having goalie troubles - and you decide to write about this...

Teenage girls buy magazines devoted to this garbage - it has no place in the sports section.

[Homer]

Its to bad that Tiger chose to remain quiet and not face the press last week. Now since the other women of his life have come forward. We now know what troubles are at Tiger camp.
If he would have had a press conference last week and just read the statement he made today on his website. We all can have moved on, instead we await for 2010 to hear from Tiger!

[Lance]

I completely agree with you in principle, however why would you devote a column to giving the public a guilt trip over how we treat this filthy-rich golf star when there are many millions of people in this world suffering much worse problems? Yes, Tiger is human and has problems like everyone else, but he is the architect of his own fate.

There are mass genocides and wars we should be worrying about, not Tiger Woods' relatively petty problems. Yes, celebrities DO deserve their privacy, however they choose the public life and everything that comes along with it -- the good and the bad.

[Cam]

Great point Dave about reminding ourselves that the best athletes are not always people we want to model ourselves after. Tiger had me fooled that he was actually a decent guy but he's a cheating, lying scum bag who just happens to be the best golfer in the world.

[John Demerse]

Right on Dave. Tigers a d?ck anyway. Better get that checked lol

[James Jack]

I personally think the whole damn thing is funny! I am certain that in time, Tiger AND his wife will find it funny too. This is not a new story or a news story. Pretty common and pretty human behaviour. What I don't understand is how Tiger thought he could get away with it, I mean look how quickly his "girlfriends" turned on him. At least Tiger has come clean with it. If his wife can forgive him, then so can we (nudge nudge wink wink say no more).

[r berg]

Tiger think he is better than what all people in Sweden think's.
Remember he refused to play in the Swedish open.Wanted $ 2 million to chow up and he wanted them to move the Open to another golf course that he liked better.Nice way of respect of his wife's home land.
What a looser.And now sleeping around whith ???????

[Abe]

I assume by this article Dave that once Tiger's 300 text messages are released you won't be looking at any of them

[Harri]

Whats so white trash about the saying "thinking with the little head"? Thats exactly what he did. And i hope it costs him HUGE!!!After that, then we can go on without hearing anymore about Woods being the "Tiger" in someone elses tank.

[Peter]

Dave you're 'Bang on". Pun intended.

[daren]

We hear of these scandals more and more. A man (or woman), rich in blessings and fortune. Then all of a sudden his or her life is destroyed from some sexual scandal and media involvement. I admit this is a horrible thing.
The media is so good at destroying the life of an individual. So why don't the media change the focus of whose life to destroy. I mean in the case of, Tiger Woods, don't you think the woman or women he was with knew exactly what they were getting into. Surely the woman (or women) knew who he was. Surely they knew he was married and had a family. So why, why, why wouldn't they leave him alone!!! I understand the roles could be reversed.
Yes, he may of being having a weak moment in his life and no he shouldn't of being out messing around. It would be like carrying a pail of gas around an open campfire!
So I suggest this, instead of focusing on destroying the life of the successful, let's put our focus on humiliating the lives of the leaches that are trying to become famous and rich or whatever drives these people to cause such destruction in the lives of the successful.
I believe that if the media would work on these "leaches" and expose these types, they would become so embarrassed they would never want to show their faces publicly and I believe anyone else thinking about pulling this kind of a stunt would have second thoughts about doing this. Just a thought!

[j.burns]

ENOUGH ALREADY ! I for one am glad that this came to light.
If only to prove that what you see is not always what one
gets.Make no doulbt about it.Tiger is the best golfer ever
and no one can dispute that fact.However the guy has this
aura about him.One that hints that his s_ _t doesn't stink
but everyone else's does.He has an arrogance about him that
all others on this planet are beneath him.It's in the way
he relates to people both in speach and body language.He
portrays this in the way he speaks and in his overall body
language.The best word I can use is Arrogance to describe
the man.Yea,so he's the best golfer ever.Do you ever see the best hockey player ever conduct himself in this manner?
Not a chance.The great one knows he comes from common stalk
and has never portrayed arrogance in any manner.Perhaps all
this negative press will bring Mr.Tiger back down to earth
so that he may be able to relate to the common man from now
on and finally drop the "I'm a God " act ?Personally,I'm
enjoying all this and it couldn't have happened to a better
goof then this guy.Let's be honest here,he couldn't find a
woman like his wife to marry him if it were not for all the
money he has and the fame that goes with being the best who
ever played the game of golf.As the saying goes "She would
not have pi _ _ _d on him,even if he were on fire " had he
not had the money & fame he has.Once a jerk always a jerk.

[Jalingo]

Em, thanks! But what does anyone expect from a young man with a lot of money when there are so many beautiful girls around? It becomes especially more difficult when the girls are half naked most of the time. We all pretend everyone is or should be a saint, especially if they are famous. Don't stories like this tell us that there is a yearning for sainthood in the society? It looks like we certainly know what is right but deny it. When the church people tell us we call them fundamentalists. But, wait a minute, some of them also do it. O Lord, save your people!

[daren]

I agree to a lot of what was said above in reference to Tiger thinking he was "God", but truth be known in your following statements, of his wife marrying him, if it were not for his money fame etc,etc. I don't know her but maybe she was the same type of woman as the ones he messed with. "Leaching" an awful destructive pass-time.
There is more to marriage than that!

[Araceli]

Tiger Woods acted inappropriately alright, but he is only accountable to his wife and to his wife alone. If Elin loves him enough, then she should forgive him and give him a second chance.People make mistakes all the time and during this time, you will know who your true friends are. Now Tiger knows who his real friends are. It is unfortunate that media continue to focus on his infidelity as if it is uncommon for rich powerful men to doing that. I hope Tiger will leave golf for good and for sure golf tournament will never be the same without Tiger.
He's still the best golfer in the world and no matter how you attack his character, he will always continue to inspire a lot of people with his success & charitable works. Fans are forgiving and he will come back stronger, a better man and a champion. I wish him & his wife all the best and may their kids be the center of their lives. They should be left alone as they start rebuilding their marriage. God Bless them ...