By Kyle Dawson | I’m sick of Tiger Woods. I’m really, truly sick of him. I’m tired of turning on ESPN or Golf Channel and hearing nothing but Tiger this, and Tiger that.
And that’s just Tiger Woods, the golfer.
This new character, the villainous, cheating version of Tiger Woods (I’m not corny enough to call him Cheetah) is an entirely different animal. Golf has never been a game rife with controversial characters, so now the media is jumping all over Tiger, who throughout his career has been universally beloved, one of the few Goliaths the public constantly favors over David. At least until now. And I know that I’m piling on, too, so keep it down.
Tiger’s been given the business by everyone with a voice over the last week and change. Who else could possibly bash him? Firefighters, for running over that hydrant? Environmental activists, for plowing into that tree? NBA superstars and rappers, for destroying a perfectly good Escalade?
Hell, even David Letterman is poking fun at Woods. I’d say that Letterman has no room to talk, but at least he confessed to his scandal on air in front of a national audience. Maybe he only did that because he was being targeted by an extortionist, but at least he gave us more than a vague apology on his website. I bet even Mark Sanford is glad he’s not Woods right now.
Given Tiger’s 2009 driving accuracy (64.29%, not including his most recent errant drive), you’d think he might have an escape plan. Maybe a nice, easy punch shot back into the fairway, or a more daring low, cutting 3-iron into the green. Of course, this all could have been avoided had Woods left his Scotty Cameron in his bag. Let’s hope he at least used a head cover.
Tiger’s public image has taken a huge hit. The latest Rasmussen Reports survey shows that only 38% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Woods. Two years ago, that number was 83%. And it will only continue to get worse until Tiger makes some kind of public statement outside of hiding behind an ambiguous apology on the internet. Obviously, family matters should remain private (the lone exception being “Family Matters” of the Steve Urkel variety), and one can argue that Woods owes the public nothing. But, until he speaks, his approval rating will continue to plummet, and sponsors will start dropping him, taking their fat endorsement checks with them.
I cannot speak for everyone, but I could not care less about all of the ladies who Tiger may or may not have been sleeping with. More and more women continue to come out of the woodwork, as can be expected during a celebrity sex scandal, and the gossip blogs and magazines are making sure we know exactly who each one of them is. We’re being inundated with useless information about Tiger and his personal life. And, from the looks of it, we’re not out of the Woods yet.
Good luck, Tiger. Maybe PGA Tour players need mulligans after all.
Kyle Dawson is an aspiring sports journalist from Aiken, South Carolina. Since 2006, his works have appeared in The State, The Aiken Standard, The Daily Gamecock, and on FVSports.com. He can be reached at Gyle41386@gmail.com
By Toyota Kawaski December 11, 2009 at 8:29 am
Kyle Dawson from Aiken! Aspiring sports journalist work has appeared in the Aiken Standard THAT IS BIG TIME RIGHT THERE all page and 1/2 sports section.
By HIPAA Violator December 11, 2009 at 9:05 am
So this author apparently likes to use puns. That’s about all I got out of this.
By mackone December 11, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Judging from your article you should fit right in with journalism style of the day. I am tired of sports writers, so called experts and the regular responders to sports articles. It seems we are in the era of critcal writing, thinking and not knowing when to keep quiet.
Since we have raised sports figures to the level of role model we are starting to see that there is a flaw in most people who are in the public eye. Not just sports.
Charles Barkley made it plain it was not and did not want to be a role model.
I wonder how many in the media that spew all this criticism and every hiccup these people make could live up to the kind of public scrutiny they have to day in and day out and perform and produce at their level of expertise.
I found it interesting that just the other day in looking at the worst cases of public figure infidelity that the NY Yankees had two of their players not only swap wives but families. That was about 30 years ago. It died out then but in today’s media, it would probably be headline news.
Give it a rest!
Merry Christmas
By Catherine December 11, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Kyle,
The dicta of your piece clearly indicates that you are, in fact, corny enough to call Tiger “Cheetah”. So go ahead! Own it! You’ve earned it.
By Cynical Cedric December 13, 2009 at 9:57 pm
I thoroughly enjoyed this commentary about the rediculous media storm engulfing Tiger. The constant in-your-face updates on Tiger and his “situation” (like Jay Leno’s unofficial counter of infidelity) points to the lack of restraint by other reporters/writers. This article is different, it mostly examines the fact that people are still putting Tiger under the microscope. Don’t get me wrong, Tiger completely deserves any and all embarassment he is receiving. However, I am also in the “tired of hearing the excruciating details” camp.
To change gears a bit, I am pretty amazed with the other comments here. It is fairly base that one would criticize a sports writer because the newspaper they write for only has a 1.5 page long sports section. There is one day out of the entire year that a professional sport of somekind is not played. With the volume of sports to be reported on, I think it’s actually impressive that a local writer gets printed. Anyone that actually knows how newspapers work expect such a small space to be filled with a plethora of national AP pieces and only a couple local spots.
By SnakeMD December 14, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I thought the article was decent and well done. Puns have their place and Mr. Dawson, I think, applied them appropriately. Not bad at all. Hell, if you posted the Ten Commandants I’m sure someone would criticize them. Everybody is a critic and correspondent these days.