Of Tigers, Men and Their Peccadilloes

The fortunes of sports celebrities, to use crass economic terminology, will rise and fall like stocks and shares. For the world's number one golfer Tiger Woods, November 27, 2009 was Black Friday. That's when news came of his accident and subsequent injuries. Woods now join such luminaries as Magic Johnson, Kobi Bryant, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali and Alex Rodriguez as athletes who have been caught with their pants down so to speak.

There is no evidence that any of those athletes were ever permanently damaged, if at all, by the revelations of their marital infidelities. Mr. Woods will join them as well. The modern day Samson, shorn of some of his locks will lose some of his luster of course but, as long as he continues playing at his singularly high standard, he will continue raking in his millions.

Still, there is something tawdry and unsavory about the whole proceedings. The unseemliness concerns not just Mr. Woods but the peripheral players: the media and the "other women" in Mr. Woods's life. Unless he had been charged with a drink-driving offense, or his wife charged with domestic violence, the events that took place in the Woods family home should have remained private. The ambulance chasers in the media seem pathetic each day the story is given coverage.

If true, the story that the woman - or one of the women- in question has been talking to gossip magazine US about her relations with Mr. Woods, draws my contempt as well. Why is it that women who enter into relations with married celebrities always so enthusiastic about spilling their guts about the affairs? Mr. Woods may have to cut off at the pass, other women who have had a Tiger in their tanks as well.

I was prepared to cut Mr. Woods some slack until reports -unconfirmed- that he was giving his wife $60 million as atonement for his "transgressions. "  (Have you ever noticed how clever PR people are in their use of words? "Transgressions" and "sin" carry religious connotations. Hence if you pray and ask forgiveness, all will be well. Right? Then, should any ungodly media person press Mr. Woods, one would imagine him saying: "Let him without sin, cast the first stone," etc.).

But back to the last point: there is a certain vulgarity about giving your wife $60 million after you have had a go at stuff. Far better to have erected in her name, an Oprah-sized high school in Haiti or some other poor country. It also brings into question the societal value of sports personalities. Mr. Woods has never come out in favor of any initiative, has never criticized any social ill and apparently has some disquiet about being called "African-American." Perhaps after this sorry incident he will pay penance to the community to which he has shown his back. What has been shown, is that Tiger Woods is human after all.