Tiger Woods should be embarrassed and ashamed right now. He was caught in a humiliating situation last week when he crashed his car outside of his Orlando, Fla., area home and was found unconscious by his wife Elin. Woods sustained only minor injuries but the bizarre accident created so many questions and theories -- such as a cheating Woods attempting to escape from his golf-club wielding wife and crashing -- that he felt inclined to address the accident.
That only prompted media sites such as TMZ and National Enquirer to dig further into his personal life and it took only a few days to discover a chilling voice mail message Woods delivered to another woman asking her to call with a "restricted" label to prevent his suspicious wife from checking his cell phone and calling the woman.
It cemented the rumors that Woods had been unfaithful and he released a statement on his website apologizing for his "transgressions."
This should be the end of this story. While Woods is a brilliant golfer, the best of all time and has been a model citizen during a career that began as a child prodigy and continues into his mid-30s, we should not expect Woods to be a perfect role model off the course. Woods was unfaithful and he was sloppy about it, but because he strives to be a perfect golfer and faces constant scrutiny regarding his every move on the course does not mean that Woods should be judged on a level higher than any elite professional athlete.
Are you looking for Woods to help raise your kids? Should he be vilified because he fell into a pretentious trap of flattery and passion that falls men and women? Woods proved he is no different that many people who know who have conveniently found excuses to be unfaithful and in the end, really have no reason for their "transgressions" besides greed and insecurity. Woods proved he has a lot of growing and developing to do as a man, and such evolution is difficult when you have the financial and social means to obtain nearly anything you desire, including seedy women who don't mind being part of the infidelity.
Woods owes his public nothing besides an apology but he owes his wife the promise to become a better man. He should be left alone for that journey because no one can aid his maturation.
This story is much more serious than a millionaire athlete whose unsavory lifestyle was discovered. This is a story of a man who went through the motions, succumbing to pressures to get married, have kids and put of a facade when it was not in his heart, and it has marred the lives of those who loved him the most.
He doesn't need our judgment, he needs our prayers.
Gary, this was a great post. I agree with most of it. You are right, no one is perfect. Unfortunately, the media and corporate america put Tiger on a pedestal, yet the media couldn't wait to tear him down. It's become a natural progression. We can not hold Tiger or any other celebrity to a higher standard,and no, no one should raise our kids but us. I have to say the number of women who are coming out of the woodwork is alarming. There is a huge emotional issue that needs to be dealth with. As with most of those political and celebrity infidelties, he did it because he could and he's facing the music because he got caught.
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