Thursday, December 10, 2009

Tiger Woods

In short, who cares?

I suppose if I left it at that, this would be a waste of everyone's time. So, let's jump in a little deeper mmm'kay?

First of all, I don't really care who Tiger Woods has affairs with or if he has affairs. I'm not condoning his behavior, but I'm beyond the point of caring which athlete/celebrity/politician is having an affair. It happens. Everyday people have affairs, too, but it's not plastered on the front page and all over TV. Get over it people. Pull the wool off of your eyes.

Second, who still looks to celebrities for moral guidance? Are there athletes and entertainers and politicians worth emulating? Of course, there are some. And, at the same time, there are countless others who are simply not. But, and I've maintained this stance for some time now, these should not be the people we emulate or seek out for moral guidance.

Charles Barkley had a point even if it was delivered poorly. Teachers, parents, spiritual leaders, professionals...these should be our guides. Not a dude who can run a 4.4 or throw a baseball 95 mph. Come on meow. Don't you need to know a person before you can try to look up to them for anything more than what you can see? Sure, Lebron is an incredible basketball player, but do you or I know him at all? Do we know how his morality measures up to our own, let alone anyone else? I say no.

Do I wish I could putt like Tiger? Sure, who doesn't? But I look for moral guidance from other sources. People I actually know. People I actually know well. And people who I've seen acting ethically and morally and know right from wrong. These are people we should strive to be like. Maybe they can't putt or dunk or sing or act, but they stay out of trouble, lead ethical lives, and can sleep well at night.

Third, if everyone else is gossipping and speculating about what happened, I should be allowed to do a little of that too, right? Elin Woods, Tiger (maybe they should call him Cheetah Woods? [that is Britney's joke, so I'll give her full credit for it]) was not trying to save Tiger when she bashed in the rear windows of his Escalade. He hit a tree and a hydrant. Were the other windows not within range or more convenient to get him out of? I didn't think so. She was trying to hit the car and or him with the club.

Note she also had two clubs with her. Why would she need two different clubs? The words "felony" and "assault" come to mind, but that's just my take(shallow and pedantic, I'll add) on it.

Fourth, I know that Gatorade claims they dropped Tiger's line of Gatorade before this all came down, but does anyone buy that? Sprite did the same thing with Kobe (who I still don't like. It might be the holidays but I still don't like Kobe, T-Mac, the Dallas Cowboys or Tim Tebow, even if I haven't publicly stated that in a while.) after his incident in Colorado. Was he cleared of all wrong doing? Yes, but Kobe's image slipped there. He lost a major endorsement and lost some luster in the public's eye. I'd say he's gained some if not most of that back, but he's not spotless anymore.

The same can be said about Tiger, even though he hasn't been accused of any criminal wrongdoing. (Note I said accused before you fly off the handle, people who defend Kobe blindly no matter how much logic is used against you). Tiger's no longer has a perfect image. He's still the best golfer in the world and probably of all time. But he's not the golden boy anymore. Sure, he can parade around with his wife and kids and show that he's still a family man. And he might even get more endorsements out of it, but the cat is out of the bag.

(Editor's note: For part 4, keep in mind I don't care what Tiger does. I respect him as a golfer but have no reason to respect him as a man, even before this all happened. I don't know him. I don't know his character. I'm in no position to say he's worth emulating, and neither are any of us, because we simply don't know the man.)

17 comments:

Jordy said...

Elin was doing what any golfer would do. The remaining yardage was in between clubs so she pulled both out of the bag and decided which to use once she got a better idea of the shot.

Vik Vij said...

Jordy, you're right. But, if you're only with a 7 iron and only use a 7 iron, you think others only use and think about the 7 iron.

Jordy said...

Your statement confuses and demasculates me.

Vik Vij said...

I was saying since I'm only good with the 7 iron, and only ever use the 7 iron, I only take one club out of the bag. It didn't dawn on me to bring 2 clubs and measure the distance since I'd be using the 7 anyway.

Colin said...

Thanks for the Tiger post suggested in the comments earlier.

To paraphrase Wanda Sykes about tiger.

It looks like the black in him bought the Cadillac and the Asian in him wrecked it.

Jordy said...

Ohhhhhhhh, I don't get it. Just kidding, yes I do....7 iron.

Unknown said...

i wish i could putt like jean van de velde

Vik Vij said...

Luke, Van de Velde didn't have trouble putting. Driving, long irons, short irons and chipping were all problems for him, but he didn't blow the British Open b/c of putting.

Jordy said...

yeah, luke! stick to open heart surgery. leave the hard topics, like sports, to the pros.

Val said...

Hey Vik, this has nothing to do with Tiger, but wanted to let you know I'm back in the game - reading your blog! Yay.

Unknown said...

For someone who doesn't give two shits what Tiger Woods does with his private life you sure had a lot to say.. I frankly don't see why it should affect his laying of golf, unless the guilt sets in. Why do his sponsors care what he does? Who do they think they are anyway?

Laura Proc said...

You should emulate me, since you know me personally and can attest to my morality and ethics (I even passed the MPRE).

Vik Vij said...

Val, welcome back. Stay a while.

Lorraine, I don't know who you are so you don't know me or exactly how this blog works.

Laura, I do look up to most of my elders (and you are certainly older than me) but you are the exception that proves the rule. It's a short joke not a morality joke.

Jordy said...

Loraine is my hot gf. SO BACK OFF VIK.

Vik Vij said...

Sorry Jordy. I thought you were dating a different foul-mouthed ignorant 51 year old woman from Pennsylvania. My bad.

Colin said...

Jordy, can your GF hook me up with some homemade soap?

Jordy said...

No problem, Colin. She can also crochet a nice little sweater for you too. She's a woman of many talents....if you know what I mean.