Apparently, there are some generally thoughtful observers who have been able to wrap their arms around the "Tiger Woods as Cunning Degenerate" premise. Reputable New York Times Columnist Frank Rich recently wrote a devastating column positing that Woods, not Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke, is more deserving of Time magazine's Person of the Year recognition, since Woods' behavior symbolizes of a decade of rampant, across-the-board hypocrisy, deception and corruption within society as a whole. An upcoming Vanity Fair article fairly bristles with contempt at Woods' "betrayal" of the public trust and at what is described as Woods' and his handlers' deliberately-planned dog and pony show to concoct a false wholesome image designed to fool sponsors into throwing millions at Tiger.
Internet blogs and other on-line publications are filled with comments depicting Woods as a shallow deviant; of being little more than a sex-starved charlatan who deals with the insufferable ennui he experiences between his sordid dalliances by playing in golf tournaments. Indeed his popularity has now plummeted to near-Dick Cheney levels. In 2005, Woods had an approval rating of 87 percent, according to a recent USA Today/Gallup poll, which now gives Woods a 33 percent approval rating and 57 percent unfavorable.
Meanwhile, as the rush of corporate sponsors away from Woods shifts into high gear, the sport he has dominated for years has, as well, swiftly moved into post-Tiger mode. Sponsors of the upcoming PGA Tour, in which Woods had been scheduled to participate, have begun focusing their hype machine on the many great golfers who, in previous years, found themselves overshadowed by the Woods phenomenon and appropriately relegated to "who's coming in second place?" status. The promos are fairly blatant:
"The once unheralded is now celebrated!!!"
"The once unlikely is now destiny!!!"
"The once embattled is now triumphant!!!"
Idol worship
So what's this all about? Woods got caught cheating, as have many celebrated public figures, former president Clinton not the least among them. However, it seems that for many, the Tiger Woods saga is more than merely a man serially cheating on his wife. It represents an appalling act of betrayal of the public trust by a lovable child prodigy turned golf phenom. To offer an appropriate rationale for expressing righteous indignation over Tiger Woods, the standard line has been as follows: Tiger not only lied to Elin; he lied to us all.
Really? Long before Charles Barkley uttered the words, "I am not a role model" the great Bill Russell accurately pointed out that the only thing a professional athlete owes the public is a good performance. In other words, unless the "lie" involved cheating in his marriage and at golf, I'm at a loss as to just what it is that Woods owes anyone other than his wife Elin.
In this case I'm guessing that critics consider the lie to be Woods' unspoken claim to be a wholesome family man. I say unspoken simply because I can't seem to remember Woods ever giving speeches or things of that nature, extolling his virtue as a wholesome family man. I'm sure I've never so much as heard Woods publicly imply this without first being prompted in some way.
Yet, I have, however, on many occasions, come across magazines that promote family values splash the Woods family on their covers. Needless to say, if Woods publicly conducted himself like a thug -- lighting up strip clubs; getting shot at; or regularly being frogged into Central Booking there would be no likelihood of the Woods family ever appearing on such covers.
As it turns out, unlike many of the truly disgraced -- the Rev. Ted Haggard, John Edwards and Newt Gingrich, for example -- Woods, to my knowledge, has not been on the Family Values Soap Box. Basically he has played golf and stayed out of trouble until he got caught cheating on his wife, an act which for many, now makes Woods not just an extraordinary golfer, but a hypocritical, Enron-level con-artist as well.
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