And the winner is... well, take a wild guess. We can wax on about if Mr. Woods hadn't ventured out and tried to take a drive on that Friday morning in November, none of this would've happened... but given this age of the 24-hour gossip news cycle, the fact the World's Greatest Golfer may have stepped out on his marriage, oh, a few dozen times here and there every month was bound to emerge.
Now, pro athletes and infidelity go together like piles of cocaine and call girls, so this entire episode shouldn't really come as a huge surprise. But what makes it such a spectacular fall from grace -- and probably a bit unfair -- is just how perfect the aura of Tiger has been for more than a decade.
"Please forgive me...but sometimes I get very emotional...when I talk about my son.... My heart...fills with so...much...joy...when I realize...that this young man...is going to be able...to help so many people.... He will transcend
this game...and bring to the world...a humanitarianism...which has
never been known before. The world will be a better place to live
in...by virtue of his existence...and his presence.... I acknowledge
only a small part in that...in that I know that I was personally
selected by God himself...to nurture this young man...and bring him to
the point where he can make his contribution to humanity.... This is my
treasure.... Please accept it...and use it wisely.... Thank you."
When your dad talks about you like this, as Earl Woods did to Sports Illustrated back in 1996, you're either going to fail to meet these oh-so-modest expectations OR have a religion founded in your name.
Mr. Woods has taken an indefinite break from golf and lost three major sponsors since the scandal broke, which will surely cut deep into his $100-million annual take from commercial partners. This past year, (and by "year" we obviously mean eight weeks) the only way Woods could've garnered more negative press was if he had also been running a gay-porn-dog-fighting ring that enslaved Third World children to raise profits for Al Qaeda.
At least there's only one way to go in 2010, right Tiger?
