Dan Jenkins on Tiger

Have you covered golf in the last 25 or 30 years?
I think you are way out of touch on Point 2... That hasn't been the case since the 1950s.
Once golfers started making bank, which started with Palmer, the line separating golfers and golf writers was pretty well drawn.

And none of Jenkins' boys had to deal with every jackass with a camera phone and a blog every place they went. Not to mention the TMZ, TBL and Deadspins of the Internet Celebrity gossip cesspool.

 

You can recover from something like this, but those who have dealt with something similar (or worse) successfully, dealt with it head-on and didn't go into hiding for three months.

I truly think Tiger thought he was untouchable like Jordan or Armstrong and that the media would look the other way if something ever came out. He overestimated his control over the media.

 

His control over traditional golf media was nearly absolute. His control over tabloids and celebrity websites that don't cover golf was zero.

 

And that's never, ever, going to change. It's going to blow up, so to speak.

It was good work by Jenkins. His daughter is one of the best sportswriters out there. Dan looked at it, collectively, and used valid comparisons from back in the day, and pointed out that beyond all else, Tiger was about image.

His image is shot. Forever.

Nicklaus will remain golf's majors leader. Tiger? Fuck him.

 

Jenkins is right. Woods' image will never be the same. Suppose he dropped dead tomorrow. His obituary would be written thusly:
Golfer Tiger Woods, who won 14 major golf tournaments over his legendary career, but whose image was sullied when he was alleged to have had extra-marital affairs with as many as 19 women..."

 

That's IF he dropped dead tomorrow ... Let's give him a few years. You can't rebuild an empire in a day.
Will this "scandal" be part of Woods' legacy absolutely - as much as Fatty Arbuckle's escapade and Ben Hogan's car crash. But I guarantee you it will NOT be the sum total of Woods' history.

 

But of course.

A Texan.

Next.

 

Not everything about the old days was better, but people were nicer and athletes did talk more and not as many agents were hovering.
Sometimes kids today need the railing.

 

Most elite athletes at least pretend to be polite and professional when dealing with the media. We all know horror stories about specific guys, but I was always surprised when Tiger's career started and I asked our golf writer how he was to deal with and he cringed. The first time I had to cover an event where he was playing, I remember being pretty surprised at what a dick he was. Mickelson was signing autographs and chatting with fans and Tiger was as rude and surly to the fans as he was to the media. I covered a Masters when he won, and he wasn't much better.

That's part of the reason why so many (fans and media) are enjoying this.

 

i, like the estimable mr. gee and others here, have been around long enough to see our world from both sides -- the pre-ginormous salaries that turned the athletes we cover into the individual conglomerates they are today. and i must say the relationship between a journalist and a player/team he/she covered was WAAAAAY better for the journo back in the good ol' days. 8)

the athletes are understandably happier -- financially, at least -- now, but speaking for myself, covering an nfl team in the '80s was HEAVEN compared with the obstacles/limitations that youngin's today have to overcome. and my predecessors thought the same of their generation compared to ours.

it's part of the evolution. one group gains power at the expense of another's influence. i offer no solutions, sadly. just sayin' it's not a better place for us with a pen and notebook. :'( :'( :'(

 

Bit of a thread jack, but still pertinent. I was thinking about this exact point the other day. Where will this be in Tiger's obit? Yes, if he dies tomorrow, or in the next year or so, it's right up in the lede.
But if he comes back, goes back to being the guy who wins more than everybody else. Passes Jack. Lives long and prospers, while still being mostly reclusive and standoffish. Then what?
Of course the answer is unknowable, purely speculation, but I doubt this whole episode of Tiger's life will define him to the extent that it will be in the lede of his obituary. Or the second graf. Maybe the third, though.
I don't know.
As for Jenkins' piece, great line about ice cream sundaes causing gonorrhea. But it did come off a bit like an 'In my day ....' scolding.