Why does Tiger matter?

Does this include NASCAR.....
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Hah

 

Tiger Woods in not just a golfer. He is an industry that transcends sports.

His market goes beyond basketball shoes and a No. 23 Cavaliers jersey.

Now, do I care about his problems? His "mirror-check" comes with his wife and family. I, as a sports fan, would love to see him back on the course. But, that's where we're going wrong on this thread. He his not about "us." He's about "them." His reach is immeasurable. That's why there are two Tours. The events he plays in, and the events he doesn't.

My wife never comes into the television room on a Sunday and asks, "How's LeBron doing?" "How's Kobe doing?" "How's Jeter doing?" "How's Furyk doing?"

His statement, that's all it was, was carried live by 13 video feeds. Sad or not, the "State of the Union" is carried live by four.

He's not just a fucking golfer. That's myopic.

 

I think the State of the Union is carried live by seven U.S. broadcast networks or cable channels/networks -- ABC, CBS, NBC, C-Span, Cable News Network, Fox News Channel and MSNBC.

 

To me, this story more than any really shows the gulf between fans and people in our industry.

We all realize that Tiger Woods is a guarded golf robot who would rather walk over hot coals than reveal a single ounce more of himself publicly than he has to. We all realize that nobody really knows much about the guy, and that his every public utterance is scripted by IMG to the max.

The public, on the other hand, the fans, they think that they do know him. That's why they're so "disappointed" by this story, to a degree that us cynics are just baffled by. They've projected so much onto him because of his golf and the few well-chosen details that are out there about him behind the scenes: Relationship with his father, married with children, Stanford man, etc., etc.

The way we're reacting to this story compared to the way, say, the typical viewer of "The View" is reacting to this story, can largely be accounted for by our extreme cynicism vs. fans' extreme naivete.

Thoughts?

 

There's also a huge gulf within the media itself. Some hack columnists might as well have been in attendance at the faux news conference hollering, "You da man!"

 

I didn't have a real problem with the press conference. I am definitely annoyed by the "Was he?" or "Wasn't he?" sincere enough columns flooding America's sports sections afterward, necessary as I realize that it is to address the story.

I feel like we do this every few months. A-Rod. McGwire. Michael Vick. I'm sure someone will be next.

 

Hey, AP. Where's the quote in this story that really backs up and expands upon the lede? I'd like to know how heckling is going to be prevented or dealt with when Woods' returns. That's an interesting angle to all of this. Who cares what a freaking caddie doesn't want to tolerate? Who is he?

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4931464

 

According to one report, there were 22 satellite trucks in the parking lot of the Sawgrass Marriott and 300 reporters in a ballroom watching on TV a guy make a staged apology one mile away. Among the news outlets there: CNN, National Public Radio, ABC, NBC, CBS, ESPN, Entertainment Tonight, TMZ, Extra, SI ... You tell me. I don't know which came first, the chicken or the egg, but they were all there. No one's making this stuff up.

 

The bottom line is that Tiger doesn't matter. If he retired tomorrow, the Tour would continue and wouldn't skip a beat. The truth is that purses were increasing dramatically before Tiger turned professional in 1996 and tournaments, revenue, TV contracts and marketing were well on the decline up to, during and currently with regard to the economic climate.

Tiger won't save that and legitimately, the Tour has been stagnant for a couple of years with little to zero growth.

Tiger needs the Tour a lot more than the Tour needs Tiger.

 

Was he worth special live coverage from all the networks? No. But while there wasn't a great deal of expectation that he would say or reveal anything, there was a curiousity there.
I would agree that Tiger is only an athlete -- or at least I would have a billion dollars ago. But he crafted an image that turned out to be completely false. He's a liar and a scum. He may yet go on to become the greatest golfer ever. He's not much of a human being.

 

I would only take issue with your characterization of him as a liar and scum. Actually, there's considerable evidence that his wife knew about this all along. If it's something that you wouldn't personally chose to do, I can appreciate that...neither would I. But it's clear his wife loved the lifestyle and she's continuing to love it...with a nice real estate purchase in her native Sweden. And she's not stupid, leaving Tiger, means loss of income for them both. If she pulls off the Tammy Wynette, don't be surprised to see Tiger carrying a Verizon bag in the near future.

Now if you want to throw his handlers under the bus, I'll help you there. And any agent that declines writers interview requests for 15 years with the phrase, "we have nothing to gain," is shit in my book. Let's see them pilot out of this one.