I've been avidly watching the winter olympics this year. I was halfway into an exciting curling match between the USA and the French when they broke the action for an amazingly important news announcement. In no time Tiger Woods is staring at me and proceeds to read a prepared speech. This speech tells me he is very sorry for his affair, that it was all his fault, yada yada yada.
The thing is, this was not the initial airing of the apology. It was not the second, third, or even the fourth time I had seen it. Through it all, one thought reverberates through my brain: How in God's Green Earth does this concern me at all? Leave the poor man alone!
If you would like the full scoop on the apology itself, you can check out some analysis here. If somehow you managed to avoid seeing this apology at all, I would say you are very lucky and (for reasons I will go into shortly) you should continue not to see it. That said, the video is only a quick google search away, so while you won't find it here you also won't find it hard to find.
For those of you who may not know, Tiger Woods is not in fact a politician, a judge, a religious leader, or anything that makes vital decisions for anyone outside of his own family. He is, in fact, a golfer!
Please, try to contain your shock. I know I could hardly believe it myself. Of course, then I thought naturally as to how much your moral fiber affects the game of golf, your ability to hit the ball towards the green, and....Oh wait. It does not affect that game at all. Not even a little bit.
So, let's review. Tiger Woods is a golfer. That means he is paid to play the game of golf. He has fame and renown because he is good at that game. His responsibility as a golfer is to play golf. Period.
Do not misunderstand me. I agree that what he did was wrong. I agree it showed poor judgement, and I can see how his fans could be disappointed in him. Bottom line: If you are disappointed in him that much, don't buy his merchandise. Don't watch him on TV. Don't support products that use him as a sponsor. That is our right as consumers.
What is not our right is to drag this man through the streets, demanding apologies for actions that did not involve us in any way. This man's private life is just that: Private!
"But what about all the kids who looked up to him? Don't their parents deserve an apology?"
No.
If the best role model you can come up with for your kids is a golfer, and the moral compass of your kids is directed by the decisions this athlete makes, I would submit that that is a failing of your judgement as a parent. Believe it or not, athletes are human. You can use this as a teachable moment for your children, perhaps. You could show them that even the mighty are not perfect. What you should not do is demand an ounce of flesh when you had no skin in the game to start with.
If Tiger Woods starts using performance enhancing drugs, or illegally modifies his golf clubs, or starts using enormous fans to blow the opponents balls off course, then by all means splash his name on the big screen. Those things relate directly to his stated obligation, that being playing the game of golf.
If he chooses to drink, smoke, sleep around, whatever, what those are are poor choices. What they are not is your business, my business, or anyone else's business who is not his wife, his mistress, or his family.
Leave the poor man alone, and let me watch my curling in peace.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
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1 comment:
Curling? Seriously? LOL (Yeah, I know you're joking, but the image of you watching curling just cracked me up). And I agree. I kind of feel like that about all the celebrity gossip/political trashing, etc that passes for news on so many networks. Who really cares if Celebrity X decided to cheat on his/her spouse? Or if the great Senator from some state decided to have a mistress on the side. Honestly, who cares?
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