Tiger and Personal Responsibility

I had not planned on talking about this topic, but it doesn’t seem to be going away. Tiger’s bevies of mistresses keep coming forward. They have been on all the network morning shows. The majority of these women don’t seem to be remorseful in anyway. One decided to come forward because the press was reporting that she had taken money from Tiger. She wanted to clear that piece of misinformation up. Ok, she wanted to make sure that everyone knew she didn’t take money, but did not care that she had sex with a man she knew to be married? Is it ok because you didn’t take money? But of course the media is not asking these questions. People make mistakes, we have all done it. Let the person without sin be the first to cast a stone. But to put yourself out in the public to say that you are bedding down with a married man is a different thing.



The AP has given him the athlete of the decade award. I suppose one can make an argument that his professional life and his personal life are two different things. One of the issues that I have with much of the press coverage is the “disappointment” and “outrage” that everyone seems to be having.

What he has done to his wife and his children is awful and more than likely unforgivable as far as his wife is concerned. That is really between the two of them and no one else’s business. Affairs can be worked through, but serial cheating is another animal altogether. But is this the business of the rest of us? One of the stories that you keep hearing about is how he hoodwinked the public. But did he?


I am huge sports fan. So I do pay attention to the sporting world. Has Tiger ever come out and say that he is a role model? That is an issue that comes up in the world of professional sports. Many top athletes are very troubled human beings. They happen to be good at a particular sport that has thrown them into the public eye and in many cases gives them a great deal of money at a young age. Having a nephew who competed at the college level I do know for a fact that student athletes are treated differently than the rest of the student body. While they are not paid, they get many perks that other students just don’t get. This allows them to have the attitude that they are above the rules, because in some ways, they are. They are treated as a commodity.


Charles Barkley, former NBA player, has said on many occasions that he is no role model. His belief is that it is the job of parents to provide role models for their children. I agree with him. While there is no harm in your children looking up to a star athlete, to dream of becoming the next Kobe or Tiger. It is up to us to guide them and teach them how to become good human beings. It is not the job of some sports star that they more than likely never meet.


Tiger has a foundation that gives a great deal of money to charity. He has taken his time to promote some of these various charities. But with this comes the facts that he has taken sponsorships from companies that have issues, such as Chevron, that has a history of abuses in Nigeria. He has never questioned what his sponsors do; he has just asked when the check was going to be cut. He, like every human being, has both positives and negatives about him and his history. Michael Jordan has done the exact same thing. When asked about human rights abuses in China, he will only say that the Chinese buy sneakers too.

Athletes have a history of taking the check and keeping their mouths shut. If we as a society keep looking to strangers to guide us and our children we will continue to be let down. It is up to us to give a role model for our own families. Not the Tigers, Kobes, or Jordans of the world. So maybe it is time that we let Mr. and Mrs. Woods work out their problems in private where they belong, and we get to business of raising our kids to treat their spouse much better than Tiger treated his.