There have been a variety of opinions voiced about the Tiger Woods statement. They range from sports personality Stephen A. Smith ranting about how insincere and robotic Woods was to positive reviews from the entire ESPN’s 1st and 10 crew of Skip Bayless, Jalen Rose, and Pat Forde.
Tiger has never been an outwardly emotional person, so it shouldn’t be surprising that he was relatively expressionless throughout the statement. Not displaying emotion does not mean not having emotion.
As a female involved in sports and having seen the celebrity status of athletes up close, I can honestly say that the rampant infidelity of athletes, professional or amateur, does not faze me or surprise me.
The natural order of the world consists of women throwing themselves at famous men constantly with most men unable say no. Tiger Woods, I mistakenly believed, was one of the few, if any, who would say no.
When I found out that Woods was just like every other professional athlete, I truly felt like Woods had let me down. However, upon further reflection, I asked myself what right do I have to put him on a such a moral pedestal?
He is, after all, only human. Faced with the same temptations that many of us are faced with daily, except magnified 100 times, it is only natural that he acted human.
Woods addressed those thoughts specifically by saying, “I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn’t have to go far to find them.”
How many people think exactly what Tiger thought? We work hard to support our families so we are entitled to certain things in life. The answer would be most people.
The difference is that Tiger was man enough to admit it to the world. When these so-called sports analysts and writers talk about how Tiger wasn’t sincere in his statement, I only need to mention the quote above to showcase how truly honest Tiger’s statement was.
Tiger gave us incredible insight into the mentality behind his actions and admitted that he was egotistical and self-serving. Unlike his predecessors, he didn’t just apologize for his wrongdoing, he explained exactly why he believed he was correct and righteous in his actions at the time.
I am not excusing Tiger’s actions because in the end, we are all given a choice. However, he succumbed to human nature. Thrust yourself into his position of power, fame, and wealth and it can be intoxicating beyond all imagination and moral sense.
Have the entire world tell you how you are like Superman and you begin to feel and believe as if you are Superman--indestructible, untouchable, unbreakable. Consider the mindset of Tiger and then consider his actions. The path Tiger went down was inevitable.
The outrage expressed by much of the public makes me roll my eyes because it’s not as if the general public is full of moral saints. The published infidelity rates are inaccurate and difficult to ascertain because they are based on surveys instead of hard data.
However, the general consensus is that infidelity rates are rising. But are they really rising or are more people just admitting to it?
In what used to be so taboo that women were ostracized from society and forced to bear their shame in public (see Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter), adultery is now sort of accepted as commonplace in society.
Except, of course, in the case of Tiger Woods. Perhaps his classy demeanor and natural intelligence set him apart from other celebrities and made us unconsciously propel him to such a high degree of moral righteousness that when his infidelity was exposed, we were horrified.
His image depicted that of a good family man and perhaps that is why the world feels duped. But again, how many other “good” family men have you known who shattered that image with an affair or two?
The point I am trying to make is that Tiger delved in the natural order of things. He didn’t do anything differently than what 99 percent of people would have done in the same circumstances.
We have no right to declare his actions awful and shameful when, whether we’re willing to admit it or not, we would do the same thing. Tiger even said, “I don’t get to play by different rules.” Tiger, you’re not. It’s not as if you’re the only man in the entire world who cheated on his wife.
Tiger admitted he made a mistake and he now says he wants to be a different man. His sincerity is unquestioned by me. How many different times can a man apologize in one 13-minute interval?
Often times, it takes a tragedy or a slam in the face to fall back down to reality. Woods was floating on cloud nine before his car slammed into a tree and made him fall back down to earth.
These wake-up calls jumpstart the so-called “phoenix” effect, named after the mythical bird that dies in its own flames before being reborn from the ashes.
Sometimes, we need an external source to deter us from a course we don’t have the abilities to change ourselves. Only time can tell if Tiger has truly been reborn and changed or if he will revert back to his old ways.
The one thing I don’t doubt is that he really wants to try and has a desire to be the kind of husband and father he thinks he can be. He is not god and we have no right to judge him, regardless of the outcome.
Tiger has never been an outwardly emotional person, so it shouldn’t be surprising that he was relatively expressionless throughout the statement. Not displaying emotion does not mean not having emotion.
As a female involved in sports and having seen the celebrity status of athletes up close, I can honestly say that the rampant infidelity of athletes, professional or amateur, does not faze me or surprise me.
The natural order of the world consists of women throwing themselves at famous men constantly with most men unable say no. Tiger Woods, I mistakenly believed, was one of the few, if any, who would say no.
When I found out that Woods was just like every other professional athlete, I truly felt like Woods had let me down. However, upon further reflection, I asked myself what right do I have to put him on a such a moral pedestal?
He is, after all, only human. Faced with the same temptations that many of us are faced with daily, except magnified 100 times, it is only natural that he acted human.
Woods addressed those thoughts specifically by saying, “I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn’t have to go far to find them.”
How many people think exactly what Tiger thought? We work hard to support our families so we are entitled to certain things in life. The answer would be most people.
The difference is that Tiger was man enough to admit it to the world. When these so-called sports analysts and writers talk about how Tiger wasn’t sincere in his statement, I only need to mention the quote above to showcase how truly honest Tiger’s statement was.
Tiger gave us incredible insight into the mentality behind his actions and admitted that he was egotistical and self-serving. Unlike his predecessors, he didn’t just apologize for his wrongdoing, he explained exactly why he believed he was correct and righteous in his actions at the time.
I am not excusing Tiger’s actions because in the end, we are all given a choice. However, he succumbed to human nature. Thrust yourself into his position of power, fame, and wealth and it can be intoxicating beyond all imagination and moral sense.
Have the entire world tell you how you are like Superman and you begin to feel and believe as if you are Superman--indestructible, untouchable, unbreakable. Consider the mindset of Tiger and then consider his actions. The path Tiger went down was inevitable.
The outrage expressed by much of the public makes me roll my eyes because it’s not as if the general public is full of moral saints. The published infidelity rates are inaccurate and difficult to ascertain because they are based on surveys instead of hard data.
However, the general consensus is that infidelity rates are rising. But are they really rising or are more people just admitting to it?
In what used to be so taboo that women were ostracized from society and forced to bear their shame in public (see Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter), adultery is now sort of accepted as commonplace in society.
Except, of course, in the case of Tiger Woods. Perhaps his classy demeanor and natural intelligence set him apart from other celebrities and made us unconsciously propel him to such a high degree of moral righteousness that when his infidelity was exposed, we were horrified.
His image depicted that of a good family man and perhaps that is why the world feels duped. But again, how many other “good” family men have you known who shattered that image with an affair or two?
The point I am trying to make is that Tiger delved in the natural order of things. He didn’t do anything differently than what 99 percent of people would have done in the same circumstances.
We have no right to declare his actions awful and shameful when, whether we’re willing to admit it or not, we would do the same thing. Tiger even said, “I don’t get to play by different rules.” Tiger, you’re not. It’s not as if you’re the only man in the entire world who cheated on his wife.
Tiger admitted he made a mistake and he now says he wants to be a different man. His sincerity is unquestioned by me. How many different times can a man apologize in one 13-minute interval?
Often times, it takes a tragedy or a slam in the face to fall back down to reality. Woods was floating on cloud nine before his car slammed into a tree and made him fall back down to earth.
These wake-up calls jumpstart the so-called “phoenix” effect, named after the mythical bird that dies in its own flames before being reborn from the ashes.
Sometimes, we need an external source to deter us from a course we don’t have the abilities to change ourselves. Only time can tell if Tiger has truly been reborn and changed or if he will revert back to his old ways.
The one thing I don’t doubt is that he really wants to try and has a desire to be the kind of husband and father he thinks he can be. He is not god and we have no right to judge him, regardless of the outcome.
