 | Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177 |
Once again, we see the price of worshipping the wrong kinds of heroes in our society.
Tiger Woods is simply the best golfer on the planet – or was. And because of that, we placed him high on the mountaintop and made him one of the richest men in the world.
Now he is publicly acknowledging “transgressions” that he says have harmed his marriage and family, and he's apologizing for hurting the people he cares most about.
As for the rest of us, he says, he should not have to apologize or admit his sins at a press conference. I agree. We shouldn't care that much.
But his comments set off a media-feeding frenzy, which, frankly, I find embarrassing. It’s ridiculous the way we are chasing down every detail – except that the public, by and large, demands the dirt. The more dirt, the better the public likes it. Admit it. You know it's true.
So the media is digging and the whole thing is spiraling out of control.
That’s what we do to superstars these days; we knock them off their pedestals.
A blogger for the San Francisco Chronicle says the media actually have lost track of the exact number of women now linked sexually to Tiger Woods.
Many counts are now up to six different women who I suspect have at least six different lawyers. Some are having press conferences. Photos of the women, in various stages of dress, are all over the Internet, along with their bios and ambitions. One of their moms is busy telling the world her daughter is a "good girl."
We haven’t had a sex scandal this big or juicy since Bill Clinton. The Florida Highway Patrol called a press conference just to announce they were writing a $194 ticket in Tiger’s one-car accident that set off this speculation.
Tiger is bigger than the president, affair-wise, when you think about it. Financially, at least, he has more at stake.
As leader of the free world and head of the world’s most powerful military and economy, Clinton made about $200,000, although the president’s pay was doubled to $400,000 in 2001.
Tiger, on the other hand, earned $110 million in the last year, according to Forbes magazine’s annual report on the world’s highest paid athletes. Tiger was No. 1 in the world.
Almost all of that money came from sources other than the professional tour, Forbes said. Golf earnings were about $5 million. Remember that Tiger was out last year for eight months after surgery to repair a torn knee ligament.
Much of the rest came from Pepsi, Nike, AT&T and other endorsements, meaning golf is now a side job and that these companies believe that Tiger can convince us to buy their products.
Apparently, Tiger took Nike’s “Just do it” slogan to heart.
Faced with his affair with an intern, the president lied. Tiger simply said it was none of our business, which, of course, it’s not, except that he is making so much money because his partners believe the public believes in him.
They aren't paying him for his great golf swing.
Tiger was made by the media to be something beyond a great golfer. And now the media seems intent on bringing him down.
If you want to find them, details of his prenuptial agreements with his distressed wife Elin are on the Web, too. The staid Associated Press, the chronicler of all important news, tells us she has renegotiated her prenuptial with Tiger so that she is entitled to $80 million. That’s $75 million for his transgressions – hopefully that’s all inclusive, and not a per affair charge – plus a $5 million one-time lump sum. I use the word lump advisedly in this case.
Every detail of this sordid affair is out there, somewhere, on the Web and in mainstream media.
Now that’s just great reporting.
But we've missed the real story: Turns out, Tiger was nobody special, after all; he’s just a great golfer.
Oh, and P.S., please stop sending me photo-shopped pictures and videos of Tiger and Elin. I’ve got the whole family album.
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