Tiger Woods
February 20, 2010
I am not a golfer. I have never watched a golf tournament live, or on television. Yet, Tiger Woods became a worldwide phenomenon that transcended any individual’s lack of interest in golf. I really don’t care about the state of his marriage, his past infidelities, or when he will play golf again. I did not watch Woods’ mea culpa on television, but according to media reports, Woods said, “I felt entitled,” to explain his infidelities.
Too many professional athletes think it is justified to break rules not only because they can get away with it, but also because they feel at some intuitive level that they are entitled to take what they want. This sense of entitlement is crucial to understanding why some professional athletes misbehave. “Privilege” becomes “private law.” Some of these privileged people genuinely believe that different rules apply to them.
This sense of entitlement may be the price we pay for being awed by alpha males (and, in some cases, alpha females).
The Hunger Site
February 23, 2010 at 6:37 am
Another perspective from today’s BeyondChron.org: “Why did the nation’s business came to a halt last Friday while Tiger Woods read the speech that his handlers wrote for him?
The answer is that Woods is the greatest in the primary sport played by the wealthy elite that controls major television networks and other media. Woods is their athletic hero, in a way that Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, or Roger Federer could never be.
Stories of Wood’s affairs quickly evaporated from the major media, as too many corporate interests have a stake in his success. In addition to his many corporate sponsorships and the high ratings he brings to corporate-backed golf telecasts, there is a fact about Woods that is often overlooked: total tour prize money has skyrocketed during the Woods years, increasing at a rate far beyond other sports.
So many people and corporations have a financial interest in Woods getting back out on the course that they cannot allow the media to do to their meal ticket what it did to Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Amy Winehouse and others — namely, to so besiege them with paparazzi that they no longer can undertake the work that made them a celebrity.
I did enjoy Woods’ statement that he had gone astray because of abandoning the teachings of Buddhism. That showed the folks at FOX News who had urged Woods to revive his reputation by turning to Christianity.”
February 22, 2010 at 7:49 pm
OK,
Steven T. Jones himself says that we are all attention whores and I think he’s right. C’mon Ralph, I love your copy and this is the first time you’ve talked out your kazoo. It’s like Arthur rearranging his name and, voila! he’s a female named Ruth who gives advice to ladies.
Say, you got any opinions on Bradjolina?
h.
February 22, 2010 at 6:01 pm
I hate to be in agreement with Rob Anderson about anything, but frankly this post just makes you sound like a gasbag. Who the hell cares what you think about Tiger Woods since you don’t know anything about his sport and don’t seem to have a single insight other than the obvious moralizing one. Dear Luke, your Mr. Stone is turning into a huge bore.
February 21, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Your point—sports stars sometimes act as if rules don’t apply to them—is a commonplace. But thanks for sharing.
February 21, 2010 at 12:02 pm
You either must be kidding or you missed the point. You don’t have to follow golf to know who Tiger Woods is. He’s all over the news. His mea culpa is in our faces so why are my comments any less relevant than say yours. Actually, you didn’t give your opinion. Do you have one?
February 21, 2010 at 10:51 am
You don’t know anything about golf, you’ve never seen Tiger Woods play, and you didn’t watch his televised statement. So what makes you think you have anything of interest to say about the subject?