So. He’s the best golfer we’re likely to ever see. He’s provided some of the most exhilarating sports moments with those long-range putts followed by those signature fist pumps.
Within the past few weeks he’s crashed his car into a fire hydrant in the wee hours of the morning and supposedly cheated on his wife. I went to buy some bread for my mom at Price Chopper last night, and nearly every magazine on the shelf had a picture of him and numerous negative allegations.
Upon watching Sportscenter this morning, I found out that Gatorade is pulling their Tiger line of sports drinks. Even though the company says that the decision was made before the incidents, it seems strange that the announcement would be made only a few weeks after.
You’d think he shot someone.
Let’s sit back and look at this from a rational point of view. The guy gets into his SUV a few hours after Thanksgiving and drives it a short distance before hitting a fire hydrant. The details are fuzzy, but several of his neighbors testified they saw Woods on the ground, unconscious. They soon phoned authorities. Woods’ wife, Elin, then proceeded to bash out the back window of the SUV with one of Woods’ irons, and waited with her husband until the paramedics arrived.
It’s embarassing to say, but I have personally introduced my car to a fire hydrant before. I hit it at about 35 miles an hour, topped it and completely removed it from its base. I drive a small sedan, and I was more than fine. I hit the sucker head on too. I am a bit curious as to how Woods sustained the injuries that he allegedly did, provided he was driving a large car, hit the hydrant at low speed, and at an angle. Who knows, maybe something happened to him in the car that didn’t happen to me. He’s been vague about the details of the accident so it’s hard to tell if we’ll ever know.
So immediately, the sick excuses for reporters at TMZ and other shock-and-awe sources tied in the allegations of Woods’ infidelity into the accident. The dim lightbulb must have clicked on above their heads, screaming ‘Forget the likelihood that he was just going for a drive, possibly to pick up some food or something else, he had to have been drunk, and he had to have been going to cheat!’
Are you kidding me?
So suppose he did do it. Suppose he sits down on 60 Minutes and tearfully confesses to cheating on his bombshell wife. The tabloid world will tear him a new one, and he’ll never hear the end of it. Dumb parents will cease buying his video game, feminist protesters will flock to the outskirts of golf tournaments and everyone will see him as the villain.
But you’re forgetting something.
He’s still the best golfer in the world.
Former New York Giant Plaxico Burress carried an unlicensed gun into a nightclub FULL of people and accidentally shot himself in the leg. Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall has been accused of beating his ex-girlfriend for years. She has proof to back her case up as well. Shoot, former Chief Jared Allen got a DUI right in front of the Chick-Fil-A on 135th street two years ago. The story was all over the Kansas City Star and all the local news channels. With the exception of Burress, whose endorsement deals were revoked, the sports community has seemed to forgive and forget the issues Marshall and Allen have. They still continued to play every Sunday. Yet, Tiger Woods drives into a fire hydrant and supposedly cheats on his wife, and the world is in an uproar.
When the nation turns on the television to watch Tiger Woods, they aren’t watching him at home with his wife or seeing him drive his luxury SUV. They’re watching him play golf.
The outside world doesn’t matter during those tournaments, which is why I’m appalled to see that Gatorade is pulling his line of drinks right after these incidents. Michael Jordan didn’t get his drinks yanked after he embarassed the basketball world by demoralizing his former teammates and competitors at his induction into the Hall of Fame earlier this year. I watched that on my living room couch. I couldn’t have watched Woods cheat on his wife from there, because it’s a private matter. That’s the way it should stay.
Scarring Woods’ reputation with these pointless stories only hinders the stellar credibility of ESPN. They are well-known for being the pound-for-pound best in sports coverage, and they’re ruining that by running stories about what Woods does with his own free time. He wasn’t hurt in the crash and he can still golf. That’s where it should end for them. America looks up to him as a golfer and a hard-worker, and he still is both.
Give the accusations a rest, justice will serve itself. For now, just let him continue playing the game.
by AJ Barbosa
