For virtually the first time in his life, Tiger woods is finding himself on the back page of newspapers around the world; this time, it's for all the wrong reasons. After a mysterious 2:30 a.m. crash outside his Orlando mansion Thanksgiving night, a cornucopia of allegations have come out over supposed infidelities in El Tigre's marriage with Swedish model Elin Nordegren. Woods has come out through his PR team with a very vague apology - something along the lines of "...I regret these transgressions with all my heart" and ..."my family deserves better." Really Tiger? This is the best they can come up with? If I have learned one thing following American sports all my life, it's that we are a forgiving society for those who can come forward and admit our mistakes.
Think about the whole steroids scandal in baseball. Guys like Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, and Mark McGwire have beat around the bush on their steroid use - and their images are forever tainted. As a result of this, they are unlikely to ever make it into the hall of fame. On the other hand, Andy Pettite and Jason Giambi were admitted what they took, why they took it, and for the most part they have been forgiven.
I understand that everyone has a right to privacy, but the reality is that Tiger Woods is the undisputed most popular, rich, successful, and accomplished athlete of our generation. He is also the world's first one billion dollar athlete. If he thinks this is going to go away by asking the media for privacy, he's gravely mistaken. Woods needs to put his face in front of a camera, admit what he did without getting into any vivid details, and then and only then will this go away. Everyone makes mistakes - Tiger screwed up, he deserves all this; and quite frankly he deserved to get chased down his driveway by his angry wife with a pitching wedge. He deserved to wreck his own Escalade as a result of that.
You know who doesn't deserve any of it though? His wife and kids. Only Tiger has the power to come forward and put this to a rest. He needs to put his face in front of a camera, man up, and put this behind him. If he cares about the sanity of his and his family's lives, he will do it. What are you waiting for Tiger? America is ready to forgive you. Will Elin?
