Tiger Woods apologizes to fans and family, reaffirms Buddhism
Tiger Woods finally broke his silence today, and I have to admit, I kind of liked how Tiger stood up for his religion, given the way right wing Christian anchorman turned televangelist Brit Hume milked his scandal last year. He also stood up for his wife, Elin, saying stories she cracked him across the face with a golf club aren’t true. In the lengthy statement, Woods denied using performance enhancing drugs, apologized to all the parents who used to hold him up as a role model for their kids, acknowledged being in therapy, and bluntly admitting he “cheated” on his wife, mainly because he felt entitled by his success to gratify his every wish. But the part that will get reaction from the right was when Tiger reaffirmed the values he was raised with by his mother, who is Thai. Well good for him. Oh, and as to when, or whether, he’ll return to golf, Tiger said he hopes to “someday.” Watch:
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Already, Tiger has managed to come off looking a whole lot better than his playthings, including mistress Rachel Uchitel, who has managed to turn nasty into a TV gig.
Can you believe!? Saints win the Super Bowl!
New Orleans Saints cornerback Tracy Porter (22) intercepts the ball for a 74-yard touchdown during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl XLIV football game against the Indianapolis Colts in Miami, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. AP/Yahoo! News
Almost no one believed they could do it (well, except President Obama and one out of four of the CBS announcers … well, and my crew here at home …) although most of America wished they would, but by god, they sure did. Sorry Brownie, New Orleans takes home the Vince Lombardi trophy this year! What a fitting end to a dream season. (And sorry, but I just can’t help but smile at how miserable the wingnuts are gonna be about this one tomorrow. Just a little added bonus …)
Meanwhile, how cute is Drew Brees’ baby!
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees celebrates with his son Baylen after winning the NFL Super Bowl XLIV football game against the Indianapolis Colts in Miami, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. The Saints won 31-17. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Congratulations to Drew Brees, Tracy Porter and the entire “Who Dat” nation. As a Broncos fan, I normally don’t root for NFC teams (except the Giants) but I have to say I enjoyed rooting for one this year. Defense and special teams were awesome (that on-side kick was the truth, and intercepting Manning? What???), as was Brother Brees (who just won MVP.) Great game, great job, and a well deserved boost for the city of New Orleans.
BTW: Ratings for the game were up 10 percent from last year, with about 100 million people watching. Wow.
VF’s Tiger issue: behind the golfer’s blank canvas facade
Tiger Woods cultivated an image that was essentially a blank canvas — a non-threatening slate on which advertisers and sponsors, video game makers and sportscasters could paint whatever they wanted. As Vanity Fair’s cover story, which includes an ironically “bad boy” pre-scandal photo of Woods by Annie Liebovitz, puts it, Tiger was:
…the bionic man in terms of personality, controlling to a fault and controlled to a fault, smiling with humility and showing those pearly white teeth in victory or defeat, sui generis in the world of pro golf, where even fellow pros and other insiders didn’t really know him, because he didn’t want anybody to know him. With Woods, everything was crafted to produce a man of nothing, with no interior—non-threatening and non-controversial.
And by the way, he’s a damned good golfer. The best of his time, “all of which made him the perfect man and pitchman for our imperfect times, a charming nonperson.” And though he doesn’t consider himself to be and African-American, ironically, that non-threatening image is precisely the route Black men usually have to go in order to be broadly popular (that or a cartoonish thug if they’re involved in hip-hop.) Think Will Smith or Chris Tucker — men about whom you don’t know much, but who rocket to the top based in part on their ability to transcend the image of the scary black guy (think Barack Obama, too, outside of the third of the country that’s terrified of him.) And while I still contend that because his transgressions mostly hurt him with women, people who are uncomfortable with interracial sex and non golf fans, once he starts winning tournaments again, Tiger will be fine (with less endorsements, to be sure, but with just as many video games and tons of money…) it’s clear that he will never again be the “nothing” man everyone can admire just for being him.
Read the whole VF article here.
Tiger, you tacky S.O.B.! (allegedly)
Jesus, poor Erin can’t turn her back for ten minutes! The ink isn’t even wet on his possible divorce, and Tiger’s already stepping out, Brangelina style (allegedly) with the other woman (well, one of the 14 other women anyway…) while the wife is out of the country with the kids!? Read more
Tiger ‘on the edge’
The New York Post reports Tiger Woods is barely coping as his bimbo eruptions increase … to 14, including a 48-year-old Florida cougar who claims to have bedded the golf phenom over the course of five years, before and during his marriage. Eek … Read more
Accenture to Tiger: you’re not good enough for us
Financial consulting firm Accenture, whose tagline: “Go on, be a Tiger,” seems totally inappropriate given the circumstances, has quit Tiger Woods (actually, since he’s got a signed contract with them, quitting means they won’t renew his contract, not that they won’t pay him what they owe.) Their statement, posted on the front page of their website, was pretty brutal, in corporate America terms:
NEW YORK; Dec. 13, 2009 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today announced that it will not continue its sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods.
For the past six years, Accenture and Tiger Woods have had a very successful sponsorship arrangement and his achievements on the golf course have been a powerful metaphor for business success in Accenture’s advertising. However, given the circumstances of the last two weeks, after careful consideration and analysis, the company has determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising. Accenture said that it wishes only the best for Tiger Woods and his family.
In other words: “ewwwww…” Read more
Splitsville?
Reports say even $80 million won't keep Elin at home.
London’s News of the World reports Elin Nordegren won’t be taking that $80 million. The paper reports that Tiger Woods’ jilted missus will play it cool over the holidays for the sake of the kids, but after New Year’s, she’s outta there. Elin, a twin, former model and daughter of a prominent political family in Sweden, unlike the nearly dozen trashy chippies Tiger made the rounds with, has reportedly already moved to her own place in Florida not far from the couple’s home, and next comes her big move, to a private island off her native Sweden with the kids. So Tiger quitting golf may have been too little too late. Read more
Tiger throws in the towel
After a seemingly endless string of bimbo eruptions, and with news of a moving truck pulling up outside his Orlando-area home, Tiger Woods has turned the time-tested advice of PR professionals everywhere upside down. Rather than doing the obvious 3-step process to scandalized sports celebrity recovery (1. public mea culpa, 2. exclusive Barbara or Oprah interview, 3. go back to your sport and win) Tiger is trying a new tactic: he’s quitting golf (for now). Read more
Pimpin’ ain’t easy: the Rachel Uchitel files
The Daily Beast posts a terrific article about the deconstruction of Tiger Woods’ carefully manicured image. … and Rachel Uchitel sells … I mean tells … a tabloid that she’s not a tramp. Well thank goodness for that! She does, however, have to contend with the rumor that in addition to being Tiger’s girlfriend, she was also his madam (in a manner of speaking…) From Deadspin:
The biggest misconception about the Tiger cheating scandal is that Rachel Uchitel and Kalika Moquin, two of the first three women named by the tabloids, were his full-time lovers. They may have been at some point (especially Rachel, some say on numerous occasions) but that was not their primary function. No, Uchitel’s main job was to provide women for Tiger during his globetrotting excursions to various tournaments, charity functions and fuck-and-run private-jet weekends with his Fortune 500 party pals that he seemed to enjoy so much. Kalika Moquin? Many Las Vegas insiders doubt that she ever slept with Tiger. But she did set him up with some sweet VIP service at The Bank or at Bare like any good hostess would: a roomful of available girls with a certain look that Tiger wanted, flown in just for the occasion. This is the world of high-end nightclub VIP treatment, where velvet ropes guard comfy, cloistered areas with leathery couches and bottles of Grey Goose, everything catered to the wishes of the much sought-after professional athlete clientele.
If that turns out to be even remotely true, then no wonder Tiger’s world is spinning out of control. Once you jilt the pimp, watch out for the hoes … Read more
You can’t buy that anymore: Gatorade drops ‘Tiger Focus’
The drink that gives you “hydration for concentration,” and that helps athletes “be as mentally tough as they are physically,” and which helps “focus your mind AND your body by providing hydration, energy,” and something called “theanine,” is no more. Gatorade has dropped Tiger Focus. What? Not enough Ambien in it to keep you going for all 10 girlfriends AND the wife? … No, not to worry, Elin and Elin’s mom. No need to call out the ambulance for a third time. The drink wasn’t dumped because of yet another bimbo eruption. It was dropped because it sucks … Read more
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