Sorry, I had to include this picture of Tiger because he looks blacktastic. Any who, if you all have been following my blog since my first post (and I know you have because this blog has more followers than Scientology; I am converting Tom Cruise as I type), then you are well versed in my ten commandments. Quickly: what is commandment number 5? If you guessed "honor thou mother and father", then maybe this blog is not for you (I have committed so many blasphemies on this blog that I am surprised my readers have not spontaneously combusted). The correct answer is "I will not make fun of Tiger Woods (because the poor kid has been through a lot)." Because I am a man of my word (like this guy), I will not bury Tiger because, honestly, he is boring. So what, he cheated. I do not agree with it, but it happened in December. It is time to put that horse out to pasture. I am more interested in the idea of why people are so disappointed in Tiger.
When Tiger first turned pro, he was all smiles, and with a great deal of shyness, he said, "hello world." Many people thought this was refreshing...until this commercial came out before people could get use to the fact his name is Tiger. From that point on he won majors, made lots of money and did great philander...sorry, philanthropist work. He had such a squeaky clean image, but honestly, who is Tiger Woods? I know there are a lot of celebrities we can say that about, but some of them allow their personalities to come through. For example, I may never know Allen Iverson on a personal level, but he was always an individual on the basketball court. Sure, he does not project the All-American image like Tiger, but he is still the embodiment of the American dream. From his braids to his crossover to his reckless abandonment on the hardwood, Iverson lives by his own standards and refuses to allow anyone to define him. He is one of the most popular NBA players of all time and influenced many others. Through the good and the bad, Iverson is someone fans could wrap their arms around. He had no problem flying off the handle at times (exhibit A). Tiger seemed controlled and cold. He was in firm control of his public persona. Tiger was a company man, first and foremost.
When Tiger first turned pro, he was all smiles, and with a great deal of shyness, he said, "hello world." Many people thought this was refreshing...until this commercial came out before people could get use to the fact his name is Tiger. From that point on he won majors, made lots of money and did great philander...sorry, philanthropist work. He had such a squeaky clean image, but honestly, who is Tiger Woods? I know there are a lot of celebrities we can say that about, but some of them allow their personalities to come through. For example, I may never know Allen Iverson on a personal level, but he was always an individual on the basketball court. Sure, he does not project the All-American image like Tiger, but he is still the embodiment of the American dream. From his braids to his crossover to his reckless abandonment on the hardwood, Iverson lives by his own standards and refuses to allow anyone to define him. He is one of the most popular NBA players of all time and influenced many others. Through the good and the bad, Iverson is someone fans could wrap their arms around. He had no problem flying off the handle at times (exhibit A). Tiger seemed controlled and cold. He was in firm control of his public persona. Tiger was a company man, first and foremost.
This is why people were so fascinated by Tiger's infidelity. He was the golden boy; he was the one who could never make a mistake. Many felt that with the image he projected there was no way he could get caught with his pants down, but it happened and now he is apologizing. Even this took three months to do. Tiger still showed that he had issues with control by only inviting associates and friends to his press conference. Some people may say that they only care about when Tiger is coming back to golf, but this is not an issue he can play himself out of.
So, the million dollar question is: Donte', what are you trying to say? Well Tiger, if you are reading this (you better be because I have been officially hired as your image counsultant), this is not the end: this is your rebirth. Your father helped break the color barrier in the Big Eight conference for baseball. A couple of years ago you had a chance to take a stand and talk about the seriousness of lynching when a certain golf announcer put her foot in her mouth. I know you do not like being called African American, but come on. It is part of your ethnicity. Any person with African descent knows what lynching means, yet instead you brushed off a perfect opportunity to show another side to yourself. Now you do not have a choice: whenever you come back from your self-imposed exile, something has to change. I am not saying you have to go to the same lengths that Jim Brown and Muhummad Ali did, but there has to be substance beyond the brand that is Tiger Woods. This Tiger must be more personable, more lovable, more loose and less robotic. You have more money than God so that should not be a problem. It is true that the evil a man does lives after him while the good is interned into their bones. The greatest gift anyone can give is himself. After we are dead and gone, we want people to remember us for more than our accomplishments; there needs to be something more, something tangible that people will feel. Tiger Woods should want to be remembered as a great human being, not just a great golfer. If Tiger remembers this, then he will truly be wealthy, not just rich.
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