Don't be Tiger Woods

Okay, one last post before I head out of town. I simply can't help myself. I know that the media is saturated with Tiger Woods commentary and gossip, but I feel the need to contribute my two cents.

I am disgusted. Disappointed. Disheartened. I'm not a golf fan or a sports fan of any sort for that matter, however even I know who Tiger is. That baby face. So handsome, so clean cut. It is hard not to cheer for him. He is a bit of an inspiration. A young champion in a stuffy world of old white men. He is a role model. Yes he is. Does anyone else remember the "I'm Tiger Woods" ad campaign? Children wanted to be him. Parents wanted their offspring to turn out just like Tiger.

How are we feeling about that now mom and dad? While I would certainly applaud Zack or Evan becoming a billion dollar athlete, I honestly believe I would be much more rewarded if my children grew up to behave as good and decent men. While I don't know the facts it certainly appears that Tiger didn't merely make an isolated mistake of infidelity, this husband and father was cheating with multiple women. I pray that my children are never Tiger Woods.

My husband argues that we could expect nothing more of a famous professional athlete, and that in fact we should not care about their personal lives. He told me "We don't know him, he is just a man that is very talented at a sport. A great athlete, we should leave it at that". I think it is a bit more complicated. I look at this way, why does my husband worship the Twins? Is it because they are the all-time greatest baseball team in history? No. It's because they represent something he cares about, his home town. We cheer for the underdog in Olympic contests because they inspire us. Kids worship NBA stars because of their success and their cool image. Tiger also had an image, an image that along with talent led to his fame and wealth.

That image is gone. So does he deserve to continue to reap it's benefits with multi-million dollar endorsement contracts? In my opinion no. It was his job to uphold and live up to what he was selling us-Mr. Clean-Cut, All-American Family Man. If Nike believes a father of two small children who cheats on his wife with multiple partners still represents the brand's values, then who am I to argue?

I am guessing that my husband might take this argument one step further and say that the media should not be covering stories like this to begin with. We should leave private lives private. I might agree with that myself, however in reality this is not the current state of the universe, the media is ruthless and I am quite positive Mr. Woods is also well aware of this. He should have watched is behind and behaved like an upstanding human being. He had a lot on the line.