At the 2010 Masters Tournament, a lot of people were hoping serial adulterer Tiger Woods would fail -- as punishment for his off-the-golf-course sins.
Now, two years later, many folks -- and not just the folks at CBS and ESPN, which is airing the Masters in 3D* -- are rooting for Tiger to win the Masters, or at least make things interesting. And I am one of them, just as I was two years ago.
Why am I rooting for Tiger Woods to make the cut -- and make a run for the green jacket? Because I like to watch Tiger Woods play golf. Golf tournaments are just more fun to watch when Tiger is in the hunt. Just as basketball was more fun to watch when Michael Jordan played. Because it is human nature to admire those who can do things we can only dream of doing.
Did Tiger Woods screw up in his personal life? Absolutely.
Did he disappoint fans? You bet.
Does winning take care of everything**? Pretty much. At least when it comes to sports. (Though it depends on what you mean by everything.)
So does that mean that if Woods wins the Masters people should once again treat him like some kind of hero? Hell no! (Unless he starts rescuing people from burning buildings or getting adorable kittens out of trees.)
Indeed, if anything, we need to stop treating athletes -- and actors and musicians and rich people -- like gods or heroes to be blindly worshiped and just admire them for their accomplishments and skills. And realize that despite their great gift(s), they are still human -- and bound to make mistakes.
Now go get 'em, Tiger!
*3D coverage? Really? How is that going to work? You sending people 3D glasses? Cause I didn't get mine.
** That's the controversial quote that appeared on a Nike ad featuring Tiger Woods, just after Woods reclaimed his World #1 ranking in golf a couple of weeks ago.
UPDATED 6:53 P.M. ET: Tiger finished the first round two under par (-2) at 70 and is six strokes behind the leaders, Sergio Garcia and Marc Leishman. Phil Mickelson finished one under (-1) and Rory McIlroy at even par (72). (You can check out the Masters Tournament Leaderboard here.)
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5 comments:
My hubby takes the same view of it you do, and I agree 100% that we need to stop treating celebrities as demigods. But I just can't root for Woods anymore.
I won't mind if he makes the cut and contends until the last hole. I just hope a nicer person beats him at the end. Every time.
I know sports isn't about who's nicest, and it's quite likely that 90% of PGA pros are womanizing creeps who just haven't been caught yet. It should be all about the skill -- you're right.
But I still want a better man to win. It's dumb and naive, I admit. But that's just how I roll.
@Betty, Thanks for the comment. I agree with you. I would like Tiger to be competitive until the end -- and have a "nice guy" beat him. But, as you said, so many golfers are womanizing creeps. (My father was a near-scratch golfer to the day he died and played with many pro golfers and celebs and Wall Street guys -- many of whom were "womanizing creeps," which is probably why he never wanted me to meet or God forbid date any of them.) Which makes me wonder if some of these supposed nice guys are actually creeps, and we just aren't aware of it... yet. So I guess maybe I'm more comfortable with a known creep.
I’m with you, J. Golf tournaments are just more interesting when Tiger is in the hunt. And professional athletes have never been my heroes anyway.
I'm not a role model...
His job and nor did he promise us that he would have a squeaky clean family life-so he gets a comeback.
Those politician's family value guys who cheat...(my fav is the anti gay guys who then have sex/foosie in airport bathrooms) They are running on a platform and their word...it counts...they get fired and in my book stayed fired.
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