Not sure we can have enough reminders that having everything means absolutely nothing, but this has to be considered one of the most poignant examples yet. Husband to a beautiful wife, father to beautiful children, and a secure place as one of the greatest golfers of all time. Not to mention, he earned $110 million last year. One of the most loved and supported athletes in history.
And then he went and commiserated with some makeup-caked bar skanks.
Tiger.
Youuuuuu dummy.
He released a statement on his website today, and for reasons passing understanding, left it open for comments. I spent some time perusing people’s messages, and found the vast majority of them to be positive statements of hope for a better future.
‘Course, some folks just can’t help themselves:
TheBurkster wrote:
Sorry or Sorry you got caught? Sounds an awful like the latter. If you like messing around with different women then WHY did you get married. Elin should take the kids and you for everything you got!
12/2/2009 11:05:15 AM
Then, there were chunks of experienced honesty like this:
CASurvivor wrote:
Dear Tiger: I know you made a mistake, but you should be able to accept the consequences. As a woman who had my first husband cheat on me; I divorced him immediately. Your wife, even if she forgives you, like I did my first husband, will never, ever trust you again…especially at night while lying in bed. It is over and she should divorce you and find someone that will love her and be true. You should move on and learn how to be a good weekend dad. My current husband of 33 years I met soon after my divorce from my cheating husband. His wife cheated on him as well. We both knew the hurt when we met. We married a year later after meeting and have had years of a wonderful relationship. It is a blessing to be married to a man I can trust explicitly and he feels the same. He is my best friend, husband, father of our two wonderful children (with him) and lover …. that I can trust. Your wife deserves better.
12/2/2009 11:09:24 AM
One of the reasons we find ourselves transfixed on these events is because we can’t fathom it. Most folks go through life thinking that if they can just earn that first million, if they can just sell that piece of property, get that cushy job, or write that bestselling novel (ahem), that it will be a magic elixir that anchors and preserves their lives in ways that day-to-day character can’t possibly accomplish.
Well, that’s crap.
The circumstances of Tigers choices are unknown. I won’t eviscerate him here, for he’s come clean to his family and is working to make things right. Enough said. Any burning desire to know the salacious details is nothing more than middle school gossip mongering, and those who can’t keep their paws off the tabloids should be heartily ashamed of themselves.
Tiger shanked this one good. Hooked it right out of bounds, big time. And he’s off into the woods to find his ball. I wish him clarity, wisdom, and peace.
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I wish that for him too. But I think that most of all I wish that for his wife and kids. You know the saying, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”? Well, that is the case here. When you get to big for yourself you start thinking that you can do anything and be above reproach. Tiger is also a role model for millions of children. I don’t want my children to be influenced by him anymore. I agree that you have to make amends, but my faith in him and his accomplishments is shaken. He will have to earn it back just like with his family. And I hope that his family will be able to trust him again, because that is the worst thing of all.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:08 am
You hit it out of the park, Charlie. Great post. Real. True. And you hit the nail right on the head. So did CASurvivor. I am blessed to be married to a man who is also my best friend, and someone I trust implicitly and he in me. Having been married before where that relationship did not exist, I understand how important it is to have trust be the anchor in any relationship. To risk it all borders on criminal – especially in Tiger’s case.
Susan
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Charlie, you showed a little sexism in that post, which I believe deserves some exposure.
Why didn’t you wish “wisdom, clarity and peace” for the women Tiger cheated with too? Why don’t they deserve respect for their private lives and our collective hope for better choices in life? You labled those women makeup-caked skanks, but you gave Tiger a pass because he came clean to his famiy with that pathetic blog bost. He cheated multiple times with AT LEAST three women while his young wife was delivering and raising his children. Have Mr. and Mrs. Woods even been married 5 years?
The women Tiger cheated with were young, flattered by the attentions of a world-famous (and very wealthy) celebrity and they were probably delusional enough to think they were special to him. There aren’t too many young adults, male or female, who wouldn’t fall prey to the hooks of a manipulating and practiced philanderer. Do you think that was the first time Tiger used the line “You look like you’re not having too much fun here” as an opener for a quckie? His behavior is mich more egregious than theirs, because he knew his celebrity would breakdown normal barriers to adultry.
Tiger Woods is just another over-privileged athlete-cliche, but we should give him a pass because he apologized with slobber? The women he slept with are going to be remembered as his mistresses for a very long time, no matter what else they do in their lives or what better choices they make, or even if they marry and practice fidelity for 60 years. Maybe it’s fair to call them misguided idiots, but we don’t know anything about those girls and it’s cruel to call them skanks. If Tiger doesn’t deserve tabloid scrutiny, neither do they.
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:39 pm
@Erin—Agreed. Earning back the trust is the only option he has left.
@Susan—I’m delighted to hear that of those who know the value of trust. That’s fantastic. Go, Mr. Raisin Toast, go!
@Tamera—Nice try, but I never gave Tiger a free pass; you’ve fabricated declarations that I never made and never WOULD make. The thrust of my post was to emphasize the myth that “having it all” makes you happy. I think it’s all very sad, and I wish everyone involved—deadbeats and skanks alike—a better future.
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:11 pm
That’s kind of you, but you missed my point, which was the use of the term Makeup-caked, bar skanks. That’s a very different kind of moral comment than calling someone a deadbeat. Why go there?
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
1. Rachel Uchitel
Lives: Manhattan
Works: Director of VIP services at the Griffin nightclub
Fun Facts: Also had relationships with Derek Jeter and David Boreanaz. Has celeb attorney Gloria Allred on retainer. Her mother is a Florida socialite.
2. Jaimee Grubbs
Lives: Las Vegas
Works: Waitress at The Bank nightclub
Fun Fact: Yes, she was on VH1’s “Tool Academy.” Claims to have 300 “sext-messages” from Woods.
3. Kalika Moquin
Lives: Las Vegas
Works: Marketing director for The Bank nightclub
Fun Facts: Throws an annual Vegas Prom event, and hosted about just about every club in town.
So these are the women in question.
To your question (“Why go there?”), I can only say because I felt like it. I’m sorry that my terminology threw you, but let’s break it down:
“Makeup-caked”—That’s a subjective term that I reserve for women who have had plastic surgeries and look like they’ve had their eyebrows tattooed on. (See also “roided-up knuckle-dragger” if you need to balance out my apparent gender bias)
“Bar”—They all work exclusively in bars and nightclubs. Tiger definitely had a favorite territory (Las Vegas) in which to philander. Not my fault.
“Skanks”—They all knowingly engaged in an affair with a married man and father of two. No justification for that one.
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Bravo, Charlie! Well said! Now I don’t have to blog about it. Forget the sexist BS… you were focusing on his side and merely trivialized something that was outside the context of what you were talking about. That and the “young, flattered by the attentions of a world-famous (and very wealthy) celebrity and they were probably delusional enough to think they were special to him” comment is pretty much the definition of skank anyway. I am proud of you for so precisely validating such wonderfully humorous terminology nonetheless.
To the point you were making: just days ago, I was lambasted for feeling sorry for an athlete that screwed up becuase his perceptions had been so altered by fame. Had I only the precision you have with words to explain that it’s not a matter of wealth and fame that makes one happy, I’d have been fine. I have since forwarded on this post. I win… I love literary tag-team wrestling.
Triple-word score, my friend.
December 4th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
As someone who is involved in round-the-clock media skirmishes, I can verify that the media propagates rumor and innuendo faster than bacteria in a Petri dish. My heart breaks for the Tiger Woods family. May they find a way to unplug and disconnect from this madness.
December 13th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Tamera said, “Why didn’t you wish “wisdom, clarity and peace” for the women Tiger cheated with too? Why don’t they deserve respect for their private lives and our collective hope for better choices in life?”
The truth is these women don’t want anyone to respect their private lives. They WANT the media coming in and asking them all these personal questions. That’s why they’re going on talk shows and telling all. Besides the actual cheating, Tiger’s mistake was believing these women wouldn’t seek their 15 minutes of fame by coming forward the first chance they got. I also know the pain of cheating. I know the “other woman” in my case simply wanted it all to go away. She didn’t continue the pain by constantly being in our faces. These women in Tiger’s are doing the exact opposite.
February 4th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
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