Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon.
- Woody Allen
Like pretty much every mortal on this planet with a functional set of eyes and ears, I've seen Tiger Woods' public apology...several times. In what has to be the most widely broadcast and viewed mea culpa in history, Woods apologized for being a miserable husband and a lousy excuse for a human being. That, from where I sit, is where it should end. It won't, of course, because everyone on the face of the planet will have an opinion as to what he needs/should/must do in order to once again be accepted as a good and decent person. And we all know what opinions are like....
As I flipped through various TV channels, I was stunned at the number of pundits, writers, and flippin' idiots who were more than willing to air their opinion for 20 pieces of silver. There was the "body language expert" who felt Woods was being disingenuous because he wasn't a quivering mass of protoplasm...or didn't furrow his brow at the appropriate time or in a convincing and believable manner. There was Stephen A. Smith, who, in his usual bombastic manner, held forth on how he felt Woods was being completely fake and disingenuous (and YOU'RE genuine??). There was the Golf Writer's Association, which boycotted Woods' remarks because no questions were allowed (who are you to demand ANYTHING?).
To all of these people, I have but one question: Who appointed you judge, jury, and executioner? Who gave you the go-ahead to traffic in the pain and shame of a man and his family? Who gave you the right to DEMAND that Woods answer your questions? Yes, Tiger Woods has betrayed his wife, his family, and, worst of all, himself. Why must you see his remarks as anything but an attempt to begin the processing of trying to heal and make amends? Why assume something sinister where there is no evidence that anything sinister exists? Why reveal yourself to be judgmental ass wipes by trafficking gleefully in the pain and suffering of a man who seemed to be making an honest effort to reach out? Or do you really find excitement and entertainment in the public demise and humiliation of another human being?
Tiger Woods owes nothing to anyone except his wife and family. The rest of us may have various and assorted entrenched interests that involve Woods, but that really shouldn't be his concern. We do not own Tiger Woods; he's not public property. He's a flesh and blood (and apparently quite fallible) human being who's having to admit that he's screwed up, that he's caused tremendous pain to those he loves...and to himself. None of us have the right to sit in judgment of a man who seemed to be making an effort- a first step, at least- to reach out and apologize. Those of us who live in glass houses....
Personally, I could care less if Woods ever plays golf again. His ability to bend a dimpled white ball to his will should be but a small part of who he is and what he stands for. What all of us should be willing to do now is to allow the man to travel the path he feels he needs to in order to become a better husband, father, person, and friend. If you cannot see your way clear to doing that, then I have a message for you, courtesy of my BFF Penn Jillette.
That is all.
