Bleacher Report - Tiger Woods

More Tiger Woods Mistresses? Jamie Jungers, Mindy Lawton and Cori Rist Pics

Mike McD — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:05:20 -0500

At this point, I'm starting to wonder if there are any women out there that Tiger Woods has not had sex with. Over the weekend, three - count them - three more women have come forward, bringing the total count to six so far. Things keep getting juicier and juicier and we can't seem to get enough of it. So let's flip through and find out more about these other women.

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Tiger Woods' Public Scrutiny Having Little Effect On Positive Image

Christian Karcole — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:17:06 -0500

Very rarely has Tiger Woods spoken at length about himself.

For as popular a man as he is, very little was known about his personal life before the events that took place last weekend.

Over the years, tabloids and pesky media members have refrained from shining too much light on the flaws in Woods' private life. Countless other professional athletes have had much less luck, having their public image torn to shreds by overblown news stories.

Society lives and dies with its heroes, yet is willing to transform today's legends into tomorrow's failures in the matter of minutes. The rapid advancements in technology have merely aided in the demolition of these athletes.

The speed at which news stories and rumors can reach the public has increased exponentially. Credible information can be found on nearly any topic in less than one minute in a simple Internet search.

Because of this, privacy will soon become an element of the past.

It would be difficult to count on a single hand the amount of celebrities who have not had a personal issue, no matter how minor or major, pointed out in a mass media source.

Yet, somehow, the most popular, well-liked, and wealthiest athlete on the planet found a way to keep out of the public scrutiny nearly all others like him face.

So how is it possible that someone as powerful and influential as Tiger Woods is able to lead a life without the same public scrutiny of numerous other athletes and celebrities?

He is very rarely all that personable. Not many times has Tiger Woods shared a laugh with a reporter, appeared on television, or taken part in any public event not at a golf course.

He is as brief and to-the-point as any athlete on Earth. He prefers not to talk much about his thoughts and beliefs, and is especially opposed to discussing any aspect of his personal life.

Society prefers attention-grabbers, people who can entertain but who you can also relate to. Tiger Woods is neither of these things.

In a world as pre-judgmental as today's, where a large amount athletes are disliked because of their supposed "unrelatability," Tiger finds a way to remain atop the sporting world.

He suffers from the same symptoms of the athletes forever shunned by the public, yet has been immune to the harsh public scrutiny.

It was not until the eventful night of Nov. 27, 2009 that Woods began to experience the true life of a global superstar.

The rumors were floating all around, going in every direction. By now, we have all heard the reports and stories from supposedly accountable sources.

The affairs, the disputes with his wife, the public admissions, the recordings; it has all been released to the public since the happenings of that early Friday morning.

Very little said about the situation has been in Tiger Woods' favor. Yet, somehow, the public seems to have turned a blind eye to the fact that he has committed several demeaning and improper acts.

There are those who have taken the hammer down on Tiger, but not nearly to the extent of athletes such as Alex Rodriguez, Sean Avery, Adam "Pacman" Jones, Michael Vick, and Ron Artest.

It seems as if once the PGA season begins in 2010, the amount of supporters for Tiger Woods will fail to see a dramatic change. Sure, there will be the hecklers and many will showcase their displeasure with him. But the majority will remain fans of Tiger.

In the grand scheme of things, Woods is receiving a simple slap on the hand from the public compared to others in his situation. The extreme scrutiny of the past week has done little to harm his image.

In a very recent ESPN.com poll, the question of how you would root for Tiger Woods after all that has occurred over the past week. You could select either more than you did before, about the same, or less than before.

An overwhelming majority chose about the same, and it was nearly even between less and more than before.

People today are extremely quick to turn their back on those they look up to, but have yet to do so with Tiger Woods. There is no logical explanation as to why, though.

If this were Peyton Manning, the situation would make a tad more sense. He is very relatable, has appeared all over television, and is extremely likable.

Tiger, as stated before, is none of these things.

The true judgement on the number of supporters Woods lost will be seen in the coming months. But so far, the public continues to react in a very peculiar way.

People are more intrigued by the story than they are upset with it, which is odd when you compare it to the situation of the athletes listed above.

Society adores Tiger Woods, that can be said with not a single a doubt. It will continue to do so, barring any inexcusable and unforeseen acts in the future.

The answer as to why will remain unknown for as long as the question shall be asked.

It is plausible that the public is simply unsure of how to react to such a shocking story. Or maybe it is because of the way in which the story was first reported, giving the initial thought that Tiger Woods was in serious condition.

Whichever and whatever it may be, Tiger Woods should be extremely thankful to have retained almost equal popularity as before his life was turned upside down.

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Salt in the Wound: News Around Tiger Woods' Tournament

Joe Gerrity — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:20:30 -0500

After a week from Hell that included allegations of three affairs, a car accident, and a trip to the hospital, the last thing Tiger Woods wants to hear is bad news from the golf course.

Leading the way at the Chevron World Challenge is none other than Y. E. Yang, the 37 year old South Korean best known for becoming the first person ever to beat Woods after he led going into into the final round of a major.

It would be seemingly difficult for Woods' to be any more upset about this than anything else in his previously stellar life, but Yang's presence at the top of the leaderboard may just serve as the figurative straw that breaks Tiger's back.

Yang's victory over Woods was news to the PGA Tour regulars that maybe, just maybe Tiger wasn't perfect. It served as first notice that he was in fact beatable, and that you didn't have to be Phil Mickelson or Ernie Els to do it.

Had it not been for Tiger's recent public debacle, it might have gone unnoticed; unremembered. If not for the car accident it's possible, nay probable, that Tiger would have gone into California and come home with a title. He had after all won the tournament, referred to as his, three of the previous five years.

So why should we take special notice of Yang's lead in the tournament? Because now golfers around tour might put two and two together. He can be beaten on and off the course.

His decision making is not only imperfect, but downright foolish at times.

In a game that is commonly referred to as 90 percent mental, you have to think that the guys on tour will breathe a little easier while walking down 18 with Tiger, knowing that he's not perfect either.

In other news around The Chevron World Challenge:

Graeme McDowell, an Irishmen without a career PGA Tour win, shot six under-par Saturday, and holds a share of the lead with Yang. He wasn't even supposed to play, but happened to be in LA for a connecting flight and was asked to stick around.
Seven players are separated by three strokes or less at the top of the leaderboard
Woods' presence is clearly being missed. Just under 7,000 fans attended the first day of the tournament as opposed to 12,000 when he last played in 2007.
Padraig Harrington is only a stroke back, and is searching for his first win of the 2009 season.

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Is Tiger Woods' Personal Life Public Domain?

Cliff Eastham — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:00:57 -0500

Right from the start, I want to admit that I am not a writer of professional golf. I am not a writer of celebrity mishaps, blunders, or other scandals.

I usually write about boxing, baseball, or sports in general. But when a chance to join the thousands of blog writers everywhere, I must say I am intrigued by the “need to know” attitude of celebrity fans.

Tiger woods is arguably one of the most recognizable icons in the world. Not only is he the best golfer in history, the wealthiest athlete in history, he is probably the easiest to fall prey to a financial shake down. Writing checks to his wife in the seven-figure range, paying Gloria Allred’s client a million bucks or more, and editing his pre-nuptial agreement make him look like the biggest fool in the universe.

He now becomes living proof of the axiom, “a fool and his money are soon parted.”

Woods has become the object of late night TV humor, water cooler fodder, and hours of television coverage.

What do we care? Should it matter to us? Should we feel betrayed, scorned or hurt?

The man had extra-marital affairs, I guess that makes him human. Not everyone has affairs, not everyone runs over fire hydrants, not everyone has their Cadillac used as a driving range for a three iron. And let’s not even mention the fact that he was injured enough not to participate in his own golf tournament.

When will all the big-time money spenders, egomaniacs, and most recognizable people on the planet, realize they can’t jump into an affair and think they won’t be found out. Please.

Having said all that, do we still think we have the right to know all this? I think not.

A golfer is a golfer. A millionaire is a millionaire, and a cheat is a cheat. Golfers do it, baseball players do it, TV evangelists do it, and politicians do it. What goes on between them and others is none of our business. NONE. Sorry I didn’t mean to yell, but when will we learn?

We cannot put faith in any man, in any walk of life, in any level of culture, because as certain as we do, we will be left holding.

While watching one of the many TV shows covering his peccadilloes, I saw one of the interviewees saying that he believed it is our right as fans to know these things. I find that disingenuous and the pinnacle of absurdity. When did someone’s personal life become our business? If it concerns the president or another elected official, I believe we deserve the apology. Not from sports heroes, however.

A couple questions come to my mind concerning all these events. Why was his wife beating out the back window with a golf club? She said to help him get out; did both the front doors become ruined during the accident? Why were marks on his face? The car obviously wasn’t even going fast enough to engage the airbags.

A neighbor said he was at the wheel snoring. What is up with that? How could you sleep through a leap-frog of a fire hydrant, someone beating on your vehicle with a three iron, and sustained cuts from the alleged accident?

Who else but a celebrity of Tiger’s stature would be able to postpone conversations with John Law for several days? I know I couldn’t. I would be hauled off to jail, without the privilege of 72 hours to craft a believable (?) story.

When asked by the cops how many times she hit the car, she responded, “I don’t know six or seven, go ahead and put me down for a six.” Just kidding of course. If Leno and Letterman can do it, why can’t I?

Please visit my site to see this and many other sports articles.

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Tiger Woods: A Recap Of The Worst Week Of His Life

Michael Fitzpatrick — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:50:15 -0500

Over the past week, Tiger Woods’ worst nightmare has played out right before his eyes; and he has no one to blame but himself and his numerous “transgressions”.

This intensely private, some would even say reclusive, man has spent the better part of the last 13 years creating an air-tight cocoon to insulate him from the outside world.

Until last Friday, Woods’ cocoon was working to perfection. No one knew anything about where this guy went or what he did when he was not out pumping his fists out on the golf course.

Here is a timeline of the worst week of Tiger Woods’ life played out.

Friday November 27th

Aside from his “transgressions”, the cause of this entire situation spinning out of control can be traced back to one single word: “serious”.

On Friday afternoon, the world became captivated by the Tiger Woods story because it was first reported that Woods was involved in a “serious” car accident at 2:30am and was taken to the hospital in “serious condition”.

Anytime we hear the words “serious” and “car accident” two thoughts immediately come to mind: bad injuries or even death.

So, when the world’s most famous and recognizable athlete was reported to be in “serious condition”, word began to spread quickly and most of the general public spent the next few hours looking for an update on his condition.

As this story began to spread it's tentacles to every corner of the world, we heard from the Woods camp for the first time through a message released on www.tigerwoods.com.

The message stated that Woods was involved in a minor car accident outside his Windermere, Florida home and was taken to the hospital where he was treated for minor injuries and released a short time later.

Friday evening, another turning point in this story became public – Police stated that Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, used a golf club to smash out the back windows of Woods’ SUV in order to free her husband from the vehicle.

When the police came to Woods’ home to speak with him about the accident, they were turned away by his wife who told them that he was sleeping.

Saturday November 28th

The gossip wheel began turning.

A call from Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, was patched through to Florida State troopers who were already on their way to Woods’ home to speak with him about the accident.

Steinberg told them that Woods’ would not be available to speak with the police for the second straight day.

Where was Woods going at 2:30am on Thanksgiving night?

Why would his wife smash out all of the back windows in order to free her husband who was sitting in the driver’s eat?

Was this incident spurred on by a domestic dispute that may have been taking place as a result of a National Inquirer article claiming that Woods had cheated on his wife?

Why won’t he speak with police about a minor fender-bender?

The media – mainstream and tabloid alike – began setting up camp outside of the Isleworth Estate…and they didn’t just show up with make-shift grills and sleeping bags, they came with entire trailers, satellite dishes and catering companies. They were digging in for the long haul.

Sunday November 29th

Woods hires an attorney, whose first order of business was to tell the police that Woods and his wife would not be speaking with police at all.

When troopers arrived at Woods house, his attorney handed over Woods’ driver’s license, registration and insurance information, which is the only information they were required to give authorities.

The 911 transcript is released with Woods’ neighbor telling the operator that someone (Tiger Woods) was lying on the ground and unconscious.

The woman named in the National Enquirer article, Rachel Uchitel, vehemently denies the accusations.

Woods releases another statement on his website saying that the incident has been embarrassing to he and his family and more or less begging for his privacy.

Monday November 30th

Speculation about the cause of the accident continues to spread like wildfire.

Was his wife, Elin, chasing him down with a pitching wedge?

Why wasn’t Woods coming clean about exactly what transpired outside of his home on Friday morning?

Woods releases another statement through his website, this time it’s to announce that he will be withdrawing from his own tournament – The Chevron World Challenge – due to the injuries he sustained in the car accident.

Tuesday December 1st

The police close their investigation into the accident and issue Woods a $164 fine for reckless driving.

Still no word from the Woods camp.

The media gets wind of a story that will appear on the cover of Tuesday’s US Weekly magazine.

The story is about woman who claims that she had an ongoing affair with Tiger Woods, and even more, she had a voice mail and hundreds of text messages to prove it.

On Tuesday evening, US Weekly announces that the recording of Tiger Woods’ voice mail to this woman would appear on their website first thing on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday December 2nd

The world wakes up, turns on their computers, logs onto www.usmagazine.com and listens to the following:

"Hey, it's Tiger," he says in the voice mail, obtained by Usmagazine.com (listen above). "I need you to do me a huge favor. Can you please take your name off your phone? My wife went through my phone and may be calling you. So if you can, please take your name off that. Just have it as a number on the voice mail. You got to do this for me. Huge. Quickly. Bye."

Moments later, Tiger Woods releases a statement on his website.

Although he uses the word “transgressions” instead of “affairs”, it was quite obviously what he was admitting to.

ESPN, Golf Channel, CNN. Fox News, E-News, Entertainment Tonight, Entertainment Weekly and just about every mainstream news and gossip channel spent the rest of the day airing the now infamous Tiger Woods’ voice mail and discussing the situation.

Thursday December 3rd

US Weekly reports that Tiger Woods and his wife are now involved in renegotiating their pre-nupt.

The details that they mention are shocking to say the least.

Woods would give Elin $5 million just to consider staying, and an additional $55 million if she sticks around for another 24 months.

Now, US Weekly is not really considered ‘mainstream’ media, but then again, who released the information that caused Tiger Woods’ to cop to “Transgressions”?

Rachel Uchitel cancels her scheduled press conference at the last minute following a conversation with one of Woods' representatives, immediately sparking accusations of "hush money".

Friday December 4th

As if things could not get any worse for Tiger Woods, Y.E. Yang – who became the first player in history to take down Woods at a major championship when he came from behind to win the 2009 PGA Championship – is now leading Tiger Woods’ very own golf tournament.

Now, many people have had much worse weeks than what Tiger Woods’ has just gone through.

Woods still has his health and is still worth $1 billion, even though a large chunk of it could be heading into a bank account that only his wife has access to.

No one is feeling sorry for Tiger Woods. He brought all of this upon himself when he decided to betray his wife and family and then attempted to cover it all up.

But, in Tiger Woods’ world, it doesn’t get much worse than this.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Tiger Woods' Steamy Affair Is the Real "Barely Sports"

Scott Eisenlohr — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:14:55 -0500

I decided recently that I am sick of seeing Facebook posts that say: "My Blackberry Died" or "My IPhone isn't working."

Would you post: "My 256 mg computer crapped out" or "My LG Chocolate *()&&(&)!broke". Nope, so u just B braggin'.

Which gets me to Tiger Woods.

Who cares? Is it really sports?

When will Tiger be back on the golf course? If he gets things straight with his family, that is all that matters. If he takes time off past the Masters to get things right with his family, that is the most positive fallout I could see happening.

I would respect him for that.

So while his wife, Elin Nordegren, gets to hear about the Jaimee Grubbs and Rachel Uchitels (who was apparently paid off not to speak) of the world, the real shame is with the Woods family.

I write this story as one who understands the media.

It has been more than a year that I got paid to write a story for a daily newspaper, so I understand the frenzy. I just don't like it.

A friend of mine, who is a cameraman for a Philadelphia major television news station, said when he worked for a Southern New Jersey television station, he did want to take video of sheet-covered dead people being put in an ambulance.

We all have our stopping points.

For me, it is Bleacher Reports' "Barely Sports." Fortunately, I hid it from my BR profile. I understand why BR does it. The rest of the sports web sites do it, too.

I don't have to like, though.

Sorry, I am trying to live the life that Tiger Woods wishes he had. My transgressions are nowhere near Woods, but I believe a sin is a sin, big or small.

So I will wait for the next news story to come along that squashes the Tiger story, which has tremendous "legs" in the media coverage.

But it has nothing to do with sports and is my choice of "Barely Sports."

Our priorities are way out of whack in this country and the Tiger mess is not nearly as injurious than watching 3/4 of your starting Major League baseball team lineup get put on the Disabled List. (Sorry Mets fans.)

The picture above was sent to me in an email by my relative titled "Tiger Woods Christmas Card."

I got a good chuckle out of Woods' misery.

I respect the way that Woods is handling it. He is asking for privacy while he sorts out his affairs.

I am not trying to be high and mighty, or Holier Than Thou.

I am just asking everyone to step back and appreciate your family.

Sports is a means of escape. Let us keep it that way, on the field.

** Information courtesy of ABC news web site.

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Society Expects Too Much From Tiger Woods, Other Professional Athletes

Todd Kaufmann — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:14:25 -0500

For the better part of a week, the leading story on just about every major outlet has been the drama surrounding Tiger Woods.

You can't turn your television on without seeing something about Tiger, or a new mistress coming forward and saying she had relations with him.

But is all this attention really necessary? Are we truly shocked that a professional athlete cheated on his wife and has girls on the side? Shouldn't we be used to this kind of story by now?

We've already had famous names like Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez in the recent past come out and admit to affairs, so why are so many people shocked when it's Tiger?

As a society, we hold professional athletes on this pedestal that they have no business being put on; by us or anyone else for that matter. We claim that they are "role models" or "heroes" to our children, but we couldn't be more wrong about that.

Most of you may remember when former NBA star Charles Barkley came out and said "I am not a role model," in a Nike commercial . If I were standing in the same room I would have stood up and given Barkley a standing ovation because as much as we hate to admit it, he's right.

Barkley, at the end of the commercial, went on to say, "Just because I can dunk a basketball, doesn't mean I should raise your kids." The man has a way with words, there's no denying that.

People who argue the "role models" point will tell you that these athletes need to accept the role, whether they like it or not.

A statement like that is just a cop-out because you want to believe, as naive as it is, that athletes will never let you down, never do anything wrong.

If you've watched sports for most of your life, you'd know that that line of thinking is garbage and unreasonable.

How many times have we seen a professional athlete get arrested or do something that got them in trouble with the law?

How many times have we seen them act like spoiled brats asking for money they don't deserve? And yet we still think they're role models?

Tiger Woods is no different from the Kobe Bryants, the Alex Rodriguezes, or even the Barry Bonds of the world. They all cheated, in one form or another, and they all got caught.

When are we, as a society, going to wake up and stop putting a title on an athlete that is undeserving of it?

When are we going to wake up and realize that they are just another human being that makes a career out of playing a game? Something that's hardly worthy of the "role model" title.

Whatever happens with Tiger and his family from this point forward should remain private.

But, because Woods is a professional athlete, society believes that they are entitled to know everything about his personal life from here on out. That's just asking for disappointment.

For Tiger, the biggest question now becomes, did he ruin more than just his reputation?

Prior to this incident, Woods was known as, arguably, the best golfer of the sports' entire history.

Will he go from one of the most loved and followed golfers to one of the most hated and jeered? Will his peers look at him and treat him differently than they ever did? Will they still see him as a golfer or as an unfaithful husband?

For now, he'll repair what he can of his marriage and the news outlets will pay any amount of money to find the next missing mistress that Tiger apparently had a tryst with.

Until then, the media will force feed us every bit of this story they can, not allowing us a break from the drama.

Though I imagine there are those who are eating this up, forming their own opinions of Tiger and his situation, because they feel they're "entitled" to know every dirty personal detail.

It's how society works. When there's drama, we want every detail regardless of how bad those details get. We're insatiable like that.

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Tiger Woods Controversy: Let's Look In The Mirror Before Casting Stones

Denton Ramsey — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:55:30 -0500

I’m not necessarily standing up for Tiger Woods here, but I do think we all ought to take a look in the mirror first.

Guilty of wrongdoings or not, the general public needs to take a step back and realize a simple fact:

Tiger Woods is human and ALL humans sin.

I understand Tiger is a celebrity, and having your name and your life (both the good and the bad) branded everywhere comes with the territory when you’re famous.

But even with all the fame and fortune, this just goes to show you that we all have our blemishes.

When you’re a public figure though, whether we’re talking about a church leader or a sports hero, you’re held to a higher standard.

I’m sure the media is going to (if they haven’t already) have a heyday with this latest Tiger mess and say something along the lines of, “Look elsewhere for your role models, kids.”

The sad thing is who do we tell these “kids” to look up to?

I learned (unfortunately for me, later in life) that even your greatest heroes will sometimes let you down and disappoint you beyond belief.

Whether we’re talking about a family member, a pastor, or a sports figure, the fact still remains that people have their faults.

Tiger’s reputation has been damaged, there’s no doubt about it; but what really matters is how he handles this crisis, both internally with his wife and kids as well as on the golf course.

I’ve heard rumors in the past that Tiger wasn’t the best guy to be looking up to as a role model. Regardless of that comment’s validity, all I’m saying is that we need to all calm down and come to the realization that yes, even Tiger Woods screws up.

Just like everyone else.

Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at denton.ramsey@gmail.com

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All Tiger All the Time

Dean Hybl — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:47:48 -0500

I got an e-mail earlier today from the editor of one of the sports sites to which I occasionally post material. He said that the best way to immediately increase traffic for your articles was to write something about Tiger Woods. Over the last week their site has seen record traffic and they even had to add a new section on their site just to accommodate the volume of articles about Tiger.

Now I am all in favor of doing anything I can to increase visibility for the great work that a growing number of talented writers are producing on the Sports Then and Now network of web sites.

However, I’m slightly conflicted by the fact that ST&N is a sports web site and except for the fact that Woods’ car accident last Friday morning caused him to cancel an appearance at a golf tournament, most of what has been covered over the last week really has almost nothing to do with sports.

Of course, I guess you could call tearing down a legend to be a kind of sport of its own. At least it seems to be a favorite sport of the media.

As a resident of the Orlando area, over the last week it has been almost impossible to watch television, listen to the radio or pick up the newspaper without reading about Woods, his accident and his alleged indiscretions. Media from across the globe have descended on the normally quiet Windermere area that Woods’ has called home for more than a decade.

This morning I was at a meeting with Gary Bruhn, the mayor of the Town of Windermere. Even though Woods actually lives in an unincorporated portion of Orange County that has a Windermere mailing address, the mayor and the city have been thrust into the spotlight and forced to deal with the residual impact of the incident.

Just a week ago, Mayor Bruhn was the mild-mannered leader of a tiny Central Florida community that prided itself on its anonymity. However, since the accident, he has been thrust into the spotlight, often serving as a defacto town spokesman. If you Google his name, you will now find more than 1.2 million relevant entries where a week ago there were less than 1,000.

The town has also become a sort of nesting place for the media as they wait for any chance to find another angle for the story. This has put added pressure on the police and other services in this tiny community of less than 5,000 residents.

Another unintended consequence of the Woods’ story for the small town is the inundation of e-mail messages that have flooded the town’s e-mail server. Because of Florida’s public records law, every e-mail message sent to Mayor Bruhn, the town police department or the general town e-mail mailbox must be cataloged and preserved.

Bruhn estimates that the town has received more e-mail in the last week than they would normally receive in six months. These e-mails not only require staff time to answer, but also additional time and server space to chronicle and store.

Despite the attempt by some media to keep the story going as long as possible because Tiger Woods is such a traffic generator, eventually the story will die down and things will go back to normal.

Mayor Bruhn and the staff and police in the Town of Windermere will be able to get back to running their quaint town and Woods will be left to pick up the pieces of his tattered reputation.

If history has taught us anything, it is that while moral indiscretions are never completely forgotten, they eventually become an afterthought if the offending party is able to get back to achieving the success that made him a prominent figure.

You need look no further than the case of Kobe Bryant to see how winning can help resuscitate a reputation. It wasn’t long ago that Bryant seemed destined to forever be an NBA pariah.

Bryant was charged with forcing himself on a woman, an act of which Woods has not so far been accused, and subject to months of intense scrutiny and court appearances. At the same time, he also had a prominent role in dismantling the Lakers’ dynasty.

However, over the last two years Bryant has led the Lakers to consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals and in June hoisted the championship trophy for the first time since his legal and moral issues began six years ago.

While Bryant has not regained some of the public endorsements he enjoyed before his troubles, he has regained a high level of popularity among NBA fans. His jersey is among the hottest sellers in the league and his past troubles are rarely mentioned.

For Tiger Woods to put this ugly period behind him, it is now more crucial to his legacy than even before that he regain the form that has allowed him to win 14 major championships. If Tiger is able to win five more majors and pass Jack Nicklaus for the most golf major championships, his moral indiscretions will go from front page to footnote.

Sure his credibility as an advertising pitchman may take a temporary hit, but unless something significantly more damaging than what has come out so far is revealed, the impact should be only temporary. If he regains his winning form, it won’t be long until the public is back trusting Woods’ endorsement of razors, clothes and the assortment of other products he has pitched over the years.

Tiger is known for his legendary focus and you can bet that once the initial sting of his public incident passes, he will re-dedicate himself to his longstanding mission to be the best golfer in the world.

In the end, the greatest unintended consequence of Tiger’s affairs may be the whooping he puts on the rest of the golf world.

This article is an original story from Sports Then and Now , which was created to give passionate sports fans a place where they can analyze and discuss current sports topics while also remembering some of the great athletes, moments, teams and games in sports history all at one site. If you haven't been there yet, check it out today.

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Tiger Woods Pays Prostitutes For Loyalty

JW Nix — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:36:14 -0500

For those of you with a life that have not found time to keep pace with the constant coverage of every movement of professional golfer Tiger Woods, more news comes out to further sully the media driven deity of the crooked stick and tiny balls.

There are reports that Tiger Woods' representatives reached out to Rachel Uchitel minutes before yesterday's scheduled press conference and allegedly offered her $1 million dollars in hush money. There are allegations that Rachel and Tiger met at New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter's apartment.

Rumors say that money did not buy the silence of Uchitel, claiming she has kept quiet so far because she is scared for her safety. The theory bandied about is that she knows a lot about Woods, his marriage, his alleged affairs, and other events.

Uchitel is quoted to have said, "You know you have crazier sex on Ambien. You get into that Ambien haze. We had crazy Ambien sex." She then showed a purported email from Woods backing her claim that he used Ambien as well:

"I had a dream we were married and I was leading the tournament. I came home, excited to see you, and there you were in the bedroom getting f - - -ed by Derek and David. Some part of me thinks you would like that. But now I can't get back to sleep. My body is tired, but mind awake. Need an Ambien."

Another e-mail has emerged showing a friend of Woods telling Uchitel, "Here are the details for all the flights (to Australia). Sorry for all the changes. I look forward to meeting you tomorrow."

Uchitel is said to have forwarded the email to a friend saying, "My schedule so you have it in case the plane goes down."

There are those who say Woods' recent automobile accident stemmed from a fight with his wife over accusations that he had an affair with Uchitel in Australia during a PGA event. Both are shown to have stayed in the same hotel over this time.

If this wasn't enough to show the indiscretions of Woods, now comes word that he will be paying his wife Elin extra money to stay with him. The couple had signed a prenuptial agreement when they married in 2004, and now it is being revised with extra incentives to buy her off from leaving him along with their two young children.

Woods was introduced to Elin in 2001 by fellow golfer Jesper Parnevik, a move that Parnevick has told reporters he now regrets. She was a Swedish model who was serving as an au pair for his children at the time.

Not only is it insulting to the women that Woods feels he can buy a woman's loyalty and silence like a common streetwalker, it shows how sheltered a life he has led as a child prodigy of golf. This lifestyle may have led to boredom, where he sought to start putting his birdie into other holes. As if playing with people's lives and emotions were an obstacle course for him to conquer like it was a golfing event.

Some will say all of these recent events that have come to light are not all his fault. It was society who built this mighty pedestal for a man who chases around a tiny ball with a crooked stick.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

The Curse Of Gillette: After Tiger Woods, What's Next For Roger Federer?

Willie Gannon — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:14:52 -0500

Within the past two weeks, two of the three faces of Gillette have seen their characters revised after..."transgressions." Now we have to wonder, what is going to happen to Roger Federer? Because these things always happen in threes or trees in Tiger Woods' case.

So what has gone wrong? Has the world turned upside down all of a sudden? Before last week, Tiger Woods, Thierry Henry, and Roger Federer were three of the most respected sportsmen on the planet.

They stood for truth, justice, and the American way, or so Gillette would have you believe anyway. Their self inducing cringe-worthy adds for Gillette were so false you could almost taste the saccharin off the screen.

The adds made people vomit in the isles, no one normal could ever act like this could they? The Gods wouldn't allow it.

Well, yes they did. kind of. While we were stupidly believing that Tiger and Thierry were the two greatest guys and sportsmen in the world, one was off trying to get as many holes in one as possible while the other was cheating like a mother...

Not only were they normal. They were stupid too.

I mean, (Tiger) here's a guy who could afford to buy Nokia, and he only carries one phone that his wife has access to. Is he brain-dead? How could the coolest most calculated sportsman on the planet not think about women's intuition?

And then be so stupid that he only had one phone?

Well, his reputation is in tatters now. And he has a long way to go to re-build it.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Thierry Henry, supremely gifted footballer extraordinaire was cheating the Irish football team out of a place in the World Cup in South Africa.

The player with the "butter wouldn't melt" look handled the ball in the most blatant manner possible to set up the winning goal, and put his team through.

His character and reputation are also shot, and in need of re-building?

Two out of the three Gillette boys have been revealed as false Gods, pretending to be something they're so obviously are not.

And while Tiger wronged a women and it may cost him $500m, Thierry wronged a nation, and it cost them the same.

So...

What is going to happen to Federer?

His excellent character can't be real can it?

Tiger's and Henry's weren't, so Roger must be hiding something.

What is it?

Is he a swinger? Does he rob library books? Does he like Marmite?

The curse is very real, he has done something and someone knows, reveal it to us oh exalted one and bring an end to these ridiculous ads...

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Tiger Woods Could Take a Hint from Rick Pitino

Jonathan Lintner — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:52:34 -0500

Seven months ago, Louisville coach Rick Pitino was in the same spot as Tiger Woods.

His character was in question—his reputation on the line.

Pitino released a statement on April 18 saying that he had reported an extortion attempt to the FBI and that he indented to “vigorously defend [his] reputation and the character of [his] family against any criminal scheme to extort money.”

The statement came out of nowhere, as rumors were many and allegations ran rampant.

Sound familiar? Maybe like a National Enquirer report released days before Woods’ Nov. 27th car accident?

Karen Cunagin Sypher, the estranged wife of Louisville equipment manager Tim Sypher, was at the center of the speculation. She was also ready to divulge the details of her relationship with Pitino.

Turns out many of them were true.

Sypher eventually went to the police, aired Pitino’s dirty laundry over the summer, and the media acquired her story of a sexual encounter from 2003 that led up to her attempts to extort Pitino last March—the time when the pressure was highest on the coach to succeed on the court.

But unlike Woods, Pitino took control of his “transgressions” from the start.

When confirmation of his affair hit the airwaves, Pitino was at the microphone stand, ready to respond. On Aug. 12, Pitino admitted to his mistakes, sympathized with his wife, and vowed that although he had done wrong morally, justice would be served legally.

Pitino didn’t continue to deny the truth when it was presented. Didn’t use his personal website to release statements. Didn’t ignore the release of new information that could further hamper his reputation.

When speculation again got out of control on Aug. 26, Pitino delivered a fiery statement off to Louisville media at a hastily prepared press conference. Pitino demanded the media stop printing Sypher’s “lies.” Told them to “do your investigative reporting.” Told them “the truth is going to come out.”

It did.

Sypher’s rape allegations were found false by authorities, and she was indicted again in November on charges that carry a maximum 10-year sentence.

Pitino, like Woods, wasn’t in the wrong legally—a small citation notwithstanding—just morally. Louisville fans forgave and forgot.

Now the Cardinals are off to a 5-1 start to the 2009-2010 season. Mentions of extortion and affairs when talking about Louisville basketball are growing few and far between.

It’s hard to say if the same will happen to Woods, who is expected to return to the golf course in late January, at the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines.

If Woods doesn’t reveal the details behind his accident—why he was out at that time, and what caused him to crash—as well as return to the graces of his wife, Elin Nordegren Woods, this incident will follow him back to the golf course.

More cocktail waitresses could reveal themselves. More distractions could hurt his game. More rumors will swirl.

And ultimately, this could hurt more than Woods’ reputation—unlike Pitino, who, if such a thing exists, handled his affair and media relations the right way.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Tiger Woods: Should We Have Expected Any Different?

Alan Thomson — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:40:14 -0500

Once again, one of society’s preeminent personalities has been exposed as a philandering cad. Oh, the shock of it all. How many more times does something like this have to happen before we finally understand?

Apparently, to some folks, Tigergate is beyond jaw dropping. To these people, allow me to suggest that you retrieve your lower mandible from wherever it has fallen and, at long last, accept the fact that this is to be expected.

No, I am not a proponent of adultery. It is obviously an egregiously hurtful and destructive act. But from the perspective of a prodigy turned mega-celebrity, this is par for the course. And Tiger Woods is as great as they come at performing eminently better than par.

Accounts of his boorish behavior and indiscretions are now seeming to emerge from every orifice, no pun intended, of virtually every place he has ever set non-golf shoed foot. While some of these may prove to be dubious at best, there is no reason to believe that enough truth hasn’t been spewed to qualify the formerly antiseptic-repped links-maven as an accredited debaucher.

Shocking? Not really. Why? Because that’s what the “superstars of society” are programmed to do. I could list all of the names of such known transgressors, but I’d like to finish the article while there is still time left for me to Christmas shop.

OK, I’ll name-drop a few. Michael Jordan comes to mind. Babe Ruth was notorious for it. I think Bill Clinton may have dabbled a bit as well. And possibly Michael Jackson, but I’m not even going to get near that one.

In the case of true prodigies such as Tiger, these are people who have been idolized and ass-kissed by virtually everyone around them since their youths. They have unwittingly developed an innate sense of entitlement. Their reality is vastly different from yours or mine. Many of the accepted rules of society have never been enforced on them.

They are programmed to get what they want while having any "questionable" behavior if not outright approved of, receive a blind eye turned toward by the sycophants who huddle around them. These includes coaches, school administration, occasionally the police, of course girls, and oftentimes their own parents.

Combine these things with the fact that superstar athletes never seem to mature in the manner in which the rest of us do because they don’t go through the same rites of passage that we do. Most of us progress through various stages in which our priorities change and evolve. The importance of high school gets replaced by that of college or trade school, followed by the beginning and assorted stages of growth within our careers.

Superstar athletes have one main priority from grade school through middle-age: their sport. Their world hinges upon the very same thing is has since they were children.

So what you end up with after all of this is an immature, athletic and virile, narcissistically programmed young mega-millionaire celebrity.

It should come as a shock to anyone that a personality of this type would cheat on his spouse?

Husbands who have cheated account for, according to some studies, more than half of all married men. There are still many who don’t, but according to my observations, do you know one of the reasons for this? Because a good portion of these men rarely, if ever, find themselves in situations where they easily can.

As non-celebrity, non-pro athlete civilians, we tend to live relatively mundane lives. When the most handsome, dapper, and suave among us strolls into a crowded Starbucks, he does not elicit a crowd of adoring women. At best, he may catch a glance or perhaps even a quick smile. Even the most genial and polished of men are very rarely able to parlay this type of interaction into a situation where the acquisition of latex is highly recommended.

Now imagine that you are an astronomically wealthy, young, athletic, and overwhelmingly popular and adored mega-celebrity. Your work leads you to travel more often than you are able to stay at home. Inevitably, you are going to be sought out by and find yourself in the vicinity of continuous bevies of attractive to “forgive me father for I have sinned” types of stunningly beautiful women, whether you choose to do so or not.

How then does a man like Tiger Woods, along with the baggage of his conditioned behavior described above, navigate through a near daily, unending stream of adoring women who would like nothing better than to get their hands, and other parts, on his, uh...driver?

I feel sincerely sorry for Elin Nordegren and other spouses of the blinged and notable who have found themselves on the disconsolate side of an adulterous affair. She doesn’t deserve that. I’m not condoning or excusing what happened and I certainly am not endorsing adultery.

I’m just wondering why we would expect anything different from someone at Tiger Woods’ station in life. It would almost be unnatural.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

From the Tee Box: It's Tiger "Wood"

Jeffrey Boswell — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:00:26 -0500

Tiger Woods' mysterious car accident last weekend, and the subsequent speculation, was an embarrassing situation in an otherwise sterling career. Will the truth of the matter ever emerge, and if so, will Woods' reputation be tarnished?

The more pressing question here is, "Where in the heck was Steve Williams when this all went down?" Woods obviously could have used a second pair of eyes, and Williams is famous for his ability to read driveways just as well as greens.

Now, the true story will probably never be heard, at least from the mouth of Woods, so, it's up to the public, and TMZ.com, to piece together the various accounts and rumors into a believable, and juicy tale.

What is known is that early last Friday, Woods wrecked his Cadillac SUV just outside the driveway of his Isleworth home in Florida, hitting a fire hydrant and a tree in the process. That's not the least bit surprising—Woods' "driving" has always led to trouble.

Then, according to Woods, his wife, Elin Nordegren "rescued" him by breaking out the back window of the car with a golf club and pulling Woods out. This act, of course, is now known as the Nordegren "Open."

Is there more to the incident that just a minor car accident? Unless you're a triple-digit handicap in the IQ department, then it's easy to see some, and more likely many, facts are being withheld. Was there a domestic dispute preceding the accident? If so, did it stem from allegations that Woods had an extramarital affair, as reported by the National Enquirer ? If that's so, was Nordegren simply trying to assess Woods a "stroke" penalty?

According to Woods, the accident was just that, an accident, and no one should read any further into it. On Tuesday, Woods was charged with a traffic violation, and fined $164. But the circumstances surrounding the accident would seem to indicate that there's much more to it.

A 2:30 AM accident, in the driveway, not involving alcohol? That statement is fishy in itself, unless John Daly were somehow involved.

And why did Nordegren smash the windows of the vehicle to "free" Woods instead of just using the doors? Probably because Tiger didn't want to come out. Nothing is worse than the wrath of a woman scorned except for the wrath of a woman scorned who's holding a golf club .

Witnesses at the scene say Woods had scratches on his face. Maybe Nordegren was utilizing good golfing etiquette and wanted simply to replace her divots. Unlike her husband, she's a "scratch" golfer. If Nordegren was, in fact, wielding the club as a weapon, then she undoubtedly boasted to Tiger of her "flexible shaft."

The "woman scorned" scenario seems to be the most logical. Recently, two other women have come forward and claim they had relationships with Woods, and Woods hasn't denied either. So, it seems that Woods' caddy wasn't the only one "on the bag."

In fact, Woods apologized for his transgressions, which is a plural word. There's even an audio recording of Woods calling one of his mistresses and politely asking her to delete a phone number, for fear that Nordegren may be calling. This is just another example of Woods' uncanny scrambling ability.

As Tiger's "transgressions" come forward, it's become clear that all the ladies in Woods' life are gorgeous, and suddenly not too shy about revealing the details of their personal lives. As Woods is finding out, being "loose lipped" isn't always a good thing. In his defense, though, what golfer hasn't been tempted to switch to a "newer model" on occasion?

And there will probably be more mistresses coming forward to bask in their fleeting moment of fame. This is all like a series of bad shots for Woods—one minute, he's "laying three"; the next, 'he's "laying four." And so on.

So, should we respect Woods' pleas for privacy, or should we expect a moral obligation from him to come clean? Of course, we can't expect him to come clean—professional athletes have yet to learn their lessons in that respect. Just ask Mark McGwire or Roger Clemens. But a full confession would be in Woods' best interest.

It's best the public knows all the details, before a sex tape emerges, or before Jose Canseco's next book is published. Known for his "backspin," Woods and his army of public relations soldiers, should put a positive spin on the issue.

How, you may ask? Here's how. With these 26 words, directly out of Woods' mouth: "If I can be this good of a golfer while juggling woman all over the globe, just think how good I'll be on a short leash." With Nordegren, clutching a golf club, by his side when he says this, would there be any doubt that Woods would be on the straight and narrow?

An appearance on Larry King Live , and a stint on Oprah's coach, plus an adorable photo spread of Woods, Nordegren, and the kids in People magazine, and Tiger will seem downright virginal. Follow that up with a dominating win at the Masters, and a tearful winner's speech, flanked by the wife and kids, and Tiger will look so clean that the gossip-mongers will go looking for dirt on Ben Crenshaw.

Woods obviously built his near-unblemished reputation by hiding the truth, and taking the necessary precautions to ensure that his secret affairs remained as such. Now, he can only repair that reputation by telling all and asking, not begging, for forgiveness, from his fans.

In all honesty, his fans probably could care less about an apology. What matters to them is that Woods' game doesn't suffer.

The only apology mandatory is to Nordegren. It's not something that's easily forgiven, and if she decides to forgive, her dignity would then have to be questioned. But if there's a price on her dignity, it will be revealed in the details of a revamped prenuptial agreement.

It's not as if Tiger made one simple mistake; he made several, and to keep it all "hush-hush," he surely had to pay out a substantial amount of "hush" money. If Woods can emerge from this with his reputation fully intact, then it would truly be the greatest "escape" of his career.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Paper Tiger: Why Do We Care About Woods Scandal?

Lewie Pollis — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:23:55 -0500

Harry Reid is a busy man. The Senate Majority Leader has to fund two unpopular wars, pass an increasingly spineless health care reform package, and focus on his reelection campaign, which promises to be much tougher than it was in 2004.

Which is why it was somewhat surprising that, when ambushed by reporters after a meeting, he told the press to “get the answers from Tiger Woods.”

As an isolated incident, such an event would be fairly insignificant. Reid wasn’t holding a press conference; he was walking out of a meeting that had been closed to the media for a reason, and it’s not a surprise that he wanted to avoid an interview.

However, his talk of Tiger was telling, as it was indicative of a larger problem with the way our society works.

Here’s the question: why do we care so much about Tiger Woods?

Our obsession with this story is just another example of our habit of treating ridiculous gossip as breaking news. It’s a destructive process to our society, and it isn’t just the media’s fault—they wouldn’t sell it if we wouldn’t buy it.

The fascination we have had with this series of events is absurd at the most basic level: what he did wasn’t that bad.

No one was physically hurt, he didn’t break any laws, and he’s no more of a hypocrite than the millions of other adulterers in America.

While I certainly can’t condone a man cheating on his wife, can we really condemn him for it?

On top of that, I would wager a large sum of money that no one who reads this article will have been personally affected by Woods’ actions.

With the exception of his wife, mistresses, and kids, no one’s lives have changed because of his infidelity.

Even if you are without sin, can you really cast a stone at someone you’ve never met?

Finally, unless Tiger cheating on his wife was as bad as, say, the guy who killed four cops in Seattle, and his infidelity somehow even affects the lives of people he’s never met, there is simply no reason for the abundance of press he has received this week.

This scandal has gotten more attention than President Obama’s announced escalation of the war in Afghanistan.

Woods has grabbed headlines ad absurdum while the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which Maldives President Mohammed Nasheed said will be either “an historic event where the world unites against carbon pollution” or a global "suicide pact,” has barely gotten ink at all.

Perhaps the only news program that hasn’t fixated on Woods’ indiscretions is The Daily Show. What does that tell you about the state of our news media?

There is something in our psyches that causes us to care about famous people we don’t know. I confess that when I went to check my email the afternoon this whirlwind started, I was glued to my computer screen for a good 10 minutes, devouring any information I could find about Woods’ car accident.

But that’s no excuse for fixating on minutiae. There are more important things in life than sports, and there are definitely more important things in life than what people who play sports do off the field.

Incidentally, the band Survivor predicted this 27 years ago through song: “And we’re not on the ball ‘cause our Eyes are on Tiger.”

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

A Tiger Woods Pre-Nup Complete with Performance-Based Incentives

Michael Fitzpatrick — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:56:16 -0500

The gossip wheel keeps on spinning, and the story keeps on getting more bizarre.

The latest news out of the Playboy Mansion, sorry, Tiger Woods’ Windermere home is that he and his wife, Elin Nordegren, are now renegotiating their prenup.

Like everything else surrounding this story, the details are unknown, and the degree of speculation varies greatly depending upon which "Tiger Woods" story on the Internet you happen to click on.

However, most seem to be reporting the same general information—Woods will be forced to give Elin seven figures now (reports range from $1 million to $5 million to $8 million) before she even considers staying, and then a much larger sum of money if she sticks around for the next 24 months (reports range from $20 million to $30 million to $55 million).

Now, go back and read that last sentence one more time.

Is anyone else picking up on just how ridiculous this little arrangement sounds?

What does it say about Tiger Woods’ obsession with image that he’s willing to shell out as much as $55 million just to keep his "family" image together for another two years?

What does it say about Elin Nordegren that she is only willing to consider patching things up with the father of her children if there is money involved?

What does it say about this marriage when a lawyer is called in long before a marriage counselor?

Elin Nordegren might need to bring in Scott Boras to negotiate her terms, while Tiger Woods might consult George Steinbrenner on just how high he should go.

Now, no one is to blame for this mess other than Woods and his numerous “transgressions” with cocktail waitresses.

However, it sounds as if everyone involved in this has now gone off the deep end.

If you want to patch things up, sit down like normal human beings—which despite her good looks, and his ability to hit a golf ball, they still are—and work on your marriage.

If you both feel as if the past is too much to overcome—which would be completely understandable considering the fact that the “transgression” count is currently at three and counting—come to some kind of financial agreement and go your separate ways.

Yes, there are children involved, and they are going to be the ultimate victims here.

But what is a better situation for them?

Their parents couldn’t resolve their differences so they went their separate ways and are now living happy, healthy lives, or Mom has a $20 million a year contract to live under the same roof as us…and Dad is the one paying her.

Celebrities and billionaires are kooky; we have known that since Howard Hughes began locking himself in hotels rooms and peeing in glass jars.

But my goodness, a new prenup that contains all sorts of contract incentives?

What else would be built into this deal?

For every future “transgression” Woods commits he will be required to pay Elin $20 million?

Each time Elin chases him with a golf club she’ll be fined $2 million?

Elin will earn $10 million per year for the next two years, with an option for Tiger to pick up a third year at $15 million?

Do these people have no one in their lives that can look them in the eye and say “You two have gone off the deep end. Get it together. You are two human beings, for goodness sakes?”

Evidently not.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Tiger Cheats, Weis Loses, Tebow Wins and Cutler Doesn't... I Need a Break!

TAB BAMFORD — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:05:49 -0500

If I had known last Thursday what I know now, I would have been thankful for peace and quiet!

Where do we begin?

In case you hadn't heard, Tiger Woods likes women. Not the gorgeous one he's married to, of course, but other women. All over the country, apparently, too.

Oh, and Charlie Weis? Yeah, he got fired at Notre Dame. But if you have a television, you saw that coming three years ago when he lost, at home, to Navy.

Speaking of Touchdown Jesus, Tim Tebow's career in the swamp is over. Now he gets to play Alabama for a chance at another National Championship and automatic enshrinement in the All Time ManCrush Hall of Fame in the Urban Meyer category.

If you want to talk about real, already-in-the-real Hall of Fame people, Bobby Bowden "retired" after losing to Tebow's Florida Gators. I'd love to know, though, where someone goes to get big enough stones to tell the godfather of your football program, who has raised MILLIONS of dollars for your university, that he isn't wanted any more? I don't think that was part of Wal Mart's Black Friday sale.

Jay Cutler just got picked off.

Speaking of the Wal Mart sale rack, the New Jersey Nets are doing a fantastic job of recruiting LeBron James away from Cleveland. Apparently they didn't get the memo that blowing the first two months of the season isn't a good selling point, especially when you're other selling point is Jersey.

Sorry, New Jersey.

Did you hear that Roy Halladay would like to pitch for the Yankees? Really? I'm pretty sure there are at least 15 players on 29 rosters that would love to wear the pinstripes, too. In fact, my agent is going to call Bleacher Report's editorial board and tell them that I will only accept a trade to the Yankees or a fresh 20-ounce bottle of Dr. Pepper. Either way, you guys can pick.

Baseball announced all of their post season awards. Two teams didn't have one player receive a single vote for any awards: the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Mets. The only problem there is that the Mets paid $82 million more than the Orioles did to get shut out. How's that working out for you, Mr. Minaya?

Brett Favre's old. We get it.

His teammate, Adrian Peterson, needs to learn how to read speed limit signs, though. apparently he didn't notice that he was doing 105 in a 55 zone last weekend. I take that back...when you're doing DOUBLE the speed limit, you're not around long enough to read the sign. AP needs to pay attention.

Meanwhile, Eric Mangini is making another quarterback change. This time, he's calling for Jimmy Claussen, though. If I were Claussen, and I had to decide between Notre Dame or playing in Cleveland, I would call Brady Quinn for advice. I'm sure Coach Weis' Rolodex is in a box somewhere.

Cutler just got picked off again.

I'm proposing a cage match: Craig Sager against Jay Glazer. One's a bald midget, the other wears clothes that would have embarrassed Liberace. Smart money's on Glazer.

Word is that Glazer is training for the bout with Sager by running through the streets of Philadelphia like Rocky did; Sager is going to jog laps around newly-unemployed Mark Mangino.

Speaking of Mangino, I'm sure he'll be fine financially. "Ghostbusters" was on AMC last weekend, and he was great while... what? The Stay Puff Marshmallow Man? NO! I could have sworn that was Mangino! My bad.

Al Davis just fired someone. So did Donald Trump. My question is: which has more of their original hair left?

The Hot Seat's on the phone, is Rich Rodriguez available? No? Fine, give the phone back to Eric Mangini.

After a lengthy review, the call on the field is confirmed: Cutler has been intercepted again.

Finally, I would love it if Mike Shanahan, Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, Mike Holmgren, and Mike Ditka all decided to coach high school teams in the suburbs. How great would that be? Cowher can spit further than an average 17-year-old can throw a spiral, and Holmgren's play titles are longer than some English papers. I would pay to watch that happen!

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Tiger's Biggest Lesson

Paul Preibisius — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:26:42 -0500

Any time sports culture and tabloid culture collide—especially when you also mix law enforcement somewhere into the equation—attentive fireworks are bound to ensue. The fine points of any matter are rarely the true point of concern when it leaps off the sports page and onto the front page.

That is a concept that escaped Tiger Woods and is a big reason for his current ordeal exploding out of proportion.

The biggest lesson throughout athletics that one should take away is this—just fess up. If Tiger Woods had come out from day one with enough of the truth, he would be stepping out of this mess with very little tarnish and could probably have avoided the digging that is uncovering more information he would prefer not become public. The hyper-moral minority would still be on his case, true, yet the outcry would be far smaller.

When I was driving home from Thanksgiving’s family festivities I had the radio tuned to a news station. It gave a blurb about Tiger’s accident. My response was "I hope he’s OK," and it pretty much faded out of my mind.

A few days later comes the report that he had just ducked out of his third consecutive police interview on the subject. An eyebrow was now perked.

If he had disclosed the bare bones of the events surrounding his accident to the police, of course it would have come to public light. He can’t bury it and no police department would be able to head off a leak of something that big. But he would have had the power to meter just how the disclosure came about.

If one concept from the world of cinema should be applied to real life it is this—the implicit is always worse than the explicit. How many times is it said, “That movie was scary because of what they didn’t show you,” thus letting your imagination fill in the blanks. When an attempt to withhold everything is made, two things happen:

1. People dig and find out more than if they were just told.

2. Imaginations start taking things places far worse than the truth usually is (regardless of the elaborateness of the truth)

People also begin to gain interest not because of what the information is going to be, but because they are told that they can’t have it. By saying no, he just made his own secrets that much more salacious.

There are a few athletes who supersede simple athletic status and have become walking corporate entities. By becoming captains of endorsement, they are taking that concept of “I am just an athlete, let me excel in my sport and have that be enough” out of the equation. You sign a shoe deal—fine, make the money you can. When you make yourself into an empire you invite a higher level of scrutiny upon yourself and must realize the potential pitfalls.

The public forgives all given enough time and enough production from one’s given sport. If Tiger continues to make a run at Jack Nicklaus’ record, he will eventually have 99.9% of his fanbase back.

It will take a good deal longer, however, given what he mired himself in with attempts at denial. No one discusses Favre’s offseason while he is putting together an MVP season. Kobe Bryant survived a PR blow that witnessed sponsors jumping from his sinking name like it were a burning building. Chad Johnson’s shenanigans are lumped into "harmless fun" now that the Bengals are having a good year.

We can look to baseball for the perfect example of this idea put into motion. Baseball players of the "steroid era" are all questioned. Anyone who refuses to state their case and remains mum on the subject is finding mud all over their name. Not proving innocence is equated with guilt. The even greater crime is not admitting to it.

As with the steroid allegations, Pete Rose would probably be in the hall of fame and reinstated to be able to possibly manage a team if he had admitted to gambling right at the outset. His ardent denial cost him any chance at baseball’s forgiveness. The crime was refusal; that is what cost him.

Alex Rodriguez just this year announced he had injected steroids. He was reviled for a few weeks, perhaps a month in some circles. When the playoffs rolled around, the questions swirling around him focused more on his past history of mediocre playoff performances while next to nil was said about his past performance enhancement. He got wise, came clean, and now is back to being one of New York’s kings.

Athletes should learn. You should just come out with it and make your teary eyed public statement. Don’t appear to be trying to hide something. Don’t make your "I’m caught" confessions out as back-handed slams at the media for pulling out what you try to bury. Don’t tell a public drunk on the constant flow of information no.

He should not have cheated. I won’t bother with the morality of it; that is irrelevant and not my place to address. It is bad business and bad press. But the biggest mistake Tiger Woods ever made was not fessing up.

It is not about whether the public does or doesn’t have a right to know. One must recognize what is modern culture; someone will dig beyond what is their right. It is unfortunate, but it is fact. So make the information come from your mouth. Appear somber instead of reticent. Don’t put the power in the hands of the tabloid talking heads. This is where Tiger Woods struck the greatest blow to his empire, and this is the lesson all athletes should learn.

To err is human, to conceal is to commit temporary suicide. Just give up a piece of the truth and the world will let you get back to your life a whole lot sooner.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Tiger Woods' Wife Is Hot, but Not So Much To Him Anymore

Darrell Horwitz — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:57:08 -0500

While the public reacted with shock and awe after discovering Tiger Woods cheated on his lovely wife Elin and destroyed his squeaky clean, almost boring image, I'm not surprised at all.

Sure she's hot, and maybe more attractive than the women he chose to putt around with, but he's played that hole before, and a great number of times.

If you don't know where I'm going, let me paint a picture for you. You have a really hot wife or girlfriend that every guy salivates and fantasizes over. They do things that you would not appreciate thinking about her, but all guys do it.

Now most men might wonder how a guy could possibly cheat on someone so beautiful, but there are many men out there who know the reason why. Because I've been there and done that. She's not that exciting to me anymore.

As someone who used to be a bit of a player in his day, I can understand that way of thinking. The other women is the unknown, and as a man, you want to touch and smell and taste that new flavor not previously available to you.

It doesn't matter that your wife or girlfriend is hotter. This is fresh and exciting to you while your hot wife is old and boring. You've done it every which you can. Sure there are things you can do to try to jazz up the relationship, but it's still used to you, and you want that fresh new car smell.

The same thing was said years ago when Eric Benet serial-cheated on Halle Berry. How could any man possibly cheat on her? She's so beautiful. Because he had her so many times he needed something new. The fact that he was a sex addict also might have had something to do with it.

Tiger has women throw themselves at him more than you or I breathe. It happens all of the time, and it takes a strong man, or a blind man to turn those opportunities away.

I wasn't so fortunate to have a smorgasbord of women throwing themselves at me, but I did pretty well because I was very confident and in great shape when I was younger.

Tiger is handsome, in terrific shape, tremendously wealthy, and has the prestige and power of his celebrity. It's a package that women can't resist, and in his case, neither could he.

I'm not saying he's not at fault with what happened because he clearly is. He embarrassed himself, his family, and ruined his reputation and legacy. I'm just saying I can understand where he's coming from.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Is Google Trends Down Because of Tiger Woods?

James Henderson — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:48:22 -0500

Code Red.

Google Trends, the site operated by Google that shows what people are searching for, and how popular those searches are, is down. Let me repeat that: Google Trends is down. As of this writing, the site hasn't been updated for 11 hours.

Call me crazy. Call me a conspiracy theory-loving nut.

But what if Tiger Woods shut down Google Trends?

I'm not trying to imply Woods' attorneys, or his representatives, or the people behind the many products Woods endorses had anything to do with this. But over the past four days, pretty much every combination of "Tiger Woods" "Scandal" Mistress" and "Car Accident" has flooded the top 40 searches across the Web, according to Google Trends. Plus, alleged mistresses Rachel Uchitel, Jaimee Grubbs, and Kalika Moquin have been the subjects of many, many searches (including people looking for images of all three women). And don't forget Elin Nordegren, Tiger's twin sister, or Jepser Parnevik, the golfer with the harshest words for Tiger thus far.

The car accident, the speculation, the women, the mystery, the "transgressions."

With Tiger Woods dominating the Web unlike anything we've ever seen before, the searches have become the story. The blogosphere, newspapers, gossip sites, you name it: they're all talking about the incredible breadth and depth of the web searches that all tie back to one guy.

It's one thing for people to search for all of this. It's another to see just how dominant one man has been over the internet for the past four to five days. So maybe Google Trends decided to cool things off for a bit, and not become the story. Or maybe this is all a coincidence.

One thing I do know, is that "Google Trends Down" is probably pretty close to becoming a Top 40 search trend.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Why Are We So Upset Over Tiger Woods' Infidelity?

Erik Bartlett — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:12:31 -0500

Why are we so upset over Tiger Woods' infidelity?

Did he cheat on you? No.

Has he cheated in tournaments? No, clean as a whistle.

Is he the first or last person that will cheat on their spouse? Chances are some of you have committed such a sin. Maybe you grew up in a family, like my very own, where one parent's adultery led to a fractured divide between those involved and those immediately affected.

According to the information provided, Woods has had numerous mistresses, including the now-infamous Rachel Uchitel who is undoubtedly using this moment to cement her 15 minutes of fame.

As much as we should chastise her for what she's done to stake her claim to fame, should we blame her?

At the end of the day, we're all at fault. It's our fascination with celebrities and those in power that creates a market for those like Uchitel to profit off another family's demise.

Our fascination with celebrity explains the power and money that members of the paparazzi and celebrity blogging websites such as TMZ rake in. Heck, TMZ even has its own TV show now.

As much as ESPN and other TV networks enjoy providing up-to-the-minute updates, complete with reaction from golfers most of the mainstream sporting public have not heard of, we should just flip the channel.

Yes, I get it, it's Tiger Freaking Woods , one of the most recognizable faces on the planet.

But at the end of the day, whether he's able to make up with his wife or not won't make a single difference in our lives. None of us on the outside are victims.

Additionally, his wife Elin is getting her prenuptial agreement reworked to the point of receiving more money than any of us could even dream about should the marriage not work out. As much as she might be hurting right now emotionally, eventually she'll be fine.

There are only two real victims that emerge from all of this—Sam Alexis and Charlie Axel Woods, Tiger's daughter and son.

They will have this sordid state of affairs haunt them for the rest of their lives if their parents split. They don't deserve the dysfunction and media scrutiny surrounding their parents, and by all means, it should remain a personal matter for Tiger and his family.

If there's anything that we, as a society, can take from something like this, it's to remember that your lies, deception, and infidelities will catch up with you eventually.

It's a good thing that none of us are Tiger Woods right about now.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Greatest Athlete To Greatest Disgrace, but Tiger Is Forgiven

Jonathan Mathis — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:59:21 -0500

He’s known as the world’s greatest golfer, the world’s greatest athlete, the world’s greatest role model. For almost a week now, we’ve heard image is everything, we’ve heard continuous controversy of Tiger Woods. But he was created man, even though he’s a specimen with gifted abilities to dominate golf like no other golfer on this planet.

I cannot emphasize it enough, Tiger is human. When a megastar is embraced for playing such a huge role in the life of children or considered a noble icon, he is believed to be a spotless individual.

Everyone wanted to believe Tiger Woods was a faultless athlete beyond transgression. Well, he’s not the Woods that masses are familiar with on the greenery in annual PGA Tours, where he has achieved immense accolades and fitted for numerous green jackets at the Masters. More than 12 years, Woods has excelled at a premium, but abnormal revelations are now threatening his legacy and image.

It’s a shame he failed to engage marital vows. It’s a shame he had an affair that lasted over 2 ½ years, with a cocktail waitress, Jaimee Grubbs at a Los Angeles night club. It’s a shame more than 300 text messages between him and his mistress have been sent back and forth. It’s a shame he had an infraction for crashing into a fire hydrant and neighbor’s tree. It’s a shame the Florida Highway Patrol cited the greatest athlete for a $164 fine.

That’s enough to disappoint us all. He’s the biggest disgrace and headline in the media, caught in a love connection. After the accident where he suffered lacerations to his lips and blood in his mouth, Tiger was exposed to an uncommon scene. For once in his lifetime, the public invaded his privacy seeking answers and explanations.

None of his personal issues are our business, but suddenly it has became our business emerging a massive scene as media outlets channeled deeper to uncover the specifics on why his accident happened at 2:25 a.m. Friday morning. Ever since, speculations were assumed as an alleged affair, after wrecking his Cadillac reportedly was non-alcohol-related.

Guess it was practical speculating Tiger pissed off his old lady in a dispute relating to an alleged affair. Guess he was chased out of the house by his wife, Elin, who reportedly had a golf club and shattered the window.

Tiger has to perform and add to a total of 14 major victories. Although he’s known as a candid and credible athlete, Tiger wasn’t compelled to release personal information. Minus his knowledge of bizarre events, he can redeem and heel a misleading image if he appears in major events, where he normally performs well, dominates and wins.

If Woods regret transgressions of a martial affair and intends removing any tension and embarrassment, he shouldn’t had withdrawn at his own invitational tournament and appeared. But it’s clear he’s refusing to encounter media outlets for his own welfare of avoiding endless questions regarding the latest revelations. His privacy is imperative, of which he withdrew as curiosity subsides. Whether Tiger is ashamed to speak publicly or stays confidential with isolated troubles, his legacy and image survives reprehensible havoc.

Most sports figures are exposed to menacing lifestyles. In an age when careless women have a fetish for married men, athletic figures tend to suffer entrapment and later regret turning down sexy women whom strictly manipulates rich superstars into a psycho affair. Over the years, we’ve seen rich athlete’s images plunge as popularity and credibility impaired.

Not long ago, Kobe Bryant, a NBA megastar who reestablished popularity for epic performances, was accused on sexual assault charges in Colorado but eventually rape charges was dismissed. There was Alex Rodriguez, a definite cheater who confessed he used steroids, but he also had a romantic affair with Madonna. To refresh memories, Roger Clemens was more than longtime friends with country singer Mindy McCready, when she confirmed to us about their alleged affair.

This happens every day, of course, it’s a frequent episode in the sporting business. Don’t forget it even materialized inside the White House, shocking our minds when our former president Bill Clinton last century allegedly had an immoral affair.

In this age where infidelity is heard of periodically, Tiger’s name surfacing as a cheater isn’t surprising. He was disloyal in family values and as treacherous as it seems, it has no comparisons within his performance level. In fact, he’s still the icon we’ve grown to love and remains the greatest figure admired.

His endorsements alone are a remedy as he tries eluding scrutiny. His classiness and humbleness highlights his maturity, addressing the matter on his web site and avoided further trouble by not saying much publicly and his historic milestones are engaging. No matter what, spectators idolizes and favors Tiger, intrigued with his gifted abilities to captivate us with his dominance in a complex sport.

It is paramount Tiger strikes again and soon. Although Tiger had an immoral background and disappointed us, hurt us and deceived us, it’s an apparent message that he’s not perfect. Living in a forgiving country, Tiger is dismissed. U.S. Weekly, a well-known tabloid, reporting Grubbs claimed Tiger and her had sex at least 20 times, eventually will perish when he returns to the golf course and excites us.

Money is the root of all evil, if the mistresses sold her story to the U.S. Weekly for an estimate of $100,000. That happens when a famous athlete leaves himself exposed to women, especially Tiger, who earns an estimate of $100 million in endorsements annually. A devastating blow is the fact he has donated $30 million to communities and interacted with children throughout his foundation.

As for the game, it survives base on Tiger’s presence, in which it has for many years. During his eight month intermission when he was rehabilitating from reconstructed knee surgery, golf was very seldom acknowledged. Once he returned, spectators were anxious watching the game as television ratings skyrocketed. Woods transformed the culture of golf entirely, though he failed winning a major to inch closer to Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 PGA major championships.

Besides historic accomplishments, Woods is pressured to tell us his privacy more than surpassing a miraculous milestone. Notice he has acted as a mature man, protecting his image and one’s privacy. Notice he doesn’t owe us an explanation. He never broke the law, but he broke vows, which is more erroneous than tossing his iron stick or swearing whenever frustrated for shooting bogeys.

His business wasn’t the public's business, meaning Woods had every right to handle the situation silently. For nearly a week, he has handled the situation with aplomb and maturity, accepting wrongdoing and apologized. But now, he has apologized enough, and needs to get back on the golf course and dominate at will.

He needs to preserve championships to shatter Nicklaus' all-time record. He needs to prove he’s a noble athlete, and continue to be a positive influence to humankind. Saved also by his sponsorships Gillette, Gatorade, Nike and EA Sports, is an example of forgiveness.

Not spotless as before, he still is the world’s greatest golfer. Now all he must do is have a breathtaking performance and win. Any athlete can protect his reputation, if they perform well. Seems Tiger is next.

Rather than talking to the world, he needs to go for a hole in one.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Tiger Woods Scandal: The Best Jokes We've Heard So Far

Sven Klemencic — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:18:49 -0500

Tiger Woods' transgressions made life hard for his wife and children, his endorsements, his publicists and PR people, and himself For the rest—including those of us who butter our bread with top X lists of all varieties—he's only made life easier. That's especially true for late-night joke writers, who have been teeing off on the formerly squeaky clean to the point of boring sports star with a barrage of humor. We all know what the greatest joke at Tiger's expense ever was, or will be, but these eleven clips are not too shabby. Here's the best we've heard so far—oh, and remember, NSFW.

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Tiger Woods Drama: It's OK To Be Interested—With One Disclaimer

Greg Eno — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:04:06 -0500

So Tiger Woods is human. Who knew?

You sure could have fooled me, with the way he dominates golf courses like a heroic medieval dragon slayer.

Human? Tell that to his fellow PGAers who are now merely notches on his belt. Tell it to Rocco Mediate, who had the 2008 U.S. Open in his hip pocket before Tiger lifted it in broad daylight. Tell it to anyone who's led a tournament on a Sunday, only to see Woods storm through, leaving broken dreams and birdies in his wake.

Tiger Woods, human? Not on the golf course, where he's shoved Nicklaus, Hogan, Palmer, Nelson, and Jones aside since he was just out of diapers.

Tiger Woods, human? Not in the world of endorsements, either, where he's had the sneaker people, car folks, and razor blade companies rubbing the palms of his hands for years.

Tiger Woods, human? Well, he married a gorgeous, Nordic model and had two beautiful children. Theirs seemed to be a life lived inside a snow globe, not a fish bowl.

But something funny happened the last time that globe got shaken up.

When the faux snowflakes settled, the Woods' happy home looked different—immeasurably so.

Tiger Woods, human after all.

It's a long, long table at which he will now take his next meal. It's filled with politicians, CEOs, movie stars, and just plain regular joes—all who've committed the very same "transgressions" Woods confessed to this week.

Not that he had much of a choice. The objects of his transgressions started coming out of the woodwork, one armed with text messages and e-mails.

As a rule, the words "golf" and "scandal" go together like peanut butter and sauerkraut. You can find more titillating reads about static cling than you can about PGA tour members. As far as athletes go, golfers are a polo shirt and a pair of polyester slacks above bowlers in the personality department.

So Tiger Woods is again a trailblazer in the world of golf. He's provided the sport its very first rootin' tootin' sexcapade.

He's human—and a man, a double whammy when it comes to having a sexual id. When a man says he regrets his actions (as Woods did in his public apology), what he really means is that he wishes like hell he'd never gotten caught. You think the affairs that have been alleged would have stopped had he not crashed his car early Saturday morning?

That's not to say that Tiger isn't sorry; I'm sure he is—and NOT just that he was busted. After your past catches up to you out of breath but smirking, there's time for reflection. It's Olly Olly Oxen Free, so you may as well sit down and think.

But should we care?

It's a fantasy world that some of these pundits live in. Must be, to think that someone of Woods' notoriety and fame is "just another guy." The revelation that he's human and not perfect isn't the issue here. That ought not to be what shocks us.

What's truly mind-boggling, to me, is the notion that this isn't news, that it's just a guy going through a tough time with his family.

I'll make a deal with those types: I won't give Tiger Woods any grief about what he's done in his private life, as long as you don't give grief to those who find this story fascinating.

You know of whom I speak. Those who cavalierly tell those who are following this story to "get a life," which I find terribly offensive. If you pass the scene of a serious car accident, which is filled with flashing lights and paramedics and police and concerned onlookers, and you stop to take a gander, do you need to "get a life?"

It's human nature to be fascinated with and have interest in the lives of celebrities and athletes. You think TMZ.com writes in a vacuum?

No, those who find the Tiger Woods drama interesting—and there can be many reasons why, other than pure lust for scandal—don't need to "get a life."

Just as long as they don't pass judgment on him.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Jesper Parnevik on Tiger Woods' Scandal: Trash Talk That Could Change Golf

James Henderson — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:59:21 -0500

Jesper Parnevik (or Jasper Parnavick, as his name is being spelled around the Web today) is suddenly relevant again.

The Swedish golfer is remembered much more for his Woody-Harrelson-In-White-Men-Can't-Jump Hats than anything he's won on the PGA Tour.

But after some biting words toward Tiger, including jabs at the No. 1 golfer's biggest sponsor, his manhood, and his overall brain power, Parnevik is back at the forefront of golf talk.

"I would be especially sad about it since I'm kind of -- I really feel sorry for Elin -- since me and my wife were at fault for hooking her up with him," Parnevik told ESPN on Tuesday.

"We probably thought he was a better guy than he is. I would probably need to apologize to her and hope she uses a driver next time instead of a 3-iron....But when you are the guy he is, the world's best athlete, you should think more before you do stuff ... And maybe not just do it, like Nike says."

And just like that, Parnevik is a household name.

We've seen Phil Mickelson question Tiger's clubs, and then watched Woods defeat Phil time and time again.

We've heard Rory Sabbatini challenge Tiger, only to watch Woods obliterate the South African trash talker in the golf course.

And now we have Parnevik going after Woods, and it's personal.

It'll be interesting to see if this is a one-time thing, or if other golfers follow suit. Time and time again, Tiger's delivered the knockout punch to various golfers, but now Woods is down, and everyone knows it.

Is Parnevik all alone, or is the first of many to go after Woods?

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Tiger Woods Is in Deep Rough: Can He Par The Course?

Blake Stansbery — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:33:13 -0500

On the golf course, Tiger Woods is one of the greatest if not the greatest to ever play the game. He is a hero and role model to many and for years has stayed out of trouble and negative press. Woods has built up his foundation and has been the center of the topic: Why can't all professional athletes be more like Tiger Woods?

He is so precise and almost robotic when he is on the golf course, that many forget that Woods is just human. Over the years Tiger has built this image up and today he stands as a mega-international icon and the highest paid athlete of all time. A billionaire and the most heavily endorsed athlete in the world. This larger than life persona is exactly why people are reacting the way they are to his recent news of infidelity and domestic troubles.

All of Tigers previous success and triumphs have moved so far back in the minds of many in society in a newsflash. Woods is someone who would usually be described as an "ace," but it appears in the minds of most, he is now seen as over par for the course of life, off the straight and narrow, or best described in golf terms as in deep rough.

While everyone is jumping on Tiger's back, I think it is fair to say that he is human and that he is still a hero to many (count me in as one of them).

In his now famous statement from his website, Tiger apologizes to his family and states that he has not lived to his "values." Values that have appeared for years to be of the highest esteem and values that people in society have looked to for guidance and strength.

In an instant, the questions surrounding Woods has changed. "How many majors will Tiger win this year?" has changed to "How many women has Tiger cheated with recently?"

Currently, it stands at three alleged women, and expect that number to grow.

The new question in the bigger picture of things is: Will Tiger ever be able to live down his affairs? Or the way I like to see it: Can Woods get back to par for the course?

The Internet, magazines, and newspapers are cranking out more press on this issue, like being buried in a pot bunker at St. Andrews.

The reason people are eating this up so much is because it is like bringing royalty down to the peasant's level. What Tiger is alleged to have done, including the now infamous voice-mail to Jaimee Grubs, suggests that Tiger is more like everyone in society. Not any worse than what is normal in today's day and age.

The divorce rate is around 50 percent in our society and one of the leading causes is infidelity. Statistics on infidelity first began in the 1940s and 1950s in the controversial Kinsey Reports. In these studies, they found that 60 percent of men were unfaithful to their spouses before the age of 40. Women were found at the rate of 30 perecent to do the same. I can assure you that these rates have risen through the '50s to today.

How Tiger Woods deals with this within his family will determine whether his "transgressions" cause his family to join the modern day alarming statistics, or if they can survive these events.

Maybe it is already too late, and that will be something his wife determines. I like to believe that Tiger and his family can move past this if Tiger confesses and truly vows to never do anything like this again within the confines of his family.

Being in this kind of situation is not like what Tiger deals with on the golf course. On the course, Tiger can make the putt or make the improbable shot from the rough time and time again. We all know that.

On the course, Tiger is "better than most" even on his bad day, but in life it now appears Woods is right with the vast majority of society in his alleged "transgressions" and "sins."

In life, Tiger will not be able to make a shot or sink a clutch putt to save his marriage and salvage his reputation.

In fact, Tiger will probably never be seen as an "ace" again, but he has a very good chance to get back to par.

It is all in his hands, and if he does this with grace and dignity, maybe he once again can be seen as a role model to a society that scrutinizes those that fall from grace in order to make themselves feel better.

Image Courtesy of PGA.com

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

The Michael Jordan/Tiger Woods Model: Why It Will Never Work With The Media

Michael Fitzpatrick — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:07:01 -0500

Considering that he has looked to Michael Jordan as a mentor for most of his career, it’s no surprise that Tiger Woods has followed the "Michael Jordan Model" in dealing with the media.

It’s also no surprise that the media—sports and gossip writers alike—have now turned on Woods in a New York minute, just as they did with Jordan.

The Jordan/Woods strategy on how to deal with the media is intricate, complex and is slowly implemented over a series of years.

But, here’s an attempt to explain it.

First and foremost, they establish their dominance.

The moment they walk into the media center, or step in front of a group of reporters, the immediately turn on the "I’m better than you and I’m only here because the NBA/PGA Tour is making me be here. In my mind, the journalism profession is worthless and my intelligence is head and shoulders above yours."

They will look down on the media.

They will insert subtle comments intended to put down the journalism profession.

They will embarrass reporters in front of their peers if they ask intrusive or difficult questions, in the hopes that the thought of further embarrassment might stop them from asking similar questions in the future.

They will also create a set of rules:

1) I’ll let you hang with me as long as you never print anything detrimental to my image.

2) The moment you print something bad about me or any of my friends or close associates, you are cut off for good. You will be forever banished from the ‘circle of trust’, and you will spend the rest of your days receiving nothing more than vague, detail-less answers.

3) One person straying from the Jordan/Woods rules can ruin it for the rest. For example, if one single reporter writes an embarrassing or negative article about them, they may completely cut off the media for a few days.

The ultimate principle: If Woods or Jordan ever feel as if they are losing control over what journalists print or say, they will punish them, and possibly even cut hem off for good.

Now, you may be saying "These are professional journalists, why in the world would any of them stick to these ridiculous unspoken, implied rules?"

Well, very often they don’t have much of a choice.

Will their editors be happier and offer them that promotion or pay rise if they are unable to get anything from Woods or Jordan that the public doesn’t already know?

What would be the point of newspapers, magazines, or Web sites spending money to send these journalists to games and events if they are not able to get anything from the biggest stars?

But this "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" arrangement can create a very dangerous situation, and is part of the reason why athletes can often go years and even entire careers without the real truth ever coming out.

It creates a situation where some of those who the public depend on for information are only giving you what Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan want you to have.

In Michael Leahy's book "When Nothing Else Matter" about Jordan's final comeback with the Washington Wizards, he referred to those journalists who played by Jordan's rules as the "Jordan Guys".

They got to hang with Jordan, talk to him about personal issues, about his family, his friends, etc., but, professionally speaking it didn't matter much because they were often too afraid to print anything they might have uncovered anyway.

Now, this type of situation is not necessarily the fault of the media. After all, they are just trying to do a job like the rest of us.

If your boss tells you to completely re-word that email you were intending on sending to your client, would you ignore him and still send it?

You may…but you probably won’t be working there much longer if you do.

Although there are undoubtedly many journalists who play by the Jordan/Woods rules, journalists by nature are always itching to tell the truth; it’s in their blood and it’s what they’ve been trained to do.

So, when the opportunity does arise where they can print the absolute truth and offer their real opinions of you without any real threat of being "punished"—because every single reporter in the country is doing the same thing—they are going to remember all those times Jordan/Woods looked at them like they were fools.

They are going to remember all of those little comments that implied how Jordan/Woods thought journalists were sleazy and worthless.

They are going to remember all those times they were embarrassed by Jordan/Woods in front of their peers.

They are going to remember all those times that their stories suffered because Jordan/Woods were "punishing" the media by not speaking to them for days on end.

They are going to remember that this whole unspoken arrangement was never really an arrangement of equals.

And they are going to remember what it felt like all those years to be treated like a peasant by men who thought they were better than them just because they could hit a little white ball, are throw a round orange ball through a steel hoop.

As we have seen twice now, the Jordan/Woods model works for a while, but at some point during everyone’s career, a little opening will arise, and when it does, the media will unleash the full weight of their power, reach and ability to manipulate the public’s opinion…and there’s not a dam thing Jordan/Woods can do about it.

Perhaps the dynamics of the unspoken arrangement that Woods and Jordan created with the media was skewed from the very start.

Perhaps those who were seemingly controlled by these worldwide mega-stars were actually the ones holding the real power all along.

Read more Tiger Woods news on BleacherReport.com

Has Tiger Been a Tigger Bouncing Between His Wife and Other Women?

Greg Riot — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:01:23 -0500

Has Tiger Woods been a Tigger? You know? Tigger! That bouncy tiger thing in the Winnie the Pooh cartoons and books?

According to all of the women that have suddenly come forward, perhaps he has been a Tigger, bouncing between women, jumping from bed to bed while he travels from city to city. It wouldn’t be the first time that a pro athlete with a spotless reputation (MJ, anyone?) suddenly came up dirty in the bedroom.

Not only does it appear that Tiger’s wife tried to scratch his face off because of the affair (Running to his car barefoot? Driving away in a hurry? What else could it be?), but it also appears that this isn't the first time that Mr. Woods had produced a needed woody with someone other than his wife.

News on Tiger Woods coming clean about his transgressions are spreading like wildfire on the net. Who woulda thunk it? El Tigre Perfecto Senor Woods having an affair with not just one, but possibly three women?

Of course, I have a much different list. To me, El Tigre Perfecto would only sleep with someone as perfect or close to perfect as himself. Because of that, I’ve created a list along with odds, detailing whom the Master of the Stroke might have gotten it on with.

Top 5 Most Likely Tiger Woods’ Mistresses

5. Brangelina +50,000 — Apart Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie reach infinity -1. Together, they are infinity +1 which means that they probably wouldn’t lower themselves to the just “perfect” Mr. Woods. Supra-perfect never lowers itself to just perfect. Not in Hollywood, baby! Then again, if any dude, including Tiger, were to have a threesome and another man had to be involved…

4. Barbra Streisand +2500 — Babs is babs and everybody knows it. Unlike Liza Minelli, who almost made this list for being the perfect alcoholic, Babs is just, well, perfect. Ask anybody. She can sing, she can dance, she can probably cook, and considering that she slept with Nick Nolte and not only lived to tell about it but solved his marriage issues as well (in the Prince of Tides ), makes her the perfect candidate for El Tigre Perfecto.

3. Kim Brown (Cleveland Brown running back Jim Brown’s daughter) +500 — "Dear Jim Brown : You alleging that I don’t do enough for the African community reeks of hypocrisy. Just last night your daughter Kim and I scored a miraculous come back after failing to deliver the goods. She has the details regarding the entire wonderfully blessed ordeal. Let’s just say that yours truly is better at scoring a hole-in-one in things other than golf than anyone your daughter has ever met in the supposed African community. I give it up plenty and so does Kim. Sincerely, El Tigre Perfecto”

2. Oprah -200 — I know that Oprah would never do this, but like the old question asks, “If a tree falls in the forest and nobody heard or saw it, did it really fall?” The forest in this case, of course, is El Tigre Perfecto’s mind and the tree would be Oprah because Oprah is the most perfect, beautiful, entity that the universe has ever been graced with. I’m getting butterflies in my stomach thinking about her…

1. El Tigre Perfecto -50,000 - - Duh. Does this one need any explanation? Does it? Who else would the Master of the Stroke perfect his already perfect stroke with? Duh!!

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Alleged Tiger Woods Mistresses Need to Shoulder Some of the Blame

Ryan Faller — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:09:45 -0500

A hundred or so years from now, when the annals of golf history are scoured, how will the game remember Tiger Woods?

Already renowned as the universe's best golfer, at age 33, Woods has ample time remaining in his career to capture the five major championships needed to surpass Jack Nicklaus and cement his legacy as the best of all time.

Since it all began, we have followed alongside step for step. We were enthralled when, as a gawky and awkward-looking pre-twentysomething, Woods became the first player to win the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship three consecutive times. Heck, he is the only player to win the tournament more than once.

Several years, two pulsating pectorals, and a pair of noticeably more pronounced biceps later, we became downright inebriated by the dominance of this man.

Weaving victories within the game's already rich tapestry with unnatural frequency and ease, Woods became a larger-than-life figure.

First there was the 1997 Masters, where he broke down barriers and called out the stuffiness of the Augusta National Golf Club by becoming the first non-Caucasian to win the prestigious tournament.

Then came the unforgettable four-year period spanning 1999-2002, during which Woods won seven of his 14 major titles and established himself not only as an international superstar and pop culture cash cow, but a loving husband and an aspiring family man as well.

In 2001, fellow PGA star Jesper Parnevik introduced Woods to a young au pair named Elin Nordegren. In fairy tales, the wholesome Swedish former cover girl and well-versed black role model would work, but the union would be far from ideal. In reality, however, the pair meshed beautifully.

Less than three years after meeting, the couple wed. In 2007, Elin gave birth to their first child. Soon after that, Woods and Nordegren welcomed their first son. Now with two healthy children, the sports world's "it" couple seemed complete.

When Woods won his third-career U.S. Open despite hobbling around Torrey Pines on that knee seemingly void of sufficient cartilage and working ligaments, we all thought it couldn't get more perfect.

Chances are it won't—unless Woods overcomes this grave tragedy which he has created for himself.

The reason this scandal is so bitterly hard to swallow is the fact that Woods seemed to be every bit the perfect gentleman as his wife seems to be the girl next door.

He's handsome, intelligent, well-spoken, and a savvy handler of his multiple business ventures, and endorsers have traditionally drooled over obtaining the right to harness his reputation as a beacon of inspiration for not only African-American youth, but all children and young adults.

Despite his missteps, Woods' legacy as a professional golfer will and should remain untarnished. There will be no asterisks next to his name whether he claims the outright lead in major championship victories or fails to win another tournament.

From a business standpoint, his relationships appear as strong as they were the day they were forged.

Nike and Gatorade have already released statements expressing their support for Woods. AT&T may soon follow suit, as may others.

Woods' association with their products will only enhance these advertisers' efforts, if only in some kind of backwards way that can only be described as purely American.

Record books and public relations arms of Fortune 500 companies may not discriminate for one's transgressions as a human being, but the public certainly does. Only time will tell whether our country will accept Woods as the next great comeback story.

Woods only need do the right things to begin to regain his healthy image. It appears he is on the right track.

Woods' lengthy, introspective apology on his personal Web site helped, and he and Nordegren have reportedly entered therapy amid reworking their prenuptial agreement.

Woods' crime against the sanctity of marriage is egregious. Not that adultery is ever acceptable, but when children are involved, the severity of the act skyrockets.

But on a moral level—the one level upon which the greatest amount of emphasis in this case should be placed—I can't help but think Woods is bearing the brunt of more than his half of the blame.

Not unlike the tango, it takes two to participate in a prolonged, clandestine, and illicit affair. Or, in the case of Woods, it takes up to four.

So then why is no one expressing equal disgust toward the three women who are each presumed to have had relations with Woods, as well as their complete lack of moral fiber?

Is their complicity in all of this simply nonexistent because they are not celebrities and thus are not held to a higher standard? Some would argue yes, but that still doesn't excuse the lack of remorse for their actions, nor does it pardon their failure to say no.

If these women have anything in common other than that each has covertly philandered around town with Woods, it's that each seems mutually content to milk her unlawful affiliation with the PGA star for the sake of advancing her own pathetic agenda—financial or otherwise.

Rachel Uchitel, the 33-year-old socialite and club promoter from New York City, is working hard to uphold her reputation as a woman who dates married celebrities.

In the process, she has perpetuated the hush-hush nature of the mistress persona by initially denying her alleged relationship with Woods, which supposedly lasted six months and reached its crescendo when the golfer paid for Uchitel's travel expenses so she could join him in Australia for last month's Australian Masters.

It's even being reported that it was Uchitel's text messages to Woods that triggered the events leading up to and surrounding the single-car accident in front of the star's Windermere, Fla., mansion.

But Uchitel is about to set the record straight—sort of. According to TMZ, famed celebrity attorney Gloria Allred is expected to speak on Uchitel's behalf at a news conference Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

(UPDATE: Said news conference has since been canceled by Uchitel, as of 1:30 ET Thursday afternoon, according to a report on ESPN.)

Jaimee Grubbs, 24, surfaced next. A Los Angeles cocktail waitress and former reality television star, Grubbs claims to have had an on-again, off-again relationship with Woods that lasted 31 months.

During that time, Grubbs insists Woods offered her a job and free access to a Las Vegas condo and engaged her in a number of salacious text messages.

But that all pales in comparison to the recently released smoking gun of a voicemail between the two, although it has not been confirmed that the man's voice on the recording is that of Woods.

Grubbs, an aspiring model, denies she has spoken with Nordegren, which contradicts earlier reports that an irate Nordegren attempted to contact Grubbs shortly after Woods left the now infamous voicemail.

I would be remiss in failing to mention Kalika Moquin, a 27-year-old marketing manager in Las Vegas who, according to an unidentified source, has been intimately involved with Woods on a number of occasions.

Moquin is Woods' third alleged mistress, and she has been tight-lipped about the situation, telling the press that she'd rather focus on work than any allegations of an affair.

This trio is not alone, as I'm sure names of more attention-starved femme fatales will begin to grace the Web and overtake Google's search rankings.

This is an extremely hard story to piece together. It's currently held together by tabloid sleaze and faceless sources, and any dignified news organization will think twice about dipping its toe in what has become a media cesspool.

As such, I'm not so sure we actually know much more now than we did in the wake of Woods' Nov. 27 car accident.

One thing is for sure: Each of the women currently linked to Woods has a lot to gain and very, very little to lose—if anything at all. That alone would be force enough to make any one of them ditch her moral compass in the blink of an eye.

If you don't think a wannabe model and a pair of promoters at swanky hotspots don't have an opportunity to prosper from all this, then the inner workings of our MTV-like culture is surely foreign to you.

I understand that Woods is the public figure on trial here, and he rightfully deserves the negative attention. But what of the accomplices? Should we not look at them with a furrowed brow and a piercing glance just because less may be expected of them?

Or should we expect more? What does it say for the state of our society's sense of morality if we don't put as much blame on these women as we have on Woods?

At some point or another during their association with Woods, all three women knew damn well he was married and a father of two children.

Indeed, there are two sides to every story, but until every unreasonable doubt in this case is waived, both sides should be equally accountable.

Suppose for a minute that every report we have heard up to his point is false and Woods is exonerated from any and all charges of infidelity.

After all, Woods never used the words "cheated" or "adultery" in his personal statement, nor did he indicate the manner of his "transgressions."

Should these women then not be scolded for their outrageous accusations?

We as the public have the right to determine the answer to that question. But because Woods used to be this squeaky-clean golden boy who could possibly do no wrong, especially when it came to hurting his immediate family, his is the more compelling side of the tale.

Regardless of what transpires, Woods will forever be hailed as one of the top two golfers of all time, and his clout as a revenue-generating machine will not diminish.

When all the turmoil has settled, he may even be viewed as a provider to his children and a compassionate, though perhaps not loyal, husband to his wife.

But for now, Woods has possibly put the third part of that equation in jeopardy. It's just a shame no one else is accepting responsibility along with him.

You can find this story and more at my page at Examiner.com.

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Tiger's "Transgression": A Wake Up Call for Fans

Jose Salviati — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:34:34 -0500

Why are we so shocked?

Why do we continue to pretend this couldn't happen to him (replace him with any professional athlete of your choice).

Why do we continue to expect anything different from any one individual given more money than God?

Biblically, money is the root of all evil. Historically, money is an aphrodisiac that blinds the senses and self-control of 99.9 percent of those who obtain it in bunches.

Combine those qualities with a natural bent in all humans to grow disatisfied over time with any one thing and you have a recipe for failure. The "grass is always greener" syndrome rings more true in Tiger Woods case than it ever has before.

Have you seen Elin Woods?

That wasn't enough for you Tiger?

There are a few truths to glean from what Tiger classifies as his "transgression" and "personal sin." Monogamy is hard work made all the more difficult when you mix the lure of power money brings. The grass is indeed always greener, but it is rarely worth the climb over the fence to get to it.

What drives a man with the power of the presidency of the United States to play cigar games with a young intern?

What drives a young man at the top of his game known globally with a wonderful family to risk it all for what amounts to a roll in the hay?

The drive, in both these cases and every other case of infidelity, comes from a blood flow in the wrong direction.

Every man who ever walked the earth has dealt with the temptation to act when that blood starts flowing South. Fighting the drive to fail is no failure. Acting on it—when you have a wife and kid at home—is.

So then the question becomes not what drove them to it, but what made them think it was okay to act.

President Kennedy famously had his lady-friends brought to the White House when ever the mood struck him. They were escorted in by the Secret Service and everything was very hush-hush.

President Clinton must have figured with the title come the perks.

Babe Ruth was a playboy. James Worthy paid for his escort with a credit card in Houston. Rattling off the indiscretions of famous athletes here would take some time of course. It's clear that Tiger Woods, like Bill Clinton, was simply following the model set before him.

They both were driven by the same thing that drives every man, they acted because they could. They acted, in part, because history said they could and get away with it. Falsely believing that somehow they were above the indiscretion.

Neither were.

Will athletes and men with power ever stop acting on their impulses? There is a better chance of Hugh Hefner being ordained as pope than for that to happen. Will some athlete and/or man of power step up and set the new model for behaviour moving forward?

I certainly hope so.

I'm not proclaiming the need for athletes to declare their stand on virginity before marriage like Barry Sanders and AC Green did during their playing days. Sanders recanted when word that he impregnated someone came out. Green, by all accounts, stuck to his guns.

Instead I think It's time for us to understand that despite the fame, the money, the power, the amazing ability these men have—they are still men. Men that are burdened with the same temptations everyone carrying the Y chromosome has. Men carrying the additional burden of believing they are above it all.

Should Tiger lose his endorsements? No, but he will lose some. Should Tiger make changes in his life? Clearly. Should we be surprised this happened? Sadly, no.

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