Tiger Woods' Alleged Apathy Towards Siblings Paints Bad Picture

Tiger Woods has a brother with multiple sclerosis who needs a caretaker and is on the verge of losing his house. 

The sports icon could erase these problems with a quick swipe of his pen over a check, but according to Woods' siblings, he ignores him. Woods has three half-brothers and a sister. They all share the same father. 

The oldest of those, Earl Jr., was quoted by ESPN's Rick Reilly as saying Tiger has all but completely forgotten them:  

"

I leave messages. I leave updates on Kevin, but for whatever reason I don't get a response. …Kevin loves Tiger. A call from Tiger would really pump Kevin up. When he doesn't call, it just makes him feel worse.

"

In fact, Reilly relayed comments from the siblings that say they have not seen or heard from Tiger since their father's funeral, which was six years ago. 

It is important to keep in mind that this is just one side of the story, and there are typically many sides to a story involving family conflict. There could be a lot going on behind the scenes that has created this rift. 

Still, anyway you slice it or explain it, it is hard to fathom a person turning his back on a brother that is suffering. 

These siblings have not been running to the press or publishers to sell scandalous details about Tiger, and they aren't standing there, hands out, blindly asking for money from the rich member of the family. 

Earl Jr. also talked about that in Reilly's article:

"

Nobody's asking for money here, but [a caregiver] really would be nice for Kevin. It would make Kevin comfortable. He wouldn't have to leave his house. …But we'd at least like to be able to find out how Tiger is, to find out if he's OK, and to let him know if we're OK.

"

How This Alters Perception of Tiger

Put in words like this, this story makes Tiger look like a cold and selfish monster. Tiger's brother is suffering to the degree that he can't take care of himself much longer. And Tiger allegedly can't be troubled to lend him support of any kind—not monetarily or emotionally. 

That is something that is hard to stomach, and it is hard to fathom a reason Tiger would have to justify this behavior.

This story is far more shocking and unsettling than the "revelations" floating around the press that were contained in Hank Haney's book The Big Miss.

While those tales bring a little more details to light on Tiger, they don't really offer anything new. We all knew Tiger had a bunch of mistresses, got distracted from golf, had a strained relationship, etc..  

Essentially, there was nothing revealed that any person paying attention to Tiger wouldn't think he was already capable of.

It is astounding that he might be capable of the kind of morose apathy that it would take to turn his back on a brother crippled by multiple sclerosis.