Everyone Please, It's Time to Jump Off the Tiger's Back

Tiger Woods is a man.

A man who had what no other athlete had.

He was an ambassador to the sport of golf and the first real reason to watch since the days of Nicklaus and Palmer.

He was the first billion-dollar athlete, eclipsing such names as Roger Federer, David Beckham, and Michael Jordan.

He traveled all around the world to the fanciest of golf courses, staying in the most elite hotels, and being fancied by the most beautiful women.

He was gone from his home and his family about once every third week, and that was just his golfing schedule.

Excluded are his numerous sponsorship, press, and television appearances and his time spent practicing.

And the guy wasn't allowed to make a few mistakes along the way?

He was forever in the spotlight and why shouldn't he? He was the most dominating force in a sport that was seeking just that.

He was multi-racial and appealed to nearly everyone; his demeanor always kept in check.

And even he has been privy to show his own astonishment at some of the things he can do with a golf ball.

But now it has all come crashing down.

Today, Tiger Woods announced that he's going to take an indefinite leave of absence from professional golf.

After all of the drama surrounding him in the past weeks, he now will have no escape from the petty mistakes that he's made.

There is nothing illegal with what he did. The only laws he broke were moral ones.

And yet the people who are attacking him for this are the same people that break down the likes of Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and one of the most influential musicians ever, Michael Jackson.

I'm talking about the TMZ's and the Nancy Grace's of the world.

While their ratings soar to new heights, they are constantly digging into a man's personal life and trying to bring out every little boo-boo he's made along the way.

It's not the sports world that's brought this man down, it's the pop-culture media outlets that have to find a story and run with it until something idiotic happens.

In this case, they caused a man who wouldn't even quit in the U.S. Open, when every swing was causing excruciating pain, to now leave the game that he loved for an indefinite amount of time.

But unlike the stars that TMZ is used to, Tiger was subject to only infidelity.

Never has he had go to rehab for substance abuse. Never has he been caught with an illegal substance. And never has he been accused of sharing a bed with a toddler.

So did what he do really merit this kind of reaction?

I've heard guys like Stephen A. Smith, Chad Ochocinco, and Michael Strahan back up Tiger saying that he's only a man and that he's subject to making mistakes.

The only problem is, pop-culture media doesn't care about people's lives, only ratings and money.

And now if the effect on Tiger wasn't enough, we as sports fans are subject, once again, to professional golf without Tiger Woods.

No more fist pumps and 10-stroke comebacks. No more red-shirt Sundays. For now we'll have to miss one of the most dominating athletes in his sport in what many were calling the prime of his career.

Will Tiger come back to golf?

I'm sure he will.

But until then, golf fans and fans of sporting worldwide will have to wait for the most astonishing golfer of our time to amaze us once more.

So I say all Tiger-haters out there. Step off your high horse and get your noses out of the clouds. Drop down a level and see life as it is in 2009.

These aren't the 1950's anymore.

In a world where children are born everyday without a father at their side, you're going to attack a man who in a very stressful life wanted to relax?

I'm not saying that what he didn't wasn't wrong. I'm just saying that in this day and age, it's not nearly as bad as people are making it out to be.

So please, leave the man alone. If not for us sports fans, do it for one of the greatest, most dominating, mind-blowing athletes of our time. I think he at least deserves that.