Tiger Should Learn From Kobe

Back in 2003, I remember watching an early regular season Laker game with someone I had recently begun dating.  She knew nothing about sports (I had to explain the idea of the shot clock to her), and yet she still had the wherewithal and audacity to ask, “how can you root for the team with the rapist?”  Such was the state of Kobe Bryant’s public image at that moment in time.  For a brief period of time he transcended sports and became known as that guy who cheated on his wife and maybe worse.  Starting two guard for the Los Angeles Rapers.

I flashed back to that moment on friday morning, as society screeched to a standstill and the planet ceased its revolutions long enough for Tiger Woods to get off a 14 minute monologue during which aliens could have invaded and none of the major networks would have bothered to switch to the emergency broadcast system.  You missed your chance.  Within the prepared statement were remarks on Buddhism, his foundation, going into treatment for sex addiction, the press coverage of his family, and multiple apologies to anyone who felt he let them down.

He didn’t seem to enjoy that very much.  I watched as one CNN voice/body language expert criticized him for being monotone and expressionless and being critical of the fact that his speech felt rehearsed, grading him with an asinine “F-minus”.  Tiger Woods is always monotone and expressionless, and of course he crafted a careful statement because he knew his words would be picked apart.  Should he have just strolled up to the podium and flown from the seat of his pants, risking the possibility of blurting out something like “ok, so I boned a few broads”?  And don’t let the media fool you into thinking his apology was not good enough because they werent invited to sit in and ask questions afterward.  Just because you weren’t invited to the party doesn’t mean that nobody had a good time.

No, in fact the real reason his apology came off as insincere was the fact that he even bothered to make it. Read the rest here