Tiger Woods: Winner Or Cheater? One Man's Epic "Fall From Grace!"

THE VECCHIO FACTOR SAYS...

The 2011 PGA tour is off and running, and Tiger Woods is well, simply off.

February 19th marks the one year anniversary of his contrived, whiny, "staged apology," press conference for the myriad of adulterous indiscretions committed by him while married to Elin Nordegren Woods.

Looking back, it was difficult to watch a man obviously "fall from grace.". 

In a lengthy monologue, heavily laden with Woods' character flaws of indignation, anger, and arrogance, what jumped out most was watching someone who was making an awkward attempt at delivering a sincere apology, but was, beneath it all, still desperately trying, first and foremost, to protect and resurrect his tarnished image.   

Yes, he made the standard, required apologies, but under the controlled public persona he is famous for.

His stiff, rehearsed attempt at rehabilitation only reinforced the belief that he is a robotic, unsympathetic control freak, with an over-inflated ego.   

With the determination of making an 18th hole birdie putt for a Master's win, he nervously tried to convince the public that the standard cheater's excuse, "sex addiction," was responsible for his abhorrent, pathetic behavior as a husband, father, and human being. 

People on Woods' side point to Kobe Bryant, in an attempt to compare Tiger's MULTIPLE indiscretions to what Bryant did.  

It pales in comparison. 

Not to excuse it, but as far as we know, Kobe's was a "one night stand," whereas Tiger had multiple trysts, some for fun, with strippers and porn stars, and some bordering on outright "I LOVE YOU, I'LL LEAVE MY WIFE" relationships.   

The level of marital cheating committed by this man could well receive "Guiness World Record" consideration.  

As a result, there are no words that befit Woods better than Liar, Cheater, and Fraud! 

But there's more as the world turns and the plot thickens

The October, 2010, 5 felony indictment of Canadian physician, Dr. Anthony Galea for smuggling illegal drugs into the U.S., operating without a medical license in the U.S.,and lying to Federal agents, opens up a whole new issue of suspicion related to Woods and his penchant for cheating. 

Only in this case, it has nothing to do with his adulterous escapades. It has more to do with the rumors that Woods was given Performance Enhancing Drugs, namely HGH and Actovegin, by Dr. Galea during the past few years, supposedly to treat and recover from a knee injury. 

The New York Daily News reported that Galea and Mark Lindsay, a Canadian chiropractor who treated Woods and managed Alex Rodriguez's rehabilitation from hip surgery, were principals at a Toronto clinic called Affinity Health.

The story went on to say that Lindsay's clients included former NFL star Bill Romanowski, and sprinters Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones, admitted PED users, who all testified in a grand jury investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative's (BALCO) involvement with PED's.

It was during that time, when Lindsay worked with Montgomery, that BALCO founder Victor Conte formed "Project World Record," whose intention was to make Montgomery the fastest man in the world.

Montgomery was later implicated in the BALCO scandal, along with Romanowski and Jones, and is  serving time in prison for heroin distribution. Jones served six months in jail for lying to investigators about her use of performance enhancing drugs.

Conte told the Daily News that "Dr. Mark Lindsay is a world-renowned chiropractor that I met through Bill Romanowski,  Mark is one of the best at active release techniques, and I referred a few athletes to him, including Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones."

Subsequently, in May of 2010, Mary Anne Catalano, Galea's executive assistant, was detained at the New York-Canadian border with HGH, Actovegin, centrifuges, and other medical equipment, and has since pleaded guilty to lying to Federal authorities. 

When caught, she alleged that she was headed to a medical conference, and that the drugs and equipment were to be used as a part of a demonstration. 

Facing a felony charge of transporting illegal drugs into the U.S.,she "fessed up" and told authorities they were meant to be used for treatment on Washington Redskins receiver, Santana Moss, one of Anthony Galea's clients..

She is presently co-operating in the ongoing prosecution against Galea.

Since the Galea case has yet to be adjudicated, there can be no clear-cut accusations of guilt, most notably against Tiger Woods, however, when you look at the cast of characters involved, you will notice that many are admitted PED users, suspected PED users, convicted PED users, and convicted suppliers/providers of PED's.

The adage "where there's smoke there's fire" seems appropriate in assessing various individuals' involvement with Dr. Galea and the "treatment" he provided, and that includes Woods..

To be fair, it must be pointed out that as of this date, Tiger Woods has not been charged with any crime pertaining to Dr. Anthony Galea. 

With the unresolved Galea matter hanging over his head, over the past year, Tiger's marketers and PR people have done well to make a dent in rehabilitating his sordid past, resurrecting his career, and trying to revitalize sponsorships.  

Yet, there are those in the American public who value honesty, character, marriage, and family, and while forgiving him, I submit, they will not support his quest to regain his once-hallowed stature in the eyes of the vacuous, idol worshipping, sports public. 

When he spoke in his "presser" last February about people "fabricating" stories, he should know since he's the ultimate "Fabricator!" 

And while he chastised the media for doggedly following him and his family, he should have thought about the consequences of one day being caught as he arrogantly continued down his self-centered, "immediate gratification" path, knowingly disrespecting his wife, children, and family! 

Tiger Woods WAS a great golfer, but as a human being his past exhibited a purposeful and reckless dishonesty towards his fellow man/woman, undoubtedly one of man's worst qualities. 

And lest we forget, there's still the question as to whether or not he received illegal performance enhancing drugs. 

Take these facts into consideration.  

Prior to his marital infidelity issues, and public knowledge of being treated by Dr. Galea, Tiger Woods' career average driving distance, as of July 2009, was 302 yards. In 2005 it was 316 yards. 

In 2010, it was 282.9 yards. 

Last week at Torrey Pines, a tournament he has won 7 times, he had his worst finish ever there, tied for 44th place, and averaged 278.5 yards per drive during his final round of 75..

Numbers don't lie.  Do they not seem to indicate a downward trend re: his yards per drive?

In 2009, prior to the discovery of Galea's involvement with him, his career driving average of 302 yards was well above today's PGA driving distance average of 286.3 yards. 

As of his last tournament at Torrey Pines, Tiger was below his career yards per drive statistics.

Something is amiss.  How else do you explain his reduced yards per drive average? 

Prior to being a "patient" of Dr. Anthony Galea, he was hitting drives well over the PGA drive-per-yards average. 

Since no longer being "treated" by Galea, his yards per drive average (YPD) dropped well below his 302 YPD of 2009. 

Could it be that his dishonesty spread beyond cheating on his wife?

Yes, we're all flawed; and "to err is human, to forgive is divine," but haven't we seen enough despicable behavior in our sports, entertainment, and political worlds?  

At 35, it can argued that Tiger Woods' career as golf's premier player is O-V-E-R, as witnessed by his latest 44th place finish at Torrey Pines in January 2011.

With many still unanswered questions about his personal life, and with an obvious decline in his golfing ability, the worth Woods once commanded in terms of viewer time spent watching him play has been reduced, for whatever reason, by his mediocre golf game, 

A winner on one level and a cheater on another, fame is fickle and fleeting, and it's my bet that while he presently has 14 major wins, what most of us thought was a "slam dunk," ain't gonna' happen.

Tiger Woods WILL NOT break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major golf championships!   

While he thrilled us with his remarkable golfing ability, he disappointed us with his disability in regards to his judgement and behavior off the golf course.

As it now stands, to coin words from the rock band Chicago, "Does anybody really know what time it is, does anybody really care?"  Anymore, that is, about Tiger Woods???

JOE VECCHIO

THE VECCHIO FACTOR