Tiger by the Tail

I guess I am fascinated by golf this week because both my research blog and this opinion blog are going to be about golf. In my last blog, I discussed why golf might be better off with its small but quality audience. I can only talk about golf’s small audience if I omit those who are watching the train wreck that has become Tiger Woods. Golf’s most popular athlete is hands down Tiger Woods. He was the best thing that had happened to golf in a long time. He was the best golfer in the world. When ESPN voted on the best athlete in a bracketed competition, Tiger Woods was the clear winner, beating out athletes like Peyton Manning, Mickey Mantle, and Michael Jordan. Despite all this, the mighty hath fallen. Tiger has taken what is arguably the worst downfall for a public figure in recent history. My question is, why? Why has Tiger Woods become such a scorned public figure? It is not like he is the first man to cheat on his wife. It is not like he is the first man to have slept with hoards of women. He is not the only person to have recent adulterous scandals exposed. Why is he being crucified for actions that seem to have become second-nature in pop culture? Look at Bill Clinton. He was involved in arguably the most infamous sex scandal in American politics, but people do not feel the need to throw things at him or shout obscenities when he walks down the street. What about David Letterman? He had numerous affairs with staff members, admitted them on the air, and he was hailed as a hero because he was brave enough to talk about it on television. Is Tiger Woods considered a heretic because he did not feel the need to confess to all of America is extra-marital activities? Do we believe that every man who cheats on his wife needs to confess it on national television? If so, we would have a channel that aired nothing but adulterous confessions. My wife and I have discussed the Tiger Woods topic at length, and she said something to me that made a lot of sense. When I asked her why it seemed that everyone wanted Tiger Woods to fail, she told me it was because it appears like he has not been punished. When Michael Vick was convicted in the dog fighting scandal, he served time in prison. Tiger Woods admits to cheating on his wife, checks himself into rehab (which almost appeared more as a PR stunt than anything else), and then returns to the game of golf, seemingly without any consequences. His wife has not divorced him, he is still playing the game he loves, and he is being supported by numerous sports writers and commentators. It appears that he has gotten off pretty easy to the casual observer. So, what should have happened to Tiger Woods? Should adultery be a crime? What would the punishment be? I do not think Tiger Woods has gotten off easy. I think that he has been punished more than any jail time could do to him. He will always be remembered as the guy who was at the top of his game but was a fraud. He is the Barry Bonds of golf. He will have an asterisk by his name in all of the records’ books. His pleasure came at a high cost, and the fact that people are feeling the need to write a blog about his bad decisions show how far he has fallen. He may not be serving jail time, but he is serving time in social prison which I think is just as bad.