Tiger Accident Clippings, Vol. 13
While the golf world may be tired of the Tiger saga, it appears the tabloids are not letting go. Perhaps emboldened by Tiger's lecture on privacy, they are moving full steam ahead on several stories. More on that in a moment.
On a positive front for Tiger, several people came forward in his defense. Unfortunately the list included John Daly and Donald Trump. OJ wasn't available apparently. Still recovering from his prison beating.
Mike Walker relays the highlights from The Donald's television interview:
"He's had a very interesting and very traumatic couple of weeks," Trump told TV's Extra. "But I know Tiger and he's a wonderful guy. Tiger is going to be hotter than ever. Mark my words."
Winning will also cure any problems Woods might have with his endorsements, Trump added.
"It may affect his endorsements a little but, but it's like Kobe [Bryant]," Trump said. "No one remembers the Kobe incident anymore. He went out and won a championship."
Randell Mell reports on Greg Norman's Golf Channel interview:
“I hope Tiger sorts these issues out,” Norman said. “Things like that should stay behind closed doors, but then again we are public figures. There are times when people feel like they can reach through the TV screen and say `I own you, I know you because I buy a product you represent.’ That’s a part of it. You have to accept that responsibility.”
Jack Nicklaus was cornered today and offered a "none of my business" to AP, while Reuters quoted him this way:
"He'll figure it out. We've always been a forgiving society," Nicklaus said at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida where he was honouring the boys' golf team that won the state championship.
John Daly wanted to let us know Tiger has made a lot of golfers rich and therefore they should support him in this time of...whatever this time is.
Daly said: "I wish them [the Woods family] the best. I'm not too happy with what some players have said.
"Golf needs him. Because of Tiger is why we're playing for so much money."
Tabloid critics can rejoice after the most glaring fiction yet published was quickly debunked by a skeptical golf media that knew neither Ben Crane and especially Charles Warren were capable of saying something interesting.
Christine Brennan summed up the saga this way:
We are in the midst of something so jaw-dropping and out of the ordinary that were we to use a term to describe it from a now-suddenly distant, quickly fading past, we might call it Tigeresque.
What Tiger Woods has caused to happen to himself and his image over the past two weeks is the sports world's most remarkable fall from grace, ever. No athlete has ever held a perch so high in our culture — right up there with President and Mrs. Obama, and Oprah — and fallen so far so fast.
Of everything I read, Jason Whitlock wins a special citation for the most awful mess of a column I've read on the Woods saga. Though anyone who blames Orange County for something does deserve some respect:
As far as I know, Tiger grew up on golf courses in suburban Orange County, raised by an African-American, Chinese and Native American father and Thai, Chinese and Dutch mother. That is not the recipe for falling in love with sistas regardless of Tiger's brown skin and full lips.
By profession and diction, the dude would be considered a nerd by most brothers and sisters. Take away his billion dollars and many of the sisters whining that Tiger prefers blondes would continue their search for a tatted-up, corn-rowed, slang-talking real brother.
(If that description doesn't fit you, then don't complain. Destiny's Child sang and sold "Soldier" because somebody was feeling it.)
Tiger's choice in women isn't a statement about how he feels about us (black folks). It's a statement about where and how he grew up.
Jordan Robertson of AP reports on huge website traffic surges since the accident, including a seven-fold jump at golf.com.
An item on the Daily Record blog has this interesting quote about Tiger's endorsement future.
I talked to Baltimore ad firm TBC’s Howe Burch this week about the potential sponsor fallout from Tigergate and he says this is only the beginning. Burch takes issue with those who say Woods’ transgressions have made him seem more human.
“I find that to be a misguided perspective on the whole thing,” said Burch, a former marketing executive with Fila and Reebok. “Tiger was affiliated with big blue chip brands and any brand that is successful is built on a foundation of trust…Tiger has violated their trust. They did not sign up for someone who is duplicitous.”
Toby Tobin suggests that Tiger's already troubled Cliffs project will not be helped by this saga, particularly with a schmaltzy promotional video where Tiger talks about his family life.
The new National Enquirer leads with a cover story that is sure to get plenty of attention, with suggestions of a love child and sex tape.
According to Radar, Gloria's back! The L.A. lawyer is representing "a number of women" on the Tiger front including an apparent woman number thirteen.
TMZ reveals a new document from Tiger's lawyers in Britain filing a motion to stop the publication of revealing photos and videos that they say do not exist.
Tiger Woods' lawyers sent a letter to multiple UK papers and blogs, stating the court order "prevents the publication of private and confidential information contained in the Order.... this Order is not to be taken as any admission that any such photographs exist, and in the event they do exist they may have been fabricated, altered, manipulated and/or changed to create the false appearance and impression that they are nude photographs of our client."
The court order also covers any possible videos. It blocks the publication of "any photographs, footage or images taken or obtained of the claimant [Tiger] naked or any naked parts of the claimant's [Tiger's] body or of him involved in any sexual activity."
The lawyer's letter says, "Our client is not aware of any images and in any event he would not have consented to any such photographs being taken nor would he have consented to the dissemination or exploitation of the same."
Radar says Mistress #4 is going on the Today Show Friday and also appearing in a special Dateline Friday night titled "The Secret Life of Tiger Woods."
On the comedy front, George Lopez only devoted half of his monologue to Tiger on Wednesday night.
Letterman features the latest EA Sports Tiger Woods game:
And finally, Jimmy Kimmel reveals Tiger's new reality show:
Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 09:03 PM
Reader Comments (35)
If at all, he's just barely gone over $1bn in revenues. Subtract the following:
- taxes, lots of taxes, including state taxes wherever said tournament won is domiciled
- millions and millions donated to his charity
- 5-10% cut of tourney winnings to Steve Williams
- Mark Steinberg's (IMG shares) cut on endorsement income
- travel expenses for himself/family/"inner circle"/others
- home/living expenses for Mom and others
- boat expenses
- NetJets expenses
- various and sundry "other" expenses
- staff expenses (accountants, lawyers, office staff, etc...)
- new home expense (he's been conservative on the home front up until now)
- political expenses (surely he's paying for Steiney to grease Fla. politicians)
- bribe expenses (has to reimburse Steiney for bribing the DA's office)
- various hydrant and tree replacement expenses
Add it all up he's lucky to be a $500millionaire...
...but at least he's got that going for him, which is nice.
That entendre is doubled over laughing at itself.
Nice!
But Doc how would we know what investments he's made through the years and how they've faired? $500M can become a billion pretty quickly if you know what you're doing.
Somebody seems to have acted in direct breach of any part of the Order that requires its existence to be kept secret and I would not be at all surprised to hear a lot more about that - Woods' lawyers and the Judge will be absolutely furious that there has been such a quick and flagrant breach and they are unlikely to leave it alone. The lawyers will know who they have sent the Order to and there may be a massive witch-hunt.
What a dope. On the clip I saw he actually said Tiger enjoys my courses. I'd be willing to bet Tiger has never seen his courses.
All joking aside, I think her's pretty conservative on the investment side...possibly the only part of his life that can be described that way! Well, I guess he did hit 2-iron all week at the Open the year.
i guess what i mean is what, if any, aspects of tiger's alleged behavior or the response to that behavior would be different if tiger were white?
i think of tiger as the greatest golfer who ever lived and an incredibly powerful, wealthy and successful guy, but i almost never think about his race.
The story about Laura Norman walking in on Greg with the nanny during a tour of "Aussie Rules: with the Hobe Sound Garden Club in tow was a great yarn back in the early 1990's.
Anyway, so have a little meat behind the other side of this colon: you're right in trusting your gut on all this business for the last week or so ... race isn't and shouldn't be an issue in this. It's not. I don't see it. I really don't. It's all been about something else ... that's racy in its own special way.
- "Tiger's a billionaire", no he's not.
- "Gatorade dropped Tiger", no they didn't. (not yet anyway)
- "Steiney bribed the DA and greased the politicians", no he didn't.
- "IMG blew it", no they didn't.
- "11 confirmed mistressed', no there aren't.
Etc...
Bill Simmons has a great article on the Tiger Saga on espn.com, it is a good read.
E.P., I think it matters. Just not a fan of the "don't let the facts get in the way of a good story" mentality that is pervasive these days. If people were saying things about you wouldn't you at least expect them to make accurate commentary?
Again, not denying that the story is huge, but let's at least get it straight, only takes a few more minutes...
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/tiger_bought_vG51veRSWEl7DP8lFvRayM
You can take the word of a hooker if you like but I wouldn't be surprised if the story is fiction -- clearly Tiger didn't have to pay for it...but obviously he's paying dearly now.
Yesterday you probably bought into the Crane/Warren comments too? Today Crane/Warren are saying they didn't make those comments.
I agree with those who have written here that Tiger's race is, and has been, a very minor (on nonexistent) issue to most of us white golf fans. . . Certainly there are plenty of "haters" who talk about it and his friendships with famous black athletes like Jordan and Barkley in negative terms. . . But, it would seem that Tiger's "entourage" is generally multi ethnic just like the man himself. . .
So, maybe our society has grown up some after all?
Cypress, CA:
White 51.3%
Black 2.3%
Latino 15.9%
Asian 27.8%
Other 1.5%
Santa Monica, CA:
White 72.1%
Black 3.3%
Latino 13.8%
Asian 8.9%
Other 1.8%
San Francisco, CA:
White 44.7%
Black 6.7%
Latino 15.1%
Asian 31.5%
Other 1.4%
I'll leave it up to Mr. Whitlock to explain what this has to do with golf or Tiger Woods.
Jason Whitlock was part of the pile-on when Rush Limbaugh's name was revealed as a possible minority investor in the St. Louis Rams. Whitlock was one of many who used the bogus quotes that somebody/nobody attributed to Limbaugh. Give some credit to Whitlock; at least he apologized for his part in that mess.
Then there's this:
http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2009/07/jason_whitlock_does_not_like_serena_williams_badunkadunk.php
And this:
http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2009/07/jason_whitlock_is_looking_for_love_steve_mcnair.php
Bernard Darwin, Jason ain't.
If Jason Whitlock writes anything, or tells you anything, about golf, you can pretty much count on it being wrong. Jason Whitlock might be able to conjure up good columns, writing about Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan or Alex Rodriguez or Terrell Owens. Just maybe, Jason Whitlock likes the idea that Tiger Woods is an "athlete" just like those guys. But I don't think the greater world of golf is too happy about that.
i had assumed that you were proficient enough at reading to understand my point was that a rough estimate of how many dollars tiger has is accurate enough for our purposes, and not that we should disregard all facts and just focus on the "good story" part, or that accuracy in the key facts is not important. then again, maybe the issue is not your reading proficiency, but those pesky if-then logical propositions. but no matter. i'll avoid addressing you directly in future.
you say the point is accuracy, but i'm beginning to suspect is that the point is not ti disagree with dr. phillips.
Let's see how the World's Most Recognized Man Whore plays today.
One other observation regarding race...my personal view, as a white boy growing up in "liberal" LA is this:
"There is much MORE racism in this country than most WHITES think, and much LESS racism than most BLACKS think."
Whitlock overstates the race card, while many readers here understate or gainsay racial implications.
I remember a case in LA back in the late 80s, which illustrates my point...a young black party goer was denied access to a club on La Cienega....she filed a civil suit against the owners charging racial discrimination and bias...she won the case...upon leaving the courtroom she told reporters:
"I am glad I won....I never felt racism before, so I was shocked this could happen."
Here is the point, growing up in LA, she didn't feel like there was a lot of racism (like most whites believe), but it definitely exists in subtle ways which are readily apparent to blacks, but which is often denied by whites (usually to defend their view that affirmative action is antiquated or unnecessary.. that initiative is more important than the "excuse" of racial barriers etc).
Somewhere in the middle lies the truth..
Consider them marked, however saying he is going to be hotter then ever sounds like one of my female friends talking about my member. Say Donald, would you like to come over and have a hotter then ever party?
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