Tiger Accident Clippings, Vol. 11
Media coverage appears to be splitting off in various directions, seemingly a good thing for Tiger until you read the actual content.
On the business front, Bloomberg's Michael Buteau notes a huge plunge in a Q-rating type index from 6th to 24th. He also writes about the disappearance of Woods-related ads.
The last prime-time ad featuring the 33-year-old golfer was a 30-second Gillette Co. spot on Nov. 29, according to New York- based Nielsen. Woods also was absent from ads on a number of weekend sports programs, including NFL games, Nielsen said.
“Last weekend there wasn’t any advertisement during those games,” said Aaron Lewis, a spokesman at Nielsen.
And just one reminder that the Gatorade story was in the works prior to the accident, Lawrence Donegan notes:
They would say that, of course. But in fairness the decision to dump the "Tiger Focus" drink was revealed in the November 25th issue of the always readable Beverage Digest (my copy must have been mislaid in the post) - two days before the scandal broke.
Duff Macdonald at the Daily Beast takes note of the sale prices on Tiger Woods action figures and writes:
The Toys "R" Us outside Seattle had four different kinds of Tiger figurines, also discounted to $9.98, though the store manager insisted they had been on clearance before the scandal. When we asked a sales rep at a Target in Tukwila, Washington, if they carried Tiger Woods action figures, she said she’d never heard of the product, before pausing and asking a sincere question of her own: “Is that intended as a gag gift?”
The WSJ's Andrew LaVallee shares an item in which Yahoo Chief Executive Carol Bartz says "God bless Tiger" for spiking web traffic.
News, photos and other content about the pro golfer, whose personal life has become tabloid fodder since his car accident and cryptic apologies, are contributing to Yahoo’s sports section, as well as news, gossip and the front page, Ms. Bartz said. When asked if Mr. Woods would help the Internet company make the quarter, she said, “Oh, absolutely,” and added that he’s fueling more visits than Michael Jackson’s death.
The SNL skit continues to be questioned, yet no one writing about the sheer awfulness of the skit has the courage to question the investigation. If you believe there was domestic violence involved, how is SNL to blame for spoofing something the police say didn't happen?
Connell Barrett talks to those on both sides of the debate and writes.
Anti-abuse advocates said the sketch made light of spousal abuse. EW.com wrote that "intimate partner violence isn't a ripe source of material in the first place, but with [abuse-victim] Rihanna as the musical star the sketch seemed even more poorly thought out." And according to PopEater, "[H]ad the genders been reversed, 'SNL' wouldn't make light of the potentially violent situation." Of course not. The story is satire-worthy because the roles are reversed.
Leave it to a golf writer to call out the Florida state attorney who torpedoed any further investigation of a possible DUI or domestic violence. Steve Elling writes:
The Florida Highway Patrol has statements from an unnamed witness -- believed to be Woods' own wife -- who said Woods had been drinking and possibly had taken prescription drugs, yet the Orlando area's state attorney denied an FHP request to subpoena any possible Woods blood samples. Bad as Woods' image has taken a hit over the parade of women, the Central Florida cops have become a comparable national laughingstock, too. It's farcical. Glad to see my tax dollars are working so hard for me.
Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio questions whether some of the women linked to Woods were actually his mistresses. Unfortunately for Tiger, he's suggesting they were acting as pimps. And Stephanie Wei backs up Daulerio's post with her own circumstantial evidence about Rachel Uchitel's party planning work and unlikely romantic ties to Tiger.
Some golf writers continue to offer their thoughts on the impact this has on the game, starting with Doug Ferguson writing about how suddenly Tiger's image has been altered.
Just like that, he has become the butt of jokes.
His colleagues, who once spoke about him with reverence, now take pity. Even John Daly feels sorry for him.
Despite being among the most famous athletes in the world, we knew so little about Woods. Now we know too much. Woods managed to keep himself out of the tabloids for years only to be the cover boy now.
Matthew Syed in The Times on why Tiger is fair game:
He and his advisers have systematically cultivated a public image — an image that now appears to be a sham — specifically to expand his wealth on a grand scale.
In the past few years he has earned more money from his deals with Nike, Gillette and other sponsors than he could ever hope to earn on a golf course. To put it another way, his public image and his day job as a repository of corporate endorsement income are indistinguishable.
To put it simply, Woods’s right to privacy has been fatally undermined not by his earning lots of cash beyond the golf course, but by his hypocrisy. He could have had sex with a platoon of cocktail waitresses while dressed in a pair of suspenders and still been entitled to privacy had he not, at the same time, been pocketing a sizeable cheque from Gillette via a management company that had spent three weeks figuring out how to place a soft-focus picture of Woods, his baby in his arms, and his wife looking on lovingly.
Lawrence Donegan is fed up with the coverage.
After 11 days of of the Woods "scandal", we really are down to the dregs of journalism, not to mention humanity. Unfunny comedy sketches, uncorroborated "scoops" floated by that apparently unimpeachable source of information in 2009, TMZ.com. Another day, another alleged girlfriend. Does anyone care? As for those who do - one has to worry about the poverty of their emotional existence.
Rush Limbaugh took a different stance on his radio show and says greedy corporations and the sports media sold us a bill of goods so they could make money. Add him to the list with George Lopez of potential awkward AT&T Pro-Am partners. Assuming either gets invited after this.
The reason people are still continually focused on this Tiger Woods business is that it's an act of betrayal, that there was a hoax perpetrated here. He was presented as somebody he's not, and people knew it all along. They knew it all along, but there was money to be made on both sides of it. There is money hopefully still to be made, so they're trying to repair it so that it can remain what it was. But I think the genie's out of the bottle on this now. And where you find a hoax, what do you always have to have to perpetrate it? You have to have a compliant media, be it a global warming hoax, be it a financial crisis hoax, you have to have a compliant media going along with it. And the media in the Tiger Woods thing was also a beneficiary. I mean television ratings, golf tournaments in which he played skyrocketed. And they wanted access to him. A lot of sports media, just groupies that have a computer keyboard or camera and microphone, just groupies. They want access, want to hang around.
Naturally, Rush then went on to suggest Barack Obama is a product of a similar hoax and cut out of the same cloth as Tiger.
Sal Johnson of Golfobserver, analyzed the golf media's coverage and linked back to all of the sites he writes about except the one he says has done the "best job," GeoffShackelford.com. He writes of yours truly:
He has helped this story accelerate more in golf than any other site and has been the place to go for every seedy story. He has put up every story about this saga, no matter what the fluidity or accuracy of the story is. He has done more in promoting the TMZ's and the Radaronline than anyone else. As most news organizations have shunned the News of the World story and the summaries on Huffington Post or the Daily Beast, Shackelford has prominently posted these sites and stories, which have helped fuel mainstream writers to source this material.
Of course, the "seedy" News of the World story he refers to featured information matching a story from the Daily Mail, which I read after finding it at...GolfObserver. Johnson linked it this way Friday night:
December 5, 2009 9:34 pm - MailOnline
Be forewarned that this could be one of the worst stories in the Tiger Woods saga, an affair with an $8-an-hour diner waitress in Orlando that caused a cover-up that put Woods image on the cover of Men's Fitness. Be forewarned it's graphic in nature. -
An eleventh woman was linked to Tiger today. One more and as comedian Chelsea Handler said, we could have a calendar.
Thanks to reader Tim for Dana Summers' editorial cartoon in the Orlando Sentinel:
And what would a day be without yet more reenactment videos. Warning, Tiger is shirtless and photographing his genitals. Now those are words I never thought I'd type.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 08:13 PM
Reader Comments (46)
'Tiger's Wood' will be released in about 8 weeks.
"With this (Woods coverage) he has become a cult hero of sorts to the media, he has helped pave the way for Internet News 101. Because of what he does he has become a problem for mainstream companies. That’s because Shackelford makes very little money (if any) off his blog, he has no major sponsor or source of income, so for years this site has been up on the graciousness of his heart. With no limitations from sponsors or advertisers he can put up and write whatever he feels, and has for years, so that is the reality of Internet News 101, no accountablity. Shackelford is also a very good writer so he is able to sway opinion in his direction on his causes and has become a stone in the shoe of organizations like the PGA Tour and the USGA to name a couple."
Sal, who worked for years for ABC Sports when Roone Arledge ran both the sports and news departments of that network, ought to have grasped along the way that any solid operation listens not at all to sponsors and advertisers, but covers all the news worth covering. And this is. I do like his "stone in the shoe" line, though.
Then again, there's nothing new about the politics of envy. I shouldn't be surprised.
'Graciousness of his heart'. I like it. Can we all have t-shirts, Geoff?
Most of which has been quite entertaining, thank you very much.
WWTAIIID.
Personally I wish the story would go away, and I hate to comment further because it defeats what I wish would happen (meaning story goes away), but I was thinking about the broken-windows/car-crash scenario.
This is purely speculative, and I should preface it by saying I don't think Tiger has any sort of substace abuse problems but I can envision the following...
...it was a really rough night at home, possibly he had a few drinks and made the mistake of taking some sort of pill on top of it. He realizes he's had enough, the tension in the house is unbearable, he goes out to sit in the car and get some rest (barefooted), and passes out cold (but first turned on the key to listen to some tunes, thereby automatically locking the doors). Elin comes out to check on him and cannot wake him no matter what. She knows Tiger has a prescription of something strong and starts freaking, decides she's going to get those doors unlocked come hell or high water. Smashes out a window. This is enough to roust a sleeping Tiger and now he freaks out. He's so disoriented, doesn't know what's going on, puts the car in gear and takes off. Careens out of the driveway and only makes it as far as the tree in the neighbors yard. The combination of the impact and the cocktail put him right back into a peaceful slumber. Cut mouth due to head snapping forward and mouth squarely impact a big metal Tag Heuer on his wrist.
They often film Law & Order in my neighborhood!
How do they handle this in the UK? "Tiger, After the Troubles"
Oh...and Dr. Phillips...wanted to get back to you. So you're saying if and when i next find myself in a Tiger gallery, I can look to the left and the guy will be wearing an earpiece and a cheap blue windbreaker, secret-service style, and, to the right, another private security guy will have a walkie-talkie. Oh joy. Sounds like the sports-event equivalent of a lockdown.
I still see logistical problems when Tiger arrives at greens where there are a few thousand in seated grandstands. And the thousand or so walking gallery is left along the fairway leading up to the green. Lots of murmurs and jokes, followed by laughter, when he's looking over his putz. What are they going to do, throw out anybody who laughs?
Keep up the great work Geoff.
If a whole grandstand of people decide to chant something, that can't necessarily be controlled...but until it stops play will be halted. I think the vast majority of people are more respectful than you give them credit for and don't forget that there will be other players in the group the crowd will have to consider.
styled, would you be comfortable leading such a cheer? Sounds like maybe security should profile based on you...
AT made the comparison to 0bama, Rush was simply commenting..
And that's fine by me.
You are dramatically overstating the involvement of, and impact on, IMG.
http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2009/12/4/anatomy-of-the-woods-uchitel-negotiationwith-a-little-help-f.html
What would really be nice is for Tiger to end it. To come out, step up to the microphone, and give us an authentic account of things. He doesn't have to produce telephone logs and show us DNA southern blots, but he should give us the truth, as his father taught him, and be willing to answer some questions candidly.
The stonewalling, to me, serves him only in an attempt to hide things and protect an image. But he should accept that his image has taken a hit, admit it, and begin the recovery. What he's doing now only makes him look worse. In a golf analogy, I think it's time to call the penalty on himself, take his two stroke penalty, and move on.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703558004574582091561335288.html?mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular
Who said anything about leading a cheer?
More like, twosome or threesome ascends to greens, are liniing up putts, amid relative quiet and calm. Somebody in the bleechers (not at Augusta) pipes up: "If he makes this, he's buying breakfast at Perkins."
Some laugh and there are a lot of groans...but it's going to happen.
Also, re: your predictions on performance. It's a very rare individual who can leave domestic troubles out of work life. It'll be interesting to see if he is that rare sociopath.
http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/fox-news-elin-tiger-planning-move-to-sweden-27337
What happens to the Jupiter Island property? I guess they keep it. Not a lot of $10-15 million buyers these days.
Hopefully it will become clear that Tiger has a relationship with Mark Steinberg, not IMG. IMG participates in the revenues that Mark generates from Tiger...Mark basically functions as a COO for hire. Yes, it was different early on when Tiger was first starting out and Hughes Horton handled his business but the traditional athlete-agent reltionship does not exist here -- that all went out the window a loooong time ago.
Mark Steinberg has a seat at the table amongst Tiger's advisor's, possibly one could argue that he sits at the head of the table...but IMG controls nothing. And Mark Steinberg makes no important decisions without Tiger's blessing --- Tiger controls everything.
This quote from one of the tabloids a few days ago is telling:
"Despite advice from some people in his camp who didn't want to give in to Glorida Allred or pay Uchitel, Tiger took control and made the call to pay her..."