Woods' Return To Golf Will Supercharge His Legend

CLEVELAND - With the announcement yesterday that Tiger Woods will make his return to pro golf next month at the Masters, predictions of his possible performance and the expected media circus that will ensue began in earnest.

This isn't even the beginning.

Woods, 34 has been absent from the sport that he almost single-handedly popularized since a mysterious and minor car accident in November ignited a stunning unraveling of his previously squeaky clean image. With endless revelations of his harem of mistresses made public, the legendary Woods vanished from public view and didn't resurface until he gave a questionable press conference last month to "apologize." Even then, he never definitively stated when he'd return to golf.

Until yesterday.

There has been a very mixed reaction to Woods' intention to return to competitive golf at the Masters. Some are thrilled that he'll grace the hallowed tournament with his presence, while others think that his timing is lousy. Some think he'll win, others say it's impossible to return from such a lay-off and win something as challenging and competitive as the Masters. Either way, Woods is guaranteed to infuse loads of enthusiasm and a coat of sparkle to Augusta and the Masters. If he wins, it will be a huge sports story tantamount to a miracle given his inactivity for months. If he loses, he will do so under an umbrella of a global audience and media that will scrutinize his every move and word. The hurricane of questions regarding his personal life will persist and interest for the nationally televised event will be off the charts.

All because of Woods.

Given Tiger's laser-like focus and apparent ego, I expect him to at least deliver a dramatic and excellent showing. Sure there may be rust, but Woods has always been amazing at overcoming challenges on the course. Moving forward, the Masters tournament will be only the first step in another glorious rise for Woods.

He may have been disgraced by the sordid tales of insatiable and seemingly random sex, but soon he'll be bigger than ever.

And he just might own another green jacket.

Woods Was Forced Into Fake Apology

CLEVELAND - With yesterday's nationally televised apology from golf icon Tiger Woods, he became more like an actual human being and less like a symbol of great capitalist success and corporate polish.

He's a real man now.

Woods, 34 took to the podium wearing a sullen and contrite expression and offered a very belated mea culpa to the world for his litany of extramarital affairs. This all started in late November after a minor, yet very mysterious car wreck which led to the first whispers of Woods' infidelity. Within days, more than a dozen women came forward with salacious accusations against the legendary golfer which greatly tarnished his previously squeaky clean reputation. Since then, Woods has been absent from the public eye, even taking a leave from golf to try and redeem himself to his family.

Watching him apologize brought several thoughts to my mind. First, it's very obvious that getting caught was about the only thing he was sorry for. Had he not been outed, he would have continued on and wouldn't have felt enough guilt to stop or apologize. He knew that he had a wife and two children while he was doing it, yet he persisted. Furthermore, he is a product of his father who was a shameless womanizer himself and obviously rubbed off on his son. I believe that Woods' most honest moment came when he admitted that he felt "entitled" to this behavior, due to his extreme wealth and celebrity.

The apology felt fake like so many other public figures mostly because it came so late after the initial reports. Why did he wait nearly three months? For his apology to have seemed sincere, he would have had to come out with it long before the media found out about his "transgressions." That way, the apology would have been the product of a guilty conscience rather than a PR ploy or damage control.

Still, he had no choice but to give it.

With the billions of dollars riding on Woods' career and marketability, not to mention the historical significance of the man himself, he was obligated to face the planet and hold himself accountable. If he didn't, the backlash would have been immeasurable.

I still say that he deserves our understanding. He is, after all, just a person.

Woods Scandal Exposes Blacks As True Racists

CLEVELAND - I've always been very proud of being an African-American, but that doesn't mean that I will ignore it when my fellow Blacks show their racial ignorance. The Tiger Woods sex scandal has brought out the very worse in my people and it is quite frankly, an embarrassment.

Seriously.

Woods, the legendary golfer and multi-millionaire product endorser has been in hiding during the past three weeks after a mysterious car crash morphed into a full expose of his habitual adultery. With the national media ripping his once squeaky clean public image to shreds, Woods has become persona non-grata for many Americans but remains a deity to many others. In no way will this setback taint his colossal legacy in the long run, but for now Woods is taking some very hard hits.

Many Blacks, especially women have vilified Woods because of his marriage to a white woman. Indeed, Elin Nordegren is a blonde beauty and has children with Woods, who himself is part Asian, Native American, Dutch and Black. To those in the black community, Woods is a black man plain and simple. As a result of this thinking, they have often expressed disdain at Woods for referring to himself as "Cablinasian," a term he coined to describe his entire ethnicity. Add in the facts of the ongoing sex scandal, which has revealed that each of the many mistresses that Woods has cheated on his wife with have all been pale faced white women, many with blonde hair and you get a nation of black women wanting to all but assassinate Woods.

Ignorant.

What I've read in the past few weeks from esteemed blacks is that Woods should be with a black woman. I've also read that many black women are infuriated that wealthy and famous black men seem to purposely seek out white women to have as wives, girlfriends etc. instead of "their own kind." They cite pro athletes such as O.J. Simpson, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and Woods as being major offenders. Journalist Bryant Gumbel, mogul Russell Simmons and musician Seal are on the list as well for being "sell outs." No one ever mentions that Jordan was married to a black woman for 17 years and had three children with her. They also never mention that his new girlfriend isn't white, she's Cuban. Not that it matters. Or that Simpson had three children with his first wife, who happened to be black. All that gets talked about is how these super successful black men choose a white woman at some point in their life and how that is akin to committing a crime.

Yeah okay.

I even read a quote from a scholarly black woman who said she's happy that President Obama is married to a black woman and that if he'd married a white woman, then she would have thought twice about voting for him. That is one of the most ignorant things I've ever heard anyone say. Obama is bi-racial. His black father abandoned him as a child and he was raised by his white mother and white grandparents. That is where his intelligence and confidence developed; in a loving white upbringing. Yet, it would have made him less appealing to many black voters if he had married a white women, even though that was probably the most likely thing to happen given his upbringing and who showed him the most love as a child and adolescent.

People are stupid.

Obama is thought of and packaged as our first black president, so therefore many blacks choose to only see him as black. In truth, he has as much right being with a white woman as anyone else has. Same with Woods. His mother is Chinese, Thai and Dutch...but according to the idiots, the small part of black in him is what he should focus on more. Whatever. It sickens me to say this, but black folks that have these opinions only want to be able to lay claim to the black people that have done extraordinarily well for themselves. That's why they claim bi-racial stars like Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and Halle Berry as being singularly black when they aren't. If a bi-racial person did something horrible and criminal, would these black people claim them as readily?

Doubtful.

During the slave days and the segregated era of the first sixty plus years of the 20th century, black people were angered at the double standard that existed in this country. The White man treated us unfairly solely because of our race and nothing else. Equality didn't exist, which is exactly what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought so hard for. We still don't have it all the way, but things are much better. So when Blacks are being just as bad as Whites have been (stick with your own kind, Boy), it makes us all look bad.

Get a clue my Black people.

Tiger Woods Is Latest Victim Of Public Hypocrisy

CLEVELAND - Tiger Woods is one of the wealthiest, widely admired and highly accomplished pro athletes in history. His skills on the golf course are nonpareil and his focus is stunning. But in spite of all that uncommonality with the average human being, he is and was always just a human being.

Imagine that.

This past week has been one nightmare after another for the world's number one golfer. After a mysterious minor accident on Thanksgiving night, his perfectly cultivated public image and brand have sustained major damage. With several women claiming to have been sexually involved with the married Woods during the past few years, his sterling reputation has come under fire and his moral character ripped to shreds by the national media and the general public.

Quite simply, folks have labeled Woods a loser and a jerk for "destroying the sanctity" of his marriage. I have been appalled to hear people also say that Woods should never again be considered a role model because of the "transgressions" (as he put it in a statement on his blog) he committed against his family.

Yeah, okay.

Hey, I'm not advocating or endorsing Woods' behavior. I just think it's crazy that people, especially the media have spent the past 12 years building him up to all but be deified and in the process, they forgot that he was still just a person despite his colossal achievements in his sport. Sure, he's worth hundreds of millions of dollars and his career has been both groundbreaking and breathtaking. But he's still a person that made a mistake and guess what? Us humans tend to make mistakes, often the same mistakes over and over.

Woods has been deliberately vague as to what he actually and specifically did wrong. As a result, we've had to receive the sordid details through others, including a mistress that he met in 2007 who this week released a voice mail of Woods calling her to "cover his tracks." As bad as this will sound, global fame and fortune doesn't erase the fact that Woods is still just a male with sexual urges. Yes he's married, but men and women have been known to stray for obvious reasons as well as clandestine ones.

Tiger Woods is a human being.

As for the people that say he should never again be seen as a role model, I challenge them to look in the mirror and think back on their own mistakes and bad judgments. If firefighters and doctors have an indiscretion or two, does that erase the role model type good that they do everytime they save a person's life? Since we all know that humans are not infallible, why do we act as though the people that we idolize and canonize are perfect? From priests to schoolteachers, everyone has had their screw ups. So since Woods is being persecuted for his, shouldn't all of us get the same treatment? Just because he's a public figure, those rules don't change. Each one of us are "public figures" to our children and spouses and friends when we fail at being perfect so we should strip ourselves of any role model worthiness as well.

I'm just sayin'.