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.

2009 In Review: 10 Events That Caught My Attention

CLEVELAND - I've been reviewing many top moments of the past decade recently, but today I'm going to recap a few stand out moments from 2009 that caught my attention. These moments are a further reminder of how and why celebrity is so intriguing.

Here goes everything!

1. The Michael Jackson Odyssey, March-December: Since Michael was acquitted of child molestation charges in June 2005, he'd been in heavy seclusion from the public. On March 6, 2009, he resurfaced in London, England to announce a return to live touring. The disgraced icon hadn't toured in a dozen years and news of his planned residency at the famous O2 Arena was to span several months, beginning in July and running until the following Spring. Tickets for the event sold out in rapid fashion, earning about $85 million. Shockingly, Jackson died on June 25, just three weeks prior to the start date for the concerts. His death shook the planet and resulted in global tributes and appraisals of his legendary career and complicated legacy. Of course, it shook me to my core as did his widely telecast memorial service on July 7 in L.A. From there, the media attention continued relentlessly, especially with regard to Jackson's doctor, who administered the deadly drug that killed him. On August 29, many of Jackson's fans across the world held celebrations to honor his would-be 51st birthday. I personally donned a few of his trademark accouterments, played his music videos and songs and had a cake made with his name on it. I also sang happy birthday to him and had several emotional moments that day. Five days later, he was finally buried a full 70 days after his death and I proclaimed he'd "never be buried to me." A hastily pieced together "new" song of his was released on October 12 using decades old vocals, but I felt that it was bland and not at all something he would've put out himself. Two weeks later on October 28, his final artistic work was released to movie theaters all over the world. That work, a pseudo documentary musical film entitled Michael Jackson's This Is It was an assembly of Jackson's private rehearsals for his never-to-be concert tours. I was blown away at his highly detailed creative process, and the film itself garnered massive critical acclaim. It eventually earned more than $250 million worldwide and broke many box office records. In November, Michael was honored posthumously with four American Music Awards, which I felt was "an appreciation too late." Last week, many FBI files were released revealing the agencies' 13-year investigation of the megastar. As it turned out, nothing was ever found that would substantiate allegations of child sex abuse at his hands. In other words, he was essentially cleared of any wrongdoing. AGAIN. One sinister thing did crop up in the FBI report; some nutjob threatened to kill Michael and then-President Bush in 1992. The would-be assassin was trying to get Michael's sister Janet (whom he was obsessed with) to notice him, but was soon sent to prison.
2. Barack Obama Sworn In As 44th U.S. President, January 20: It was a truly transcendent moment in American history and felt like it as it unfolded. Obama greatly impressed me throughout his awesome campaign in 2008, so I was glued to the television when he was set to be inaugurated. With grace, class and endless intelligence, Obama made me proud to be an American. This was an amazing day from start to finish, and what a treat it was watching Obama and wife Michelle attend 10 different inaugural balls that night together and share a ceremonial dance at each one without the tired, stiff and bland monotony of past presidential couples.
3. Tiger Woods Sex Scandal, November-December: When someone is the most accomplished, transformative, iconic and wealthy figure in the history of their profession, it is only fitting that that person's private life would be of great national interest. That is why the stupefying fall from grace of Tiger Woods has been so riveting and garnered the relentless media attention that it has. Yes, I have been amazed at the number of mistresses that Woods has apparently been having sex with. But I have also come to the man's defense. Just because he is an ingenious golf legend worth hundreds of millions of dollars, doesn't mean he is immune from normal human behavior and insusceptible from making common mistakes. In any event though, this story will always be a colossal attention grabber.
4. Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame Speech, September 11: Jordan is the most iconic and well known brand in the history of basketball. He is also widely considered to be the greatest hoopster in league history which would seem to place a ton of pressure on the man to be humble. Judging from his Hall of Fame induction speech, he is a man who feels no need for humility. During MJ's speech, he recapped the past 30 years of his life, half of them spent as an NBA deity. He spoke of searing rivalries he's had with people since his high school years, both in his mind and outwardly. It was his insistence to prove his doubters wrong that birthed his legendary drive and work ethic. The way he seemed to gloat at his endless parade of triumphs at the expense of many ended up alienating many people that heard his vitriolic lecture. They wondered why a man as revered as Jordan was apparently so petty and punitive, even after he'd won basically everything possible in basketball. They wondered why the man is still holding grudges that are decades old. They rolled their eyes at his arrogance and elitist attitude and castigated him for not being more like fellow inductees John Stockton, David Robinson and coach Jerry Sloan. In other words, full of bland and humble effusion. What those critics never seemed to understand and apparently never will is obvious. Michael Jordan became and remained as great, accomplished and iconic as he was and is solely because of his uncompromised mentality. Period. If anyone has a problem with that, then they should really have a problem with people who never fulfill their promise or potential.
5. Kanye West Disrespects Taylor Swift, September 13: For all of West's prodigious talents as a record producer and recording artist, he has chosen to display a severe lack of tact, grace and humility quite often throughout his short but illustrious career. He took those deficiencies to another low level at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 13. As young country sensation Taylor Swift began her acceptance speech after winning an award, West stormed the stage and soiled her moment with a selfish rant about how he felt that fellow nominee Beyonce Knowles should have won instead of Swift. The unbelievable moment was met with immediate shock and booing and earned West an ejection from the building. In the days that followed, West's deplorable behavior ignited a national backlash against him and continues to be lampooned on television and radio. For me, it was classless, tasteless and should never happen between artists, especially when they all understand the artistic investment that they all make in creating their craft.
6. David Letterman Extortion Scandal Breaks, October 1: When Letterman used a pre-emptive strike to reveal a growing extortion attempt against him, America was stunned. What I admired so much about his disclosure was the way he encased it in heavy self-deprecation. Not to mention the fact that he blamed no one but himself for his ill-advised dalliances with female staffers on his venerable late night talk show. Letterman's accountability and contrition were amazing and refreshing, regardless of why they existed, but one other thing impressed me as well. The man never stopped telling jokes (while noting the similarities) about other high-profile men in similar situations as his. It is always awesome to be able to laugh and poke fun at yourself.
7. Chris Brown/Rihanna Domestic Abuse Story, February-December: I always marvel at the hypocrisy of people when it comes to almost any and everything. So when many people in the general public condemned singer Chris Brown for bruising up then-girlfriend and fellow singer Rihanna's face, I wasn't the least bit surprised. Of course, I'm not saying that it was okay or justified for Brown to hit her. I am really saying two things actually. One; no one except those two people know exactly what the exact circumstances of that incident was, so none of us should ever pretend to understand why things happened the way they did. Secondly, none of us are even remotely perfect and have certainly done ill-advised things ourselves. I'll bet anything that many of the same police officers that arrest and imprison domestic abusers are unconvicted and possibly undetected abusers themselves. It sickened me to hear people paint Rihanna as a beautiful and victimized angel when none of us know what she's like as a girlfriend. Suppose Rihanna, in the privacy of Brown's vehicle told him that she'd known that she was HIV-positive long before they became sexually involved. Is that not something that, in the heat of the moment could trigger an infuriated person to lose control? What if she had been pregnant with his child and he saw her snorting cocaine or smoking crack, he yells at her to stop for the sake of the unborn child, but she scoffs and refuses. Is that not a reason to lose control and wail on her? Now, neither of those things probably happened but the point is simple. Never judge a situation or circumstance until having knowledge of all the details. And never pretend that we aren't as imperfect as those whom we criticize.
8. The Sarah Palin/Levi Johnston Sideshow, January-December: When Sen. John McCain lost the 2008 election to Barack Obama, I thought America had seen the last of these two "characters" for at least a couple years or so. Boy was I wrong. From the outset of '09, we were besieged with reports of Palin's unwed-with-child daughter Bristol. Then we had to hear about Bristol's now ex-boyfriend Levi becoming a shameless media whore and peddling salacious stories about the Palins to every media outlet that he could find. Then there was Palin's overexposed mini-feud with David Letterman over a "tasteless" joke he told about one of her underage daughters. There was Levi posing in army fatigues armed with a rifle. There was Palin walking away from her job as Alaska's governor 18 months early. There was Johnston being offered to pose nude in Playgirl magazine. There was the Palin book and accompanying book tour. There was Levi getting a Hollywood makeover and doing pointless and contrived commercials. Then Palin's "legendary" sit-down with Oprah Winfrey! Enough of these desperate losers. Stay far away from our pop culture in 2010! 
9. Roman Polanski Captured, September 26: That filmmaker Roman Polanski was able to successfully avoid being arrested for 32 years on statutory rape charges is nothing short of a major miracle. The elusive auteur finally saw his legendary luck run out when Swiss law enforcement arrested him September 26 in conjunction with his infamous 1977 sex crime against a then-13-year old girl. While many in the media felt that Polanski, now aged 76 should still be forced to pay for his ancient crimes, I felt as though it was a done and over with story. Polanski's victim, now aged 45 has constantly asked the courts to basically act like it never happened and her wishes should hold some weight. The man has lived in a self-imposed exile for decades and has had to look over his shoulder at every turn. Not to mention the fact that he supposedly paid a financial sum to the victim (although that has been debated). All in all, this stunning tale has held my attention for years, but it is time to let it and Polanski go. Nothing can be gained or accomplished at this point.
10. Bruno Defaces Eminem, May 31: This was an event that upset me greatly when it happened. Whack job actor Sacha Baron Cohen made his entrance into the MTV Movie Awards clad in a slinky, flamboyant and winged costume and suspended high above the crowd by wires and pulleys affixed to the ceiling. As he babbled a series of ridiculous lines, he was lowered into the transfixed audience and ultimately landed bare-bottomed on hip-hop megastar Eminem. Making matters worse, Baron Cohen's bare backside ended up only a few inches from Eminem's face which caused the incensed icon to unload a series of expletives at the androgynous freak. Em, famously labeled homophobic for nearly a decade, demanded his coterie of rap artists to "get this motherf***er off [him]." Once the moron was pushed away, Eminem stormed angrily toward the building's exit with his crew following while the celebrity studded crowd sat in jaw-dropping astonishment. In the coming days, it was reported to have been a staged and flawlessly executed stunt with Eminem himself in on the "joke."

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.