Saturday, February 20, 2010

As The Woods Turns

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

After watching Tiger Woods scripted statement, I told my friend Dennis Roetzel at CiCi's Restaurant in Deerfield Beach, that I didn't want to waste my space talking about his unethical acts of adultery.

But as time progressed and I watched Woods in front of a microphone instead of swinging a golf club, I couldn't resist.

My fellow Capricorn, who was born on Dec 30, 1975, a day after my birthday on Dec 29, isn't as smart as I thought he was.

He should have followed the lead of LA Lakers guard Kobe Bryant who committed adultery in Colorado, and admitted he made a mistake just days after his situation happened in November. Perhaps Woods wouldn't have lost as many sponsors while his dignity & integrity wouldn't have taken as big of a hit as it did.

Bryant bought his wife an expensive ring and I'm sure he paid a huge price financially with her to regain her forgiveness in an attempt to regain her trust. To his credit, he's still married and has rebuilt his image, regained sponsors and last season led the Lakers to the NBA title.

Watching Woods TV appearance reminded me of the Watergate Scandal back in the 1970's as every network covered this story. I can just imagine with today's media how much more coverage the Watergate Scandal would have received with CNN, FOX News, FOX, CNBC and MSNBC joining ABC, CBS and NBC.

Woods press conference also reminded me of OJ Simpson's double murder trial. Every media outlet wanted a piece of the action.

To have President Bill Clinton get Impeached because he cheated on his wife Hillary, only not to get removed from office, goes to show you that our society does tolerate idiotic behavior.

We've dealt with steroids, athletes domestic violence issues, drugs and guns. Regardless of how all of this plays out, the end result is "The Cover-Up is worse than the Act."

What Woods did was completely inexcusable!

I despise any type of cheating in a relationship whether it's adultery from an unstable marriage or a partner who is dissatisfied in the relationship. It's happened to me and I wouldn't do it to my partner. If the relationship is bad, then both individuals should move on and go their own separate ways.

Yet in the end, Woods has to own up for what he's done and if his stupidity costs him a lot of money, a career, his beautiful wife Elin as well as the family, then so be it! He violated her trust and she should divorce him!

Woods needs to grow up and be more accountable for his actions!

In some ways, Woods reminds me of Mike Tyson. What doomed Tyson's career was not having his personal priorities in order.

Tyson would proceed to go through a divorce with actress Robin Givens and then eventually lost his heavyweight title on Feb 11, 1990 to Buster Douglas. He would serve three years in an Indiana jail for rape. On June 28, 1997, Tyson tarnished his reputation by biting Evander Holyfield's ear in an attempt to regain his title back.

While I don't think Woods will take as big of a fall as Tyson financially because he seems to have better financial advisors around him and lesser bad habits, Woods still has a chance to resurrect his career.

Three more PGA wins will make second on the all-time wins list with 74 surpassing Jack Nicklaus. Five more majors places Woods with 19 that would break Nicklaus' mark of 18. I can just imagine how many more sponsors he'll acquire if he achieves these accomplishments.

If he wins again, the public will forgive.

While Woods is taking time off from golf to continue his therapy, he should have a Laptop Computer handy and research the rise and fall of some prominent athletes.

As aforementioned, Bryant turned his negative situation into a positive. Tyson's life is truly a sad story because of the fact that the most dominant heavyweight champion of his era could have been headed for additional greatness if his mind wasn't a train-wreck.

Former Tennessee Titans QB Steve McNair was killed as a result of adultery and poor judgement. Former LA Lakers guard Magic Johnson has the HIV Virus because of his aggressive sexual behavior.

I've lost count of how many kids Holyfield has with different ladies. But I do know that if he continues to fight in his 40's to support his children, he's headed down Muhammad Ali territory with future brain damage that could lead to Parkinson's Disease. This will cost Holyfield physically and financially.

Woods, 34, should look at these incidents and learn from them. Tiger should replace the "G" he knows as "Golf" and use "Google" then go to Wikipedia and monitor their downfalls.

I still believe that Woods private life should remain that way. What he does on his own time is his own business.

Where it bothers me the most is having to constantly hear, read and watch his boneheaded mistakes dominate the airwaves when there are more worthwhile things to talk about.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com

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