Monday, December 14, 2009

Hoth Leia costume not included


All I want for Christmas is a Millennium Falcon bed. And the Taunton sleeping bag. But more importantly the Millennium Falcon bed just so I could make the Kessel Run in under twelve parsecs. And yes, that does sound a little dirtier than it should.

Now that I am done with the bowl game preview (and yes, that did take a lot longer than I had originally anticipated) I can get back to everyone’s favorite topic: Tiger Woods. Oh stop groaning. I might as well write about this now because in about three days this is going to become a non-story until he plays golf again and then it will be a minor story and disappear.

We are nearing the end of this in terms of the news cycle. There is very little else we could find out that will change the way we view the situation. We have already been introduced to a gaggle of skanks and whether the final number is ten or a hundred we have reached the point where it doesn’t really matter. Tiger’s image as a perfect person has been irreparably damaged and his marriage has been shattered but all in all that is the end of the story.

As opposed to a lot of these stories there is no next step. There are no criminal charges pending as it is not a crime to be an adulterer or a tool or a prick. If there were any charges they would be on Elin due to domestic abuse, which is why Tiger is lying low. If he showed his face to the media giving the impression that Elin beat him with a golf club she would be facing serious jail time under Florida law. When politicians cheat there is the question of resignation but that isn’t applicable here. At the end of the day he is just a golfer who cheated on his wife. Except that he happens to be a billion dollar brand.

That is what is of most interest as we watch the fallout from his advertisers. Accenture has dropped him, which makes sense because duplicity and consulting are not two images you would like to mix. Gillette, Gatorade and Nike are all pulling back from using him in their advertisements but are not dropping him as a spokesperson, which is the absolute right thing to do. Because at the end of the day Tiger is going to rebound back into the good graces of society. This always happens, especially in sports.

Remember people paid to watch Mike Tyson, a convicted rapist, box. When the Lakers won the title last year they weren’t describing Kobe Bryant as “known adulterer and accused though acquitted rapist.” It didn’t even get mentioned. Sure that first year back Kobe was heckled but you would be amazed by how soon that ended. Tiger won’t even have that to face because you can’t heckle on a golf course. For some reason, the public is really forgiving of these things.

No he won’t be a hero to all anymore. The talk of him being a savior for sports and society is gone and lost forever. He won’t be the focus of as much ad time and it will be weird seeing him in a commercial that first time back. But he will be back because the only thing Americans love more than tearing down their heroes is watching them be reborn.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

that could be the ultimate sleepover

Anonymous said...

How Long Could Luke Survive In A Tauntuan?

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