Posted on 11/28/2009 9:20:17 PM PST by Steelfish
Speak Now, Tiger, Or Forever Hold Your Peace Golfer must speak publicly about car crash — and rumors of Uchitel affair
Courtney Hazlett
When Tiger Woods got in the car just before 2:25 a.m. Friday, he didn’t just crash into a fire hydrant. He had a head-on collision with another object: the invisible bowels of the bad-publicity machine, which in more than 13 years of professional golf, he’d been able to avoid.
As a college athlete in the mid-1990s, my circle overlapped with Woods’ from time to time, and I can attest there are plenty of stories about a slightly awkward Stanford golfprodigy that could be filed under “typical college kid behavior,” or twisted into tabloid fodder.
As a fledgling journalist at Golf World magazine in the early 2000s, I can attest to similar stories of the youngest golfer to achieve a career grand slam behaving in a way that might have looked bad on paper.
But these stories never really materialized. Thrown clubs and the errant F-bombs were chalked up to pressures of the sport and apologies followed. So why has an accident in the driveway turned into a full-blown train wreck? Because much like a guy named David Letterman, up until now Woods’ public life and private persona have had few intersections, and the former has been for the most part, unimpeachable.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcsports.msnbc.com ...
He makes his money by being a public person - a celebrity.
That was his choice, his sacrifice for wealth.
He can ignore his public at his own peril.
Anybody can refuse to speak to the police. “You have the right to remain silent...”
Most people aren’t smart enough to shut up.
As someone who's been through something like this, it's wishful thinking, ok? Something that might make people getting ready to break marriage vows, damage the family unit and weaken it, and cause all sorts of issues, it might be nice to know there was a financial deterrent, that might make people stop and think, since money is the only thing that makes some people stop and think. But it's just WISHFUL THINKING on my part.
There were early reports that the wife and marks on her body, or so I was told.
And if he did cheat on her, I’d say she had cause.
Not that it is my business but are you still married to your husband?
Tiger was raised, from all accounts, very well by his retired Colonel father and very caring mother. Aside from some choice words on the golf course, (which I think are overblown by his detractors), his reputation is that of a true professional. He gives a lot to charity and his own tournament is basically a salute to the troops.
The only thing freakish about Tiger is his performance week in and out on the golf course.
He will smash Jack's records. He will surpass the all time-wins list. He will make another billion dollars....he hasn't really tapped into the golf course design business. This is a blip in his career. His audience/fans are by and large males.....they will forgive him and in a strange way....they will probably love him more. Look at Kobe Bryant....how did being an alledged rapist affect his endorsements/fan base.....not much, huh?
Tiger will be fine.
He should also lose endorsements for it, just like anyone else would.
Tiger’s wife needs to be charged with “Domestic Violence” and to pay a price. All women are not innoncent.
Always better to club up and make a smooth swing.
And if there is an affair, it’s still their business. Sad, but private. Tiger Woods owes me no explanation
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He makes $100 million/year and his image is taking a significant hit.
If he doesn’t fix his image, he’ll lose some serious money.
I hope your right and I am wrong.
I fear he has been on Pain Killers for months now.
So he had counsel talk to the LEOS?
He didn’t need to do any of things a regular citizen would have had to do.
I am jealous.
We are. Going on 25 years. It’s been several years of hard work. There was an addiction which led to his fall (meeting ‘someone’ at a 12 step program). There’s a lot to the story. It hasn’t been easy, I can’t say I have 100% forgiven him because I have to know that his efforts at recovery and changing are ongoing. After years of dealing with an addiction (gambling) you pretty much learn that promises and words are empty, and it’s actions that you go on. He has 2 years of ‘sobriety’, and I support him in his efforts but they must be his efforts. Not mine.
He’s changed a lot. He repeatedly said, it was nothing I did, I was a good wife, a wonderful mother and I didn’t deserve any of it. And that there was nothing he felt I needed to ‘change’ to make things work. I’ve changed though, some for the better, because I’m not inclined to go through any of the BS again, ever. Not even once. I said I would stay and *try* but I wasn’t making any promises about being here forever. He had to show ME he wanted me to.
And so here we are. I know it’s more than you asked but I tend to ramble late at night. But I never hit him, even though I wanted to badly, after dealing with years of his...crap...and then being hit with what happened. It would have been very easy, if my general temperament was different.
I wasn’t there....exactly know what happened. I have 24 years in LE. If someone is chasing you with a dangerous weapon that could seriously hurt or kill you....and maybe you are impaired (by drugs or alcohol) but you can get away and protect yourself by driving off (protecting yourself) I am going to give you a break on the DUI...as most cops would with an iota of common sense. That said....don’t even know if he was DUI. Or, you could sit there in the front seat of your Escalade and take a pounding up side your head with a Tiger Woods Victory Red blade 7 iron...which would you choose?
That somehow assumes that Mr. Woods will file a claim. That will cover his $3-5K repair costs; but also it will increase his insurance costs by twice that much, and also he'd need to pay a lawyer to help him answer all the questions, considering that this is a family affair.
Something tells me that Mr. Woods will just pay for the repair out of his (very deep) pocket, and that would be a good decision. Insurance is only for catastrophic losses; in his case, it's just because it is the law.
You don’t have to talk to LEO’s either. Nobody does, but too many do and regret it later.
You do not have to help them do their job of investigating you.
Well, that’s still his business, not mine. His income is his business. He should have enough to live on for the rest of his life, even if he never picked up another golf club or endorsed anything. If he can’t live on what he’s made so far, I have no pity for him. People who live on endorsements and their public image should probably think twice about what they’re doing, if it’s something that might harm said image.
Either way, his livelihood, his marriage. I don’t have a stake in it either way. I only wish I had a fraction of his money right now.
How about walking away, to the golf course across the street, or the beach behind the house. If he hadn't wrecked, he would have been driving on the open road. If you tried telling the cops you had to drive under the influence to get away from your wife because she was swinging a golf club, they'd laugh at you then charge you, much less let you turn them away twice.
Reports are that he was on pain medication and was drifting in and out of consciousness when the cops found him. His lacerations came from her, not the wreck, and the vehicle was traveling under 33 mph.
I have told my sons, if they are ever (God forbid) arrested, they are to SAY NOTHING except they want to talk to a lawyer. Even what you think is a simple explanation that will clear things up can come back to haunt you.
How about walking away, to the golf course across the street, or the beach behind the house. If he hadn't wrecked, he would have been driving on the open road. If you tried telling the cops you had to drive under the influence to get away from your wife because she was swinging a golf club, they'd laugh at you then charge you, much less let you turn them away twice.
Reports are that he was on pain medication and was drifting in and out of consciousness when the cops found him. His lacerations came from her, not the wreck, and the vehicle was traveling under 33 mph.
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