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Such as yours?
Woods is worth hundreds of millions, that he opens his wallet is commendable but a drop from his ocean. Saying he'd be a soldier if he were not a professional golfer does not impress me one bit. It just puts him in the exact same category as the guy who talks big at the bar but won't sacrifice his six figure career.
Yup, exactly like mine.
I just wonder, since you raise the calculus, how much Tiger would have to spend supporting the troops for the haters to be impressed.
What really gets me is that if he had kept his mouth and wallet closed, nobody would say anything about it, but when he opens both his mouth and his wallet, folks are ready to jump down his throat. I just don't get it. Damned if you do, ignored if you don't. Doesn't seem right to me.
The 'talk is cheap' charge is appropriate when one only talks, but clearly Tiger has done more than just talk in this particular instance.
Just my .02.
Truth is you have no idea what he gives to anyone. As the Bible says - when you give, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. It also says this - thou shalt not covet. Sounds like you have some serious envy.
Not just a soldier, an elite Ranger.
Almost every military brat I grew up with and have known otherwise takes the military much more seriously than that.
Thinking of one friend in particular - father and uncle both 30+ year career NCOs - it would be impossible for him to speak lightly of the military, since he picked up the traditions by osmosis and it's really at the core of his life (he did an enlistment and has worked on the civvie side since then). Oddly, he goes to great lengths to NOT be a military guy.
Military families just don't think the way civilians do, and IMO your post (and thinking) are really way out there.
Since half the lifers I've ever known, and all of the AF lifers, wanted to be professional golfers [they certainly practiced enough] so there may be a genetic linkage.
That said:
Woods apparently could do just about anything he set his mind to do.
Well before enlistment age he was seriously into playing golf and I expect that he was getting 'work' in that field early enough to be on track before he needed to make a decision one way or another.
As to his 'Special Operations' comment, he has risen to the top of his chosen career - seems natural that, if he were in another career, he'd seek to do the same thing. [Not to mention that he has every right to look up to his father and his actions indicate that he does so]
As to his not selecting the military over golf - you might start balancing that by counting the golf ranges and programs all over the US using just his name to bring minority kids into sports that don't involve dribbling, fouling the other guy, or wearing weird, baggy, shorts.
Finally, you don't think he's got guts?
The guy goes on national TV to advertise Buicks (!) and that ain't for the faint of heart.