S.F. columnist: Tiger Woods should play in the Masters -- while wearing a dress

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | November 21, 2002 | Scott Ostler

[L.N. Smithee]

CLOTHES MAKE the man, and so it is that Tiger Woods can become the manliest man in America.

How? By wearing a dress while playing in this year's Masters.

The New York Times wants Tiger to boycott the Masters to protest the host club's no-women membership policy. Not gonna happen. Golfers don't boycott for reasons of social conscience. It's not in their genes or their endorsement contracts.

[L.N. Smithee]

Lloyd (Mr. Inside) Ward, the CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee and one of the very few black members of Augusta[...] When Ward's Augusta membership became known, and objections arose because the USOC is supposed to embody diversity, Ward explained that his plan was to work behind the scenes at Augusta to effect change.

So he blew his cover.

Asked why he didn't tell of his Augusta membership when he was hired by the USOC, Ward said he didn't think it relevant. "It's just a golf club," he said.

Like Harry Belafonte, Ostler and other people who are demanding a particular stance of Tiger and Ward are acting as if there is a philosophy that comes standard when you are assigned black skin upon entry into this world, and that if you think differently than black people are supposed to think, you are somehow defective, and need to be recalled. As a right-of-center black man, I am a victim of this sort of prejudice on occasion, and fear that it will become more and more frequent as the left's search for an identity lead them to slander all those that oppose their myriad of social agendas.

What jerks like Ostler ought to start doing is ask themselves honestly: "What exactly will be accomplished by ostracizing Augusta National? Are there hordes of women who are itching to belong for reasons other than activism?"

Ward is right. IT IS JUST A GOLF CLUB. This is not the public bus system in Montgomery, Alabama. This is not Central High in Little Rock. It's not a lunch counter at Woolworth's. It's not even the Citadel or VMI -- the women who endured the stern discipline at those academies honestly wanted to be cadets. They didn't enroll for the sake of publicity, political correctness, and The Almighty Diversity.

What this is all about is a bunch of normally uninterested people banding together at the clarion call of the media and haughtily pointing their crooked fingers at others for the crime of not thinking like them. The usual suspects slamming Augusta and Woods claim not to abide such behavior. Now, we know the truth -- if there ever was any doubt.

[SamAdams76]

The San Francisco Chronicle...who'd have thunk it?

Anyhow, I've never seen a woman golf in a dress. A skirt maybe, but not a dress. The author of this article is just plain weird. Maybe he is revealing to us one of his dark fantasies...Tiger in a dress.

[RAT Patrol]

What this is all about is a bunch of normally uninterested people banding together at the clarion call of the media and haughtily pointing their crooked fingers at others for the crime of not thinking like them. The usual suspects slamming Augusta and Woods claim not to abide such behavior. Now, we know the truth -- if there ever was any doubt. Exactly!

[Cicero]

Is this humor, or a serious column of social protest? Hard to tell with liberals. Surely no good San Franciscan reporter would have a laugh at the expense of transvestites.

[stands2reason]

ping

[Callahan]

I hear a guy can get three credits at UC Berkley just for wearing a dress.

[jwalsh07]

The author of this article is just plain weird. Maybe he is revealing to us one of his dark fantasies...Tiger in Scott's dress.

[buffyt]

This is so silly, keeping women out simply because they sit to go to bathroom. Silly indeed! I know a man who used to be a woman. He was a very very tall woman, and after he finished with the hormone therapy and sex change operation, you would never believe that he was ever a female. He is a very wealthy man. He is a member of Augusta. But he used to be a woman when I first met him. His golf game isn't the best! But he doesn't have a limp wrist or anything like that. He is very muscular.

[GulliverSwift]

Like Harry Belafonte, Ostler and other people who are demanding a particular stance of Tiger and Ward are acting as if there is a philosophy that comes standard when you are assigned black skin upon entry into this world, and that if you think differently than black people are supposed to think, you are somehow defective, and need to be recalled. As a right-of-center black man, I am a victim of this sort of prejudice on occasion, and fear that it will become more and more frequent as the left's search for an identity lead them to slander all those that oppose their myriad of social agendas.

Liberal racism is one of the most offensive and ill-explored phenomenons in American politics. If Republicans pointed it out more often, they'd do much better among blacks.

[southcarolina]

My question after reading this: when did sportswriters become such a bunch of wimpy wusses? I don't think I've seen a single sports columnist come out in favor of letting Augusta National continue to run itself as it sees fit. There have been some conservative columnists who have voiced that opinion, but sportswriters nationwide have jumped on the PC bandwagon with the rest of the liberal media. They're probably not especially deep thinkers; that's why they're covering sports. Where's Oscar Madison when you need him?

[Burkeman1]

I guess this article would be funny if I were a gay latte sipping liberal. But I am not and I don't get it.

[DainBramage]

I think it would be hilarious if they all wore dresses and makeup. That would get their goat.

Change the name to the Mistress instead of the Masters, and have a tupperware trophy..

[Lizavetta]

In fairness, all candidates for Augusta National membership are evaluated by the exact same criteria: Do you have a lot of money and are you a man?

Just like Wellesley, whose applicants are evaluated by the same criteria: Can you pay the tuition, and are you a woman?

And your local Curves (Women only) fitness club: Can you pay the monthly dues, and are you a woman?

And your local college sorority house: Do you boink frat guys, and are you a woman?

And let's not forget the Girl Scouts: Are you willing to sell lots of flavorless cookies, and are you a girl?

Your silence on THESE aspects of dicrimination, Mr. Ostler, speaks volumes about your real agenda, and it ain't what you're saying it is.

[Balata]

But Tiger could play the tournament and still make a huge impact on golf, society and human rights, simply by wearing a dress.

Give me a fr#c%!n break. What is this author smoking?

[antaresequity]

You know...this would be an excellent place to freep a line in the sand...we could really make a wave on this if we wanted to...me thinks

[cubreporter]

Tiger Woods is a more dignified man to even address this silly notion by this silly writer. Once again...the women can have their own club and it can be private and they can keep the men out (not that the men want to join) so why don't they stop their whining too and move on with their lives and careers in golf instead of making a stink about joining in a men's private club. Sounds wierd to me.

[Tax-chick]

And of the golfers, only Tiger, mostly through his parents, knows the real deal on discrimination

Sure, nobody in the world experiences discrimination like Tiger Woods! The PGA Tour includes Japanese, Mexican-Americans, Koreans, a Bengali-Fijian, an American Indian, but only Tiger Woods feels put-upon?

Could this be a back-door way of raising questions about Woods' sexual orientation? I thought he was publicly carrying on with somebody's towering Nordic blonde au pair, but that could be just for cover ...

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

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[Burkeman1]

Sportswriters are especially subject to the forces of political correctness in the news room. More than one has lost a job over the years for "racial insensitivity." They are cowards as well for the most part. But it is a balancing act and if a sportswriter goes out of his way to champion PC causes one of two things happens- he looses the trust of his readership very fast (sports followers don't put up with PC nonsense) or they have so proven their craveness that they are tapped for Network sports jobs. When sportwriters open their mouths about politics it is usually rather embarrassing (Eddy Addelmenn in Boston take note.)

[TigersEye]

why should Tiger be the one?

Because he's the one.

Sorry Scott. He's not the one. He is Tiger Woods, golf pro. He won't wear a dress and I don't think he'll do anything else to change Hootie's mind either. Why? Because he is a man not a black man. He is an American not a Black American. He is a golfer not a black golfer. And as far as I know he is not a social activist, black or otherwise.

He is serious about himself, his profession and his life. He aspires to excellence and achieves it in abundance. He is an inspiration and a role model not because he seeks to be but simply because he excels for the sake of excelling. Tiger Woods expresses the best of himself in order to be his best self and he harbors no grandiose vision that he should exhort others to live up to his personal standards or his worldview.

That is only my opinion and Tiger might disagree but that is what I see in him. I am also not black, L.N., so I demur to you as to the validity of my initial statements about being a man vs. being a black man etc.. Of course only Tiger knows how he feels about it.