On the level of situation, I don't care what he did (in terms of taking advantage of his fame to notch a few on his bed post) because obviously the majority of men would do the same thing. That said, had he been 'that guy' from the beginning, then we wouldn't be surprised nor would we even care. The reason this story is such a fiasco is because that false image he built up was only for benefit of financial prosperity (something that has plagued the capitalistic society to the point we are currently in with this american and global economy). Here are the reasons this is just so shocking and should never be forgotten no matter if you support him, hate him, or are on the fence about him:
1. Consider the variable of who is involved: Tiger Woods. Are there other athletes of his stature on the planet? Sure are. Ask Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter is sponsored by Gatorade too, he hooks up with tons of famous girls too, except one difference: isn't married and isn't putting up a front. Had this been about him nobody would be nearly as shocked or care nearly as much because it is who he is and nobody ever questioned that. With Tiger Woods, not only were corporate sponsors sold a "brand" or "identity", but the public was as well. For Christ's sake, it's part of his contracts with certain sponsors to be the "family man" and remain married with kids.
2. Consider his false image. This brand was sold for corporate financial gain. He approached married with kids as an economic opportunity which is so diabolical (in my opinion) that I will forever be disgusted with the guy. I questioned his image from day 1 and always felt the announcers and the hype of the "legend of Tiger" was so over the top that it was like I was being sold a condo in Sandals Jamaica. I never trusted him for his knee injury (though I remain certain it was hurt, but his act on the course was just down right failed acting to the point that I felt like I was watching The Wrestler, only starring Nicholas Cage instead of Micky Rourke).
3. Consider the disappointment of a fallen "good guy". Imagine if this was Tim Tebow. Imagine if we all had found out that he is not a virgin until marriage, that his family is really just embezzling money from their charaties, and that they are nothing more than the evil scum that is usually surrounded with organized mega churches we see on TV or read scandals about. The Tebows are different. We trust them, and no matter how much we disagree with their stances on things, we respect the fact that Tim Tebow is putting who he is out onto the table. He is a man of faith and doesn't care who makes fun of it because he is who he is. When some others like Colt McCoy sort of pushes their faith a little too much or duplicate the missions to the developing countries like Tebow has, we question it because it is all a marketing plan for individual awards (Heisman trophy). To me, that is what Tiger Woods has done, only we all trusted him like we do with Tebow.
4. He maintained his lies. He has been in hiding and so silent about this for so many months that it makes me question why he felt he needed to lie in the first place and tell us all his wife was "saving him" that Thanksgiving night. This is something that speaks volumes about his character which is why we again cannot forget all of this. He wasn't trying to protect his wife, family, or keep people out of his personal business, he was trying to maintain his false image which had brought him so many sponsors that filled his pockets full of cash based on duping naive fans in order to push product. He could not control what happened next which is why he finally shut his mouth and let people run with the story, feeling he could just let it all off his back and hopefully control the media to "move on".
5. "Privacy". What exactly does that mean? To me, he wanted to keep his "privacy" for what exactly? Well, I think I know what it was. He had something to hide (obviously). He wanted to keep his "privacy" because he didn't want anyone to find out his dirty secret which would end many relationships with sponsors for being this clean cut family man golfer. Golf is all about sponsors. Sure, you win pretty significant purses for being the best player in the world, but it's not like the major sports. You earn a billion dollars because you net roughly 15 million per year in purses and another 75 million in sponsorships. No wonder he wants his "privacy". That privacy is in order to protect his 75 million dollar image investment he has with corporations.
His speech was exactly what we could all ask for. We don't need to analyze it or question anything more than the fact that he's still got things to hide from us (hence no reporters present or allowed to ask questions). That is all it was. A statement. He said everything we thought he would say and should say and that is that. I personally don't think he will change dramatically and I personally don't even like his stance that he feels he needs to change because I question his drive for economic dominance. "Changing" who he is just helps protect his wealth and continued partnerships with sponsors.
All in all, he'll never change what he does, but rather, who he does it with and how he controls things the media can get there hands on from this moment forward. Finally we know who he is, but unfortunately this will probably be forgotten in a matter of 2 years and a signature major victory which pushes him past Nicklaus for the all time record.
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