Sure, he didn't win a major this year. And he lost a major when holding the 3rd round lead for the first time. But most people still suspected there was a big red "S" on Tiger Woods' chest. Turns out they were right about the color, wrong about the letter--it was a scarlet "A" he was hiding. I suppose it is inevitable with just about every superstar athlete, I mean that they cheat. If it's not steroids, corked bats, illegal swimsuits, or horseshoes in their boxing gloves, we can pretty much count on guys like Tiger, who no doubt have legions of women literally throwing themselves at them, to succumb to the temptation to go outside the rules of marriage while pretending to honor it.
I know people will say one thing has nothing to do with the other, but I hope not to see anymore commercials with Tiger as spokesman/image for anything, other than perhaps a marriage/family counseling service. Sure, it was his amazing ability to put that little white ball where he wanted to when he whacked it with his sticks that made his name synonymous with "winner," and motivated all those companies to pay him megabucks so their product would also be assumed to deserve the same label. But nobody really deserves to be paid that kind of money by pretending to really rather have a Buick, and like it or not, when you are a role model with the kind of blemish Tiger now has, well, you're not much of a role model anymore.
Yeah, I know Tiger shouldn't be penalized for finally showing he's as human as the rest of us who have "transgressed" (His word), but he made his, I guess it must be billions by now, by allowing us to go along believing that he was something special. Truth is, there has only been one human being who ever really deserved to be called "special," and he lived a long time ago, and, to my knowledge, never struck a golf ball, hit a baseball, threw a football, dunked a basketball, kicked a soccer ball, slapped a hockey puck, sang a chart topper, or starred in a Hollywood blockbuster.
He was special because, among so many reasons that I couldn't begin to list them all, he is the only human being to never ever "transgress." Like you and me in every respect, except that he was without sin (See Hebrews 4.15), no one ever asked Jesus to be the spokesperson for their product, other than God, who chose his Son to promote his kingdom. And instead of receiving a king's ransom for his work on behalf of the kingdom of God, Jesus signed on as Savior knowing a cross would be all he would be paid for his work.
It will never happen, but this is what I'd like to see happen with Tiger. He and his wife hold a press conference. She is the first one to speak, and simply says "I have forgiven my husband." Tiger then steps up to the mike and announces, "Effectively immediately I am retiring from the Tour, and giving up all my endorsements. From now on the only work I will do is to show my wife how much I appreciate the forgiveness she has given me, though I don't deserve it, and can never pay her back even with all my riches. My wife and children are much more important to me than money and tournament wins. I apologize right here to my wife and family, to my colleagues on the Tour, to my sponsors and business partners, to my fans, and most of all to God. I thought I didn't have to play by His rules. I was wrong."
I know people will say one thing has nothing to do with the other, but I hope not to see anymore commercials with Tiger as spokesman/image for anything, other than perhaps a marriage/family counseling service. Sure, it was his amazing ability to put that little white ball where he wanted to when he whacked it with his sticks that made his name synonymous with "winner," and motivated all those companies to pay him megabucks so their product would also be assumed to deserve the same label. But nobody really deserves to be paid that kind of money by pretending to really rather have a Buick, and like it or not, when you are a role model with the kind of blemish Tiger now has, well, you're not much of a role model anymore.
Yeah, I know Tiger shouldn't be penalized for finally showing he's as human as the rest of us who have "transgressed" (His word), but he made his, I guess it must be billions by now, by allowing us to go along believing that he was something special. Truth is, there has only been one human being who ever really deserved to be called "special," and he lived a long time ago, and, to my knowledge, never struck a golf ball, hit a baseball, threw a football, dunked a basketball, kicked a soccer ball, slapped a hockey puck, sang a chart topper, or starred in a Hollywood blockbuster.
He was special because, among so many reasons that I couldn't begin to list them all, he is the only human being to never ever "transgress." Like you and me in every respect, except that he was without sin (See Hebrews 4.15), no one ever asked Jesus to be the spokesperson for their product, other than God, who chose his Son to promote his kingdom. And instead of receiving a king's ransom for his work on behalf of the kingdom of God, Jesus signed on as Savior knowing a cross would be all he would be paid for his work.
It will never happen, but this is what I'd like to see happen with Tiger. He and his wife hold a press conference. She is the first one to speak, and simply says "I have forgiven my husband." Tiger then steps up to the mike and announces, "Effectively immediately I am retiring from the Tour, and giving up all my endorsements. From now on the only work I will do is to show my wife how much I appreciate the forgiveness she has given me, though I don't deserve it, and can never pay her back even with all my riches. My wife and children are much more important to me than money and tournament wins. I apologize right here to my wife and family, to my colleagues on the Tour, to my sponsors and business partners, to my fans, and most of all to God. I thought I didn't have to play by His rules. I was wrong."
