“If you are given a chance to be a role model, I think you should always take it because you can influence a person’s life in a positive light, and that’s what I want to do. That’s what it’s all about.”
How’s for a big dose of irony?
The reason why I decided to bring up Tiger Woods for this edition of the Sunday Snippet has very little to do with his personal indiscretions. Instead, you may or may not have noticed that today is Chinese New Year! We are welcoming the year of the Tiger, as luck would have it.
While many people continue to call it Chinese New Year (myself included), the day is also celebrated by many other countries and people around the world as Lunar New Year. It may be overshadowed by Valentine’s Day and the 2010 Winter Olympics, but it’s still an important occasion!
Getting back to pro golfer Tiger Woods, he was born as Eldrick Tont Woods and he has demonstrated time and time again that impossible is nothing. His personal life aside, Tiger is easily one of the most talented and successful people to ever pick up a golf club.
He was never destined for normalcy and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Up until the recent scandals, Tiger was widely viewed as a great role model. Too bad many of the slogans associated with Tiger-endorsed brands have some strange connotations these days.
- Nike: Just Do It
- Gillette: The Best a Man Can Get
- Accenture: Go on, be a Tiger.
- Gatorade: Is It In You?
Will Tiger be forgiven and return to his former place in society? 2010 is certainly going to be interesting… it is the year of the Tiger, after all.
Athletes should not be considered role models. We as parents should be the proper role model for our children.
Tiger had lofty expectations which I believe made it even harder on him in his personal life. While his current situation begs us to reconsider the “role model” issue, we should understand that he is just a person and we should respect his privacy.
Now, when we get to the year of the Boar, then I’ll care because I was born in that year some 50 years ago.
Personally, I think it’s ridiculous that something like infidelity can land an athlete in this kind of trouble. What Tiger does on his own time is none of anyone’s damn business. If he murdered someone, kicked someone in the face or stole candy from a baby, then I’d expect public outcry but please, considering the number of divorces due to infidelity in the world these days, the public is just being hypocritical when they denounce Tiger as some kind of freak. He’s not a freak…he’s just bored and rich.
That being said…have you SEEN his wife? Geez, I can understand if you want to cheat because your wife looks like Rosie O’Donnell but a Swedish supermodel that has a TWIN? Plus he cheated with women that aren’t nearly as hot! That’s like driving a Bugatti Veyron every day but then deciding “No, I’d rather commute in that rusty 1987 Honda Civic where the clutch doesn’t work and smells of gasoline if I break too hard. V-TEC JUST KICKED IN!!!”
The best thing about the situation, however, is all the great porn titles that the industry has been inspired to create. Tiger’s Got Wood? Tiger Does The Back Nine (Times)? Tiger Does 18 Holes? Hilarious.
Good of you to provide us with the analogy of commuting in that rusty 1987 Honda Civic.
The porn industry hasn’t lost its great sense of humor.
Wishing you and your family a very Prosperous, Healthy & Happy Chinese New Year!
May you have Roaring good times in The Year of the Tiger!
I am delighted that Tiger Woods is back playing. It makes the game interesting once more.