Monday, December 14, 2009

John's Monday Washington Post column:

Here is this week's The Washington Post article ------

It is now Day 18 of the Tiger Woods Hostage Crisis.

Okay, maybe that sounds overblown, but in a very real sense it isn't. Woods is a hostage, even though he is his own captor.

What's more, there is no doubting that both Woods and the sport of golf are in crisis. The PGA Tour needs Woods almost as much as mammals need oxygen. Woods needs golf more now than ever because playing the game he has dominated for almost 13 years may be the only way for him to him to temporarily escape the humiliation that has rained down him since the morning of Nov. 27. That day now feels as if it were closer to 18 years ago than 18 days ago given all that has happened.

Click here for the rest of the column: Unclear exactly where Tiger, Tour are headed

2 comments:

JJ said...

John,

Golf reporters seem to cover these guys like they're covering Babe Ruth in the 1920's. It's a pretty sad example of journalism, if you ask me. Actually, golf journalist appears to be an oxymoron. It's apparrent that almost all golf reporters are a schill for the PGA, the players, and the equipment companies. If it wasn't for a tabloid, the Tiger story would never have seen the light of day. The good old boys club is alive and well in golf.

Anonymous said...

Other star athletes have been destoyed by more serious scandals, including O.J., Harding, Rose, Bonds, Shoeless Joe & the Black Sox. Nor are sex scandals rare in sports - Mike Tyson, Marv Albert, Rick Patino, Wade Boggs, Peterson & Kekich, Koby, Mark Chmura, to name a few.

But what makes Wood's affairs unique is how they threaten to harm golf. When Woods played in a tournament, ratings increased by 50%. That will change now. The PGA Tour is losing sponsors and Woods' trashed public image is going to hurt the effort to replace them. Woods probably has lost his next billion dollars, but all golfers collectively and the PGA tour likely will lose billions more.

While Woods' sexcapades cannot match Bill Clinton's in the damage caused, becasue golfers and golf just can't compare in importance to ruined years of a presidency and the the loss of the White House by the Democrats, no sport has ever before experienced anything like the havoc Woods' downfall will cause.