Quote:
Originally Posted by graciegirl
We can tell you really like Tiger Woods, Jim. He wouldn't be my pick for a dinner guest. (He probably already knows I put Velveeta in my cheese sauce and would turn me down, anyway.) sigh.
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It's not a question of liking him Gracie. It's that I appreciate what he has done for golf and what he has done with his various charities. It's about accepting him as a flawed human being.
I feel that he's done more good than bad in the world. He made a big mistake, yes, but he has paid the price. Does that outweigh all fo the good he has done? He's has brought more people as players and fans to the game. When he plays, interest in the tournament increases tremendously. My former mother-in-law who knew nothing about golf and never had any interest in golf would tune in every Sunday to watch what she called "The Tiger Show". Thousands of young kids and minorities began playing golf because of Tiger. Golf instilled in them values that they might not have had otherwise. Some have been saved from a life of crime because of golf. Before Tiger, it was not cool for kids and especially minority kids to play golf. Tiger made golf cool.
He has lived the past 25 years in a goldfish bowl. We don't know half about other players as we know about Tiger. Every move he makes is examined and criticized. We don't know what most of the other players are doing 24/7.
I've never met him, but I know people that know him and they all seem to like him. Players that I've spoken with say that he is very polite and goes out of his way to make them comfortable when they are paired with him. Players that have been on teams with him have nothing but good things to say about him. I've never heard anyone that knows him say anything negative about him.
I also know that he has an incredible work ethic and desire to be the best that ever played the game. It would be easy for someone who has had the kind of success that he's had to sit back and relax and rake in the bucks by speaking and doing clinics. Instead, he is at the gym at 5:00 every morning and working his tail off at the practice range every day.
I've met a lot of professional athletes and especially a lot of PGA Tour players in my life. And I can say that the perception that most people get by seeing them briefly on television is usually very different than the reality. Some that come across as great people are not and some that seem to be arrogant and unlikable are just the opposite.
People hate Tiger for many reasons. I try not to like or dislike any athlete until I get to know them. People hate that the media is all gaga over Tiger. The media is just giving us what we want. There are a lot more people that are interested in Tiger's golf than people who turn off the television because they are talking about him too much. TV ratings go up when Tiger is playing in a tournament. They go through the roof when he is in contention. How else should the media act? They simply put on what most people want to see.
All I'm saying is that we shouldn't judge Tiger by one or two acts or how by the media treats him.
And as far a diiner guest and turning up his nose at Velveeta? He served hamburgers and fries at the champions dinner after his first Masters win. That ruffled the feathers of some of the older champions. From what I understand, Tiger is really a pretty down to earth guy.