[katezbox]

Originally Posted by Taj44

Wrong or right, I think people expected a little more from Tiger than we do from other athletes for several reasons. Other than John Daly, golf has not had the scandals of drugs, alcohol, etc. that other sports seem to generate. Golf is known as a game of "doing the right thing". It is an honorable game where you call penalties on yourself even if no one is watching. Golfers like Jack Nicholas and Phil Mickelson and Arnold Palmer are popular for their golf but also are known for being good guys and a family men. Tiger falls into the same category. We've watched him since he was two years old swinging a golf club on TV. We've read about how Earl Woods groomed Tiger to be a golfer and instilled good values in him. Earl intimidated that Tiger was capable of much more than just golf, perhaps even political office.

Tiger Woods has always been perceived by the public to be a model athlete and person of good morals, certainly a hero to many young people. How many athletes do we see in other sports that have something akin to The Tiger Woods Foundation? And interestingly, the Tiger Woods Foundation calls itself a "nationwide character development program". As such, Tiger's dalliances with trashy women have struck a nerve with the public. If he was an ordinary guy we would all leave him and his wife alone and hope they could work it out, but his celebrity status will obviously make him a target of public discussion and scrutiny. You can't get paid millions in advertising endorsement dollars to have your name plastered on all sorts of products, and expect the public to ignore you. The money comes with a certain responsibility.

Taj,

I hear you ...but a couple of points to ponder. First Russ had a great post on how many "opportunities" must come Tiger's way. That doesn't excuse him, but...

We will never know if Jack or Arnie had any sideline romances - the press in their heyday was not the 24/7 paparazzi driven gossip-driven medium then that it is today. Even Phil doesn't garner 10% of the media scutiny that Tiger does.

And I really take exception to the "trashy women" descriptive. Maybe she made a mistake too. Why does the woman always bear the majority of the responsibility?