Here’s what Tiger Woods needs to tell us: Absolutely nothing
I keep hearing and reading that Tiger Woods “needs to come clean.” (Here’s a boilerplate screed from the self-styled King of Outrage.) But you know what I say?
No he doesn’t.
He doesn’t need to say one thing more. He doesn’t have to talk to police, and he hasn’t. That’s his right under the law. And we the people have no overarching Need To Know on this issue. From the above expression of outrage: “The public deserves to hear exactly what happened in the wee hours of Thanksgiving night outside his mansion in Windermere, Fla.”
One question: Why?
It’s clear Mr. and Mrs. Woods had a discussion that didn’t end well. We can surmise that it had to do with the National Enquirer’s report of a Tiger dalliance with a New York nightclub hostess. We the people are not naive. But what exactly is Tiger supposed to say to us after driving his Cadillac into both a tree and a water hazard? (When run over by a vehicle, a fire hydrant qualifies.)
Should he paint himself into a Clinton-esque corner by wagging a finger and saying, “I did not have sex with that woman”? Should he risk being caught in a lie? Or should he admit to being an adulterer and thereby expose his already-exposed family to deeper public humiliation? Where’s the upside in that?
Tiger Woods is a public figure, but that’s not the same as being an elected official. He has asked no one to vote for him. Yes, he’s a serial endorser, but that’s more a matter between him and his sponsors. The corporations who pay him millions must decide if that money will continue to be well spent. (My guess is that they’ll shrug and say, “So what? He’s still Tiger Woods.”)
As hard as this is to believe in the Information Age, there’s such a thing as too much information. Alex Rodriguez held a mass media briefing last spring to address allegations of steroid use, and lo and behold he admitted using steroids. And you know what we in the media did? We ripped him for not telling us the whole truth, for being fuzzy on the details. We in the media can be a little silly sometimes.
And that seems an object lesson: Once you start talking about something seamy, you’re not given credit for facing the issue. You simply throw yourself and your family open to deeper scrutiny. Was the nightclub hostess the first Other Woman? If not, would Mr. Woods please name names, places and pertinent details? Were photos taken? If so, could you provide them? And was it indeed a 7-iron Mrs. Woods apparently brandished on the morning after Thanksgiving, and if so did she choose the right club?
I say again: We are not naive. We have cause to believe something is indeed amiss in the Woods marriage. But that is not our business. Nobody has been arrested. No charges have been filed. As much as we might hunger for the latest dollop of dope from TMZ, we have no inalienable right to satiation.
Tiger Woods is a public figure, yes. But even public figures have private lives. He should shut up — to his credit, that’s what he has done — and tend to his.
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240 comments Add your comment
SadDawg
November 30th, 2009
5:07 pm
Uh, didn’t everything kinda get public when he left his driveway and started hitting things on someone else’s property? Just saying…
SadDawg
November 30th, 2009
5:08 pm
Hey Benjamin, Mark wouldn’t draw a paycheck if we didn’t have a Bradley fetish!!
SadDawg
November 30th, 2009
5:09 pm
Right, Mark??
Rachel Uchitel
November 30th, 2009
5:14 pm
I wonder how I can make a killing off of this? hmmmmmmmmmm
jc_atl
November 30th, 2009
5:18 pm
WGAS? They had a marital spat, Tiger leaves in anger (or under 7-iron duress) and drives off into the rough. Alcohol was not involved. Blood samples will reveal illicit drug use if it was there, and beyond that the public has no need to know. Sure, the cops will try to get warrants, etc, but at this point any security videos will have been erased and any other evidence removed from the house. My guess is a judge says “who’s pressing charges” and the answer is no one. Tiger is human – who knew?
HowToBeATrueGolfer.com
November 30th, 2009
5:20 pm
Mark, you are dead on. This story is over. Thank you for reminding us all. http://www.howtobeatruegolfer.com
MJ
November 30th, 2009
5:24 pm
Tiger Woods does not owe the general public anything regarding his personal life. That part of his life is between him and Mrs.Woods. If anyone thinks otherwise, he or she is a self-serving fool. Mind your own business.
GDAWG65
November 30th, 2009
5:26 pm
It’s a damn private matter – forget it. You alread know more than you need or should.
Dawg 1
November 30th, 2009
5:26 pm
It’s cloudy outside, but I’m sure it’s blue. I agree with you Mark
The Truth
November 30th, 2009
5:28 pm
Should have married Shirley Franklin. The fake flower on her lapel says”womanhood.”
Phil Mickelson
November 30th, 2009
5:29 pm
I’m gonna kick his butt in every tournament next year. Take that to the bank!!!!!!!!!!
Bob Horner had a sweet compact swing
November 30th, 2009
5:29 pm
jc_atl ….in a domestic dispute the DA HAS TO PRESS CHARGES……
SuperB
November 30th, 2009
5:29 pm
Apparently the only place Tiger can drive under pressure is on the golf course.
georgia87
November 30th, 2009
5:30 pm
Dawg foot – That was funny. I laughed until I had to read it to my family. (Edited, of course)
Mark
November 30th, 2009
5:30 pm
From what has been reported, Tiger to this point has complied with FL law. He may have to pay for repairs but I think he has the ability. If he wants to speak about it, privately or publicly, that is his choice.
His statement is that he wants to maintain his privacy. I doubt if we will hear further comment. If it turns out his wife attacked him (spousal abuse) and he doesn’t want to press charges, again, not my concern.
If a sponsor wants to get an additional comment, let them ask. If the public wants to stop supporting Tiger because he refuses to speak publicly on this matter, I would be very surprised. This is a non-story except for the tabloids and News Corp.
Clay
November 30th, 2009
5:33 pm
Yeah, MJ, but it seems like a 4-iron came between Mr and Mrs Woods also! You’re not really minding your own business spouting off on this blog are you?
Hillbilly Deluxe
November 30th, 2009
5:35 pm
True he doesn’t owe the general public anything but if I had an auto accident on a public road, I wonder how the law would treat me if I didn’t answer questions.
Clay
November 30th, 2009
5:36 pm
News Corp? Didn’t know they owned ESPN!!
uga_b
November 30th, 2009
5:38 pm
No, I mean if you are going to cheat, cheat up. Never down. Maybe by that definition, Clinton cheated up.
Bob Horner had a sweet compact swing
November 30th, 2009
5:39 pm
Mark you stated.. If it turns out his wife attacked him (spousal abuse) and he doesn’t want to press charges, again, not my concern.
it DOES NOT MATTER if he doesn’t want to press charges….the police are required to….that’s the issue here…
Milton
November 30th, 2009
5:39 pm
I am now an unabashed Mark Bradley fan. He is absolutely right. Mr. Woods does not owe us any explanation whatsoever. I think that it is pathetic that so many people want to mind everyone else’d business but their own. Hang in there Tiger. This too shall pass.
golfman42
November 30th, 2009
5:42 pm
This is dead on. Tiger has said all he will say on this, period, end of story. That’s just the way he is, and it’s completely his right. The FHP should do the same it’d do investigating this situation for any John Doe. It’s unlikely it’ll be that simple since it IS Tiger Woods, but he has handled this situation exactly like I figured he would. Hopefully he’ll be ready to play in Hawaii
First
November 30th, 2009
5:44 pm
First
Aww man, I just missed it.
bigred
November 30th, 2009
5:46 pm
I agree that since no laws were broken that he doesn’t have to explain to police what happened.BUT…that being said,perception is reality,correct? The perception of people who alude questions about anything(famous athlete’s are no exception)is that they are guilty.When someone pleads the Fifth Amendment(even though it THEIR LEGAL RIGHT)most people jump to the conclusion of where there is smoke there is FIRE!
Tiger is one of the greatest golfers of all time(and his driving on and off the course seems to be his bugaboo)so if let’s someone else drive him he might live long enough to be the GREATEST of ALL TIME! BUT,even Tiger knows that his skills as a golfer is what got him started.The rest is HIS PERSONNA and CHARISMA!Everyone thinks that this guy is SUPERMAN BUT HE IS HUMAN and humans make mistakes.But,that said,one of the best qualities a human can have is to cleanse one’s SOUL when the opportunity presents itself.One of the things I admired about TW is that he surrounds himself with friends of the same cabiber,like Michael Jordan.He was the same way in his playing days.You didn’t read a lot of gossip mags with headlines that involved MJ.He DID HIS TALKING on the court and handled himself with CLASS and was a CLASSY ROLE MODEL for the youth who grew up watching him and TW is PERSON now for this generation.
Tiger,you are a class act and even though you legally don’t have to EXPLAIN anything to the LAW,I think even you know that without the FANS,having all the talent in world means nothing.No PGA, no endorsements, NO NIKE! People love to kick people when they are down!They also like to make up stories if the real one is not forthcoming.BUT,another thing AMERICAN’S love to do is forgive someone who comes clean.
First
November 30th, 2009
5:46 pm
I agree Mark. Let the guy do the talking that you pay to do the talking.
I will say he should not have continually wasted police resources by continually rescheduling interviews with them, just to not give them!
Navigator
November 30th, 2009
5:55 pm
No he doesn’t have to talk to the police but if it was Joe Blow instead of a rich celeb he’d have been arrested for ‘leaving the scene’
Hillbilly Deluxe
November 30th, 2009
6:00 pm
A friend of mine once hit a power pole in a single vehicle accident. He was summoned before a Judge (not by his choice) and the Judge said to him “Son, these things are stationary objects. Now you want to tell me why you ran into one?” ‘Course that was Georgia, maybe Florida law is different.
Paul in RDU
November 30th, 2009
6:01 pm
Tiger is doing exactly what the rest of us would do in his situation – keep his mouth shut and try to work things out with his wife.
Bob Horner keeps saying that the DA has to file charges in a domestic abuse case. Before he can file charges he needs to have probable cause. What does he have at the moment – nothing. No eyewitnesses, the 2 principals saying it was a trafiic aaccident.
I expect that the attempt to get Tiger’s medical records from the hospital is nothing more than a fishing expedition – the police have already stated that alcohol was not involved.
As someone who has lived in Raleigh-Durham for some time I am familiar with DA’s who do things for publicity
Dave
November 30th, 2009
6:07 pm
Why don’t you folks worry about you own pathetic lives and leave Tiger alone. This is between him, his wife, and his God. He or his wife may have made an error in judgement, I don’t know and it’s none of my business, he doesn’t owe me or any of you a thing.
Dave
November 30th, 2009
6:09 pm
uga_b – that’s because it was impossible for him to cheat down!
Bob Horner had a sweet compact swing
November 30th, 2009
6:10 pm
Paul in RDU….you say “Before he can file charges he needs to have probable cause. What does he have at the moment – nothing.”
we don’t know….he may have something…but I’ll cave…your post trumped mine….I’m not Tiger fan he slams his clubs down and acts like spoiled 12yr old…all the the things I was taught NOT to do on a golf course….I pull against him…
we’ll probably never get the truth….I guess I’m wrong for wanting that…
Jim
November 30th, 2009
6:14 pm
Everybody is tied up on the fact that the air bags didn’t deploy thus it couldn’t have been a bad ax.
Air Bags not deploying means absolutely nothing. In looking at the dmg, it is by far more than a minimal impact. The reason the air bags didn’t deploy is probably because it wasn’t a head on impact to a portion of the frame. The frame probably is swayed slightly but the car absorbed the impact. In doing so, there was not enough of a sudden stop to trigger the air bags to deploy.
Now if Tiger isn’t wearing a seat belt and had too many pain killers in his system, that would explain his condition at the accident scene. If his wife had a fight with him prior and bashed out the glass in frustration and an effort to get Tiger to stop him from leaving, that would explain the broken glass situation.
FUZZON
November 30th, 2009
6:20 pm
Why has Tiger’s “girlfriend” hired a lawyer? Do you think she’ll talk or will she be “Lewinkezied”?
Dr. R
November 30th, 2009
6:32 pm
Totally agree Mark. And you, my friend, are a helluva columnist. Thanks for the common sense.
Erin Andrews' Landing Strip
November 30th, 2009
6:35 pm
The real question, of course, is what would Super Genius Coach Paul Johnson do?
Bob Horner had a sweet compact swing
November 30th, 2009
6:37 pm
Erin Andrews’ Landing Strip …..nice screen name….
OVER??
November 30th, 2009
6:38 pm
This will dog Tiger at every event. Forget another Major!!
Lou
November 30th, 2009
6:39 pm
Great column! We need to leave Tiger Woods alone. His family and/or legal affairs are none of our business.
Steve the Caddy
November 30th, 2009
6:48 pm
And I want to shoot down another nasty rumor here. It is NOT true that as Erin was busting out the back window with a driver, Tiger was screaming, “No, no, I wanted the 3 iron!!!” But I can tell you for certain that you want the big dog if you’re taking out the safety glass on an Escalade.
chuckmonster
November 30th, 2009
6:51 pm
Tiger doesn’t have to say a word, indeed. That woman whipped his a$$, so he had better keep his scrawny mouth shut before she whips it again. I love how she “rescued Woods from the driver’s seat by smashing the rear windows of his Escalade with a golf club.” I wonder if that is the same club she used to smack him in the head. Nice try by the publicist, though. I haven’t heard that much horse $hit since “Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.”
Herschel Walker
November 30th, 2009
6:56 pm
I know two things:
1) Tiger’s Swedish wife can apparently hit a two-iron.
2) The Dawgs will ALWAYS own the bumblebees. ALWAYS.
Bob Horner had a sweet compact swing
November 30th, 2009
7:02 pm
chuckmonster ….settle down….if my old lady came after you with a 3 iron you’d be be running too…TRUST ME…(although the smart thing to do is charge towards her…she gets 1 hit….but you have control…if you’re still conscious)
Louis Skolnick
November 30th, 2009
7:02 pm
Mark – you are a genius on this subject. Anyone who appreciates him as a golfer knows he is getting his butt kicked in private. To volunteer to open his yapper in public on this would be akin to diggin the trap deeper, unnecesarily. Move on, world…..he wasn’t elected to the White House.
JOHN KINCAID
November 30th, 2009
7:04 pm
If he’d kept the driver in his bag, he wouldn’t be in this trouble.
Bob Horner had a sweet compact swing
November 30th, 2009
7:06 pm
John…you’re a funny man……you made me laugh
thebob.bob
November 30th, 2009
7:09 pm
TW has lawyers, good lawyers. He also has PR folks, and they’re good too. You can be sure that they’ve trained him well. If anything happens, say nothing and call us. Repeat after me: Say nothing, call us.
TW, tell the cops to talk to your lawyer if they have any questions.
Bob Horner had a sweet compact swing
November 30th, 2009
7:11 pm
thebob.bob …..I’d have probably said…”he has the BEST lawyers..” not just good….
OSCAR
November 30th, 2009
7:16 pm
Who pays for the fire plug?
JB
November 30th, 2009
7:21 pm
1) What if it were Tiger who allegedly hit his wife?
2) Are you allowed to get in car wreck, tearing up a fire hydrant, and then tell the police no, I don’t feel like talking? Talk to my agent and lawyer.
3) The suspicion of driving under heavy medication is serious. Do we have to wait until someone is seriously injured or killed to take the suspicion seriously?
P. Bull Terrier
November 30th, 2009
7:34 pm
Five points here:
1. Tiger is free to tell us absolutely nothing about his accident, but since he’s a public figure, if he chooses to say nothing, the public is free to speculate. The actual event is rarely as dramatic as what the general public comes up with when they start to speculate.
2. Legally, Tiger doesn’t have to tell the police anything, but they should treat him the same way they would treat anyone else who crashed their car into their neighbor’s yard in the middle of the night. I guarantee if I found myself in the same position as Tiger, the police wouldn’t politely wait until I felt like discussing the incident. As soon as I was released from the hospital I’d be heading to jail on some type of charges, and lacking Tiger’s financial resources, I’d have a much harder time avoiding a conviction. Either that, or my wife would be facing a little jail time for assault with a deadly weapon.
3. Mark Bradley is not a reporter/journalist. It’s not his job to investigate the facts. Mark is a sports columnist. His job is to comment on sports and keep readers interested. There are plenty of valid reasons to criticize Mark Bradley, but saying he’s not a good journalist or complaining that he’s not investigating the facts is like complaining that he’s a sorry plumber.
4. I’m sure someone else already pointed out #1 & #2, but I don’t feel like reading through all the junk to see for myself.
5. I know someone else has already mentioned this, but it’s worth repeating … 30-24!