Filling a void

Today, I think I just have to get the Tiger Woods thing off my chest.

Man, he killed me. I know he's a celebrity I don't know personally, never met, and will probably never meet. But he was the athlete I chose to follow back in 1996. When he was winning his 2nd US Amateur title. I have the golf magazines, articles and photos to prove it. I even have the 2 page "Hello World" Nike ad from the Wall Street Journal from the day he announced he was turning pro. I took heat for saying he'd win the 1997 Masters.

I bought the "Frank the Tiger headcover" before it was mass produced. From 1997 through 1999 I probably had 75% of the Nike golf shirts he wore. In my size of course. I bought 2 pairs of his first signature shoes. I had the hats. I started hitting Nike golf balls. As fate would have it, we even hit the same 3 wood when he joined the tour.

Obviously, I was all in for Tiger Woods.

I had many detractors who thought I was nuts for following a flash in the pan. By 2000, I was getting emails and phone calls apologizing for that!

As of last year, I have 2-3 bins of Tiger Woods memorabilia and stuff like bobble heads, golf balls, and posters. I was waiting for the day when I had the opportunity to create my man cave with Tiger Woods stuff. Today, the 2 page WSJ ad is hanging on my boys' wall in their bedroom.

But not much longer.

It has to come down. As a father, I can't tell my boys to be like Tiger anymore. He was never the perfect role model, but you could talk around the club throwing and cursing. But even this past season I started considering taking it down as his propensity for tossing clubs and cursing audibly become much more frequent.

But how do you tell a kid to be like Tiger now? Not my boys. I want my boys to love their family, their mother, their wives (someday) and children. I want them to be honest and trustworthy. I want them to have integrity.

Tiger the golfer will always be intriguing to me, but he has fallen from favor in grace in my eyes. I will probably still cheer as he chases the career majors record of Jack Nicklaus. I love seeing history being made.

Some may say I'm being hard and judgmental. Others will say he's human just like everyone else. Others will say, he's a man and has needs. Say on, ya'll. I defended him too when the news of the FIRST mistress broke. But 10 women later, and the details of the affairs was enough to push me away.

He's a fraud. He was nothing more than a dude who plays golf better than anyone else. But more importantly he was nothing more than a marketing image. He's the best at his craft, and his endorsements painted him as a good man too. We were lied to.

I'm one of the most loyal people you'll ever meet. And I'm a very forgiving person too. And no he doesn't owe me, you, or anyone but his family an apology. But for me to be a Tiger fan again, he's going to need to change his ways. A public apology will be a start, but actions speak louder than words. Show me you're a changed man, Tiger.

Deep down though, I feel for him. Like child actors and singers, Tiger never enjoyed a normal childhood. At the age of 2, he was already on TV! Of course, even at that age he wanted to be the best golfer of all time. But all the practice and preparation limited his time to be a kid. My guess is his whole life was and is golf. By his teens, he was going to be the next great thing, his life already on television and in the media. By 20, he had over $60 million in the bank, the world at his feet, and lots of power.

Who was gonna tell him no?

Only one person probably told him no. His father. It was easy to see that his father was his life. When he lost his dad, maybe Tiger lost his moral compass. Within no one left to steer him, and no one there for him to disappoint, Tiger went elsewhere to fill the void.

And now I'm looking for a new sports hero for the boys, and filling a void on a wall in my boys room.

In the meantime, I'll be praying for you Tiger.