Poll: What Did You Think of Tiger Woods' Apology?

I couldn't believe it when every station cut to Tiger Woods. He had it all, including going to a school even top students struggle to be accepted to, all because he can hit a ball with a stick. He threw everything away. His apology shunned the women he cheated with, but his wife was just like them once. She was with him because he's Tiger Woods. The people I really feel bad for are his children.

My most recent post:

Valentines Day: Darn You, Sexy Nerd ( http://lambaround.blogspot.com/2010/02/valentines-... )

I'm choosing to trust that his apology was genuine.  Over time, we will know.  Since he presented a fraudulant image to the public, the children he encouraged, his business partners and his wife...yes, he needed to make the apology he made.  I hope more individuals follow in his footsteps.  I look forward to this kind of leadership.

One Friday night, Isle Dance ( http://isledance.blogspot.com ) loaded up her life and headed out...

That made me laugh:

but he's cool, he's cool, just like you'd be if you were him and you were cool.

I happened upon his press conference when I was getting ready for work...and I mainly watched his mother who was scowling and looking downward and had a look of shame and disgust on her face.  His behavior  is very far from what he was raised to become.  When it was time to hug Tiger after his remarks, it was only then that she smiled and put on a good show.

We keep saying althletes, but I suggest it is men in power who feel that because they have this power and money... that they are entitled..other evidence to this John Edwards, Bill Clinton. JFK....there are many more.

I agree that this was a PR event...a beginning to restore his name and brand.  I really hope that he has some good treatment for this entitlement issue...because it is more than a sexual issue.

Cece-one of The Two Whos

 http://www.thetwowhos.com

At this point Tiger would have to publiclly disembowel himself to get everyone to think he might be sincere. As for me, I who have no interest in golf or celebrities' private lives, I figure to give him the benefit of the doubt. I mean really, what if he IS sorry and wants to change? Not that my opinion matters. If I were in the public eye and I screwed up that badly, you can bet I would want my eventual speech about it to be exact. I'd probably read from a manuscript, too -- just to make sure I said everything. I wouldn't want to leave anyone out that deserved an apology. I would also want to be clear to the press that chasing around my kids, wife and mother was bad form. What if he IS sorry? Just what would he have to do to keep the general public from gnawing at his entrails, harassing his family and spreading even more rumors?

~~ Contributing Editor, Mata H. also blogs right along at Time's Fool ( http://timesfool.blogspot.com )

Tiger's infedalities do not concern me or impact upon my life in anyway.  Yes as a woman I think he is a bastard for what he did but I definietly don't feel I or anyone not immediately involved deserves an apology.  I feel for his wife and family that everyday they are forced to bare witness to his betrayals in every form of media.  The public are like rabid dogs ready to punce on every new tidbit of his debauchery.  The media hungry women keep coming forward with their crocodile tears.  These women all knew who he was and what they were getting involved in they are hardly innocent victims, yet each time one comes forward it's put on the news. We are shocked by his behaviour, why are we not shocked by theirs?   How are his wife and family to move past this when it is constantly shoved in their face to reopen what must already be painful wounds.   His apology is as orchestrated as the rest of his life.  Tiger Woods is a product more than a man and we were all so happy to swallow the image without question.  Should we really be shocked that he is a flawed human being.  Are we that naive (ok the quantity of his apetite was rather shocking but the fact he strayed is not).   Just another part of the whole circus.  More airtime goes to this sensationalised detrius than to the Haiti earthquake vicitms, are we really so shallow? 

I firmly believe in the miracle of forgiveness. Recognizing our mistakes is the first step to a true repentance. I admire people that are humble enough to recognize their mistakes, ask for forgiveness and abandon the wrong doing.

I would like to share the ABC's Steps of Repentance:

A- admit you're wrong.

B- be sorry.

C- correct your mistake.

D- don't do it again.

The apology from Tiger Woods, in my opinion, was sincere. By doing this, he assure his wife he will definitely follow the path to true repentance and will make every possible effort to correct his mistake and to be devoted to her, as he promised, when they got married. I hope the best for them.

"It's not what you achieved in life that matters, it's what you overcome"

DeLores Pressley- Worldwide 

http://delorespressley.com

I personally do not care what Tiger does or does not do. Except...

As a public persona who has earned a good bit of money by branding himself as a nice guy that people (particularly kids) should look up to and emulate - yes, he needed to apologize publicly.

If you haven't followed Tiger's "career" as a "brand" - and you can dig deep enough into the internet searches, you will find old article and magazine cover and interview that branded him as a role model. Kids looked up to him. Adults looked up to him. Do you remember when he first blasted onto the scene and there was interview after interview about how great it was for African American kids to have a role model in the golf world?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/12/04/tiger.woods....

"When you talk to kids about golf, the first words out of their mouths are 'Tiger Woods,' " said Timothy Sanders, the head golf professional at Forest Park Golf Course ( http://www.bmgcgolf.com/sites/courses/baltimore.as... ) in Baltimore, Maryland. "His name is the first that comes to their minds."

Sanders runs a junior golf program where almost 200 young people a year come for instruction.

The golf course is in a predominately African American area of the city. Sanders said many of the youngsters in the program view Woods as a role model because of his talent and achievements. He hopes those qualities don't get lost in the midst of all the controversy surrounding the golfer's personal life.

He was, indeed, on an unrealistic pedastal. That's what we do to our super-heroes and our role models.  And that means when the eff up... they have to apologize and listen to all of us say that we don't really care. And that we never really cared about him in the first place. But we did - or some of us did - and I do care that he apologizes because those people (kids!) who cared - who respected him - who felt like they could do more, be better, because of him - deserve an apology.

~Denise BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net/ )

I have made mistakes in past relationships.  Did I owe an apology to my coworkers?  friends?  neighbors?  strangers in the street? 

You are not the only one.

I don't need his apology. All the people he should apologize to are people I don't know, and he should have apologized to them a long long time ago. All this "I'm sorry to my fans" stuff is just meat for the media carnival, imho. They demand to be fed, so he feeds them. They talk about him. Everyone is happy. Well, except for the rest of us who couldn't care less, who are happy or not for our own reasons having nothing to do with Tiger.

Laura Scott, BlogHer Contributing Editor, Tech/Web
design ( http://pingv.com ), snap ( http://scatteredsunshine.com ), blog ( http://rarepattern.com ), tweet ( http://twitter.com/lauras )

....My mind just completely went on the fritz...need nap! 

I agree with what you have said here!

I watched his whole speech, and it seemed very rehearsed, very forced. He shocked me because I didn't realize his previous persona was so totally coached. Now that I know that, it's impossible for me to take him seriously as a human being unless he shows actual remorse. That said, I think he's a good golf player, end of story. He's a good golf player and a questionable moral character.

We have to stop making athletes into gods and goddesses.

Rita Arens writes at Surrender Dorothy ( http://surrenderdorothy.typepad.com ) and BlogHer and is the editor of Sleep is for the Weak ( http://tinyurl.com/9pg62e ). She is BlogHer's assignment and syndication editor.

He didn't cheat on Joe Q Public, but his wife. I'm so burnt out on all of these apologies and the feeling that somehow we deserved to be apologized to. 

Also, I didn't watch or read his apology. 

I agree with that sentiment.  However, since Tiger is a man who makes quite a lot of his money through endorsement deals, he has to make a show of remorse to the public (whether we care or not) in order to appease the big corporations that pay a pretty penny for his face.  For his way of life, he has to pray to the alter of public opinion.  It's not fair since this is a very personal matter (especially for his wife and other family members), but again, he gets paid quite well for his endorsement deals (and why shouldnt he?  He worked hard to make his name and face so recogniziable) he needs to do this for those big corporations. 

Somer blogs at Merry Wife of Canon ( http://www.merrywifeofcanon.com ) as well as Smell My Plate ( http://www.smellmyplate.com ).

I have to agree that the only apology he owes is to his wife and kids...but he does have a rep to protect and it seems in order to protect his family and the put to rest some rumors he needs to say something so i guess now is as good as time as any. My question to all is what about sex rehab? is it just the new scapegoat for these cheaters?  I am  no professional on the subject and im sure there are people out there who really cannot help themselves that they do in fact have an addiction,but it seems everytime one of these celebrities get caught they are the new poster child for sex rehab.

I agree with Maria. We put so much faith in human beings just because they are athletes, actors, or just famous. They are still HUMAN. They are living under our microscope and it's not fair. He is a private person and this should be left private and for him and his family to take care of. When he wouldn't talk about it, all I heard from the media is "he should talk or this could be detrimental to his career". I think he sucks as a husband right now, but that is something for him and his family to discuss. He owes no apologies to any of us.

The Christianista

www.thechristianista.com ( http://www.thechristianista.com )

I liked it as a study in rebranding.  Previously saddled with a boring brand that he had outgrown (Perfectionist, Reserved), he strategically has used his fall from grace to rebrand. He used the time to define himself as a rockstar. 

I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have far - I didn't have to go far to find them.

He didn't say he was immoral.  He apologized for being selfish and out of control. he stood up for his family and shot down lies told about them.  He reminded everyone he is not a Christian focused on apologizing for sin, but a Buddhist, which he said teached him "creation of things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint."

So his framework:  Tiger's not a perfectionist, he's a rockstar, engaged with the world in a big way.  He went over the deep end with sex, needs some restraint, but he's cool, he's cool, just like you'd be if you were him and you were cool.

Will it float?  Fascinating from a PR point of view.

Deb
www.debontherocks.com ( http://www.debontherocks.com/ )blog
www.3smartgirlz.com ( http://www.3smartgirlz.com/ ) consulting

that believes Tiger has nothing to apologize to us for. The damage he did was to his family. We are such a voyeruistic society that we've made celebrities and stars feel like they need to apologize for what goes on in their private lives and I think that's silly. He didn't do anything to his public, we should stay out of his private.

- Maria Young

immoralmatriarch.com ( http://immoralmatriarch.com )@maria0305
( http://twitter.com/maria0305 )

Tiger Woods, golf genius, blah blah blah.  Was I the only person completely floored when the news of him being a womanizer came to light?  He always seemed like such a goody goody.  And it turns out he's a megalomaniac who thinks of women as trophies...the more the better.  Yuck.  I find him VERY yucky.

Somer blogs at Merry Wife of Canon ( http://www.merrywifeofcanon.com ) as well as Smell My Plate ( http://www.smellmyplate.com ).