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PORTS,

It’s tough to see heroes fall
Watching Tiger Woods’ problems play out not fun

 

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

hen I was first asked by Liam

(our esteemed editor in chief) to

write a story in defence of Tiger
Woods in the midst of all that had come out
to that point, I was thrilled. After all, I’ve
long been as big a fan of Woods as one can
be. I think it’s safe to say that for years now
he’s been someone I’ve always looked up to
and idolized.

So it was with a ton of enthusiasm
that I sat down to write out this article.
However, in the time-honoured art of
procrastination, I put it off until Thursday
and by that point some new details about
Woods and the whole scandal had emerged.
Several new women had crawled out of the
woodwork (no pun meant there. ..really)
claiming their own affairs with Tiger and at
first, it was easy to write them off as nothing
more than gold diggers looking to score a
quick pay day, as one woman did, accepting
$150,000 from Us Weekly for her story.
Then, however, Tiger himself changed

everything. In just his second public

18

statement since this whole thing began, he
issued a very telling assertion of himself
that pretty much came as close as possible
to admitting the accusations of his extra-
marital business were true without actually
saying it in those words.

offer my profound apology,” Woods said in
his statement.

I don’t know about any of you, but
for me personally, this was extremely
disappointing to hear. Yes, I know that
everyone is human and that we all make

“Yes, | know that everyone is human and that we all make mistakes,
even the best of us, but that knowledge doesn’t make it any easier to
be okay with seeing our heroes fail.”

“T have let my family down and I
regret those transgressions with all of my
heart. I have not been true to my values
and the behaviour my family deserves. I
am not without faults and I am far short of
perfect. I am dealing with my behaviour
and personal failings behind closed doors
with my family. Those feelings should be
shared by us alone...I will strive to be a
better person and the husband and father
that my family deserves. For all of those
who have supported me over the years, I

mistakes, even the best of us, but that
knowledge doesn’t make it any easier to

be okay with seeing our heroes fail. It

is especially hard to see something like

this happen with someone as seemingly
invincible as Tiger Woods. After all, he is
perhaps the most dominant and well-known
athlete on the planet; someone who over the
course of his career has redefined the term
“clutch” and has established himself as one
of, if not the, best pressure athlete of all
time, in any sport.

 

That’s why it’s so difficult to watch
what is happening with Tiger now. This_
is a guy who I have always thought of as
everything an athlete should be—and I’m
sure I’m not alone in saying that. Before
all of his recent dirty laundry came to light,
he had a squeaky clean record to say the
least. Even with his standing as the world’s
most famous athlete, he has always been
known for his accomplishments on the golf
course, his tremendous charity work and his
big time endorsement deals with Nike and
other companies; basically all standard stuff
for superstars. In fact, looking back, it’s
surprising how little was mentioned about
his personal life before now.

Seeing the heroes you idolize fall
hard back to Earth isn’t any fun. Sure,
it doesn’t cause a direct impact on your
life or anything like that, but there’s this
feeling in the pit of your stomach of just
sad disappointment. I’m sure in the long
run people will move on from this story like
they do with everyone else, but right now,
it’s difficult to look at Tiger Woods the same
anymore.