The most ridiculous part of

The most ridiculous part of this whole mess is that people are stupid enough to buy any product endorsed by some so called "hero".

Don't they realize that some of these jerks are being paid millions for pushing some junk, they may never use themselves, and that Tiger was apparently paid $50,000 every time he put on a Nike cap ?

How stupid can people get by wearing some company's trademark, because some "star" wore it ?

Wearing the Nike slash is the same as carrying a sandwich board around, pushing their products

Especially with the child/slave labour record of some of the corporate mafia.

Ed Deak. Big Lake.

Refreshing Candour

What makes Rafe's columns so refreshing is the self reflection and candour that invariably accompanies his work. Further, Rafe can speak about certain facets of our lives (love of hockey; hero worship of Tiger Woods) while remaining passionate about wild salmon and the problems with fishfarms and damming BC's rivers. We NEVER see this in the mainstream press (CanWestGlobal; Glacier Media - http://www.straight.com/article-248018/glacier-media-makes-100000-donation-bc-liberals). For many, many citizens and readers, this combination is extremely desirable, because it reflects how real people are.

Yet it has become almost unheard of to have an outspoken columnist also take the time to write about the rest of life. And the ONLY outspoken columnists in the MSM are right wing, paid to shill the corporate views over and over again until the public is driven stark, raving mad. Or shuts it off (I favour the latter).

Rafe, you have truly found your voice, along with a large audience of people who share the same values. Values that used to underpin Canada as a country. And indeed, Tiger has disappointed many in a time of overall collapse. A sign of the times, as Rafe points out.

The guy was cheating on his

The guy was cheating on his wife while she was having his child. The youngest is under one year old. The guy was made to look a hero in sports but is no better than anyone else who cheats on his spouse. If he loses all his endorsement who cares. I consider the biggest loss is to his kids. Sure they will still have money, which will help, but the kids will , as other kids from broken homes get an earful when they make it to school. The hero worship is a bit much for someone who's calim to fame is his ability to hit a small ball in the direction of some hole in the ground. I hope his wife sues his socks off and goes out and finds someone who will cherish her and the kids. He is nothing

Misplaced Adoration!

The awe over sports and other celebrities is pathetic and surprised that Rafe would bother adding to the flotsam!

So what, Rafe?

He's a great golfer.

Why should anyone really care about what goes on in his life, either in or out of his marriage? I don't care to know what went on, or is going on, in your personal life Rafe. Do you really want to start a whole discussion on good and bad morals and the 'correct' way that people should conduct their personal lives? The whole concept is a waste of time anyway. Nobody really knows what is discussed or goes on in the bedrooms of anyone else and even they were to tell you, you can bet that the other party would have a differing opinion.

Enough already!

When is the media going to leave the guy alone? He screwed up, he paid enormously for it. I do not condone his actions but it is time to let him go and lick his wounds and get on with his life.

Go after the people who deserve to be hounded for their disgusting and damaging behaviour like Gordon Campbell and Stephen Harper.

Forgive me Father for I have sinned ...

“I may have been able to retain some of my affection if he had, from the beginning, been honest with not only his wife Elin, but all his fans too.”

Perhaps a blog that tracked Tiger’s transgressions, sort of an online confessional, would have made it all easier to swallow.

Crux of the situation

"Woods, with casual abandon, placed his wife and children into the position of being shamed before the entire world".

For that, it is only right that there should be consequences for Woods.

Give it a rest!

The public elevated a very good golfer into some kind of go like figure. Now they are disappointed that he is just another human being with flaws. What did they expect for heavens sake? Leave them alone. Furthermore stop fawning over every celebrity or royalty as though they are models of character and should be emulated. Don't they put their pants on one leg at a time like the rest of us.

I'll still watch Tiger play golf because he is good at it but I still won't buy any product because he endorses it and I won't look for lessons in life from him or anyone else.

Karen D above makes the best observation. We didn't even hold Campbell up to the same standard as Tiger.

A coddled life

Tiger woods was a child prodigy who appeared on national television at age three. While educated at Stanford, he admitted during one interview he doesn't know how to write a cheque. He's been coddled all his life because of his talent. He is NOT your typical, (reasonably) well-adjusted and independent adult.

I think fans are angered at the duplicity of leading a rake-like life chasing sex while having this family-man image that the big corporations and the public like. There has also been much talk about him as a positive role model for African American males, in contrast to gangsta rappers and athletes behaving badly. From the marketing point of view, he attracted a lot of people to the game of golf. The golf industry will have to develop some new stars. His wife will have to figure out how to move on with her life and raise a family with or without Tiger.

Heroes

Tiger's only human - his personal problems are just that - his personal problems . But the uproar that has resulted from this little soap opera is a tragic reflection on western society. Why do we make heroes out of people who are incredibly talented at performing tasks of no intrinsic value? And having made them heroes, why do we have to obsess over every details of their lives?

I'm not anti-sports; in fact I love playing sports. I just don't get the point of sitting on a couch watching them. The endless parade of sports stars and other cultural heroes who've been exposed as liars and cheaters only goes to prove the old adage:

You can wreck anything if you only throw enough money at it.

Protect Us from Citizen Editors

Why is it, I wonder, that so many people will go to an online source of news/commentary (like The Tyee), open an article that concerns a subject they claim to find trivial, read the article, and then post a comment criticizing the author/website for publishing such an article?

If they find the entire Tiger Woods saga unworthy of their attention, why read an opinion piece by Rafe Mair entitled "Say It Ain't So, Tiger"? Which "Tiger" did they think the article was about? If they find Michael Jackson weird or disgusting, why read articles about his demise and its aftermath?

And, why do they believe that bandwidth is so rare and precious that it must be reserved exclusively for what they perceive to be weighty subjects like politics and global economics?

And, most importantly, how do they continually miss the point? Can they not see the Tiger saga isn't really about Tiger at all? How can they read Rafe's article and fail to understand that the story is really about "us"?

It's very odd. I suspect that it's related to the growth of what is laughingly called "citizen journalism" ... the notion that the average uninformed, unskilled, untrained person on the street can be trusted to produce accurate news and informed commentary.

If we can devolve into citizen journalism, I suppose the next step will be "citizen editors" ... people who believe that they are better qualified to decide what issues get covered and how.

Gawd help us all.

Aww c'mon Tangler

You can't be serious. The old, "If you don't like the article, don't read it?" Another version of, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?"

So how do you justify reading the predictable critical commentary, complete with titles strongly indicative of content, and finally responding with a long, editorial-style post critical of "citizen journalism" and, uhhh, criticism itself? Are you trying to make people's heads explode?

And here I am, responding. Will we now enter some infinitely recursive set of alternating counter-criticisms, on the topic of criticism? Cue the theme from "The Twilight Zone."

Accept Reality Adam

Adam M.

Trust me, I don't care if you say anything nice. Nice is for weak, skinny kids who have been taught that the world is fair and just.

But it would be productive if the budding citizen editors and citizen journalists out there would at least make an effort to comment on the content of an article itself, rather than condemn its simple existence in time and space. The article exists. Rafe chose to write it. The Tyee chose to publish it. Get over it.

Yes, I know that commenting on a comment that doesn't comment on the content is somewhat ironic, but hey - I'm human. Dumb things bug me. I've even been known to flip a finger at a driver who is clearly too stupid, drunk or distracted to realize that I'm trying to offend him. It's what humans do. Well, except for the weak, nice ones.

And, I have never tried to explode anyone's head. I state that now, for the record, because I don't want CSIS (or worse, the Olympic Police) at my door tonight, asking uncomfortable questions. I intend to spend the evening with brandy and eggnog, watching the snow drive my neighbours to cardiac frustration. Always amusing.

So there.

According to one of the porn stars...

I thought one of the most interesting comments came from one of the porn stars Tiger was connected to by the media. Holly Sampson spoke the other day, saying something to the effect of, "I'm not a home wrecker. I attended Tiger's stag party, but that's it.

That's the problem. Tiger has a very nice home (i.e. life), and he was too busy being led by his gonads to realize it.

A story...

A few years back there was a scandal in Paris, with accusations that movie starlets were being purveyed to various men, wealthy Arabs and American actor Robert de Niro's name was mentioned.

De Niro hired a lawyer, a former minister of justice, so probably one of the top dozen lawyers in France. His lawyer's defence at the inquiry that resulted? "why would Mr. de Niro pay for sex when he could have any woman he wanted because he is Robert de Niro?" You went to law school for that?

The point is, and no one disputes it: fame and celebrity are serious babe magnets.

Rafe and Tiger

I think Rafe's problem, and one we all have, is misjudging character. It takes some of us 40 years to see the changes that happen in a person's character over time, and then we become disgusted, when we see that we have been taken for fools. Of course, it works the other way around sometimes, as Tiger's wife found out.

Robin Williams said it best:

Robin Williams said it best: gawd gave men two heads, but only enough blood to run one at a time.

The Tiger Tedium

My high opinion of both the Tyee and Rafe Mair is just a little diminished. I have always considered The Tyee as an intelligent alternative to all the cloned media with their regurgitated gossip masquerading as "news." Did we really need yet another story about a grossly overpaid sports star jumping on the groupie train, when it's already been rehashed ad nauseum for weeks on end?
Or, to quote Ogden Nash: "Do you prefer your tedium rare, or medium?"

enough wih the small town

enough wih the small town prude mentality.

this is nothing, just biology at work. the media did this no one else.

who cares - puritans? nagging nannies?

old men from an old foolish world.

Stop being uptight losers.

Jealous or envious or stupid, I am tired of this religious-inspired dogma.

Have sex folks, with as many gorgeous people as you desire and if a microphone or camera gets shoved into your face tell them to fuck off and mind their own business - get their good times, jealous, unaccomplished, wining, vultures.

Boo hoo

Ah well, he isn't female and he doesn't live in Afghanistan so he won't be stoned to death... "he'll live", as the saying goes.

Tangler: Citizen Journalism

Tangler,

Your points regarding 'citizen journalism' are valid, highly relevant and I'd love to see a series in the Tyee on the impact of social media on the journalistic profession. My own opinion is that the journalistic trade, once made up of professionals who lived under codes of ethics/consuct, is being consumed and overrun by the blogosphere, social media, and, as you call them, citizen journalists. Incidentally, I think 'citizen journalist' is far too generous an term. I prefer the more accurate term, vanity press hacks. Having said this...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the people who fill these comments sections in online magazines are not at all citizen journalists. They are the new social media version of Letter to the Editor writers. That's how I view it.

I share your frustration about the medium, and after having read mopled (and his many aliases) diminish and deplete the climate change discussions with flat-earth conspiracy dogma, I'd be just fine seeing the comments sections for these articles entirely phased out, so I could focus on the reason I come here in the first place - good, investigative journalism by capable writers. The comment writers (I include myself) generally offer no substantive extras to the article at hand; the thread and sub-threads of tangents end up becoming a major distraction.

Unlike the old days, when letter writers were required to identify themselves before enjoying the privilege of being published, today's version is an anonymous collective of mostly trolls and ideologues with axes to grind, who have that annoying narcissistic trait of entitlement. As far as I'm concerned, anonymity negates credibility, and allows for abuse. But I digress....

A coment on the comments

Appreciate the Refreshing Candour comments from Jeffery L (ie: "Rafe, you have truly found your voice") and his point that Rafe can be an outspoken columnist on personal, ethical issues "while remaining passionate about wild salmon and the problems with fishfarms and damming BC's rivers."
I also connected with Tangler's two posts (among them: "Yes, I know that commenting on a comment that doesn't comment on the content is somewhat ironic").
As I recall, from his earlier years in Kamloops, Rafe used to be much more right wing. It is wonderful to see him take a leadershop role, as Jeffery L. points out, "about the salmon, the rivers and the environment."
If he wants to veer into a discussion of how Woods, "placed his wife and children into the position of being shamed before the entire world," allow him this. It was a well-written commentary about the times we live in.
And I doubt this temporary diversion will veer Rafe away from his true passion: the salmon and the rivers.

I don't think this story is about Tiger's personal life

at all. I think this story is about two things. First, the lack of loyalty, respect and commitment that is given to marriage these days. It is extremely disrespectful to screw around on your partner. If you want "extra meat", at least have the courtesy to give your partner the opportunity to exit first. The fact that Tiger is such a public personality only makes it that much more disrespectful. And not once did he do it (which could be described as a moment of weakness, or a terrible mistake), but many, many times with many, many different women. Talk about complete and total humiliation for someone he professes to love. As with all adulterers.

Second, Tiger bullshitted every single one of us and demonstrated extreme dishonesty. The endorsement companies paid him huge dollars based on the image of a stand-up guy, who respected his wife and family and who played a mean game of golf. It is the height of hypocrisy to portray yourself that way when you know it is not true, and he, in effect, lied to each and every one of us.

He'll be lucky if he survives this unscathed, and so it should be. It was an extremely dishonest, disrespectful and immoral thing that he did.

Tiger let golf fans down

After talking to a relative who is a good amateur golfer, I see the level of disappointment and betrayal Rafe is getting at.

This relative has taught his two sons golf, and I'm sure there's been much bonding and talk over Tiger Woods amazing skills, as well as watching televised golf together. All of a sudden you find out that model athlete is just another man behaving badly. It is a profound letdown.

What

Dave Tiger is a golfer not a preacherman. He is still a golfer and somebody to emulate if you too want great golfing skills.

If you want them to emulate a very moral person teach the kids about the Dalai Lama.

Why should anyone really care about what goes on in his life...?

Simple, straightforward answer:

Because he's a commodity; like all commodities, the folks who 'buy' the goods are buying image as well as the stuff (made in China for the most part) which goes along with it.

We live in a consumer society where the only thing that's keeping the US economy going is 'consumption' - the West no longer produces anything but image now so it's not hard to see why the cheapening of a gold plated 'image' is so important. Values, or what passes for values attaches more to 'image' than reality in any case so if the image goes south then the reason for dropping Tiger because of his 'behavior' is not only understandable but absolutely essential.

You can be sure a small army of image makers are now recreating the new, chastened and redeemed Tiger for the next run of sales features.

After all what sane normal adult really gives a shit about how well 'anyone' can hit a small white ball.

I'm surprised anyone had to ask!

Now, how many unemployed people are there in the Unites States? And why don’t they matter more to the media and the pundits? Those are questions which really deserve to be answered.

Rare is the person who can

Rare is the person who can enjoy the wealth/reputation/influence of Tiger Woods and not come to feel that the world is his to do as he pleases. Look at the records of Kings, Popes and potentates of all kinds. The sad thing here is that companies which have apparently spent big bucks for his endorsements have failed to do their homework. Or maybe they did know this was too good to be true, but went ahead anyway leaving consequences to later (like the AIGs, Lehmans, etc.)

Sunshine

"Tiger bullshitted every single one of us and demonstrated extreme dishonesty."

Deal me out sunshine. He never bullshitted me. I didn't even know that he is married!

What I do know is that the game of golf is a personal sport/challenge. One has to adopt a zen-like attention to it. There is the drive which demands precision and determination but if you try too hard mistakes are easily made. The chips and the iron-shots demand skill, correct tool selection and consistency of play to achieve accuracy as well as tempered force to precisely access distance. The putting demands gentle, firm and accurate control. The natural elements of the topography, the moisture of the course and the prevailing wind make each shot different for each player each time. Anger, aggression and impatience are generally destructive and lead to failure and compounded frustration. Success in the game requires a calm disposition.

Tiger Woods is not the usual white-man on the course and his incredible ability for consistently playing the game at its very best has been rightly admired, marveled at and respected notwithstanding who he is and we should celebrate that. The celebrity mobbing associated with his remarkable and incredible achievements is to be expected. Condemning him for succumbing to temptation is a moral call that cannot be properly judged, even by those who have also experienced it.

I lost more respect for Mair than Tiger

I think this article is way off.

Wishing the greatest golfer who ever lived, a person who has been making history for almost 18 years, to develop the shanks? Golfers will know what you mean? No they won't. Your sadist comments don't belong in the domain of golf. The demographic that is golfers take a much higher road than this.

Tiger Woods is a person, just like you are I. He's famous - corporations thrust his brand in front of us - but does that really give us the right to publish our opinions of his private life? To comment on speculation and rumour as fact?

All these writers, who come out of the woodwork this week to pass moral judgement on Tiger Woods, have been vacant from documenting his career and life today. Unless you've followed his career, commented on the Woods situation is a form of attention whoring.

It's a game people - and you've all been played - for suckers.

Tiger PLAYED you, his corporate sponsors, his acolytes his worshipful fans, his and his wife.

When games are once again reduced to the status of mildly amusing recreation the whole culture will be better off.

There was no excuse for the adulation and the idolatry and in a sense there's no excuse for the vilification either.

On the other hand, it's hardly unusual that someone possessed of the hubris that attended Tiger Wood's 'created' image would cause some kind of a splash when the fact he's got feet of clay was revealed now is it?

It was, and is, all about the money.

According to the tabs...

According to the tabs, the mistress count is up to 14 and his wife is filing for divorce. If this is the post-marriage man, how did Tiger Woods behave BEFORE he was married. Were corporate sponsors aware they were lining up behind a sex addict who seems to be chasing JFK's womanizing image?

G West -great comment

Great comment:
the West no longer produces anything but image

Good article

It is the way I looke at this whole mess, if the guy had not presented himself as holier than thou no one would have given a darn. What about Tiger's Foundation (being an example to young kids), well I would keep my kid at home rather then sending him to that example. Not only cheating on his wife, also cheating on the cheaters, how did this guy think he could keep it all quiet forever, stupid man, sorry for his kids who have to live with the "history" of daddy. Tiger needs to take a parenting course, but he was too busy taking sex education classes.

Much ado about nothing...

I have filed this story in my "I couldn't care less if I tried" folder along with the Clinton and what's her name scandal and the Hanna Montana nipple career enhancement move.
As soon as I heard of this "accident" I like most people put two and two together, (or more accurately had two and two put together by what passes for journalists these days, had a quick chuckle, and then quickly moved on to more entertaining pastimes like watching the totalitarian style olympic image police swing into action and amusing myself watching Gordon Campbell and the other so called B.C. Liberal political vermin posture preen and try to pretend they are leaders as they think of more inventive ways of holding down the publics legs so their corporate sponsors can have a easier time amusing themselves with us....

Betelgeuse

That was hilarious. I would have argued but I watched the CocaCola Torch Parade go right past my worksite. We can enjoy the sports etc...which I will in part because I like sports...but it was so disgusting anybody with any intelligence will be shocked into realizing a bit more accurately what the olympics is about. But so many of us are hooked to the TV culture it will seem normal. The Carbon footprint alone was unreal.
No wonder Goebbels came up with it, most people ate it up. If you get a chance watch it, it is a must-observe event. Sad but true.
I had no idea there was a nipple scandal! That is the stuff we should be reading about (while the power and water is being sold off). Go Multinational Conglomerates Go! Now to google "hannah montana nipple"...

Hi David

Yes I too like sports and used to enjoy watching the Olympics, (hope I don't get sued for uttering the name without paying the Vanoc chimps royalties), and I used to mountain bike race, but the scum that is our provincial government and Olympic comity has debased it and dragged it through the mud to such a degree by there slimy sleazy morally repugnant machinations. Spending money like water that they claim we can't afford for frivolities like children's hospital and help for autistic children not to mention welfare rates that actually rectify the problems they claim to address instead of forcing the unfortunate to look for illegal ways to increase their pittance to, you know, be able to eat let alone build some kind of future for themselves and their families so they can get themselves off the government tit as it were.
I am too sick to death of the glaring corruption and injustice of our system coupled with the hordes of self centred spoiled vacant bimbos of both sexes who care more about titties and beer or survivor than taking part in their own democracy that make up our citizenry to ever get worked up about a corrupt sports event or the sex lives of celebrities or politicians.... sigh.. I feel better now. Merry consumption binge er.. I mean christmas.