So Tiger Woods ran into a spot of trouble with respect to a vehicle mishap that took place outside his home in Florida. Accidents happen. We are human, but to some Tiger wasn’t. Now we know he is.
While we have yet to get to the bottom of what actually happened, the initial account didn’t seem to jibe, hence the onslaught of scrutiny. This is Tiger Woods. The man. With that comes a standard of being in the public eye that comes with a price. A price that Tiger Woods is paying. How much will be up to him and what his next move will be.
The normal “who?”, “what?”, “when?”, “where?”, and “why?” have a different tone when it comes to Tiger and his wife on this one. Thus far Tiger has elected not to answer, only to say on his website that he wants everyone to respect his privacy.
There are a lot of other rumors swirling around with regard to Woods’ personal life. We are watching the possible unthinkable unfold for our hero Tiger, and it will be hard to let go because it involves a person who so far has evaded what icons like Michael, Kobe, Shaq and others were not able to avoid. Now it has Tiger by the tail.
After electing not to talk to the authorities and issuing a statement that had plenty of fluff and no real answers, Woods went on to lawyer up. Now the burning question is who will talk first: Tiger Woods, Mark McGwire or Jack Ruby?
The last person may not ring a bell to the younger set, as Ruby was the guy who shot Lee Harvey Oswald on national TV after Oswald was accused of killing President John F. Kennedy. One problem with Ruby, he has been dead for 42 years and never told his story. At the rate Woods and McGwire are going, one may have to revive Ruby’s chances of telling it all.
The head scratcher here is that Tiger Woods has made nearly a BILLION dollars in his career as a professional golfer via his winnings and endorsements, so why could he not get better advice in doing some damage control? To clam up at this point is not doing him any good. Even OJ found new love. Now the landscape has changed, as rumors and innuendo will supplant anything that is not the proven truth.
Here is an idea. If you really have to know, wait until the facts come out. Facts are what you would want as gossip gets old, and who knows when it might be your turn to assume the role of Tiger … off the golf course and, perhaps, in the driveway.
Meanwhile, we are still waiting for someone to talk – even Jack Ruby.
Rams: take note
The teams in the Missouri High School Football Championship games from St. Louis this weekend were well coached. Even though Brentwood was outmanned, they gave a tremendous effort that they should be proud of.
Rich Nixon is the head coach at Hazelwood Central, and while they are no stranger to state championships (going back to the days of the great Tony Van Zandt), this is the first team in their class to win back-to-back championships. They displayed skill, talent and, more than anything else, class.
Their principal Darrell Strong and teachers should be proud of the example these young men set. If they never play a down in the NFL, I get the feeling they will turn out to be great contributors to our community – and that is more important than a career that averages just under four years.
Then there was Webster Groves. Surviving the miracle on Moss against Chaminade gave them a second chance, and they took full advantage of it. They too have class players who displayed maturity that should not be overlooked these days, when knuckleheads seem to get undeserved headlines.
Derrick Dilworth, Jason Meehan (along with others) have the honor of being on a state championship football team and basketball team in their first three years at Webster. Both will be heavily recruited next year. Meehan could start for some college teams now, but a level head and a great family will keep him grounded until it’s time. Dilworth is a definite two-sport athlete who will be courted by everyone.
The coaching staffs for these schools have taught these kids something that I have been missing on Sunday. They all tackle well. I saw better tackling on Friday and Saturday than I did on Sunday at the dome when the Rams were playing.
The Rams may be watching the wrong film during the week. Perhaps a session watching Brentwood, Hazelwood Central and Webster Groves would be better for them.