People always hear the adage "Take everything on a case by case basis" when there are issues in sports that have to be dealt with. You hear Head Coaches, Athletic Directors, and General Managers utter this phrase when someone on their team has been arrested or accused of some crime outside of the playing field. It is a common way of viewing people who have transgressed and caused a firestorm of media to pay extra close attention to one individual. So by employing the "case by case basis" view, I'm going to decipher Woods' Press Conference.
Overall, I think Tiger did a fantastic job of keeping his cool, answering a majority of the questions asked to him, and most importantly, gaining some fans back. The point that everyone seems to forget about the world of sports or any bigwig in Hollywood is that no one has to answer your questions. Yes, it is beneficial for an athlete or famous actor or musician to answer questions about their life and give the facade that you as a fan actually know this person, but in reality, these famous human beings could just tell you to "Fuck Off" and there would be very little one person could do about it. So the fact that Tiger noticed that The Masters was the one place that he could begin to make some of that money back that he lost during the backlash of this scandal was very smart on his part.
As for Tiger's actual performance in the Press Conference, he stayed calm and matter of fact, he unleashed a couple of subtle jokes, and he kept private what he wanted to. When he stated that the reason he was in rehab was "personal" or when he answered that he was "very excited to be at The Masters" in response to whether his wife would be there to support him, Tiger was issuing a very subtle "Fuck Off" to the media and those who have been hounding him since this scandal began. I loved the fact that he did that because I would have done the same thing (actually I probably would have been more blunt about avoiding a subject by telling the reporter "It's none of your F@$&%# business"). What Tiger did that impressed me the most was he showed everybody that he actually is human and does understand how to play the media game. Of course it took a bevy of bimbos and a very public domestic dispute and car crash to teach Tiger how to play the media game, but hey, everyone learns in different ways. Tiger has now earned the privilege of playing Professional Golf again because of this interview and that is all any sports fan really wants.
Oh yeah, there is the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship tonight. I'll take Duke over Butler because Duke is going to own the offensive boards. Then I'm not going to watch ESPN for the next three days as Dick Vitale and the rest of the crew there fawn over Coach K and his ability to win with a starting lineup consisting of three white kids. Spare me.
P.S. I have Uconn over Stanford in the Women's title game... No one cares.
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