Stop Me When I Start Lying: Golf losing its faces

In the wake of Bubba Watson's 2nd Majors win (and awesome celebration dinner at Waffle House), it's becoming apparent: golf may be in trouble. Not from a talent standpoint, but from a national appeal and attention standpoint. Watson, Rory McIlroy (being flicked by current face of golf in picture above), Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, and others have the talent to be good for a long time. But if noone becomes dominant or (darker option) divisive, who's gonna watch them instead of binge watching shows on their DVR on Sunday? Tiger Woods has been the polarizing but undoubted face of the sport for 15 years or so now. He was so good he changed all the expectations of golfers; he's still #1 in the world and won more than any other golfer last year despite the public acting like me may be done. He created intrigue from being a young Black phenom in an elitist sport to a mysterious car crash and about 700 women bragging that they took a swing on his 9 iron. For a million different reasons - including his dominance, physique, his temper, his race, his tabloid personal life, etc. - Tiger has brought a million different eyes to the sport that weren't watching before. As an African-American male, I'll admit I am more interested in golf (for watching and as a hobby) now than I was before Tiger started dominating; after all, it's a sports that's never seemed very inviting to people of color. But beyond race, plenty of people of all demographics became more interested in golf either to marvel at him or root against him. In a sport that's run by filthy rich middle-aged elitist country club white guys, Tiger didn't look, act, or sound like them. He was kicking their asses though; some liked that, some couldn't stand it. It seemed to invite "outsiders" in, at least as fans or weekend players if not pros. But even past Tiger, the #2 draw was also unquestioned, Phil Mickelson has been the left-handed good guy chasing Tiger's top spot. Even if you rooted against him for Tiger, it's hard not to like Phil. He just seems like a great guy. But he's 43 and Tiger is a physically beaten down 38, meaning both of their primes are in the rear view mirror. So who's taking the torch? Rory looked set to do it: young, talented, famous athlete girlfriend, commercials with Tiger, etc. But then he follows up winning majors with virtual "no shows" missing cuts and such. Until he becomes consistently good, "Rory McIlroy Golf" isn't gonna sell EA Sports video games like "Tiger Woods Golf" has. I like that Bubba Watson gives off the image of a non-elitist; after all he goes by Bubba, makes silly music videos, and follows up majors wins with celebration meals at Waffle House. But is his name and face gonna get kids to buy golf video games over Call of Duty? And he's quietly almost as old Tiger. They released the ratings for the Masters today and they're down a solid 35% from just last year. And I don't see it turning back the other way unless something big happens soon. Although I think Tiger and Phil have a bit left in the tank, at this moment golf seems (alongside boxing) as sports that are in a countdown to losing the stars that have fueled the sports' relevance in recent history. You might not like that I said it, but Stop Me When I Start Lying...

Do Better: Let It Go

Enough is enough, I know the Tiger bashing is the hottest topic right now becuz of how dramatic and juicy the pieces have been coming out. But I'm tired of hearing about this shit. Tiger's got a loose dick and leads a shameful double-life; I get it. I'm a sports fan, why is it I can't watch a one hour episode of Sportscenter without having a Tiger Woods update between highlights FOUR different times during that one episode. "Kobe makes a Game-Winning Shot, Tiger's 3rd mistress claims she has pictures, Peyton and the Colts go 14-0, Whats going to happen with Tiger's other sponsors?, Big potential free agent movement in Major League Baseball, Are Tiger and his wife speaking?, etc." I tune into ESPN to see sports, not gossip. I'd watch TMZ or something looking for gossip. And even if I was looking to find out more shit about Tiger's situation, I don't want all this hearsay bullshit; I want a concrete statement when some shit actually happens. Don't waffle back-and-forth, if he and his wife and getting divorced, say it firmly and move on. If he announces when he's returning to golf, publish the date and move on. I don't need a daily update that the probability of them divorcing seems to have risen 10%. People of fame and power, men and women, have been cheating since the dawn of time. Most find a way to keep it from the public eye. But even those who get caught red-handed are scrutinized for a microsecond and then forgiven and once again judged according to how they perform on their craft. As long as you don't get convicted or rape in the process, you're fine. It ain't like cheating didn't used to be wrong and it's wrong now. The public at some point decided they didn't care too much. If you're gonna condemn one cheater, you're gonna have to condemn them all. People have been trying to tell me that Tiger can never recover becuz he's a golfer and it's a gentleman's sport and he was portrayed as a family man. I only buy that to a certain extent. The other golfers (with the exception of Jesper Parnevik, the one who introduces him to his wife) don't care. Also, i can buy the argument that Tiger came off as more of a gentleman than other cheaters such as Shaq or somebody. But gentlemen such as Rick Pitino, baby-faced stars such as Dwight Howard, and legendary mega-stars such as Michael Johnson and Magic Johnson all were all caught cheating and quickly forgiven/excused. Pitino and Kobe dealt with messy rape allegations; Ben Roethlisberger is still in the midst of getting his name cleared yet it's already been swept under a rug. Tom Brady left his fiance for another woman when she was 8 months pregnant with his kid, no one cared. Magic Johnson was a legendary cheater and even brought AIDS back home from his "travels." No one seemed to mind. Tiger's dramatic and messy story is huge news right now and will take more time that many others to mend; but if all of the big past and present endorsement faces of the NBA (Kobe, LeBron, D-Wade, Dwight Howard, Shaq, MJ, Magic) were forgiven, so should he be. i believe golf is gonna miss him severely when he's gone and if he wins a major or two (complete with ridiculously skilled highlight puts), their disdain for his shady personal life would be overshadowed by their joy and amazement that he's back. In my eyes, they're beating a dead horse right now. I expected the public to have learned years ago, like I did at a young age, not to put faith in aspects of people's lives that you know nothing about. Kobe fanatics cling to the fact that they have faith in his ability to make game-winning shots, not the fact that he cheated (and in all likelihood still cheats) on his wife. Magic had a teammate, A.C. Green, who was a role model in his personal life. He remained a virgin throughout his NBA career and up until he was married and is now a great Christian family man. With a personal life that everyone could put faith in, why didn't he get as much notoriety as Magic? Cuz he's wasn't balling like Magic on the court, period. So, despite all this drama, I see Tiger just as I saw him before, as the best golfer of my lifetime. That ain't changed. Pick another story.

I'd like to take a minute to highlight other story lines I'm tired of:

• Reality TV love shows manufacturing celebrities and reviving the dead careers of semi-celebrities. There have been love shows for Flavor Flav (hypeman), New York (crazy bitch who lost for Flav), Chance and Real (cornballs who lost for New York), Ray-J (Brandy's wannabe singing little brother), and now they're making one for Frank "the Entertainer" (freeloading bum pictured) which will be recorded in his parents' basement. The one thing that embarrasses me more than these shows being on the air is their astronomically high ratings and the fact that every other person I encounter wants to talk to me about it as if I watch that shit too. Shameful.
• Similarly, I'm tired of the paparazzi treating relatives of celebrities as if they're celebs too. They did nothing to earn fame more than being the fastest sperm to hit the egg. Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Bruce Jenner's sons, the Khardashian girls, and others in the same category need to stop wasting airtime as if they are important enough for me to actually care about. None of you have any skills that is making you money more than simply having the correct bloodlines. The ability to party on your parents money is not a valid skill. Their famous for converting oxygen into carbon dioxide with the right last name. And America, stop paying them so much attention and the media may follow suit.
  
• Jon & Kate Plus 8, the "Octomom", or anyone else who sought/gained fame and fortune for no better reason than becuz they had some ridiculous amount of children. The average US family no longer lives on farms powered solely by manpower; so unless they are trying to start a family football or basketball team, there is no good reason to have that many children. Honestly, I'm not sure how close of a relationship you can have with each children when you have that many children. I could care less about you and your divorce. Stop pimping your kids for fame and become a great parent to each AND EVERY child.

These are but a few examples of the contamination the media is poisoning the public with. And for whatever reason, the public is receiving it with open arms and astronomical ratings. I think we are losing brain cells paying more attention to gossip than the issues and news that effects us every day. Think a little deeper and figure out what's worth paying that much attention to. Do Better...

The Tiger Woods Thanksgiving Accident

Boy, boy, boy. This one gets juicier and juicier every time I hear anybody talk about it. It's not lookin good for the world's first athlete billionaire or his (what's the word??) we'll just say very jealous and emotional wife, Elin Woods. Nah fuck that, this chick is unstable too, just like Rihanna (who broke a glass over her brother's head in a very minor argument) and that chick who shot Steve McNair. But neway, the story as the press first reported it is that Tiger had an accident just feet from his driveway when he hit a neighbor's tree and a fire hydrant. This was at about 2:30 am and his wife supposedly broke the back window out to go in the car and pull him out. This seemed real fishy to me and it gave me questions: Was he drunk?? No, they tested him, he was 100% sober. So then the question becomes where is he in a rush to go at 2:30 am? If he's creeping, why would he leave when his wife is up? Of all things, what causes you to hit a fire hydrant and tree just feet from your driveway? Why in the world would she break the very back window to get him out of the driver's seat? She's a slim Swedish chick, you expect me to believe she punched out the window? How exactly did his eye and mouth get messed up but his nose is fine? If he were to hit the steering wheel with his face, he can't hit his eye and mouth without hitting his nose too. Try it, it's impossible. Why is it that the hospital is calling his injuries "minor" but neither he nor his wife are willing to comment on the accident while he's still in "recovery"? Let's just say something wasn't adding up. So a few days earlier I saw at a gossip site or two that Tiger had a side chick that came to public light. I didn't think much about it for two reasons: 1) Celebrities and powerful people (male and female) cheat often, we know that, for the most part they keep it secret and it is what it is; many times the husband/wife knows and is upset but isn't gonna get a divorce so they'd rather keep it private and they do their own things while the celeb is on the road. It's a dark truth of Hollywood and fame. 2) Gossip sites say someone is sleepin with someone different everyday, it could be anybody they could capture in a snapshot with the celeb. But after the accident, both gossip sites and reputable sites started suggesting that the accident was the aftermath of a domestic violence issue between the Woods when they were arguing about the other chick. The allegation is that they were arguing and she started swinging on him and rather than get physical back, Tiger decided he was gon leave the house for a while. However, as he's headed to the car, she reemerges with a golf club and starts beatin the SUV he just got in. She breaks the back window as he starts rolling and it scares/distracts him to the point where he hits the fire hydrant and tree. Then Elin Woods's rage quickly turns to panic as she realized that she just caused her cash cow to get into an accident. So she hops in through the back window to help him get out and make it to the hospital. Sounds overly dramatic and gossipy, but it answers all of those questions that came up earlier. "Oh, that's why he was leaving in a rush at 2:30 am while his wife was awake." "Oh, that's why the back window was broken and used rather than a closer window." "Oh, maybe the damage to the mouth and eye came from a mad fist rather than a steering wheel." "Oh, they don't wanna comment now cuz they're still in the midst of getting their story straight for the media." EVERYTHING ADDS UP NOW. So, I think there are lessons to be learned from this incident for everyone. To Tiger, u usually keep everything private and all so we don't know how often u do whatever u do, but u're married to a woman who's jealous and will display that physically if she thinks u're cheating. Therefore, u need to pump the brakes on the side chick and be a good husband, take her on a trip, get her some gaudy jewelry or something, becuz I don't think u're gonna get too many good nights of sleep if she is unhappy. I didn't know that's how they got down in Sweden, but apparently so. U're a billionaire so u're not gonna divorce her cuz it's cheaper to keep her. To Elin, I'm not sayin u should sit around and accept him cheatin or nothin, but u gotta keep things non-physical baby girl. All indications are that he's never laid a hand on u, so yell, scream whatever, but chasing him with weapons ain't acceptable. U're married to a professional athlete, which means if he gets seriously hurt becuz of somethin u did, u're screwing both of y'all over. Hell, ask him why he's steppin out, find out if u can b part of the solution. Are u on strike and givin him the blue balls? Are u unadventurous and don't wanna help keep it interesting? Are u an "ain't shit" wife who sits around and blows his money frivolously while the nanny is caring for kid and Tiger is out golfing? Work with him lady, take a look in the mirror if u need and assess urself. Leave them weapons out of it. And to the average Black man in America, despite all that money, Tiger is currently involved with two different white women and the outcome was him ended up battered, bruised and with his car wrapped around a tree. Yea, dammit I said it. Judgmental? Racist? Whatever. I've Been Called Worse...