Sports fans figured the media would have satisfied
its ravenous appetite for scandal and idol-shattering long enough to pass on
the feast that is Tiger Woods’ affairs. After all, the press gleefully gorged
itself after it learned that NBA star Shaquille O’Neal was exchanging tawdry
texts with the fiancé of another ballplayer, Gilbert Arenas.
Shaq’s image was probably irrevocably damaged from
that revelation. And how many years did it take for Shaq’s former teammate Kobe
Bryant to repair his social standing after his pristine life was shattered by a
sexual assault indictment?
Now the prowling press has picked up the scent of
blood — literally — where they never figured to locate a quick meal: the
world’s No. 1 golfer.
Woods, who spent years carefully constructing
impenetrable barriers around his personal life, is now being battered around
the clock. Most sports fans — even those who don’t believe Woods’ explanation
for his car wreck — sound off on the media’s blatant invasion of his privacy
and resent the quick conclusion that infidelity is the source of a marital
dispute that caused the pre-dawn crash.
Melody Moore: “I definitely think they are trying to
scandalize him. They don’t have any proof that there was infidelity on his part
or that he and his wife had a fight,” she said. “I do think that the media is
trying to make a scandal out of this, because that’s what they do. They said
there was no alcohol involved, so what the hell he got to [meet with the
police] for?”
Interestingly enough, it was the women — and not the
men, who you’d think would support Woods in an act of gender solidarity — who
angrily defended Woods’ stance not to explain his actions.
“He doesn’t have to explain why he was out at 2:30
a.m.; he’s a grown man. Let him pay for the damage [to the fire hydrant and tree]
and let him be done with it,” said Melody’s friend Marcie, adding that she
believes the ferocity of the reporting may have racial underpinnings.
Although Woods can practically buy the city he lives
in, he can’t seem to buy any sympathy from pool of men interviewed in person or
asked the question on Facebook and Twitter.
Todd Hicks of Atlanta believes that “Tiger Woods’
wife whooped that a– [injuring Woods] and then he drove and had that wreck,”
said Hicks, whose opinion was formulated through incessant media reporting.
“They said he was cheating on her.”
Latino Knotts, who worked as a paramedic
for 15 years, also doesn’t buy Woods explanation. He also calls Woods’
supporters hypocritical because the same media, he says, that’s investigating
Woods is the same one that built him up and made him a millionaire hundreds of
times over.
“How
is the media the demon?” Knots of Cleveland wants to know. “The media is the
one who made Tiger who he is today … if not for TV, radio, Internet and other
forms of media, Tiger popularity and endorsement power wouldn’t be where it is
today,” he says, adding: “People kill me blaming the media for reporting on
something you chose to do. Stardom is a double-edged sword and can cut both
ways. If you’re famous like Tiger and do
something of this type, it’s unreasonable to think the media is supposed to
close their eyes.
Knotts closed out his thoughts with this
directive to Woods: “Be a man, Tiger. Respond to this mess and put it behind
you — which you refused to do once again.”
Because Woods has repeatedly cancelled
meetings with authorities, all of the interviewees believe he is only stoking the
flames of this blazing controversy.
–terry
shropshire
