So Why Does No One Care That Monty Is A Cheater?

The UK tabloids are going to be all over 2010 Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, especially now that he has admitted to engaging in at least one extramarital affair.  According to the Mirror rag over the Pond, Monty has been cheating on his wife of just about two years with an old flame.  Monty's been cheating with an old neighbor.

Monty even got out in front of the story by admitting that it was true.

"I have put my marriage under ­considerable strain but we are working through these problems. I am very sorry for the hurt I have caused to the ones I love so much," Monty said in a statement last night.

"I would ask that my family and I are given the space and privacy to continue trying to resolve the issues. I will be making no further comment."

And yet there's no stink.  There's barely a blip of it here in the States.  Rickie Fowler lighting up Muirfield Village is a much larger story.  Even Tiger breaking par today is a bigger deal.  Why is there not merciless coverage?

I think I can field this one with a couple of reasons.  First, Monty is washed up.  He's not really out in front of golf at all, except in a ceremonial capacity.  In a lot of ways - at least in this country - that makes Monty no different than any run-of-the-mill athlete in another sport.  It's not like he's Shawn Kemp.

And unlike Tiger Woods, there's really only one mistress that Monty has had.  In fact, this woman that Monty has cheated with this time was the same woman that may well have killed his first marriage.  Almost in the sense that few people seemed particularly bothered about Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles in (very obvious) cahoots, Monty has fallen into the arms of a familiar woman.  As far as "movie of the week" storylines go, this is not particularly exciting.

But more than all of that, Monty gets made fun of on such a regular basis because of self-inflicted foot-in-mouth disorder that for this to happen is just another drop in the bucket.  Even at his peak, Monty was teased - actually much more so than now.  It's almost out of our system at this point.  Were Monty not the Ryder Cup captain, would anyone even care? 

Part of the cry about this story could be, "Where is the same outrage that people expressed about Tiger?!"  Simply, Tiger was only made fun of or criticized in whispers and in certain circles.  There had been years of quiet frustration with the world number one and his extramarital affairs popped the cork on that bottle of pent-up anger.  Monty has filled barrels of cabernet makefunon. 

It's a shame that this happened, but Monty's star has faded such that he will be able to deal with this in relative anonymity.