Our Long National Nightmare Is Over! (Hopefully)

Tiger Woods and Elin Nordgren’s divorce has been finalized.

Hopefully, that’s that and the like of TMZ.com and the National Enquirer can return to their sordid business of covering the cocaine-fueled antics of the latest pop music sensation and movie stars having affairs on the sly.  In other words, hopefully they will stop covering golf and golfers, specifically one Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.

Since last November, golf fans have had to endure endless speculation, sin-sationalism and allegations about the marital misconduct of the world’s #1 player. Like rats thrown blocks of cheese, Tiger’s playmates have come out to cash in on their time with him, some going so far as to follow his tournament schedule in nearby strip bars, where they can share their wares ostensibly to fans and locals interested in what “Tiger saw in her.”  Others have gone the reality show or Playboy spread route, that is, after they attempted to extort Woods’ deep pockets.  Nice.

While I am by no means any fan of marital misconduct, I am equally no fan of people trying to turn their fifteen minutes of fame into a lifelong career in the media’s eye after they’ve been exposed for their sordid misdeeds.  Seems like too many of Woods’ concubines did exactly that.  Some of them even seemed to have a plan: 1) bed Woods and 2) tell their story to the media and 3) profit.

I am also no fan of the celebrity culture of our time, where it seems like it is critical for some people to know the private business of “the stars.”   It fuels “scandals” like this, and takes no prisoners without care to who gets hurt.  Imagine Tiger’s children, and the taunts they may have received, for example.  What did they do to deserve any of that?

Truth is irrelevant to too many folks in the media today, and privacy and fairness are even less important.  The only thing that matters is the bottom line and the best way to fatten the wallet is by shouting outrageous allegations at the top of their lungs.   then there are the people who buy into it.  What kind of empty lives are theirs? One has to wonder how much the consumers of this tripe would enjoy having their dirty underwear broadcast to the world at large and how they would enjoy being mocked in return.  Bet they wouldn’t, but when it comes to Britney, Angelina, Madonna, Ronaldo and Tiger, they’re first in line to get “the scoop.”

So now, the divorce papers — public record — of the Woods’ are making the rounds.  Some folks have a voracious appetite for that too, as if reading the dry legal proceedings of the endgame of a divorce will somehow give them a glimpse behind the curtain in a manner of speaking.

And hopefully, that will be the end of that.  Woods is a single man now, and he has every right to do anything he chooses with another willing adult, whoever that is.  If he wants to hang out with a New York nightlife “hostess” (emphasis on the ‘ho’ part) or a Perkins’ waitress, good for him.  It’s his life and his business…and quite frankly, no one else’s except those directly concerned.

Me, I hope that Tiger can now concentrate on his work, which is playing golf.  I also hope people will start seeing Woods as what he is…a golfer.

That’s what Tiger Woods is to me, a great golfing talent and the Babe Ruth of our time.  He has a chance to become the most decorated player ever — but his window of time to break all of the records is growing shorter.  He has the physical abilities now, and he has shown the mental capability in the past.  He is a great champion who knows how to win, and who — thanks t0 his own doings — has to come down a comeback trail now that his personal life is coming back from disarray.  He will have competition, not only from familiar old foes, but also from new young ones who are making their own mark and are actually looking for a chance to duel him on the golf course.

If that’s not enough drama and intrigue for anyone, I really think that says more about them than it ever could Tiger Woods.