Judging Someone's Character

Hero vs. Villain

Watching the Masters this weekend, it was nice to see Tiger playing again. For me it was good to see him a little more relaxed and smiling more. I am bugged by two things though when it comes to the coverage of Eldridge. One, his apology was not enough for some people. And two, writers are now doing something irresponsible by making Tiger the villain and Mickelson the hero.

Have We Not learned Anything

Mickelson moment with his wife was TV magic, especially with her battling breast cancer. A lot of writers and TV guys are taking this opportunity to make Phil out as the hero family man who does no wrong and Tiger as the evil one. Haven't we learned anything from the Tiger episode? You don't know these guys. You might interview them from time to time and watch them on TV, but to think you know these athletes personal lives is so wrong. We can root for these guys with their athletic achievements and be wowed by that, but that's as far as it should go. When you put athletes on a pedestal at some point they will let you down. Tiger should have taught us all that but apparently we haven't learned that yet. Tiger should not be painted as a villain. He made some mistakes and who among us is perfect. I'm not in anyway condoning what he did, but to make his out to be the bad guy is completely irresponsible among the talking heads. It just shows that once you make it big people always will try and find a way to bring you down. Think of this, all this drama about Tiger started not with the Thanksgiving accident but when Forbes said that he was first billion dollar athlete. Phil Mickleson will never reach the global hype and fame that Tiger has. With that said people will not try to dig up trash on him.

Double Standard

Think about this, Tiger is an athlete playing golf, whereas most golfers are not athletes. Tiger is in a difficult spot because Tiger is not from the country club world and that is what separates him from other guys. There is a certain type of decorum that you have when you grow up in that world. That is why a lot of the analyst an older players say he lost respect for the game by throwing his clubs and cussing, in that world that is unacceptable. Worse things are done and said on the basketball court and on football fields but now in golf. Golf is the gentleman's sport and you are "supposed" to have that type of restraint.

Part of me wants to believe that this is not just a black and white issue but I think race plays a part in this coverage too. Tiger has always tried to please everyone and that only works for a while. What happens is when you fall and you are a person of color, people only see that color. I found it interesting that the chairmen of Augusta had the audacity to chastise Tiger publicly. He said he wanted his grandchildren and children to grow up and be like Tiger. I completely agree with Charles Barkley when he said that man is lying. Augusta National is a course that openly discriminated against people of color so all of a sudden when the best golfer on the planet is black it becomes ok for black people to play there. And on top of that you want your children to grow up and be like him. No way and no how. Tiger was only accepted there because he won and he could generate income for that place.

What Phil did on Sunday for him and his family was incredible. What his wife is going through is more courageous. Butlet's not get carried away with how wonderful things may see now, because someday we may be disappointed.