Tiger Woods Apologizes to Family and Fans

After several months of silence regarding his November 2009 car accident and mistresses coming forth claiming affairs, Tiger Woods held a press conference today to apologize for his adulterous behavior and discuss his career.

What stood out to me most during the February 19th conference was Tiger's inability to commit to when he will return to golf. Also, Woods mentioned Elin telling him what will matter in building her trust back is not his words but his actions. As someone who had a spouse stray, I said the same words to my husband. My husband strayed four years ago, but over time, his actions have shown me he is a changed man. I took Tiger's words at the February 19th conference as sincere because he is willing to take time away from his career to spend time with Elin and show he is remorseful. The fact that he placed no time line on returning to golf shows his time improving trust with Elin is what is most important. His tone at the February 19th conference was somber and seemed sincere. Tiger speaking of reports of Elin battering him the night of the car accident surprised me. I had not heard or read a story accusing her of battery. In the days near the time the accident happened, I was hospitalized and not up to speed on what happened.

As human beings, we tend to place celebrities and politicians on pedestals expecting them to never make big mistakes. I cannot predict whether Tiger Woods will be forgiven for his actions by his fans, but I can predict it will take more than the February 19th conference to do it. Without a doubt, he will not return to being someone with a squeaky-clean, family-man image because once something like this is in the public eye, it stays there. A perfect example is President John F. Kennedy and his womanizing activities-such as his affair with Marilyn Monroe and many other women. Even though President Kennedy was at the very least a decent president and has been dead for 46 years, people continue to judge him for his actions with women. Kobe Bryant continued his career following an admission of consensual sex with a woman who was not his spouse though it is arguable if he is looked at the same now as he was prior to the affair. He did receive more sponsors after losing some during the time he admitted to the affair.

Brad Pitt cheated on Jennifer Aniston with Angelina Jolie. His career does not seem to have suffered. Celebrities who are movie stars may be held to a different standard than those who are sports stars, however. A lot of children grow up wishing to be basketball players, baseball players, golfers, etc., and the image of sports stars is usually cleaner than that of movie stars. The problem in predicting how well Tiger Wood's February 19th press conference was received is he was a repeat adulterer, and I have not found a case to set the precedent for that. Perhaps it will take action for us fans to also believe he is a changed man.

Because Tiger Woods finally broke his silence over this situation, his family will hopefully be able to move on. Elin and Tiger can better work out their marital problems without cameras constantly in their faces. Tiger Woods had to speak out about the situation because it was not going away on its own. It is a part of our country's culture to follow celebrities around and gossip about them-were it not then sites like tmz.com and perezhilton.com would be obsolete. I do not believe Tiger has anything left to prove to anyone besides his wife. His sexual life is his and her business-not ours even though it makes for an interesting story.

I believe Tiger Woods will be welcomed back into the world of golfing when the time comes. He is still very young, so I doubt he loses his talent even if he takes a break for one year, three years, or five years. The February 19th press conference seemed to reveal a changed man who is very sorry for what he has done. His sorrow seemed to be directed more toward his family-as it should be but he realizes he let his fans down as well. To sum this up, Tiger Woods made some grievous mistakes. Most married men are not serial cheaters, but some are though they are not in the spotlight. Being a celebrity has its disadvantages, and Woods messed up big time. He is a celebrity so people know of his mistakes.

Regardless of everything, I have to believe in the goodness of people and that they will see Tiger Woods is a human who made some mistakes just as we are all humans who make mistakes. I sincerely hope he is welcomed back into the golfing world with open arms-after he and his wife have strengthened their marriage to what it should have been all along. I see so much of my experience with my husband in what happened between Tiger and Elin. Our children were the same ages at the time of the affair that hurt my marriage and when children are very young it is a difficult time for spouses to slow down and spend time together. Adding to that a career that requires time apart and it must be worse. I cannot imagine an affair, much less multiple ones, occurring in the public eye. Hopefully this February 19th press conference has placed them on the road to privacy. Tiger Woods is doing what he should do and this writer wishes him and his family the best.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4839414

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4921899

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Bryant