Frosted Flakes

"I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart" - Eldridge "Tiger" Woods

The Honest Man really wanted to avoid this subject aka the Current Saga of Tiger Woods. I mean I have already spent time discussing the perils of the pickle tickle if you are married. But since the day after Thanksgiving, my global and local news has started off every night with this bullshit. Are we so starved for entertainment that we are easily intrigued by the idea of a popular athlete supposedly getting his roll on with some "fans"?? Dude cheated. Nothing magical in the world of sports or entertainment. But no trapper (my term for the females who want those dollah dollah bills ya'll) got pregnant and Tiger didn't announce he's retiring from golf due to contracting a sexually transmitted disease. So why all the fuss?

The Honest Man has gotten caught up in multiple conversations about this. The first one stemmed from a co worker telling me, "I would never expect someone like Tiger to do this." That is an interesting comment to me. My response was "Why? Dude's the most recognizable athlete on the planet, the richest athlete on the planet, and isn't a bad looking cat (no homo!). Frankly, I'm shocked this didn't happen sooner." Of course he was alluding to Tiger's physical appearance and the way he keeps his personal life private but that's a cop out. Let's be clear, Tiger is no saint. None of us are. He's got the same vices as say Allen Iverson does. The difference is he doesn't have a bunch of tattoos and he doesn't publicly lash out at people. But truss Tiger is about GTD as much as Iverson is.

The second conversation was around the shock factor. I mentioned to someone I wasn't shocked that he cheated. And she responded back that she was, can't believe someone would violate the morals of marriage. She added it doesn't matter how much money, how popular you are, you still have to respect the marriage. I absolutely agreed with her. But unfortunately the Honest Man learned at a young age, those rules are thrown out the door by athletes.

The first time I was shocked by an athlete cheating on his wife was Magic Johnson. Dude was my sports idol. I came home from school, turned on the tv, and listened to him state he was retiring from the NBA. Shit broke my heart. Stories followed later about his infidelities and I was stunned. Not you Magic was my first reaction. I literally thought the way he played on the court was the way he acted off the court. Leader. Charismatic. Loyal. Team Player. Those were the images I had about him when he wasn't playing. Come to find out, he was a rich woman's lover and a poor woman's fantasy. But still I wasn't completely like these athletes are doing dirt.

The next one was Michael Jordan. Again, I didn't have a man crush on Jordan like most male groupies back in the day but I did (and still do) believe he was the G.O.A.T. The way he played on the court, I swore that's how he approached family values. Again found out dude was doing dirt all over Chi-town and possibly other cities. That pretty much sealed it for me, athletes, and their thoughts on the sanctity of marriage. That shit basically is a pipe dream :-).

I say all this to say that I'm no longer shocked by anything athletes or entertainers do. Babies born out of wedlock even though the dude is married to someone else (Bill Cosby, Jesse Jackson), check. Dudes accused by their wives of cheating on them with another man (Michael Strahan), check. Nice dudes on the court, different type of dude off the court, like strike your wife different (Warren Moon, Jason Kidd), double check. So don't be shocked readers about Tiger's "transgressions". Embrace it and understand he's no different than anyone else. He's human. And since we live in a short term memory society, Tiger's reputation might be damaged for 2-3 years but he'll bounce and someday we'll all look back and laugh. Well all except the people actually involved ;-).


Today's Lesson

I continue to say this but if I was a POPULAR athlete, no way I'm getting married until my playing days are either over or close to over. In Tiger's situation, dude's been popular since he was in high school. I would be doing my best Q imitation and having a hoasis until I was like 35. Then I would settle down :-). Easier said than done though. One thing's for sure though Tiger, if you are indeed found guilty of cheating and wifey leaves you, her settlement will be g-g-g-g-g-g-ggreat!