Harry Longshanks

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Was this the Dan Jenkins article you were looking for in the other thread?:

Nice (Not) Knowing You
Tiger Woods' world will never be the same

By Dan Jenkins
Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images
February 18, 2010


Friends have been asking me why I haven't written my take on "the Tiger Woods deal," so here it comes. First, let me just say that I'm still having trouble getting past the video games and Fruit Loops.

That's if I'm to believe the report that Tiger was so distraught after his indoor athleticism became public -- and turned into what some people call a Shakespearean tragedy -- that he crawled into deep, lonely hiding and occupied his time playing video games and eating Fruit Loops.

Maybe it is true, and that's why Tiger's agent, Mark Steinberg of IMG, said to the media at one point, "Give the kid a break."

Kid?

Tiger Woods was a month away from 34 years of age when his debutantes began turning up in the news. He was a grown man with a wife and two children. Well, we supposed he had a wife, but that was before we learned she was only an ornament.

Kid?

Kids flew B-17s in daylight bombing raids over Germany in World War II. Kids fought in Korea and Vietnam. Kids are serving today in Iraq and Afghanistan so Tiger Woods can live in a world where he can win 14 majors and match that number, the last time I counted, with 14 casting couches, most of them reserved for blondes.

Now excuse me a moment while I try to envision Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus playing video games and eating Fruit Loops while they try to deal with a career problem.

Of course, Hogan, Palmer and Nicklaus never set themselves up to become future statues in Central Park.

They never pretended to be the All-American Daddy-Pop Father of the Year Who Also Wins Golf Tournaments.

They never sold themselves as the greatest Family Values brand ever, and conquered the marketplace with it, shamelessly scooping up hundreds of millions of dollars while saying, "My family will always come first."

They were never what Tiger allowed himself to become from the start: spoiled, pampered, hidden, guarded, orchestrated and entitled.

I'll tell you what Hogan, Palmer and Nicklaus were at their peak.

They were every bit as popular as Tiger, they endured similar demands on their time, but they handled it courteously, often with ease and enjoyment.

They were accessible, likable, knowable, conversant, as gracious in loss as they were in victory, and, above all, amazingly helpful to those of us in the print lodge who covered them.

That was their brand. All the things Tiger never was.

As for Tiger's brand, boy, did that take a hit.

For all of the Tiger idolaters out there, it must have been like finding out that ice cream sundaes give you gonorrhea.

Never in my knowledge of history has any famous personality -- in sports, show biz, or politics -- ever fallen so far so fast. Tiger Woods is graveyard dead, as the Southern expression goes.

Life as Tiger has known it is over. His reputation is ruined, possibly forever. His name that once meant mastery over competitive golf now invokes cringes, giggles and all the Internet jokes you want to pass along.

Sure, he can come back and even win again, if he man's up, but if he does he will only be a hero to the "you-da-man" and "get-in-the-hole" crowd. And I can't imagine him coming back as a "humbled man." That wouldn't be the owner of a yacht insultingly named Privacy, the guy the press has still slobbered over for these past 12 years.

I covered Tiger winning his 14 professional majors, but I can't say I know him. I knew the smile he put on for TV. I knew the orchestrated remarks he granted us in his press-room interviews. I knew the air he punched when another outrageous putt went in the cup. That's it.

I once made an effort to get to know the old silicone collector. Tried to arrange dinners with him for a little Q&A, on or off the record, his choice. But the closest I ever got was this word from his agent: "We have nothing to gain."

Now it's too late.

I'm busy.
 
That's IT!. The radio host said he would email it to me and never did. Agree or not, that's a beauty of a column. Indoor athleticism, 14 majors matched with blondes, ice cream sundaes and an STD, debutantes, and a silicon collector. Very. Sharp. Barbs.

It lacks the punch it had before Tiger spoke. Maybe it spurred him to speak? I suspect a fair percentage of the Dan Jenkins generation and the generation or two following feel the same as Mr. Jenkins. I would guess he has always felt Tiger was not much of a man, but instead a petulant child.

I like this column a lot. Of course, I'm getting old, so I like Dan Jenkins a lot.

Kevin
 
Thanks, Harry for finding that. First time I have read it. Very much to the point. Certainly expresses an opposing view to the theme of the press conference. I like crotchety old men. I think more and more like them every day.
 
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Read an article by I.J. Rosenberg today, he owns a sports marketing company called Score Atlanta & supposedly has been in the sports biz a long time. He described interviews he has had with Hank Aaron, Muhammed Ali, Phil Mickelson, etc & none of them treated him the way Tiger did. Says that Tiger makes you feel inferior to him whereas the others were nothing like that.
 
The word "entitled" hits it pretty good.
 
Thanks for finding this Harry, it's an excellent article.
 
Seems rather bombastic, more than a little envious (or at least covetous) and written entirely from the point of view of a journalist who's used to having "access" to anyone and everyone he wishes to and who seems decidedly miffed that such was not the case with Tiger.

I find it interesting that he focuses on the issue of "entitlement" as Mr. Jenkins seems to exhibit his own issues in that regard.


-JP
 
By definition Jenkins is a bit bombastic. He'd most likely admit it. And he is pissed Tiger never talked to him. So what? He's not reporting anything, he wrote a column. A column is an opinion, and Jenkins expresses his wonderfully.

Kevin
 
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Isn't a little ironic that people used to call Phil "fake" because he was always smiling and acting so polite and acknowledging the crowd. Phil and Amy handled a private family matter with amazing sensitivity. Keeping things as private as possible but, allowing the Tour (Pink Ribbons for Breat Cancer Awareness) and his fans to be a support.

Tiger doesn't want any of that support.
 
By definition Jenkins is a bit bombastic. He'd most likely admit it. And he is pissed Tiger never talked to him. So what? He's not reporting anything, he wrote a column. A column is an opinion, and Jenkins expresses his wonderfully.

Kevin

No issues here.

Jenkins' column is his opinion and my response is mine. :confused2:

It's a large world.


-JP
 
What I'm reading is one more person kicking someone when they're down. Does no one have any compassion?
 
Isn't a little ironic that people used to call Phil "fake" because he was always smiling and acting so polite and acknowledging the crowd. Phil and Amy handled a private family matter with amazing sensitivity. Keeping things as private as possible but, allowing the Tour (Pink Ribbons for Breat Cancer Awareness) and his fans to be a support.

Tiger doesn't want any of that support.

For the record, there are more than a few rumors floating around out there about good ol' Phil, some of which make Tiger's situation seem rather bland by comparison.

I have no idea of the veracity of such rumors, but they sure seem to keep hangin' around.


-JP
 
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Isn't a little ironic that people used to call Phil "fake" because he was always smiling and acting so polite and acknowledging the crowd. Phil and Amy handled a private family matter with amazing sensitivity. Keeping things as private as possible but, allowing the Tour (Pink Ribbons for Breat Cancer Awareness) and his fans to be a support.

Tiger doesn't want any of that support.

Yet, as David Carr points out in today's NY Times, Tiger never used his family as "accessories on his brand" the way Phil has used his family.

Mea Culpa, At Arm's Length
 
George Vecsey made an interesting comment in his column in today's NY Times.

Maybe it’s time to stop being Tiger and start being Eldrick Woods. Not a marketing ploy like some basketball superstar changing his uniform number, but a statement: I’m growing up. I’m Eldrick now. It’s a thought.
 
George Vecsey made an interesting comment in his column in today's NY Times.

Maybe it’s time to stop being Tiger and start being Eldrick Woods. Not a marketing ploy like some basketball superstar changing his uniform number, but a statement: I’m growing up. I’m Eldrick now. It’s a thought.

I dunno Diane, O.J. never had people start calling him Orenthal and he turned out OK. Oh wait . . .
 
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