Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Tiger Roars Back!...meekly

If you happened to watch ESPN last night, you would have seen a live telecast of Tiger emerging from his solitude.

A lot of things have already been said about Tiger but can he recover from this seemingly deep pile of 'tahi' that he is in? I believe he can, and here's why I think so.

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1) Bill and Hillary Clinton
Bill Clinton is an exceptional man. He oozes so much charm and confidence that he makes Obama looks like an immensely shy and introverted teenager who still wets his bed. Unfortunately his scandal with Monica Lewinsky became his undoing as it brought a lot of controversy and eventually kickstarted impeachment proceedings.
Hillary about to administer a karate chop when Bill was eyeing some 'candy'

Aftermath - Bill and Hillary are still married. You can argue that there is of course no other way as a divorce will jeopardize Hillary's political career. Besides, these two have a synergistic combination that will be worthless if they went their own ways. Bill remained hugely popular after he left office, even more so after the voters suffered 8 years under the idiot that succeeded him.

2) John Terry and Toni Poole
John Terry was publicly disgraced after failing to secure a super injunction that prevented the press from publishing stories of his affair with underwear model Veronica Perroncel. So when the whole thing blew open and details were explosively released, JT lost his England captaincy and Toni took the kids to Dubai.
Aftermath - What part of Toni's face says 'I'm still damn pissed with you for cheating behind my back?' John may have lost the England captaincy but at Chelsea, he's still the top dog. However, its still early to say what long term implications this may have on his career but if he plays his cards well, it will fall to his favour.

3) David Letterman and Regina Lasko
In October last year, David announced on his show that he was being blackmailed regarding his alleged affairs with the subordinates on his show. He also confirmed that the allegations were true.
Aftermath - David publicly apologized to his wife and stated that he has his work cut out for him. His ratings did not seem to be negatively affected by the scandal but on the contrary boosted it slightly.

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I'm not saying its alright to cheat on your spouse, let's be clear on that. However, I think Tiger can draw some lessons from some of these men. All these men may have erred, but they are good in what they do. Despite all the mess in their personal lives, when they are doing their jobs they are among the best in the world.

Tiger needs to be seen saying the right words and doing the right things from now. And once he comes back to the golf course and does what he does best (on the golf course I mean) all will be forgiven. Everybody loves a winner despite all the imperfections. This is the year of the Tiger after all.