DMark – I don’t see this as needing a new thread, so I moved it to the Game Room and merged it into the motha of all Tiger threads.
Several years ago, a friend of a friend (who I do know a bit and have hung out with a few times) told this story…
FOAF is a fly fishing guide who takes wealthy clients to some of the primo fishing spots here in the Utah-Wyoming area, usually at several hundred bucks per day. He has guided several celebs. in his time, and as they are all camped together at night, often got to know them a bit as well, sitting around the campfire and having a few drinks after dinner.
He had a well known PGA player with him (and again this was several years back before Tiger was married) and FOAF, who is also a bit of a golfer, asked his client about Tiger Woods. The Pro didnt say much at first, but at some point in the trip, FOAF said that the Pro let loose, slamming Woods as an arrogant asshole who tried to fuck every woman he came in contact with, and being generally despised by other golfers, although most wouldnt talk about it. (possibly not wanting to look petty, jealous or maybe even racist?).
None of this was really a big suprise (Tiger was an unmarried man with access to many women) but like others have been saying, to those in the know, Tiger’s behavior is not the shock it seems to be to the general public.
ETA–My post was in response to DMark’s post.
What the hell, man? He’s going to quit because he got busted screwing around on his wife? Was this really going to affect things that much? Am I oblivious to how much everyone else apparently gives several shits about this kind of thing?
No , he is stopping because it will cost him a ton of money. His endorsements dried up and his wife can get a ton in a divorce. He does not care what dopers think. He cares about crafting an image . It needs to be rebuilt. They figure this is the best chance.
Okay.
I’m sure he doesn’t care about what people think, but sponsors do. That’s kind of my point. Sponsors wanted his image because he was wildly popular and everyone liked him. I don’t suppose they’re at all keen on associating themselves with this little kerfuffle, so they’re rescinding their sponsorship. Fair enough, but this all makes me ask, “Who the shit cares?” Do people really think of Tiger Woods negatively now? I don’t. How many fans is he losing over this? A lot, apparently?
I’m not a huge sports fan (other than golf) - but don’t a good number of fans choose their favorite players based on some factors other than simply their on-field performance? Either they are a gutty competitor, or a guy who never denies an autograph…
I’d think it would be a limited subsection of fans who chose as a fave the guy who had the best stats but was unapologetically a jerk, slimeball, etc.
And twix - tho I know the 2 are for many purposes intechangeable, but this is the muta of all GOLF threads! 
his personal life is not on my radar. I like to watch him play golf. After 18, the holes he hits are his business.
I think the general public just can’t get their heads around someone like Tiger paying for sex. He’s young, reasonably attractive, famous, and wealthy. Shouldn’t women be falling all over him, for free? Then you look at his wife – she’s very pretty and doesn’t seem to be a harridan, so why cheat? They haven’t been married that long – he’s tired of her already?
You can just see the average Joe scratching his head and thinking that there must be something really wrong with this guy. It’s not just the cheating, it’s the hookers.
No they aren’t.
If my 75-year old grandpa could do it, it ain’t a sport.
Yes, I have golfed on occasion. It’s a great hobby - partially because age literally doesn’t matter - and it was one of the few activities we could do together even as my grandpa got older.
Still doesn’t make it a sport.
Get back to me next time a 60-year old person almost wins a major championship in an event other than golf.
AuntiePam, I suspect that TW wasn’t paying for the sex - he was paying for the silence; the women were professional, being procured for him by professional female pimps, and the money was less for the service and more for the privacy it was supposed to entail. TW has literally ruined a thriving underworld business; don’t think that not a small number of A-list celebraties are cursing TW for shutting down their side shenanigans for at least the next few months.
What an assinine assertion. As if a 75-year old cannot play football if he wants. What you played is so far removed from the golf Tiger and the rest of the professionals play that it’s the functional equivalent of your grandad playing NFL football. Each and every one of your pronouncements makes you seem sillier and sillier in your opinion.
This strikes me as a silly line of argument. I’ve know 75-year-olds who run, play tennis, squash & racquetball, bicycle (substantial distances), row, sail, play basketball, volleyball, etc. (None has performed at any sort of championship level - which I imagine is also true of your grandpa and golf.)
It should be obvious that there’s no rigid dividing line between “sport” and “game”. I think it’s also obvious that when proficiency at a pastime involves a substantial measure of coordination and physical skill, it’s tending toward “sport”. The notion that it has to be something at which human achievement peaks before age 30 seems highly dubious.
Probably not the last sponsor to dump him. I guess Nike can’t really dump him because he’s the face of their golf gear.
I seriously doubt anyone is dropping him for what he did, they are doing it because he won’t be playing.
Yeah - just like that guy Arnold Palmer: no endorsement money for him now that he’s not playing.
Gillette is dropping him out of respect for his desire for privacy:
Please tell me that that’s an attempt at tongue in cheek. :smack:
How about a 52 year old NASCAR winner? Link.
Face it, sports have different age ranges. A 27 year old gymnast is over the hill. A 40 year old baseball player isn’t uncommon, but a 40 year old football player is fairly rare. That doesn’t mean that gymnastics is more of a sport than football simply because younger people do it.
This just proves the old saying: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
While i agree golf is a sport i strongly disagree with NASCAR being one.