So There Was Some Tiger Woods Thing Today...

One of the benefits of not being employed is that, on days when one stays in bed listening to sports-talk radio until noon and then gets up to shower, dress and greet the afternoon, one manages to avoid certain unpleasantries. Those unpleasantries are known as Andy Reid Monday-after-the-game press conferences. Now, one doesn't avoid said press conferences entirely, but only hears the audio. (And by now you should have figured that when I use the term "one" I am referring to myself.)

I find it helps to not actually see them because when I hear Reid not answering questions or otherwise being disdainful of the media, I'm less angry when I only hear his remarks than when I see him making them.

The reason I bring up the Eagles' head coach is because today Tiger Woods decided to go public today in an even more controlled environment than the typical Reid briefing. Only certain members of the press were allowed to attend. He took no questions. He was joined in the room by his mother, some business associates, the PGA tour commissioner, and selected others -- although, to my surprise, his wife Elin was not present.

Since today was one of those radio-in-bed days I didn't actually see Tiger make the statement, but I heard it all. And what struck me from listening but not seeing it was that the entire time he read his statement, he sounded like he was reading it. The only time he sounded like he had any feelings was when he attacked the media -- explicitly, for following his family around; and implicitly, in his denial of reports that Elin attacked him on that Thanksgiving night when he crashed his SUV and then decided not to explain in full to the police what happened, starting the chain of events that led to his sluttiness and sordid infidelity becoming public knowledge.

And other than to be seen in public, I'm not sure of the point of this. If all he wanted to do was give a statement, he could have just posted it to his website, as he has twice before. He didn't say anything really new. He didn't announce his return to golf, as one might have thought (and the PGA desperately needs). Why go to the trouble of gathering the group of supporters around him, not to mention interrupting "The Price Is Right" and "The View"?

Granted, I wouldn't have expected a detailed account of every time he cheated on his wife. But the fact that he saved his emotions for the media speaks volumes. Instead of "I'm sorry" it came off more like "I'm sorry I got caught." Perhaps he's sincere in his apologies, or he's at least working towards that sincerity in his therapy, which is ongoing. But if he truly wants to get on with his life, and get the media off his back a little, he'll need to say a little more than he did today, and not just in a speech.