Tiger Woods is definitely looking down the barrel of a grade A scandal. With a sexy mistress who has been described as a “Hamptons Diva” and a jealous wife portrayed in the media as golf club-swinging mad—the question now is—how is Woods going to deal with this mess?
Woods is one of those rare figures who, until now, has maintained a squeaky clean public image. And although he has been unarguably an admirable sports figure, he’s never had to deal with the kind of criticism he is now starting to face.
With a juicy National Enquirer story that has all the makings of a made-for-TV movie, a media version of Pandora’s Box has been opened. Not a good thing for a man who, when asked why he enjoyed scuba diving so much, replied that it was because, “The fish don’t know who I am.”
By way of example, Woods was the topic of no fewer than 14 posts on TMZ.com in 24- hour period. Dozens of reporters are now permanently parked outside of his gated community. And although he has canceled playing in his own upcoming golf tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, you can guarantee that tabloid outlets will now be a long-term fixture on the course.
The question is, assuming that the rumors of infidelity are true, will Woods admit to the affair?
Gene Grabowski, a public relations consultant to some very high profile clientele like Roger Clemens, told AP that he strongly believed that coming clean publicly would be in Woods’ best interest.
“Men and women have been forgiven by their public for misbehavior or misstepping, and even philandering. But what they have never been forgiven for is the cover-up.”
By way of example, we have David Letterman. Letterman beat the media to the inevitable punch by opening up about his affairs on his own show. This allowed him to take control of his story and helped reduce media speculation.
After being accused of sexual assault, Kobe Bryant admitted to adultery only and consequently helped stem the tide of the assault accusations. The case was dropped and his fans eventually got over his temporary fall from grace. A fact supported by his jersey being a top seller in the U.S. and around the world.
So despite evidence and expert opinion suggesting that the best course of action for Woods would be to come clean publicly, his first comments to the press have been the exact opposite. Woods’ media shy tendencies seem to be taking the lead. His explanations for pulling out of his driveway at 2:25am, crashing into a fire hydrant and a tree and his wife smashing the back window of the car out, are not adding up.
So far, Woods has only stated that there are “many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me,” but hasn’t specified what they are or addressed what really happened.
It is with all this in mind that Sports Interaction has put Tiger Woods props up that focus on his actions on the driveway, not the fairway. Among the many Tiger Woods bets available, the one that caught this blogger’s eye was on whether or not Woods admits publicly to having had an affair. At +120 it pays out more than double the bet made. Damn fine odds for a choice that many would see as the best thing to do.
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confession is good for the soul and your sponsors and mostly for your fans and sports fraternity.