One would have thought something truly monumental had just happened. Virtually all TV programming was interrupted for an emergency newscast. Same with radio stations. And the internet was burning up at this latest earth-shaking event.
Could another President have been assassinated?
Were nuclear weapons about to descend on us?
Had some alien race invaded earth?
As it turned out, thankfully, none of the above had occurred.
It was merely Eldrick Tont Woods, sometimes known as Tiger, having won a golf tournament. In this case, the Masters.
But oh my, people were going absolutely berserk with the news. I was almost afraid to look outside for fear Tiger groupies would be flogging themselves in the streets in utter bliss.
Such has become the Tiger phenomenon. And all this for a serial wife-cheater, who's as boorish and arrogant away from the cameras as he is charming in front of them. Or at least used to be. Yours truly crossed paths with dear Eldrick at a couple golf tourneys a while back as a member of the gallery.
He and his caddie evidently thought they were royalty. Out of the way peasants. Can't you see His Highness is coming through?
But that was a side of Eldrick most of the public never got to see. His public persona is all spiffed and polished.
So yes, I took a disliking to him.
As a golf fan, I've watched many a tournament on TV. Thing is, I'm the opposite of most. I'd much rather view a tourney when Woods is either not playing in it, or if he is, isn't in contention.That way the coverage is more fairly spread around to the other players, as it should be.
If Eldrick has an early tee time, that means he'll finish his round early, and while the talking heads will still find a way to talk about him, at least every other TV shot won't be about him. See Tiger talk to his caddie. See Tiger take a drink of water. See Tiger lining up his next shot. See Tiger eat a banana. See Tiger scratch his backside. See Tiger still lining up his shot. Tiger this. Tiger that. There's no end to it. Meanwhile, those roars in the background mean other players are hitting great shots we don't get to see. We'll be force fed replays of Tiger strokes, maybe even clips of him in past tournaments. Or a taped interview.
The blatant bias of the media in Tiger's favor is mind-boggling.
They want him to win. They NEED him to win.They openly root for him to win.
While it's true Woods is a black man in a predominantly white sport, consider if this were the other way around.
What do you think would happen if a white guy in a predominantly black man's sport were afforded the same level of attention?
The media and "politically correct" crowd would be screaming racism. Heads would roll at the networks. Congress might convene a special hearing to check into such unacceptable behavior.
But with Eldrick Tont it's OK?
Not for me. Not since I was unceremoniously shoved out of the way at the Buick Open a while back when the "privileged" were approaching. I was behind the ropes right where I was supposed to be. But Woods had hit an errant shot into the crowd and none of us knew exactly what to do. Regardless, there was no excuse for me and others to be treated the way we were, like we were some sort of throwaways. We had paid good money to be there, dammit.
So in conclusion, I'll sum it up this way.
While the legions of Tiger lemmings continue celebrating their hero's victory, there are those of us that would much rather see him just go away.
We are so, so sick of the wall-to-wall coverage of this guy being forced down our throats every time he so much as hiccups.
ESPN's Scott Van Pelt appears to be so infatuated and enamored of Tiger that, frankly, I'm a bit surprised he doesn't volunteer to go to Eldrick's home and offer his services as a pool boy, or doing lawn maintenance, or perhaps shining his shoes. Whatever it is, SVP has a seriously bad case of it.
Nonetheless, I recognize the confounding Tiger groupie syndrome isn't likely to change any time soon
They are what they are.
And I wish them happy flogging -- the poor devils.
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