Why is he taking a hiatus from professional golf? Maybe he needs a break, or a sabbatical or something. He was golfing as soon as he could walk. It may be time for him to get some perspective.

It’s not that I take his infidelity or the harm to his little kids lightly. I really like it when famous men are true to their vows and loyal to their families. Failing that, I appreciate discretion. Alpha males JFK and Bill Clinton come to mind, as examples of how to, and how not to betray your wife privately without subjecting her to public humiliation. Gail Collins of the New York Times said that it’s a bad idea for a married man to get too close to any woman who has 8×10 glossies of herself. If that foxy lady considers the cover of the Enquirer a career goal– stay far, far away.

I think Tiger was clueless. He had a blindness to the power structures that make some of us irresistible. Henry Kissinger, who is short, said that power is the best aphrodisiac. In other words, a dumpy guy with coke bottle glasses who advises presidents will always have groupies.

I think we come down to a fundamental difference in how men and women are valued. Men are admired for what they do, women for what they are. The marriage of a
super-athlete and a supermodel is like matter and antimatter colliding. Men think they can ascend an endless ladder of alpha-ness by doing better and better. The women who loved them earlier in their career are suspect. Maybe better women are waiting for them on the higher levels of glory. Maybe the wife who bore their children failed to hold out for the crown of creation they are today. Their wife doesn’t understand them. But Heather understands. She knows how wonderful they are. And when Heather gets boring there will be countless other women ready to adore them.

I hope that Tiger Woods and his family work this out. I don’t follow sports. I liked Tiger, but never had any particular expectations of him. I liked his dignity and discipline, and graceful public persona. I don’t understand all the publicity around his marital problems. What did people expect?

He’s no less qualified to play golf than he ever was. He’s not in some game rigging scandal.

If he wants to take time to sort things out, I wish him well. I wish his wife better, and his kids most of all.

And, we the people, let’s look at this rationally. Are we loading expectations where they don’t belong? Am I paranoid to see a blurring of roles that is unhealthy? When we expect celebrated sports figures to show us how to live everyday decency, when we let politicians tell us how to live godly lives, when Bishops and Evangelists tell our politicians how to vote and that doesn’t alarm us…

Jeez– as far as I know Tiger can hit a golf ball as well as he ever did. He might need a break to deal with family issues. I hope it all works out for the best, because when real hearts are broken and real children cry it’s not entertainment. It’s a damn shame.

As for the rest of us, let’s get a life.

In related developments, a New England Patriots mascot was arrested under the new Rhode Island anti-prostitution laws. No details on how he was apprehended.

UPDATE: Here’s the mascot story. I guess his career as a mascot will suffer a hiatus in the wake of this scandal.