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Tiger's Smoke Blowing by John M. Curtis Copyright
Dec. 1, 2009 Caught with his pants down, the world’s No. 1 golfer Tiger Woods, continues to blow smoke following a Nov. 28 early morning car accident, refusing to come clean, fueling wild speculations about a possible affair with New York socialite Rachel Uchitel. Canceling three interviews with the Florida Highway Patrol, Woods signaled he has no intent of flashing his cards, preferring instead to engage in more calculated damage control through his Orlando attorney Mark NeJame, the same lawyer that represented NBA star Shaquille O’Neal. Police 911 dispatchers received a call that the 33-year-old golf phenom had run his black Cadillac Escalade into a hydrant, before hitting a tree on his neighbor’s property. A 911 transcript, reported by an unnamed neighbor, revealed that Woods was found unconscious, lying on the ground before carted away by ambulance to a local hospital. Sustaining $5,000-$10,000 of front-end damage, press reports make no sense about Tiger’s Swedish former supermodel wife Elin Nordegren smashing his back window with one of Tiger’s golf clubs to rescue her husband. Why Nordregren couldn’t open one of the vehicles five doors is anyone’s guess. Tipping his hand that something embarrassing took place, Tiger wrote a dramatic mea culpa on his Web site. “I’m human and I’m not perfect,” said Tiger in response to the media feeding frenzy seeking answers to some feeble explanations. “This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way,” Recent reports about Tiger running around in Australia with his alleged mistress Rachel Uchitel raise speculation about an early-morning domestic dispute. Of course Tiger feels embarrassed, preferring to keep the matter under wraps to protect his multimillion-dollar professional brand. Tiger’s reported facial scratches appear inconsistent with injuries sustained during a car accident in a Cadillac Escalade. While unverified, Tiger’s reported facial scratches were more consistent with domestic abuse, perhaps resulting from Elin’s fury over his alleged affair. “My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false,” said Tiger, alluding to her smashing in his Escalade’s window out of rage. “I deserve some privacy no matter how intrusive some people can be,” asking the press to back off. If the incident were only about a freak car accident, Tiger wouldn’t have hired Shaquille’s ex-attorney to manage the media. Nor would Woods’ alleged mistress hire Los Angeles celebrity attorney Gloria Allred. So far, Uchitel has emphatically denied an affair with Woods. When former U.S. Senator Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards was caught red handed at the Beverly Hilton July 21, 2008 by the National Enquirer with his mistress Rielle Hunter and love-child Francis Quinn, Edwards emphatically denied the allegations. Over a year later, he finally admitted the baby was his. Tiger’s need to bury the incident or pretend that something other than an innocent car accident took place will continue to dog him until he comes clean. Tiger Woods is the world’s first athlete to earn, together with prize money, over a billion dollars from commercial endorsements. Considered sport’s most marketable brand, he can ill-afford a nasty affair to sully his immaculate image. “The more you stonewall these things, the longer they tend to drag on,” said Seton Hall sports marketing professor Larry McCarthy, concerned about eventual damage to Tiger’s brand. No celebrity engages in a public mea culpa unless they’ve done something egregious. Regardless of the time of day, a minor traffic accident involving only property damage doesn’t qualify for a major damage control strategy involving a high-wattage criminal defense attorney. Whether admitted to or not, hiring Atty. Gloria Allred to insulate Tiger’s alleged mistress raises far more suspicions. Former President Bill Clinton found out the hard way that there’s nothing criminal about clandestine affairs, only lying under oath and covering them up. Tiger’s 39-year-old IMG agent Mark Steinberg, emphasized that an expected interview with the FHP was “both voluntary and optional.” Failing to come forward throws gasoline on an already incendiary PR mess. What Steinberg and Woods don’t get is that the media won’t rest until real facts of the story finally get out. Tiger’s image and reputation for being one of professional sports most respectable athletes has taken a hit. His alleged affair with Rachel Uchitel won’t go away until the winner of 14 major golf championships does a better job of damage control. Stonewalling the press, concocting stories and pretending the event didn’t occur won’t stop the wild speculation now burning up the tabloids and sports pages of Internet, broadcast and print journalism. “Athletes know that the currency they trade in is their own personality as well as their own performance,” said David Carter, executive director of USC’s Sports Business Institute, concerned about damage to Tiger’s brand. Celebrities must accept the good-and-bad when it comes to fame. When they get into trouble, they must zip their mouths, rely on experts and follow a carefully planned damage control strategy. John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma. |
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