Lancing Lance

Like everyone else who cheered for Lance Armstrong, I'm disappointed.  Not that he doped, not even that he lied about it - only naive people would have thought differently.  That was the cycling culture, just like it was the pro baseball culture years ago.  But it is very disappointing to hear about the lengths he went to cover up the lies, the way he tried to destroy people.

However, while everybody is piling on their disgust, I still find myself asking why people want to pile on.  He's going to be ruined financially, and considered a cheat and a coward the rest of his life, but he can still inspire people with this story about beating cancer and rising to the top of his profession.

Consider how society looks at Tiger Woods now.  Nobody lost more than he did with his extra-marital shenanigans.  Lost wealth, lost family, even lost his professional edge, and still has not regained his form as the best golfer in the world.  Plus, and he lied to friends and angered fans in the process.

Yet, there are lots of people cheering for Tiger Woods in golf tournaments.  Just did a new TV commercial that has people talking.  Maybe people just want to like Tiger Woods.  And after a long while, people will start to want to like Lance Armstrong again, especially if he keeps up his anti-cancer work.

Both of those guys lied and hurt people.  They should suffer and be accountable for that.  Ultimately, though, isn't it likely Lance Armstrong will win fans back as Tiger Woods has?

People forgive and forget - especially forget.  We see it time after time after time.  There's no reason to think this won't be another American story of redemption.

The Masters.....Of Hypocrisy

There are many words one might associate with what is possibly the most famous tournament in golf, The Masters: Golf, green, jacket, Augusta, patrons, Jones, magnolia, etc etc. But now we a have new one - hypocrite.

The day before this year's tournament started, August National Chairman Billy Payne decided to call out Tiger Woods for generally being a bad role model. There would be little disagreement with that from anyone, but consider the source - the chairman of an exclusive club that does not allow women as members, and only allowed its first minority member in the late 20th century.

I suppose a club (that doesn't get tax exemptions) is entitled to discriminate as it sees fit. To hear it preach to others about conduct, however, is a joke.

Really Billy Payne? Really, you are calling out others for not being role models, when your club has long-standing discriminatory practices? Really?

Leave it to The Masters - a tradition like no other.

Tiger And His Mistresses (Allegedly)

I golf. I watch TV. And sometimes I watch Tiger Woods golf on TV. This absolutely qualifies me as much as anybody to blog about the Tiger Woods affair. (No pun intended.)

Let's first get the obvious out of the way. Tiger has become a morally bankrupt person, as it seems are many other celebrities and politicians. Apparently this is what fame and fortune does to some people - it corrupts them to the point they think they can do anything with little or no accountability. They lose their moral compass, if they had one to begin with. Tiger is a dispicable person.

That said, there is at least one angle to the story that I think has been under-covered by the media, related to Tiger's many alleged mistresses. Specifically, if their allegations are true, then why aren't they being called out for their part in all of this? They're getting a lot of attention, but not much disdain. They knew Tiger was married, and more recently with children. Why didn't they just say no?

Because they are whores.

Literally, Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines a whore as 'a promiscuous or immoral woman' and 'a venal or unscrupulous person'. And literally, some of his alleged mistresses were adult film stars. Either way, the definition fits.

Let's get real - these aren't nice girls. They don't say no. It's their job to profit from others' fame and fortune. They might end up selling their story, or better yet, have an illegitimate child and then they've really got it made. They might be called many other names, but they are, accurately, whores.

Saying this doesn't make Tiger a better person. Saying this doesn't make what Tiger did right. But saying this does put some perspective on the kind of people - immoral people - Tiger hung with. (This time, pun intended!)