Lenny's Column
Tiger doesn’t need to apologize
Tomorrow morning Tiger Woods is going to hold a press conference to, I assume, apologize to the public for his actions and to let the world know what his future plans are in golf.
Since this announcement, everyone has come out of the woodwork — sports writers, bloggers, fellow golfers — to put in their two cents worth and most are taking shots at him. They don’t like the idea that it will be a very controlled environment as only a few journalists are being invited inside and questions will be limited. Boo hoo! God forbid that they won’t be able to try and pry into the most intimate details of Tiger’s sex life and then broadcast them to the world.
Their argument, as always, is that the public has a right to know. What bullshit that is. Why do we have a right to know anything about his private life? Tiger Woods is a golfer and a damn good one, arguably the best we have ever seen and may ever see. Of his golf, yes we would like to know as much as we can if for no other reason than to improve our game. But that’s where our connection starts and should end with the man.
In my opinion, I don’t think Tiger should ever have to publicly apologize or say anything publicly about his life off the course. But that’s me.
In his column today, sports writer Jason Whitlock wrote that he would like to see Tiger Woods retire even though he admits to being one of Woods biggest fans. He writes: “Don’t let for-profit “journalists” turn you into Michael Jackson. Walk away.
“Tiger, you’re now trapped inside the belly of the beast. Capitalism has perverted journalism to the point that fairness, accuracy and privacy are all irrelevant. Bloggers and media corporations working in conjunction with porn stars, strippers and undiscovered reality TV hos can all make money exploiting your personal life.
“This is never going to change. You could fire Stevie Williams, make Elin your caddie and keep her by your side at all times and the tabloid media will still publish the allegations of every moderately attractive woman looking for her 15 minutes.”
How rightWhitlock is about the media, but I disagree that he should retire. Yes, by doing so he would deprive the vultures who consider themselves “journalists” more fodder for the utter crap that they write, but he would also deprive millions of people around the world from watching a master perform in his chosen field and encourage more young, non-white kids to take up the game.
I am not a golfer although every so often, if prodded enough by my friends, will take to the course to hit the ball badly. But I admire anyone who does their job well, whether it be Tiger Woods tearing up a course on his way to another major victory, or a carpenter who produces a perfect piece of furniture.
I may not approve of what Tiger has done in his personal life but it is none of my business. I don’t feel I have any right to know the details. Nor should you.
This and that
Lots of hoopla over Sarah Palin’s speech to the gathering of the Tea Party in Nashville last week including the notes to herself written on her hand. That doesn’t bother me and I think her critics made a mountain out of a molehill over it. I’m much more bothered that the media gives so much publicity to a woman who is no longer in politics, who keeps playing coy about whether she will run for prez in 2012 and who is undoubtedly the most unqualified person to run for president or vice president of the many fine men and women in the Republican Party who would make good leaders.
I read an interesting article over the weekend in The Guardian, a prominent newspaper in the U.K. In it, the writer says “Sarah Palin may not know that Africa is a continent, but if there is knowledge that she is not lacking, it’s a canny ability to spot, and seize, any opportunity that will propel her into the spotlight.”
The writer goes on to say, “in the age of the 24-hour news cycle and the Internet, all Palin has to do is produce some great soundbites. Palin’s suggestion on Fox News that she may run for election in 2012 if it is “the right thing to do for our country and for the Palin family” created yet more fodder for consumption. Whether or not she actually runs doesn’t really matter. The mere fact that she has hinted at it now guarantees her increased attention.”
The article ends with “I don’t know if Palin is in it for the people or the publicity. But if there’s one thing you can be sure of, it’s that when opportunity knocks, Sarah Palin goes running. Is this the type of future “leadership” that America wants or needs?”
Most of the media has been sucked in by this cutesy, folksy, gun-totin’ hockey mom and that would make for a segment on the Today show, but to hang on her every word as if it was coming down from the Mount, is more than a bit ludicrous. But then, hasn’t much of the media become a joke?
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The push by American and Afghan forces to rid the city of Marjah, a stronghold of the Taliban, has come under fire because of the deaths of 12 people mistakenly killed by U.S. missiles on Sunday. Today, another five civilians were killed. In the case of Sunday’s attack, it was reported that Taliban fighters were in the homes of the victims.
This is just another ugly part of war and an unavoidable one, especially when the enemy mingles with the civilian populace. To all the do-gooders and weak-kneed politicians who want to restrict the way our soldiers do battle against an enemy who wants to kill them, I say you must never have fought in a ground war or you’d be keeping your mouths shut.
War is ugly. War is brutal. And often, war is unnecessary, as I believe the Afghanistan war is, but seeing that we are in it, we must do all we can to win it and quickly. In the meantime, our troops need our support and our prayers, not criticism by those who have never walked in their shoes.
Palin Signs With FOX. Now That’s Scary
Well surprise, surprise. Sarah Palin has signed on with FOX News. You know, that’s the cable channel that touts “fair and balanced” coverage. If you’ve watched it, particularly the Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity shows, you will realize that it is neither “fair” nor “balanced”. Now with the addition of Palin, we can add “unbalanced”.
I do however, give this woman high marks for knowing how to take advantage of her 15 minutes of fame and make the leap from “just an ordinary hockey mom” to “MULTI-MILLIONAIRE MOM!” thanks to media coverage and the women out there who see her as a modern day Annie Oakley, rifle in one hand, baby in another and running for one of the highest offices in the land.
What makes me wonder is the fact that none of these women, particularly mothers, who seem to adore her, don’t question a mother who would haul around a baby with Downs Syndrome and subject that baby to the harsh lights and deafening noise of political rallies just so she can get a sympathy vote. She claims she loves her baby and I don’t doubt that, but there is a fine line between love and abuse.
Another thing, among many that bothers me about Sarah Palin, is her record. She loves to play up what she calls her solid political background, citing her term as mayor of Wasilla, an Alaskan town of about 7,000 when she served. I live in Las Vegas where we have hotels that employ more people than that.
But what interests me more is that Palin majored in journalism at the University of Idaho and worked part-time as a weekend sportscaster in 1988 for KTUU-TV in Anchorage. She apparently left after a few months because of the low pay. Her boss says she was a hard worker who enjoyed the entire process, not just being in front of the cameras. How much could she have liked it if she quit after a few months? She was single at the time so had no family to support. Almost every journalist I’ve know has struggled at the start, working for low pay but knowing they had to pay their dues. Not Palin. Can she not take the hard road or is she just restless, wanting to try other things?
Maybe the same thing happened as governor of Alaska. She quit that job with almost a year and a half left on her term and it was only her first term. Is this the kind of person Americans should even consider running for president? Does she not realize that we the people expect our president to finish out his or her term once we elect them?
It will be interesting to see how she does on FOX. I pity the team of experts that is assigned to prepare her for her segments. I can see it now:
Subject: Illegal immigration.
“Remember Sarah, when someone mentions illegal aliens, they don’t mean little purple people who are trying to come here from another planet. They will be talking mainly about Mexicans who live just south of our border (pointing at a map for her) and no, Mexicans cannot see Russia from Tijuana.”
Subject: The Mideast
“No, Sarah, the Mideast is not Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. It’s way over here (again pointing at map).”
I could go on, but I think you get the picture. It’s not a pretty one.