Tiger, the press conference, stories of trust and the lesson within

My husband Mark should have already headed to the airport to catch his 3:30 flight but me thinks he is delaying his departure so he can watch the Tiger Wood's Press Conference. On the different morning shows today a variety of interested observers tried to guess at what kinds of questions Tiger would have to field at said press conference. Um....that is a stretch. I'll betcha a moon pie and rc cola he gets asked about his katrillion marital indiscretions, his relationship to a seedy, steroid giving Canadian doctor and all things inbetween. And then there will be a question or two about how he can get back to winning.

99% of the questions he will be asked in said press conference will come down to this: CREDIBILITY and CHARACTER. (Of which it appears Mr. Woods has very little of). 1% will be about the actual game of golf (and even those will be asked within the context of his complete lack of moral judgment: "How do you play good golf this week after having been reavealed you are a schmuck?" )

And therein lies the lesson. It doesn't matter if you bounce a ball, throw a ball, hit a ball with a stick, run a company, make a product that changes lives, represent your community as an elected official, raise kids, teach kids, or scoop ice cream onto a cone--your credibility and character are the most precious things you have and should be managed at every turn. (Managed not manipulated--those are different)

In the newest issue of SIGolf, Brad Faxon weighs in with "How Woods Can Reclaim His Place in the Game" I imagine Tiger's group of well meaning handlers have asked themselves the same question ad naseum. I envision them at a table throwing out ideas on how to do just that. "How about a televised apology to all the people he has hurt sitting in a row with Tiger behind a lecturn talking about how sorry he is?" That won't be awkward or anything. But it was. Know why? Because you can't manufacture this stuff. Just putting a camera on an apology makes us ALL question your sincerity.

What I found WAY more interesting in this issue of SIGolf was not Brad Faxon's piece but the ad on the inside cover of the magazine from Titleist (you know the other golf ball maker, not Nike--the maker of Tiger's preferred golf ball). I googled the ad to see if anyone had caught the subtle stab at Tiger but found nothing.

The ad features a gaggle of professional players and why they "trust" the titleist ball. The add reads "Stories of Trust at Augusta" (ouch!) I think a clever team of marketing people who are smart, savvy and just knew that the underlying message is: Trust = Character which = Credibility = Not Tiger Woods = We are so stinkin smart because he doesn't use our golf ball. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am reading too deep into this one or maybe I am not. I think Titleist knows how important credibility and character are even for guys who hit a little ball for a living. I think they know other people know it too.

At the end of the day every person will make their own call on whether they will let Tiger back into their good graces and even go so far as to root for him when he is on the greens. For me, I won't. As a fan I am done with the man. I don't care if he is the greatest player of all time, etc, etc. He has demonstrated his lack of character in multiple ways and for me that can't be earned back. The lesson for me is to strive for consistency in my own behaviors and to be true to what I believe.

"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be
found out." Thomas Babington McCauley