“Tiger, I am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are. And did you learn anything?”
These are the words of Earl Woods, contextually manipulated (ironically, the audio of the elder Woods comes from a 2004 interview in which Earl was discussing his wife Kultida, also nicknamed Tiger) and spun for commercial purposes by Nike. In the background stands a part defiant, part somber Tiger. The ad is both Nike’s and Tiger’s tacit acknowledgment that this major is different from all other majors. Why it’s different needs no introduction.
The “Earl and Tiger” ad is a profoundly disturbing commercial that’s manipulative at best and politically correct at worst. No one is lauding this 30-second Nike plug. In spite of how shameless the masterminds in Oregon may be, it certainly passes the Malcolm Gladwell stickiness test and is one of a huge number of non-golf-related reasons to watch the Masters this weekend.
Of course, you forget to remember Tiger’s unseemly past when he’s covering 1,100 yards of green in six strokes, like he did yesterday at Augusta (eagle on eight, birdie on nine). The world of sports is kind of transcendent (for lack of a better word) in this respect: we forget about exactly who we’re watching. Investigative journalism, be it Outside the Lines or Vanity Fair, is relatively powerless to emasculate athletes because it can’t keep them away from their sports. For all the beatings Tiger took courtesy of a rabid, albeit justified, media, he was greeted with raucous applause at his 1:42 p.m. tee-off. And when he started to crawl up the leaderboard—a walloping drive on two, an incredible hook shot on eight, a great swing with a nine-iron on 12 (after an extended standing O)—that applause only continued.
Much of this applause no doubt was a function of the squeaky clean Masters audience. Yet, this overwhelmingly positive reaction is still a fair reminder that the Tiger saga will likely pass in a few years time, just like most infidelity-themed scandals predating the 14-time major champion. In fact, it’s probably fair to say that a good number of us are no longer interested in talking about Tiger Woods the adulterer. It’s Tiger Woods the golfer most of us are interested in this weekend. If yesterday was any indication, there will be no shortage of things to discuss.
So, for all the miscues Team Tiger made in rebounding from Thanksgiving 2009, it appears that one nearly mistake-free round of 68 can compensate for a litany of mistakes in the eyes of at least the weekend TV browser. Fortunately for Woods, winning over the guy who has a passing interest in golf probably is more important than wooing the guy in the Callaway hat with a framed picture of Phil Mickelson.
Even more fortunately for Woods, he has a weekend to work his magic where virtually nothing else sports-related is happening. The Masters, at least from the college-aged male vantage point, is the de-facto event to watch this weekend with the college basketball season over (who won that thing again?) and the NBA playoffs not tipping off until next week. It’s the old grow-closer-by-proximity thesis. For men who like sports, it’s Tiger and a six-pack for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A romance made in heaven.
Ultimately, then, Tiger Woods’ redemption will be due to a lack of things to do on a weekend in April (as well as an otherworldly short game, but that’s another column entirely). America will likely fall for Tiger once more for the same reasons all of us get suckered into rooting for people that might not completely deserve our approval. If they keep appearing on your television screen again and again doing something marginally interesting, the logic goes, they must be all right. If it can work for Gossip Girl, it certainly can work for Tiger.
Unlike a teen drama that producers try to ram down your throat, however, Tiger finds his way into dorm rooms because he’s unbelievably good at what he does. Eldrick currently sits two off the lead and is a six-to-one favorite to win the green jacket. For that reason, any New York Daily News report of another mistress or painfully tasteless Nike spot isn’t going to deter our infatuation with Tiger’s pursuit of Jack Nicklaus.
Indeed, I’m more prone to be inquisitive and promote discussion about golf.
Ben Brostoff is a Trinity sophomore. His column runs every Friday.
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