I heard Tiger make a plea, to paraphrase: “…Can you (the media, the paparazzi) please leave us alone? Will you respect the privacy of my family if not for me?” When I heard this, and I heard it loud and clear as the most significant thing that Tiger said, I immediately thought: “Is it possible, that, as a society, we can finally evolve to the point where there is no need for ‘role models,’ that each, and all, of us believes enough in themselves so that is no longer necessary to ‘take’ part of another human (and only human) as something that validates our own existence?” As for making history? In the, I hope, near future, we will indeed evolve to the stage where we no longer need to consider the best of ourselves are represented simply by those who are the most visible amongst us. As if simply doing whatever it takes to obtain visibility is a recommended path for each individual. The history here is, that when all of us, as a society, reach the independence of self to let go of the pull on celebrity as our example, then, we will look back on Tiger’s plea as the first, of the many it will take, to say, “Please leave me alone to live the life that I am, and understand that I am not responsible or representative of yours.” Is it ultimately fair to model Tiger as our role model for life (even while he is a model for a golf game none of us will achieve)? Did he ask for that? Is there anything more that he could have done in terms of generous philanthropy growing the game exponentially, building a win/win empire benefiting thousands ? At some point in evolution, people will all live the lives they live for their reasons, not for the reasons of other people. They will sign autographs if and when they want - the consequences being theirs and theirs alone to bear. They will or they will not be what other people think what they should or should not be. Since we are not there, I challenge all--and all means anyone who has seen the dedication Tiger Woods has to his one endeavor--to think deeply to try and determine a) do you live in a glass house?, and b) should you throw stones?
Nate Clark
Nate, like it or not, stars are going to be role models. Tiger's apology to his kids' schoolmates this week suggests that he fully understands that. But you're right; we ought not to encourage it, certainly not to our kids. My father made that point to my brother and me by a recalling a meeting he had with one of his heroes. He lived and played ball near Navin Field in Detroit, which eventually became Briggs Stadium and then Tiger Stadium. One day Dad chased down a baseball hit during a Tigers practice and waited for practice to end and the players to file out to get the one autograph he really wanted: Ty Cobb's. When Cobb walked out my father rushed up, handed him the ball and asked for his signature. "Where the f.... did you get that ball, kid?" asked Cobb, who then walked away with it. That didn't stop my dad, my brother or me from becoming a huge Tigers fans, or from making my hero, Al Kaline, my role model. Kaline, by the way, has never let me down.
---Bob Carney
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