Tiger Woods a terrible role model but terrific athlete

By Ryan Gupta     4/8/10 7:00pm

As a society, we have an outrageous propensity to idealize our athletes and entertainers. However, in the end they are no different from you or me - they have a single skill set and they get paid for it. We should respect the jobs that celebrities do, but the admiration needs to end right there. In the end, what Lil Wayne keeps in his tour bus, what Amy Winehouse snorts and who Jon cheats on Kate with is no business of ours. As a concerned member of society, I certainly don't approve of their actions, and I believe the judicial system should always interfere when necessary. However, I strongly disapprove of the media attention and gossip that surrounds these scandals for months at a time.

People seem to lack the ability to differentiate between celebrities and role models. Tiger Woods is a golfer, not a god. He is a man, not a monk. He is the definition of dominance in his sport, and he is a role model within the sphere of his craft. However, beyond the caddies, clubhouses and courses, he is just one of us.

Amid the controversy and judgment of the public, Tiger returned to golf this week, participating in The Masters, which is his first golf tournament since last November. During his break from the sport, Tiger Woods dealt with the fallout of his professional and personal life as a result of his numerous indiscretions. Tiger lost millions of dollars through pulled sponsorships and, at the same time, essentially lost his marriage and a great proportion of his fan base.

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I'm not trying to write a sympathy piece for Tiger because he was a dog. He deserves to lose his many sponsorships. After all, any corporation not headed by Larry Flynt now knows not to pay big money for Woods' endorsements. Furthermore, Elin Woods would demonstrate little self-respect by not divorcing Tiger (the payout settlement probably won't be half bad, either). These consequences of the scandal are justifiable. The public reaction, however, is not.

Think back to last Thanksgiving, before the scandal about Tiger's affairs broke. Why did you love Tiger Woods? Maybe it was the number of championships, the signature fist pump or the memorable "swoosh shot" in the 2005 Masters. Regardless, I would be willing to bet that you used to love Tiger for his dominance on the golf course. I'll go a step further and say that most of you barely knew theexistence of the Tiger Woods Foundation and the Tiger Woods Learning Center, two of Woods' most profound service ventures; even if you are privy to Tiger's charity endeavors, chances are you're primarily a Tiger fan for his golf, not for his philanthropic acts. Bottom line, Tiger was always loved for his skills on the course - nothing more and nothing less. Why should that be different now?

There is a fundamental disparity between what society expects from athletes and what athletes actually are. Athletes are just ordinary people with extraordinary skills. Just because they're famous does not make them good role models. Sure, there are exceptions - Jackie Robinson's tenacity, Lance Armstrong's resilience and Roberto Clemente's altruism are all very praiseworthy. But for the most part, we don't know enough about the personal lives of athletes and celebrities to start calling them role models, and that's the way it should be. A child shouldn't look up to a person because of their blazing speed, pitching shoulder or great receiving hands.

Let's stop confusing people of fame for our role models because they will just keep letting us down. Chris Brown, Lindsay Lohan, Michael Vick, Mark McGwire, Marion Jones, Floyd Landis and Pacman Jones are just a few that line the top of the bottomless barrel of superstars that fail to maintain standards worthy of a role model.

Just because athletes are marvelous on the field doesn't mean we should expect the same off the field, so let's love our athletes for what they do well. Let's go back to loving Tiger, the golfer. Think what you will about Tiger as a human being, but you have to love the animal that's unleashed when Tiger hits the golf course.

Ryan Gupta is a Baker College freshman and Thresher assistant opinion editor.

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