Lessons on Responsibility from El Tigre...

It's been awhile since I've visited the blogosphere, but today Tiger Woods had a press conference. It was...kind of interesting. Without rehashing the (gory? x-rated? sordid?) details of the events leading up to the press conference, Tiger's actions were wrong. But why hold a press conference at all?? Stated differently, did Tiger owe an apology to the world as some folks (yes, I'm talking to you every single person on Larry King Live the other night) seem to believe? No. No. And – say this one with extra-special emphasis — no!

I can think of only two legitimate apologies Tiger needed to make. To his family and to his sponsors. That is the whole and entire list of "I'm sorrys" Tiger should have been up there making at this press conference. Of course, Tiger was unable to properly contain himself instead apologizing to all manner of humans beings both dead and alive. Still, all and all I thought the press conference was pretty good. I very much liked the part where Tiger took full and total responsibility and blame for his actions and tried to deflect negative attention away from his wife and children who did nothing to bring this on. But going on and on to apologize to me, you, the media, the entire world part still bothers me. Tiger you really let me down with that one...

Many people out there are disappointed that Tiger didn't take questions, invite all of the press, and feel like -- even though they do not know Tiger at all -- they are owed some sort of personal apology from him. The reasons why you, me, the general public, the media, etc. are not owed any sort of apology from Tiger are many. I'll list a few. First and foremost, Tiger is a golfer. His private life is his private life. He committed marital infidelity, which is no one's business but his and his wife's. He didn't have to talk about it at all beyond that, so to get upset that Tiger hand picked who was going to be there for the conference or be mad that he didn't want to take questions is ridiculous. He didn't have to say anything at all to any one other than Elin and his sponsors. It was his right to make this public apology a take it or leave it proposition.

Second, and pardon the lawyer speak, Tiger owed no duty whatsoever to the general public. I think Charles Barkley summed this position up quite nicely in his classic 90s Nike Ad campaign where he said "I am not a role model. I am not paid to be a role model. I am paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court. Parents should be role models. Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids." Similarly, Tiger is not a role model. He is a golfer and a human being. Human beings (by definition I think) are fallible. Tiger the human being has proven to be. Are we surprised?? No, we're not surprised because this side of Jesus Christ himself we are all repeatedly fallible. So to feel that Tiger owes you some sort of responsibility of being an all-around perfect human being or owes the youth of the world some duty to show them the path to being a decent human being (or good at anything other than golf) is both unrealistic and preposterous. In fact, though I ddon't have any kids yet, if I raise kids that when asked "who is your role model?" utter anything other than "my parents are my role models" I'd be ashamed of myself. I could come to no other logical conclusion than that I have utterly failed my kids and failed in my job as a parent. Sure, kids have heroes. I have heroes (LeBron and Drake quickly come to mind!), but do I pattern and model my life after them?! No. I root for them in the spirit of competition and enjoy what they offer in the wide world of entertainment. As parents, teaching this simple distinction is your duty to your children in a world where entertainers make a bazillion times more money than their teachers. Tiger owed the media and the world and all of its men, women and little children nothing by way of an apology for his behavior.

This brings me back to the two apologies Tiger owed then. Obviously he owed Elin, his children, and his mother an apology and the reasons for this are self-evident. Moving quickly on then, Tiger also owed an apology to his sponsors. Many people disagree with me on this. But I will nonetheless state why I believe this to be true. To be clear Tiger owed an apology to his sponsors not for the act(ssssssssss) in and of themselves (again, that's a private matter between him and his family), but rather for the negative backlash that his actions caused against his sponsors. Why? Because Tiger contracted and got paid handsomely (to the tune of $100,000,000 every, single year!) to boost the name brand of his sponsors...not to do the exact opposite by sullying and bringing their name brand down. When lots of people began picketing, threatening boycotts, starting letter writing campaigns, going on air, etc. against his sponsors (all of which led to weeks of negative publicity for his sponsors and a taint on their name) he let his sponsors down and failed to live up to his end of the bargain. While I do not think that means that any of his sponsors should have dropped him, I do think that means that Tiger at the very least owed them an apology. Many will say that (like Barkley in basketball) his sponsors pay him to be good at golf. That is undoubtedly true. But the fact remains that what Tiger's sponsors are really paying him to do is to help sell their product to the masses. Tiger gets a salary for playing golf...every time he wins on the PGA Tour. He earns exponentionally more money off the course, however, using his golfing prowess and name brand selling products for his sponsors to the masses.

In all honestly Tiger might very well be unique in owing an apology to his sponsors because of the sport he plays. Golf is a solitary sport. There is Team Tiger and his sponsors and that's it. When you think of Tiger and golf the first thing your mind probably ties him to is the ethereal "golf" and the Nike that adorns him and his balls (pause). Specifically, the first image that probably pops into your mind is Tiger doing the fist pump after sinking some major winning putt with the black Nike cap, with the white Nike swoosh and red Nike polo on. But when you think of MJ and his greatness your mind almost immediately thinks of the Chicago Bulls (specifically him in a Bulls uniform), then Air Jordans, and then Nike. Tiger doesn't have the luxury of having MJ's buffer zone between who he is and his sponsors. There are no franchises in golf to which a player might owe a general duty to not muck things up in such a way as to completely embarrass the team. Just like Michael Vick and Gilbert Arenas both owed an apology to their teams and their owners for all the drama and negative publicity they put their respective organizations through and the backlash that their criminal actions caused, so too does Tiger owe an apology to his "franchise." By all accounts Vick and Gilbert have made such apologies publicly and privately. No franchise should have to go through that and Tiger's sponsors are his franchise.

It matters not that Tiger's actions are not criminal and Vick's and Gil's were. What is important to the franchise/sponsor is the backlash and the negative publicity caused by the employees actions, not necessarily the acts themselves(and their varying levels of egregiousness/criminality). Also what is not important to the franchise/sponsor is the (ir)rationality of all the people causing all of the negative backlash and publicity in the first place. The franchise/sponsor has no real interest in whether the criticism and backlash is merited. For the franchise's bottom line it is irrelevant. The franchise is only concerned with the reality and all it cares about is maintaning a spiffy image and pushing it's product. When you get paid as well as Tiger did to do just that, the least you can do is say "I'm sorry" when you drag the franchise down with you. It is true that sponsors take a risk with any athlete/person they sign that at some point they will mess up privately...people are fallible beings. But that doesn't mean an apology for doing so is not in order. And on the flip side if a sponsor does something to sully and tarnish the name of someone who represents their products, they should just as assuredly be held accountable and apologize for blemishing that individual's reputation too. The sponsorship relationship is a mutual one, and it's certainly a two way street.

So Tiger, today was the first step in the long journey back to rehabilitating your image and back to the golf course (hurry back for the Masters please!), but please stop apologizing to everybody and their mama. We don't need it, don't deserve it, and just wanna see you back on the course doing your thing! The only people who deserve your apologies are your family and your sponsors...everyone else can get an "it's not what you achieve in life that matters, its what you overcome."