Today, Tiger Woods came out and made a statement. I personally don’t know if it was needed at this time. If he was planning on coming back to the tour soon, then I can see why he held it today, but apparently he doesn’t have a timetable on his return. So, I am scratching my head at the timing. Some are speculating that it is due to the fact that the Accenture Match play Championship is going on this week/weekend and they were the first sponsors to drop Tiger. But he did thank them in his speech as well as the players on tour. So I don’t think it was a jab at Accenture I think it is just part of the healing and recovery process.
The press conference was pretty much what I was expecting; a lot of apologizing to family, friends, fans and co-workers, he defended his wife and said there has never been a act of domestic violence between them, he admitted to having affairs and cheating and that he is still in need of treatment. Also he emphatically asked for the press to leave his family alone. He did take full responsibility for his actions and this was the most poignant statement of the whole press conference "I was unfaithful, I had affairs, I cheated. What I did is not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame." His wife didn’t appear to be there with him, but his mother was. After his speech he went and gave his mother a hug and either shook hands or hugged several others before leaving.
Friday's event was tightly controlled, with only a few journalists allowed to watch Woods live. One of those journalists must have been Furman Bisher who has been covering sports for 50 plus years. You can hear what seems to be a typewriter in the background. Very odd! Anyway, due to the exclusion of most reporters and the fact that he didn’t take any questions, this has caused a huge backlash among journalists. So I don’t really expect to read anything flattering about Tiger anytime soon. Not that he really deserves any!
To me the most amazing thing about all of this is the fact that it seems the entire world stopped today at 11am for 15 minutes. Most all of the media outlets all over the world broadcasted it live and within minutes, the transcripts were everywhere. Even the trading on the NYSE slowed down during between 11-11:15 due to the traders were watching the press conference. I can’t think of any other public person that would garner this type of attention.
The press conference was pretty much what I was expecting; a lot of apologizing to family, friends, fans and co-workers, he defended his wife and said there has never been a act of domestic violence between them, he admitted to having affairs and cheating and that he is still in need of treatment. Also he emphatically asked for the press to leave his family alone. He did take full responsibility for his actions and this was the most poignant statement of the whole press conference "I was unfaithful, I had affairs, I cheated. What I did is not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame." His wife didn’t appear to be there with him, but his mother was. After his speech he went and gave his mother a hug and either shook hands or hugged several others before leaving.
Friday's event was tightly controlled, with only a few journalists allowed to watch Woods live. One of those journalists must have been Furman Bisher who has been covering sports for 50 plus years. You can hear what seems to be a typewriter in the background. Very odd! Anyway, due to the exclusion of most reporters and the fact that he didn’t take any questions, this has caused a huge backlash among journalists. So I don’t really expect to read anything flattering about Tiger anytime soon. Not that he really deserves any!
To me the most amazing thing about all of this is the fact that it seems the entire world stopped today at 11am for 15 minutes. Most all of the media outlets all over the world broadcasted it live and within minutes, the transcripts were everywhere. Even the trading on the NYSE slowed down during between 11-11:15 due to the traders were watching the press conference. I can’t think of any other public person that would garner this type of attention.
This was not the press conference the PGA Tour was looking for. Even though they were very helpful in setting this up, they are the big losers here. Without Tiger on tour the attendance and viewing audience has dropped considerably. I am sure they were hoping Tiger would be back in time for the Masters in April. I for one still think he will play, but after today, my hopes are slimming! Overall I feel the press conference was heartfelt and had to be done in this manner. Can you imagine what kind of questions he would have gotten if he opened it up freely to questions from reporters? I am just wondering why he didn’t do all of this on Oprah?
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