Yes, his delivery was wooden and the "apology expert" who appeared on ESPN prior to the statement warned that he should not read his apology, he should offer it from the heart. But it was immediately clear from the moment Tiger walked onto the stage that it would not be possible for him to do anything but read a statement. He was too traumatized, too vulnerable, too powerless. A methodical, practiced performance was all he could offer, but that doesn't mean it wasn't from the heart.
And yes, he was coached. That was evident by watching the way his eyes would leave the text as he looked directly into the camera to pronounce each of his various apologies, slowly and with awkward emphasis. But that doesn't mean he wasn't sincere.
It is hard to imagine that anything about his behavior has been left unsaid, unwritten or unanalyzed. But little has been said about the man who raised him, the Special Forces military man who may have had quite an influence on Tiger's sense of entitlement, referenced in his statement. He raised his special boy to believe that he was powerful, invincible, and that he could control his environment, that the rules didn't apply to him. As a military elite warrior, if you didn't believe you were invincible and could control your very dangerous environment, chances are you would end up dead.
While Tiger's family has endured excruciating pain, which his mother wore on her face throughout the statement, he has given them something very precious. He has acknowledged his wrongdoing, committed himself to healing and making amends, put his high power career on hold to continue his therapy, and finally put his family first. He appropriately admitted that he still has to earn their forgiveness by making changes to prove his commitment. Hopefully he will be given that chance and he will respond to the challenge with even more dedication than that which has made him a golf legend.
Tiger knows that he let down absolutely everyone to whom he mattered, and count those in the millions. But he now has an opportunity that is much bigger than playing a game better than anyone ever has. Probably one or two of his young fans will ever play golf like their idol. But nearly all of them will let themselves and those they love down at some point along the way. Hopefully they can look at what Tiger will do from this point forward and let that be their role model. And from what I saw today, there is a good chance that Tiger will succeed, just like he has in his sport. But this challenge will be much harder, will last a lifetime, won't attract big name sponsors, won't produce trophies, and won't be written about in the paper on Monday mornings. It will just be the right thing to do. Welcome to our world, Tiger.
People lie and "cheat" on each other in marriages everyday in ways that DO NOT involve sex...no one cares.
I know a woman who was in the charge of the bills in their home. She lied to her husband for months about paying the mortgage. Instead of paying the mortgage, she went shopping. She lied and hid the foreclosure notices.
Now, they are being evicted. THAT is not "CHEATING?"
I say it's ten times worse. She could have slept with 100 guys and he'd still have a home.
She lied about paying the mortgage so she could go shopping and now the ENTIRE family (kids too) are homeless.
No press conference for her. No public shame or humiliation. If the husband, who was lied to or cheated on, came at her with a golf club or divorced her....society would blame him.
The ONLY dealbreaker in a marriage is sex. Lying is fine, cheating is fine, going behind their back is fine and being a totally selfish person is fine....as long as you don't have sex.
Why is that?