Elin Left In The Woods?
Despite Tiger Woods' handlers urging her to, Elin Woods probably won't be attending his press conference on Friday that's already pissing off the professional golfing world with its shitty timing. PopEater reports:
“It's hard enough for her to try and make this marriage work after what he did to her and their children,” an insider tells me. “The last thing she wants to do right now is stand next to him in front of him and the world's press. What message is she sending to her daughter and women and girls around the world.”
I find it hard to believe Tiger's people would even want Elin there considering there's a 98% chance she'd produce a battle hammer if he admits to sleeping with a woman she wasn't already aware of. Maybe I fantasize about Elin banging me with a Thor helmet on too much, but you get what I'm trying to say here: She should wear a red cape.
NOTE: Added the first public images Tiger's allowed anyone to take since November because nothing proves you're serious about your marriage and golf like jogging. On that note, anyone surprise these aren't encoded to play the theme song to Rocky? Me, too.
Tiger Woods gave his official public apology today for his marital infidelity with no less than a dozen women including various cocktail waitresses and an adult film industry actress. The cheating is alleged to have happened over the course of several years including while his wife was pregnant. The press conference was held in front of a group of close friends and a few selected reporters. There were no questions allowed.
I could write volumes on my thoughts on cheating. I also have my share of thoughts on politicians / celebrities / athletes who cheat, whether there is such thing as 'sex addiction', whether companies should continue to endorse Woods, whether today's 'press conference' was a sham, and whether the whole thing is the public's business.
Instead, I'm more interested in the only redeeming facet of Woods' press conference today and, indeed, of the whole scandal. It isn't about what viewers saw, but what, or rather who, we didn't. Elin Woods, former model, Woods' wife, and mother of their two children was not in attendance today.
Cheating scandals have playbooks. There are ways these things are supposed to go. They end with a public figure giving a public apology for his indiscretions as his little wife stands dutifully beside him. Today, an exception to the rule, Elin did not stand by Tiger. Tiger stood alone.
I, for one, am sick and tired of hearing about the “strength” of the woman who stands, stoically, hands clasped in front of her, loyally by her man, as he stands and tells the world about his failure (often repeated…) to do the same: stand by his wife and be loyal. True strength isn't something many probably expected from the beautiful, smiling blonde always faithfully at Tiger's side. Celebrating his victories. Taking care of his children. Cheering on his achievements. Supporting his dream.
The public has never heard about Elin as anything other than Tiger's wife or the mother of his children. Oh and that she looks good in a bikini; not exactly a sign of strength, but obviously a valuable asset in any trophy wife.
Today, Elin showed that she is more than that. She isn't his toy or trophy or an extension of him and his image. She is not someone to be cast aside and used at his disposal or for his convenience. She isn't a nobody because no one knew Elin before Tiger. She is a real person; capable of thinking, feeling, being, acting, and living independently of him. She has been photographed out lately sans wedding band and today, she wasn't present to be photographed at all.
While Tiger stood in front of the world, it was Elin who was truly taking a stand. Elin showed that true strength isn't standing by your man at the podium, but standing on your own two feet.
Golf Magazine's Cameron Morfit live-blogged Tiger Woods's statement beginning at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Friday, February 19. Read the transcript below. Join the conversation that continues here on Golf.com, and watch the statement on CNN.com.
Join the conversation here | Watch the statement on CNN.com
More Tiger Woods: Car Crash Photos | Life in Pictures | SI Covers
11:30: And so the day's strangest media event is over after 20 minutes and a few hugs. So what did we learn? We still don't know when Tiger will come back, which is all 90% of the public cared about going into this thing. The only thing we know is that Woods has been hiding under all that hubris some humility, which is somehow reassuring. I still don't understand the timing of the announcement, and the only thing I learned is that he might write off the entire 2010 season. That would be a shame for the fans, but for Woods, the golf has to come second. Good for him for somehow keeping it together emotionally, more or less, and good for him for being genuinely apologetic. He's got a long way to go. Signing off.
11:18 No timetable for return! Doesn't know! Could be this year! Holy moly. Woods could be out the whole of 2010. So much for the Masters, so much for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the British Open at St. Andrews. What a year it might have been. And now he's done, goodbye, Tiger.
11:10 "It's up to me to start living a life of integrity." True enough. "It's not what you achieve in life that matters, it's what you overcome." Okay, I guess. Now he's apologizing to the kids, to the parents of the kids. Mentions 45-day rehab without specifics about what type of rehab, then says ominously, "I have a long way to go." When will he return???
11:08 A few near-teary moments so far, but now anger. Woods refuting allegations of Elin beating him up with a golf club. Angry Tiger! And now we're back from the anger. "I stopped living by the core values that I believe in," he says. Okay, that's better. "I thought only about myself." "I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to." "I felt I was entitled." Yes, yes and yes.
11:05 Not hearing anything new so far. Lots of mentions of "behavior" but no specifics on what his plans are. Didn't take long to bring up the foundation, did it? Where is this going?
10:59 Brandel Chamblee makes a good point that the Woods came had to know that the timing of this non press conference would get blowback, coming in the middle of the Accenture. It's just more fodder for those, like me, who think this crisis has been horribly mishandled from the start.
10:54 Interesting comment from DRM about the GWAA boycott: "Woods has no credibility at this point on any subject other than golf. He has been proven to be a fraud. The details of his personal life have been covered in-depth for the last 3 months by the tabloids. Given that no one trusts a word that comes out of his mouth, why exactly do you guys want to ask him questions especially when you already know the answers to 99% of them?"
Good question, and here's the way I'm thinking about this non-boycott boycott of this non-press conference press conference: It's a statement, meant to convey that Woods and his flunkies can no longer set the agenda, can no longer jerk around the press and have us follow along in hopes of any morsels they deign to provide. It's like strenuously arguing a call in the NBA, knowing that you're not likely to get a reversal on that call but that you might get more favorable calls in the future.
10:52 When will Tiger play next? Good question. I would guess Bay Hill, but I would also guess we'll know for sure in about 20 minutes. I'm also guessing we'll know exactly nothing more about that early-morning car crash, the exact state of Tiger's marriage, and many more things.
10:50 svparboy makes this point:"If i had been caught doing what tiger has been caught doing, i would be scared sh*&less about facing a large group of people and trying to explain my actions. he's doing only what any person would want to do - control the environment in which he has to admit he screwed up. all the golf writers should be concerned with is when tiger will play golf next. he's made the golf industry what it is today and that's all that is important - when will he play next?"
10:48 cathy carr said… "The only one who has to forgive Tiger Woods is his wife. He did not cheat on me or you. This is his life and we should not put him under a microscope. He is a great golf player and thats all we need to know and support." Well, I respectfully disagree on this one. If Woods had simply been a golfer, that would be true, but unfortunately he became a worldwide brand. He cultivated the brand, as did those around him, to make hundreds of millions of dollars. That's what's behind the outrage. We all felt duped, and with good reason.
10:39 Just got an e-mail from Durham, N.H. stating the following: "Nick Smith, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of New Hampshire and author of "I Was Wrong: The Meaning of Apologies" (2008, Cambridge University Press) is available to discuss golfer Tiger Woods' anticipated public apology this morning and apologies by public figures in general." That's nice.
10:35 What will Tiger be wearing for golf's fifth major? A suit and tie, one assumes. Please, no corporate logos. Will Friend of Tiger Michael Jordan be there, as rumored? Will MJ wear a suit?
10:32 Golf Channel has produced a slick lead-in to its 30-minute faux pre-game show. Based on everything I'm seeing so far, I'm calling this non press conference golf's fifth major.
10:30 Welcome to the madness, a live blog of a non-press conference thousands of miles away that the Golf Writers Association of America has already boycotted. The immediate response to this apparent first stop on the Tiger Woods apology tour makes me wonder if he hasn't finally run out of goodwill, even among the golf writers and fellow Tour players. The strict guidelines, the timing of his big announcement during the Accenture, it all looked like a terrible false-start. We'll see if the AP report is true, that he's simply headed back to rehab. I keep thinking of an exchange I had with someone recently, can't remember who. Me: Are we killing the golden goose? Friend: No, I think the golden goose pretty much committed suicide.
Tiger Woods finally spoke publicly today about the many affairs that surfaced following his Thanksgiving accident. He said (via People Magazine):
“I want to say to each of you simply and directly: I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible, selfish behavior. I know people want to find out how I could be so selfish and so foolish. People want to know how I could have done these things to my wife Elin and to my children. And while I have always tried to be a private person, there are some things I want to say.
Elin and I have started the process of discussing the damage caused by my behavior,My real apology will not come in the form of words, but my behavior over time. We have a lot to discuss. What we say to each other will remain between the two of us.
I had a lot of time to think of what I have done. My failures have made me look at myself in a way I never wanted to before.
The issue involved here was my repeated irresponsible behavior. I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did is not acceptable – and I am the only person to blame. I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in. I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn’t apply. Instead, I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries a married couple should live by. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me.”
And then, in regards to rumors that his wife beat the ever-living shit out of him the night of the accident:
I have a lot to atone for, but there’s one issue I really want to discuss. Some people have speculated that Elin somehow hurt or attacked me on Thanksgiving night. It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that: Elin never hit me that night or any other night. There has never been domestic violence in our marriage. Ever.”
Praising his wife’s “enormous grace and poise,” the embattled athlete said he hoped the media would focus its attention on him and his indiscretions – not his wife or children.
I could really give a shit his stupid sexual “issues.” All I want to know is, how am I gonna get back the 20 minutes of “The Price is Right” I lost to this crap? Huh? The answer is, I can’t! You just stop and think about that, Tiger Woods.
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