Will someone please tell me why we are keeping score?
The story should be over. Tiger Woods had a car accident; that was news. The police report led to legitimate questions about the cause and circumstances leading up to the accident, which in turn led to speculation about domestic violence, infidelity and marital conflict. A voice-mail recording was released with Woods apparently asking a woman to erase her name from her answering machine because his wife “went through his cell phone” and might be calling her. Arguably, that was still news, because it seemed to confirm some of the circumstances surrounding the accident.
But now, we have a parade of women claiming they, too, were in Tiger’s little black cell phone.
The “count” has grown from 1 to 3 to 6 to, now, 10ish, including a pancake house waitress, a nightclub executive and a porn star. And here’s the problem: There’s nothing to keep it from growing to 12, or 120. Right now, a woman seeking her 15 minutes of fame can just say she was one of Tiger Woods’ mistresses, and she’ll be on the cover of a tabloid – and most likely the television screen – within a day.
What does it matter, if there were 3 or 30? It doesn’t. We shouldn’t care. While the whole story began with a legitimate news event, it has now degenerated into a poorly managed reality series. Who will announce today that they, too, slept with Tiger Woods? Will she be pretty, or tawdry? A blonde, or a brunette? New York, Las Vegas or California? Tune in and see.
And when the count got to more than a handful, the question of sex addiction was raised. The words were spun across tabloids and legitimate news sources alike. Experts in sex addiction said they wouldn’t speculate, and then they did. This morning on Good Morning America, one suggested that he needs to seek rehab to fix his internal issues. All of this with no way to know the truth.
By no means is this an excuse or a support of any infidelity Tiger Woods may actually have committed. He’s obviously in the doghouse, and will be, for a while. But these women’s actions may be having even more serious consequences. On Tuesday, a distressed 911 call came from the Woods home when his wife’s mother apparently collapsed from stomach pains. She was taken to the same hospital where Woods had been treated not two weeks earlier, and released later in the day. It could have been something she ate, or it could have been the stress over the situation. We won’t know. But if it’s the latter, caused by the “Me, too!” parade of women claiming to be involved, they have something else to be ashamed of.
All in all, it’s a sad situation when women believe that actually going to the press and claiming they’ve had an affair with a famous married man will enhance their reputation instead of hurting it. And sadder still when legitimate news organizations look to the tabloids to set their news agenda.
Tiger Woods is the one here who apparently broke his vows, but he’s also now at the center of a media circus that shows no sign of slowing down. Do we expect him, at some point, to come out and clean up the mess? To say “Yes, I had sex with these four women, but not with those four?” Right. That’s not going to happen.
And so we count. And tally. And wonder if there will ever be an end.