Tiger's Legacy? He's An Athlete, Not An Angel
Tiger Woods - Tiger Woods drives from the fifth tee during the final day of practice for the World Golf Championships in March. (David Cannon / Getty Images)
In my youth — which was some time ago — I suffered a major disappointment from Albert Einstein: I heard the mathematical genius play the violin and he wasn't very good. It had not occurred to me that mastering relativity had nothing to do with mastering Mozart. But I believed, as most Americans do, that a national icon must, ipso facto, be an icon in all things.
On that premise rests a great system of endorsements that has created of Tiger Woods a billion-dollar athlete. After revelations that his excellent performance did not extend to his extramarital relations, he is in some endorsement trouble now. Tag Heuer, the Swiss watchmaker, for one, is, as they say, reviewing its relationship with the much acclaimed but now much criticized golf star. Accenture has announced that Woods is "no longer the right representative" under the circumstances of recent weeks.
Woods is not the first idol to disappoint us by revealing feet of clay. There have been the Olympic champions exposed as having been on steroids. Apart from athletes there are the womanizing politicians. It is as though fame confers some entitlement to bend the rules. There are those like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Sen. John Edwards, both of whom betrayed sick wives for other women. Not to mention Presidents Kennedy and Clinton, both of whom were revealed to have had extramarital relations.
The case of Tiger Woods is a cautionary tale. It is a caution against hero worship, which television, and now the Internet, have converted into a commodity for sale to the highest bidder. Woods may live down his disgrace. Maybe he will even make money endorsing products again. But is it not time that we hailed our masters for what they master and leave them off the pedestals?
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MELISSA BLOCK, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
We regularly turn to senior news analyst Daniel Schorr for his insights on the most serious issues of the day: American politics, war, the Middle East. But Dan is not immune to other curiosities, and so today we have thoughts from Daniel Schorr on Tiger Woods and the downfall of heroes.
DANIEL SCHORR: In my youth, which was some time ago, I suffered a major disappointment from Albert Einstein. I heard the mathematical genius play the violin, and he wasn't very good. It had not occurred to me that mastering relativity had nothing to do with mastering Mozart. But I believed, as most Americans do, that a national icon must, ipso facto, be an icon in all things.
On that premise rests a great system of endorsements, which has created of Tiger Woods a billion-dollar athlete. After revelations that his excellent performance did not extend to his extramarital relations, he is in some endorsement trouble now.
Tag Heuer, the Swiss watchmaker, for one, is, as they say, reviewing its relationship with the much acclaimed but now much criticized golf star. Accenture has announced that Woods is no longer the right representative under the circumstances of recent weeks.
Woods is not the first idol to disappoint us by revealing feet of clay. There have been the Olympic champions exposed as having been on steroids. Apart from athletes, there are the womanizing politicians. It is as though fame confers some entitlement to bend the rules.
There are those like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senator John Edwards, both of whom betrayed sick wives for other women, not to mention Presidents Kennedy and Clinton, both of whom were revealed to have had extramarital relations.
The case of Tiger Woods is a cautionary tale. It is a caution against hero worship, which television, and now the Internet, have converted into a commodity for sale to the highest bidder. Tiger Woods may live down his disgrace. Maybe he will even make money endorsing products again. But is it not time that we hailed our masters for what they master and leave them off the pedestals?
This is Daniel Schorr. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
