Tiger’s New Mexico Connection Signals a Different Tiger
Tiger Woods’ retention of a top spin doctor signals the end of any hope of his rehabilitation as a human being. If that sounds counter-intuitive, read on.
Spinning for Tiger will be Ari Fleischer, who did his fair share of spinning the news in New Mexico before he rose to the highest ranks of spin-doctoring – the White House of George W. Bush.
People who follow golf in New Mexico can be sure: From now on, if a reporter’s question doesn’t involve a ball, a club or a hole location, you can forget about Tiger Woods answering it.
The human who started as a kid phenom, then became a golf ingénue, then mutated into a golf robot, then took a wife and had a kid and became human again only to become a sex-addicted satyr now has come full circle and is about to be de-humanized for the final time.
Tiger Woods is “I, Robot” once more. Sure, there are tournaments to be won, but the new Tiger Woods will be about as sympathetic as an avatar in a golf video game.
Why are we so cynical? Maybe it’s the difference between reality and media reality.
Here’s what Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com says: “When is Woods going to realize that he’s in this hot mess because, (A) He had zipper-control issues and (B) He was disconnected from reality and thought he was bullet-proof? Rehab for sexual addiction has begun to address A, but solving the B part comes from within, not from a PR firm.
Translation from Fleischer: No comment. We’re moving on.
Or consider this snippet by Jon Wertheim of SI.com: from an interview with Fleischer as word leaked about his retention by Woods ”Fleischer repeatedly stressed that Tiger ought to draw a line between his private life and personal life, much as a politician would.”
Translation: Mr. Woods has addressed that. Don’t ask about it again.
And this quote from Fleischer himself: “Obviously, what Tiger did was horrendous in his personal life. But he’s under no obligation to tell anyone the details about it. … Being in public life doesn’t mean you have to succumb to the overwhelming curiosity factor that permeates everything in our society.”
Translation: I don’t see the relevance of your question.
And this from Fleischer’s own web site: “Let us help you gain control over the way you deliver your message with comprehensive instruction for each point of contact with the media.”
Translation: Someone please call security.
Before Fleischer became the voice of former President George W. Bush and helped package the war in Iraq, he served as press secretary to then-U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico. In that job, he was widely viewed as protecting his boss at the expense of the public’s right to know – well – anything.
Fleischer worked for Domenici from 1989 to 1994. During that time, the Domenici communications apparatus became less candid and more interested in protecting the reputation of “St. Pete” than informing the public. When he did answer reporters’ question, there generally was more spin than information.
What Fleischer’s hire means for Woods’ legacy is that while there may be golf stats still to be recorded, Tiger Woods has ceased to exist as a person. He lives on only as a TV image selling balls, clubs, shoes and clothing.
Woods may think his no-questions-allowed TV apology was enough. Maybe it was for his sponsors, but not for the public, not by a long shot.
By retreating behind his Darth Vader mask, his legacy as a person has been frozen forever in time as a cheat, liar and hypocrite who just happened to be an outstanding athlete.
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