The public deserves to hear exactly what happened in the wee hours of Thanksgiving night outside his mansion in Windermere, Fla., suddenly a world-famous dateline when it didn’t have to be. Mind you, this is not the demand of a journalist protecting the right to know. No, this is the requirement of a consumer who has seen Woods polish up a supposedly spotless image for years while selling us cars, apparel, golfing goods, cereal, cameras, energy drinks, razors, credit cards and video games, all feeding into his unstoppable machine as the world’s first billion-dollar athlete. If Woods is going to market his image so aggressively and relentlessly, part of the deal is addressing a negative issue when it surfaces. He maintains his credibility that way, his believablity.
Do we deserve to hear exactly what happened? Or is it none of our business?
If the National Enquirer were right there would be herds of two-headed goats.
I’d like to say it is none of our business, but I’ll tell you what bugs me. Tiger has now ditched three appointments with state troopers to discuss the accident, and his lawyer has indicated that neither Tiger now his wife have any plans to talk with the police at all.
The fact is, even Tiger isn’t above the law, and it bugs me that he seems to think he is. If the police think a crime may have been committed, then Tiger needs to talk to them. I wouldn’t get away with saying, “No thank you,” and he shouldn’t either.
Of course you could get away with saying “No thank you.” In fact, it is in the Constitution. It always amazes me that people talk to the police. Why on Earth should Tiger talk to the police? At best everthing he says will end up on the internet. At worst, he will give the police a basis for charging him or his wife with a crime.
Florida law doesn’t require anyone to talk with the police about a traffic accident. All anyone has to produce is a valid driver’s license, proof of insurance and a current registration. If there were evidence of a non-traffic crime — drunk driving, say, or hit and run — then the police could compel an interview.
I don’t think this is any of our business. Really, don’t we have more important thing to do than keep Harvey Levin in business?
That said, aren’t you glad Harvey Levin is on the case so we can find out what really happened? I mean, especially if it’s extra juicy? Like, for example, if she was hitting him with the golf club before he got into the car, and smashed the windows as he was driving away. That would be really good.
And since he’s not talking, isn’t it great that we can just make things up? That’s, like, the best of all possible worlds. It makes it possible to imagine that Tiger Woods — the richest professional athlete in the history of the world and the most buffed-out golfer ever — have a look at the man’s biceps if you doubt me — got beat up by a girl.
That’s just toooooo cool.
I don’t care what happened, nor do I think it’s my business.
Sadly, husbands cheat every day (professional athlete husbands cheat every nanosecond, hellooo), and every day, cheating husbands get in fights with their wives, and often as not, they get chased out of the house with frying pans/golf clubs/.357s or their clothes end up in bonfires on their front lawns or their cars get trashed or, as in one infamous incident, they get sewn up in the bedsheets and beaten within an inch of their lives. I don’t care to know about any of it, you know? People act like jackasses. They’re terrible to one another. The less we all have to hear about it, the better.
For people who don’t want to talk about it, you all sure have a lot to say about it.
And just so I’m clear, Ken, you’re saying that if I took my car out in the middle of the night and hit a fire hydrant and damaged a neighbor’s yard and tree, then ended up in the hospital with bloody injuries, all while admittedly under the influence of pain killers – then refused to come to the door repeatedly when deputies came to ask me about it – that would be fine and they would just let it go?
You didn’t say anything about the police just letting it go. You said Tiger should talk to them and that you would have to do so. Specifically, you said: “The fact is, even Tiger isn’t above the law, and it bugs me that he seems to think he is. If the police think a crime may have been committed, then Tiger needs to talk to them. I wouldn’t get away with saying, “No thank you,” and he shouldn’t either.”
Tiger does not “need to talk to them” — thank the Bill of Rights. (And if the police think a crime may have been committed — presumably by him or someone in his family — he should not talk to them.) The same goes for you or any of the rest of us. If the police are investigating a possible crime they think you may have committed, you don’t have to talk to them if you don’t want to, and you probably should not.
As to whether they are just letting it go, I understand they are seeking a warrant for his medical records. So I think you are just wrong to the extent you are suggesting he is getting preferential treatment.
The whole point is that refusing to answer questions makes it difficult for them to do anything other than let it go because they will have insufficient evidence to charge anyone.
None of our business. Full disclosure would help him get the media off his back, but it’s not a matter the public really *needs* to know about.
I guess what I meant by saying he thinks he is above the law is that Tiger seems to think that if he just says, “It’s over,” it will be over. If the police actually do pursue anything I will be surprised. Yes, he is smart not to talk to the police. But I think he does so knowing that he is rich enough to make sure they can’t get to him. He has the option of just staying inside until his face heals – which the rest of us couldn’t do.
Regardless of whether he is within his rights (which, along with Constitutional scholars, anyone who has ever watched one episode of Law and Order knows), in my opinion he has an imperious attitude towards this that turns me off. And I am a huge Tiger Woods fan.
By the way, Byron totally disagrees with me. He says that Tiger is just doing what he has to do to protect his wife and kids.
I am smirking a little at all you “none of my business” folks. So if your neighbor did this on your street, you wouldn’t be curious about what happened? You might not gossip a little bit with the other neighbors to see who has the scuttlebut? Well, I’ve spent a lot more time watching Tiger play golf and try to sell me stuff than I’ve spent with any of my neighbors. I’m curious.