Althouse: "Ann questions the sincerity of Tiger’s apology/Bob thinks Tiger’s swinging may have hurt his swing/Has this scandal harmed impressionable young fans?/Ann and Bob catch Winter Olympics fever/Amy Bishop and the banality of crazy/Was the Austin kamikaze pilot a terrorist?"

February 22, 2010

"Ann questions the sincerity of Tiger’s apology/Bob thinks Tiger’s swinging may have hurt his swing/Has this scandal harmed impressionable young fans?/Ann and Bob catch Winter Olympics fever/Amy Bishop and the banality of crazy/Was the Austin kamikaze pilot a terrorist?"

It's the new Bloggingheads! With Bob Wright and me!

ADDED: Here's a missed opportunity:

I shoulda said "Yeah, I've heard about his 'large part.'"

50 comments:

traditionalguy said...: Cute. The professor uses Wright as her straight man.; 2/22/10, 9:56 AM
Angst said...: New Viagra ad from Tiger:

"You really don't want to be holding up play when you are the only guy in the foresome."

or

"You really don't want to be pulling out your putter when what you really need is a BIG DRIVER."; 2/22/10, 10:02 AM
Richard said...: I should of said Jerkstore!; 2/22/10, 10:05 AM
MadisonMan said...: I think you should have mentioned Cliff in this as a full-disclosure type thing. Have you talked to him -- or his Mom -- about this?; 2/22/10, 10:08 AM
paul a'barge said...: Oh dear. The hottie and the tongue sucker.; 2/22/10, 10:08 AM
paul a'barge said...: "should have said", not should of said; 2/22/10, 10:09 AM
traditionalguy said...: Tiger's famous Hot Sex With Slutty Women Conditioning lessons should make Golf Magazine's lead advice article in next month's issue. Tiger, Tiger, lusting bright in the golf courses of the night.; 2/22/10, 10:15 AM
MadisonMan said...: Well, I should have saved that comment for a while, eh?; 2/22/10, 10:18 AM
Anonymous said...: Althouse: "Maybe what he wants is a life filled with sex with slutty women. Is there anything wrong with that?"

The answer is that no, in general there's nothing wrong with that, but Tiger Woods is not his own man.

And that's what he forgot.

Once you sell yourself to a corporate sponsor, you can't live your life the way you see fit any longer.

Tiger's real problem is that he wants to have hot sweaty sex with multiple pseudo-prostitutes, but he wants to pay them with Nike's money.

Nike, to nobody's surprise, isn't excited to write that check for Tiger.

Tiger has destroyed permanently the aura that surrounded him. Nobody will ever see him the same way even if he does well in golf in the future.

They'll just see him as a scumbag who happens to have an autistic golfing ability.

He threw away the most important thing he owned:

His Image; 2/22/10, 10:29 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The "need to be thought of as a good guy" is more about the people doing the thinking..
We cant play like Tiger but is-he/are-we good guys like Tiger.; 2/22/10, 10:31 AM
Automatic_Wing said...: All will be forgiven if Tiger just goes out and wins a couple of major tournaments this year. Just ask Kobe Bryant, he was on trial for rape a few years ago and now he's got his own goddamn puppet in a series of uber-wholesome Nike commercials.; 2/22/10, 10:37 AM
traditionalguy said...: This Tiger wood pub will huet golf by alerting wives that golf is not an all day event...It only takes 4 to 5 hours and it does not cause hickeys on the neck from hard back swings.; 2/22/10, 10:43 AM
Unknown said...: Ann, i'm just listening to the Tiger portion of your diavlog -- you are HILARIOUS ! A cross between a psychologist, sociologist, romance novelist and of course, the wickedly smart professor !! (And I mean all of that respectfully ....)

"THAT's the FORMULA !"

*love it* !!; 2/22/10, 10:43 AM
Tibore said...: Tiger. Over. Exposure. Too... much... Tiger...; 2/22/10, 10:45 AM
Unknown said...: "....and when did he get married?"

HA HA HA; 2/22/10, 10:45 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Either Bob Wright didn't see the press conference.. or or Bob lost interest at some point and wandered off?; 2/22/10, 10:53 AM
Chennaul said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/22/10, 10:53 AM
rhhardin said...: Armstrong and Getty say we got the first draft of Stack's manifesto.

Ask yourself, "Is this redundant? Can I say it just once?" they suggest.

The whole thing needed tightening.

Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.; 2/22/10, 10:54 AM
Ron said...: Comparing Tiger's sexual life and its relation to his brand to Hugh Hefner is like worrying about how Hef's golf game affects the revenues of the Playboy Bunny.; 2/22/10, 11:06 AM
Unknown said...: Ann, you're too nice to this guy. I really wish you would have said 'shut the fuck up' when he started getting all new-agey/meta-scientific when talking about addiction and natural selection. that was such bullshit.; 2/22/10, 11:07 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Bob is surprised/embarrassed by his rooting for America?

Why?; 2/22/10, 11:08 AM
Unknown said...: "What's more important that sex?"

LOL; 2/22/10, 11:12 AM
Anonymous said...: "Just ask Kobe Bryant, he was on trial for rape a few years ago ..."

Yea, but he was acquitted.

America is nothing if not forgiving of the "innocent."

A better analogy would be Michael Vick, who while he has been admitted back into the National Felons League following his jail time - hasn't picked up any meaningful ponsorships.

Tiger Woods isn't claiming all this stuff about him is untrue.

He's admitting he was a whoredog (and he's probably criminally guilty of procuring prostitutes).

Will there be sponsors in Tiger Woods' future? Absolutely. There will always be companies that want to attach themselves to his kind of stardom to give themselves a boost.

But it won't be the same.

I certainly wouldn't want my kid looking up to him any more.; 2/22/10, 11:14 AM
themightypuck said...: Michael Jordan never needed a pristine off the court image to make big bucks from Nike. Tiger will never be where he was, but he'll still do fine with endorsements.; 2/22/10, 11:23 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: "What's more important that sex?"

The Olympics as an elaborate mating ritual - exhibit A.; 2/22/10, 11:25 AM
Mick said...: i don't know if Tiger can ever play on the tour again. he'll probably try, but i don't think he can handle the embarrassment, and the heckling that he will get. Down deep this is an ego problem.; 2/22/10, 11:30 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: .. but i don't think he can handle the embarrassment, and the heckling that he will get. Down deep this is an ego problem.

If his ego is "the problem", I believe that turning the heckling into cheers will only incentivize him more to win.

People, as a general rule, don't heckle a winner.; 2/22/10, 11:46 AM
themightypuck said...: Can a man really be embarrassed about fucking a lot of women? What would the hecklers say? Cheater?; 2/22/10, 11:47 AM
veni vidi vici said...: Who chooses the stills for these bloggingheads things?

Is Robert Wright some sort of drooling imbecile?

It seems every time Althouse posts one of these with him, the expression on his face implies he thinks he's in a funhouse and the camera's the mirror, the poor slob.; 2/22/10, 11:48 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Can a man really be embarrassed about fucking a lot of women?

Rush read an e-mailed reaction the day of the apology to effect that Tiger looked like a kidnapped victim getting a piece of paper to read.; 2/22/10, 11:59 AM
traditionalguy said...: The new Tiger Tour will include a night with the beauty pagent winner for each Tournament. Additionally, Groupies will also be selected on a first to come basis. The producers of reality TV are standing erect to put up the seed money and bring this new tour to a climax.; 2/22/10, 12:08 PM
Anonymous said...: "Can a man really be embarrassed about fucking a lot of women?"

Keep this in mind: Most of these women are whores.

And I don't mean they're loose: they fuck for money.

Any man with unlimited amounts of Nike cash can fuck a lot of women. There is nothing inherent about Tiger Woods that makes this so; rather it is only proof that any woman will do any thing to your cock for the right amount of cash money.

Tiger Woods isn't a stud because he fucks a lot of women. Women don't want to fuck him because he looks good (although he does) or because he's in shape (although he is).

They fuck him for the cash.; 2/22/10, 12:08 PM
ricpic said...: Au contraire, Mr. Wright, who says you can't fall in love with a topless dancer?!

Seriesly, there's a passage in James Jones' From Here To Eternity in which Segreant Warden (the Burt Lancaster character in the movie version) says that he was in love, if only for a moment, with every bar girl he ever bedded. Rings true to me.; 2/22/10, 12:09 PM
traditionalguy said...: ricpic just commented the reason why normal men need to abstain from whores for their own heart's protection.; 2/22/10, 12:12 PM
Richard Dolan said...: Listening to the exchange with Wright (I didn't get through the whole thing), it seemed that both of you saw Tiger as a golfing version of Gordon Gekko -- greed is good, take it because you can, and the key aspect of the whole mess is its impact on Tiger's marketability to MadMen. Anne compared him to Hefner, but it doesn't quite fit -- Hefner tried to turn public exploitation of sex into a business; Tiger used his business/fame as a way to get sex (but always on the Q/T).

Perhaps he is as shallow as Gekko, who knows. But since it all hit the fan, his focus has been elsewhere -- protecting his family, trying to salvage the wreakage of his marriage, and only incidentally his business. After all, Tiger doesn't need, and can't really use, any more money -- when it comes to money, his main job is finding a way to give more of it away.

Wright's point about the importance to Tiger of being the best ever in golf by topping Nicklaus' record seemed right. But his conduct since the scandal hit has made achieving that goal a secondary objective. He dropped out of the tournaments, suspending his participation indefinitely.

Whatever one can say about a life focused on hot sex with slutty women (Anne's description), Tiger's conduct seems to be answering her question about what's wrong with that, at least for him. What's wrong with that is where it leads and what kind of person it turns you into. And he doesn't seem to be thinking about all of that primarily in terms of its impact on his endorsements business.; 2/22/10, 12:15 PM
traditionalguy said...: The Professor says a lot when she says that if Tiger likes hot slutty women, why should he have to hide that and become a phony. That would be good advice for our President too. If Obama wants to whack profit making businesses, and become the substitute manager of all those businesses, then why should he have to be a phony and read lies off a teleprompter? We are driving Obama insane. It is hard enough to remember all that management activity. Whacking Toyota was one show of his frustrations building up. At this rate he will need to Nationalise Tobacco companies soon. Mugabe here we come.; 2/22/10, 12:26 PM
Trooper York said...: I never watch boring heads but I think the Hefner analogy is apt.

He should just divorce his wife and move in with three bimbos and start a reality show. Trust me he would be even more popular than he is now.

It's just that his fans won't tell their girlsfreinds.; 2/22/10, 12:30 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: "He should just divorce his wife and move in with three bimbos and start a reality show. Trust me he would be even more popular than he is now."

A Buddhist? Definitely. Trooper York understands The Macho Response.; 2/22/10, 12:37 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Is Robert Wright some sort of drooling imbecile?

Bob Wright is quite brilliant. And anyway, "Bill Clinton hailed him as a genius."

Helloooooo, genius!; 2/22/10, 12:46 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: @NewHam - Yea, but he was acquitted.

Acquitted of rape, yes, but Kobe was admittedly guilty of the same exact thing as Tiger - cheating on his wife.; 2/22/10, 12:59 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: That is NOT FAIR!!!111!11

You purposefully started the videos on the most ridiculous frame possible just to discredit Bob Wright, and we will NOT STAND FOR IT!

Now FIX IT!; 2/22/10, 1:06 PM
Trooper York said...: "Is Robert Wright some sort of drooling imbecile?"

Is the Pope Catholic? Does a bear shit in the woods?

Asked and answered councilor.; 2/22/10, 1:07 PM
traditionalguy said...: Wright is a good thinker. He has original ideas. But his whiney way of talking reveals that he is socially retarded. He needs to hide away in books.; 2/22/10, 1:48 PM
jimbino said...: Tiger's only mistake was marrying. He fell victim to his attempt to benefit from the 1000+ tax, inheritance, and insurance benefits not available to the single guy.

"All marriages are dangerous," my hero Einstein said. "Marriage is the unsuccessful attempt to make something lasting out of an incident."

What we need in Amerika is a Men's Liberation Movement to free men from the consequences of foolish marriage and paternity.; 2/22/10, 2:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Nice, Chip. But I would have liked it better if Althouse were to hand him the shake.; 2/22/10, 2:20 PM
Titus said...: Can we get a shout out for how fabulous Althouse looks?

Totally beautiful, and I say that as a gay man who is not a stalker.; 2/22/10, 2:32 PM
Trooper York said...: Most men play golf to either do business or just get away from their wives. So Tiger can definitely go in another direction if he wants. His real fans will understand.

I mean it's not like he is a tennis player or an ice skater or something like that.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.; 2/22/10, 3:50 PM
Trooper York said...: All Tiger owes his fans is his performance. Nothing more or nothing less.

I heard Secretariet banged every thing in site. And got paid for it!; 2/22/10, 3:51 PM
Unknown said...: Ann, why do you pose and cheese and pout in the camera like that uber liberal whiny woman with the short black bob hair cut with bangs ?; 2/22/10, 4:13 PM
Penny said...: "Once you sell yourself to a corporate sponsor, you can't live your life the way you see fit any longer."

Is this only true for those who accept money to be the face of the corporate sponsor, or is this also true for anyone who accepts a paycheck to do a prescribed job? Why draw a line at high paid, famous faces?; 2/22/10, 7:59 PM