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Recommended reading: Charlie Pierce on Tiger Woods

Start with the Globe staffer's explanation, over at Esquire.com, of why Tigergate should come as no surprise. Then read Pierce's 1997 profile of Woods, which does indeed anticipate Woods'  fall from grace:

"I believe that Tiger will break the gospel"--i.e., the myth of Woods as a heaven-sent superhuman--"before the gospel breaks him. It constricts and binds his entire life. It leaves him no room for ambiguity, no refuge in simple humanity. Earl and Tida can't break up, because the gospel has made their family into a model for the "unfortunate" broken homes that produce so many other athletes. Tiger can't fire his lawyer, because the gospel portrays him as a decent and caring young man. Tiger can't be an angry black man — not even for show, not even for money — because the gospel paints him as a gifted black man rewarded by a caring white society. Tiger can't even tell dirty jokes, because the gospel has no place for them, and they will become events if someone reports them, because, in telling them, he does it:

"He blasphemes against himself."

A lot of reading, yes, but well worth the time.

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3 Comments

  • Mike Harter said:

    Charlie Pierce shows his arrogance here.  Who is claiming that Woods is a diety?  Only people like Pierce, so he can then tear him down.  Pierce is positively gleeful over Tiger's problems.  What a chance for Pierce to crow about his predictive powers.  Well, here's my prediction.  Tiger will continue to have great popularity, and Charlie Pierce will continue to fume about the unfairness of it all.  Sorry, Charlie.

    December 3, 2009 11:24 AM
  • Mike Saunders said:

    @ Mike Harter:

    Mike, Charlie's point is that USGA bows daily at the altar of El Tigre, the man-child the group hoped would lead it out of the desert of pasty midlife irrelevance into the promised land of high TV ratings and elevated Q scores. Pre-Tiger, galleries at USGA looked like recess time at a local nursing home; post-Tiger you can find twentysomethings, teens, kids, and -- gasp! -- people of color.

    In terms of inter-generational, cross-demographic appeal, the USGA got a multi-culti poster child who could hit like a howitzer and was easy on the eyes.

    Charlie was absolutely on target, then and now, and his line about the 2-iron was pure money.    

    December 3, 2009 5:47 PM
  • Mike Hunt said:

    Mike Hunt's Q&A Session:

    Q: What is only way Tiger will get thru this?

    A: Tiger will have to go on a "tear" and win, win, win.  That is the only way to quiet this down, and I believe that he and his company knows it.  Although this is a personal matter, I understand the fascination over it and the glee that some have for other's misfortunes (human nature for their behavior, as well as Tiger's).    

    December 3, 2009 11:17 PM

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