Tiger Woods. The Apology. Your Brand.

All he needs to do is come out and say I really messed up and move on...

Hi Tom.

While it's a good thing to apologize cheating on one's spouse is significantly different especially when children are involved. Tiger Wood's latest is a private matter but he apologized because he was caught. I apologize if I truly did something wrong and am not under scrutiny like how Tiger Woods is.

His wife and family have been humiliated nationally and internationally. I highly doubt that an apology will take this humiliation away. I feel terrible for his wife and two innocent children.

~ Lana

Tiger has a career and a ton of income to be concerned about...nothing else! Am I cynical?

I wonder how many more women are going to come out. Hold on, I'm getting a text from Tiger...

I feel bad for the guy. But I must say, for those that feel he should be left alone aren't thinking about the entire circumstance. If I did what Tiger did nobody but those close to me would know and the people that live around me. (they would see my stuff in the front lawn)

This isn't going to go away anytime soon. We are talking about the worlds most popular athlete. His written apology isn't going to cut it. If he wants people to let it go he needs to man up, get in front of a camera like Letterman did and own it.

Like everything though...this to shall pass...

I think the most important place Tiger needs to make amends is at home... and that is followed by the police.  Filing a false report and lying to investigators are both against the law.  Martha Stewart went to jail for lying to authorities...

The power of apology.  It really has the potential to turn a bad situation around.

Tom, your video did an excellent job portraying the power of a heartfelt apology. One that acknowledges your responsibility in the situation (not laying off blame to another), and one that preferrably shows your commitment to being accountable to yourself.

I am leaving Tiger out of this as he owes me nothing, and what he is going to have to live with will be difficult enough to say the least. I can only pray for him that something good and positive will eventually come out of this for he and his family.

Words that describe Tiger are: lust, entitlement, double-standard, cheater, immature, disresptful, and dishonest.

As a public figure his actions ARE our business. I don't have ANY empathy for a rich guy who had to LIE a lot in order to get away with cheating, one for 31 months! He just celebrated his 5 year anniversary so he has cheated at least half of his marriage. Why be married?

Sadly, he joins a long list of men who are cheaters: Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson (HIV-AIDS), Sen. John Edwards, Pres. John F. Kennedy, Sen. Teddy Kennedy (killed Mary Jo Kopeckny), Pres. Bill Clinton (Lewinski ostracized), Prince Charles, Woody Allen (with his adopted daughter), Peter Cook (Christie Brinkley's husband), New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey (came out as gay), Michael Jordan, David Letterman, Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, Hugh Grant (with a prostitute), Gary Condit (his lover was found dead), Gov. David Patterson, Mel Gibson, and sadly so many more.

For more read my Open letter to Tiger Woods on my blog: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1367357/money-does-not-give-you-permission-to-do-whatever-you-want-

Regina's post # 49 is SO ACCURATE!

#76 really minimizes the issue - he is SO off base.

CHARACTER means doing the right thing when no one is watching.

Nice presentation Tom.  Very well done! - Thanks

Well...

Linda, I sure hope you wrote every single one of them and told them how awful and what a disappointment they really are. I cheated on my diet last night and only hope that you can absolve me...

And thank God infidelity is only limited to the male species! It doesn't really take "two to tango." That's just a rumor...

This is what makes me so sad for our times... Speaking as one who has made similar mistakes, has confessed, been absolved and have a restored marriage of 28 years, it's nobody's business and should be ignored, not exploited. This marriage will have a snowball's chance in hell with the exposure it's receiving. This is something between Tiger, his wife and children and family that's been torn down.

The good news is there is always a plan for redemption. My prayer goes to all who were affected for complete restoration and for others to leave them alone. I don't know where it is written that if you are highly visible that all your mistakes should be spread all over the media. Just in my own lifetime there was once a time when the media knew things about our president and they would not report it ... because it was personal and nobody else's business. I wonder if this will affect his swing?

• Linda & Jessica -- WHEW! Opposite ends of the spectrum.
•  Just because someone is something we (the public) made into a public figure by our actions, doesn't give any of us the right to try to control their actions. We can always choose NOT to support their endeavors by acting in a way commensurate with our own morals, ethics, beliefs, etc. HOWEVER, if someone has solicited our support in holding a public office (government), I believe they should be held to a different (double?) standard in deference to the office itself and the constituency it represents. (Clinton was a GREAT example!)
• Money may not give you the "permission" to do whatever you want, but it surely gives you the ability. Exactly what "permission" does someone require from ANYBODY, much less the general public, when they have the ability to do almost anything, within the confines of the law?
• 'Doing the right thing when no one is watching' is a very personal choice and attests to an individual's personal perception of his/her own character. We (the public), by definition, never get to see those displays of character (or lack thereof) because "NO ONE IS WATCHING"! Therefore, we base our ' judgements ' on information fed to us by the media, which is solely interested in selling newspapers, magazines &/or air time.
• Look up the statistics on what we believe we know about "cheating", both by men AND women and you may or may not find it shocking. Our society's perceived mores are our typical guidelines, while other societies are completely different. What is right or wrong on a human scale? And what does "private" mean, anyway?

John:

I went and read her post and I see from the beginning of it that she clearly has some very deep wounds with regard to cheating...

All I'm saying is that it's crazy to name off all those men and not think women have any culpability in the situations or entirely on their own...

My previous comment was totally tongue-in-cheek.

John:

Don't know.  I use Fire Fox????

How chivalrous of society...

You're right, no response is needed, but I'll give you one...

Hate to disappoint: Not a lot of drama and scandal. I'm very proud of the fact that my husband was my first and only. I don't make any apologies for it.

I whole heartedly agree, I cannot stand pompus people who think they never make mistakes and then blame others because they are too arrogant to think it could have been them. I think this is not about Tiger but about the point of owning what you do and doing what is in your power to off set it. Maybe you can't make it right but you can apologize and learn from it!