After an infidelity scandal and the destruction of his first marriage, Tiger Woods has had a rough few years. The flack he was dealt off the course coupled with the 107-week winless struggle in competition gave the impression that the face of professional golf would never rise again. But now, with three top finishes and a World No. 1 ranking thus far in 2013, Nike would beg to differ.
The morning after Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his third victory this year, the sportswear giant launched an advertising campaign with a photo of Woods overlaid by a quote—“Winning takes care of everything.”
Although this phrase is something Woods has said over the years to describe his mindset when playing golf, the message extends much further than that, and both Nike and Tiger knew it. Ads are not just tossed out to the public on a whim. Every single detail is inspected and meticulously analyzed so that just the right message is put across. This arrogant declaration weighs success on the course far above a player’s impact off of it, but unfortunately, the ad is right.
Back when Woods was consistently losing, the media barraged him with criticism and alongside the news of his poor performance was the incessant din of his outrageous sexual escapades in Vegas. All the talk focused on how terrible of a person the golfer turned out to be and you couldn’t get through a day without hearing about the wife and kids he betrayed. But what about now? Tiger’s back in the spotlight, but where is the anger and condemnation?
A magical thing happens when an athlete wins. His sins are forgiven and the public eye begins to look past any wrongdoing. It is easy for people to forget about Elin Nordegren and little Sam and Charlie. The collapse of their family eliminates any chance of a normal future for the kids, but that was only fun for a little while. Why? Because winning takes care of everything. Winning shows us why we originally fell in love with the superstar: their prowess in competition and the vicarious excitement they provide when they stand up on the podium and kiss their trophy.
With the positive energy that accompanies success, what everyone used to hate Tiger for dissipated and now, with his new Olympian girlfriend Lindsey Vonn, he can parade around on his high horse once more. This shouldn’t be surprising, though. Nike’s claim is not just founded on Woods’s conquest.
The sporting world has had a grand assortment of athlete scandals swept away by winning. The heart of the Lakers organization, Kobe Bryant, cheated on his wife with a hotel worker in 2003, but he responded with dominating play and after his back-to-back championships all was forgiven. Recently retired Ray Lewis was involved in a scuffle that left two men dead in 2000, but with a Super Bowl ring the next year and 13 more seasons of making news on the gridiron, his face still welcomes commuters to Baltimore. The pattern is all too familiar.
In all the commotion surrounding the so-called “redemption” of athletes from scandal, we have to be careful not to be swept off our feet. Admiring the game of an athlete is perfectly acceptable and inevitable when talking about Woods. He is second only to Jack Nicklaus as the greatest golfer of all time and has been a force in the PGA ever since his entrance into professional golf in 1996. But that is really all we can admire in him. It may be tempting to push all his antics into the past, but none can deny that his chance at being the untouchable, all-around role model is over.
If athletes were not continually thrust into the national spotlight on a daily basis, their characters and conduct would not matter so much. But, they’re among the most revered figures in American society, so their off-field actions carry heavy weight. Celebrating winners like they can do no wrong does not send the right message to the masses who track their every move.
Woods has a great opportunity to continue his winning ways this weekend at the Masters in Augusta. Yet another green jacket would put him that much closer to catching Jack and quiet any doubts still being passed around about his physical health. Earning that fifth Masters title could be the final farewell to the scandal that has cast shadows on his performance and satisfy the marketing bigwigs at Nike as they cement their distasteful claim.
