By Mary Paoletti
CSNNE.com
Stop bawling about Tiger Woods.
I attempted to avoid the fiasco as much as possible. Why? Because I love sports -- any and all competitive action -- and the best way to keep this relationship healthy and functional is to keep out of the athletes' personal lives.
Christian Fauria's wife beats him up? Don't care. Brandon Spikes considers himself the Ron Jeremy of the NFL? Not my problem. David Beckham fancies hookers? Whatever.
So I was thrilled when it looked like people were done flaying Tiger and getting back to golf. Some stories written about his play chose to indulge a look in the rearview mirror of that mangled Escalade but many chose to move on.
Until the sex tape allegation surfaced. Just the idea of Tiger rolling around on camera, once uttered from the apparently talented lips of his former mistress, has brought people all over the world gleefully back to scandal.
Can we skip a return to the Schadenfreude circus? That's where the problem metastasized from: the cheating. He was another person on the planet who cheated (however often) on his spouse. Does that age-old plot line really deserve to precipitate Shock and Awe?
Ah, but the rules change for those who choose to live in the limelight, right? Tell me why that is. Michael Phelps swims a 100m butterly in 49.82 seconds; Steve O'Neal punts a football 98 yds; Ted Williams hits a 502 ft. home run; and some white men can in fact jump. We ooh and aah, we buy the jerseys, and we worship the amazing gifts that these athletes possess and exhibit for us. We are the ones who build the pedestals up to such unforgiving heights.
It is no wonder that they fall so far.
It seems that amid the condemnation people have forgotten that these pros are superheroes on a physical level but not a moral one. Am I defending the Tigers and Spikes of the sports world? No. I just don't understand the public's obsession and self-righteous judgment.
Like this clever criticism, spawned ex nililo and published mere hours ago in The Daily Mail Online.
"You'd have thought that Tiger Woods would be on his best behaviour at the Ryder Cup this week, especially after the headlines he made this year.
But it would seem that the golfer just can't keep that roving eye still in his head, as this picture taken at the Ryder Cup opening ceremony proves.
Woods, 34, was caught staring at Katherine Jenkins's bottom as she performed at the opening ceremony of the tournament,'' reported Georgiana Littlejohn.
Get over yourself.
When Tiger completes each day at the Ryder Cup, all I want to hear is what he shoots. If there is even one question like: "Does your swing feel heavier in this tournament than at the Barclays, Tiger? Heavy with the guilt and shame of a sex tape accusation?" I'm going to give up on golf indefinitely. Which is too bad because in the context of the PGA -- the only realm in which Tiger exists for me -- he can be a thrill to watch.
Maybe having expectations for athletes that extend off the field, the court, or the ice, is the problem.