So, why did we want Tiger to apologize?

(Photo Courtesy: ESPN)

Today, Tiger Woods broke his public silence regarding his extramarital affairs by saying he was "so sorry" for his irresponsible and selfish behavior. He admitted and apologized for disappointing his fans and causing them pain. "I have a lot to atone for, " he said.

This apology was expected and widely called for. Many have been debating whether or not he owed any explanation or apology to fans. Yesterday, my favorite sports radio show, ESPN’s syndicated Mike & Mike in the Morning, took a fascinating angle on why the public wanted Tiger to say he was sorry for his personal failings and indiscretions. Their conversation really got me thinking about celebrity failure and our desire for information.

Here is what Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic had to say:

Greenberg: [The American public] now expects that someone in Tiger Woods’ situation has to open up everything in himself and explain it to the satisfaction of every single person in the world. That’s the world we live in now because so many people chose to do that for their own personal gain. … I keep hearing people say that he needs to apologize. What exactly is he apologizing for? If Tiger Woods walked up to you in the street and said, “Hi Fred, I am sorry” what would you expect him to be saying he’s sorry for?

Golic: Do you think people really want an apology or do they want The National Enquirer stuff?

Greenberg: Here’s what they want: They want Tiger to hold up a picture of each individual woman we’ve seen on the covers of the tabloids and explain what really happened with each one.

Golic: Everybody is saying “apology this, apology that” but what they really want is the dirt. … They want to hear him explain his situation. Was everyone happy when the baseball players got up there in press conferences and said they were sorry [for using steroids]? No, they wanted to hear the details. ... If you get up there and say you’re sorry, the general public will be going, “That’s it? An apology? Give me more than that!”

What do you think? Did Tiger owe us an apology? Why or why not?

Should we be looking at ourselves in the mirror about why we want to hear celebrities apologize and reveal private information?

And finally, what did you think of what he had to say today?

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Comments (11)

I am not sure I want an apology...but I do want contrition. The bible calls it "repentance." and there's a big difference!

David , Red letter Believers, "Salt and Light"
http://www.redletterbelievers....
First let me say that I did not listen to Tiger's apology. But, I guess that my feeling is that there is no need to apologize to the public. He did however make a fool out of his wife to the public, but saying he is sorry to us does not take that away. If he is truly regretful of his choices, he should get back to golf and focus on being a better person. When we fall the best thing we can do is get back up and do it better the next time.
Apologize to me? It's not me that he sinned against.
Tiger owes me nothing, and the fact that he apologized at all is a little absurd. The fact that anyone would expect anything of him, whether good or bad, is pretty absurd as well. As Christians, we ought to expect the greatest level of depravity one's position will afford him. In Tiger's case, his position affords him a *lot*, and he simply took advantage of that... like any good non-regenerate person will.

The only thing I want from Tiger is golf. I don't care about his apology or contrition, nor do I care about all of the details of his affairs, any more than I cared about his sex life before it went all public. It's just none of my business and is totally irrelevant to my understanding of him.

As for what he said, I simply heard the next act in the play. He gauged the situation and determined that the people that care about such things wanted an apology. So he acted out his apology on the public stage. (I do weep for him if he's really going to lean on his Buddhist faith to help him overcome his personal behavioral problems and addictions.)

Sadly, Mike and Mike got it exactly right: people don't want an apology as much as they want the salacious details. With pictures and audio tapes and iPhone videos, if possible. Deplorable, all of it.
We are used to seeing Tiger as nearly perfect in what he does, golf, sponsorship, and the business of being Tiger. But Tiger is not perfect, in fact we now see a side of Tiger that is incapable of being perfect, his so called bad side. This side of Tiger cannot handle media scrutiny or invasion of his privacy. He simply is not charismatic in these areas, he drops the ball. Are we more shocked at this then his actual behavior? Isn't this what we feel we need an apology for? That he is not all around perfect? If we need an apology for his behavior, then why do we not as for the same from John Daly about his marital issues while on tour? Because we didn't expect John to be perfect, we expect him to screw up. Tiger's speech today probably did more harm than good in the eyes of fans. But I do not think it was directed at fans, it felt more like Tiger Inc. apologizing to corporate partners. Again, Tiger just does not know how to handle this, or his addiction. He needs help, he can't do it on his own. I think this is what is so hard for him, and maybe for all of us too. We can't do it on our own, we need each other, and we need strength from something greater.
I don’t need an apology. I also have no need to know all the salacious details. Golf is not my sport and I have not been invested in his story. Except that he seemed like a genuinely nice guy and almost supernaturally talented athlete. Yet, as we found out, he sinned with complete impugnity for such a long time and experienced all the treats the world could afford. I don’t want my imagination to go there and it helps to know that there is justice in this situation. We need to know we live in a moral universe. We need to know that he has a conscience, that his behavior has consequences. Like David, we say, how come flagrant sinners seem to get away with everything?

I want Tiger to apologize because it says he recognizes it is a moral universe. In a sense, I almost feel like I am apologizing with him, acknowledging God’s holiness and my imperfection. Tiger sincerely apologizing, pulls us all equally to the foot of the cross.
Tiger owes amends and repairation to God and family period. We should always be caustious when elevating a mere sinner like me or Tiger as if they are some idol in sports or otherwise.
Scripture is filled with Tigers and life lessions. God word applies to us all
Make amends when ever possible except where it would cause harm to others to satisfy our own gain
To god be the glory to everyone i'm not good at judging but tiger owe no one anything but his family. But i will say this and not being judgemental i think he needs to apologize to god frist then his family he owe the public nothing he have done know more then the rest of them and yes it was wrong of course cause we no what the word of god say.but when he said he had to get back to buddha i was so shock not saying that i never heard of diffrent religion but when the coming of the son of man come who would buddha save cause some where he needs to get in touch jesus.he owe it all to god because it's going to take god to mend his life back together i feel sorry for him that he do not know our lord and savior jesus christ forgive him for he not know what he do or say he need a real friend to direct him to our lord. It is so sad that his mom raise this child man to believe in a idol worshiper. as a people we all need to lift him up in prayer. And ask god to give him directions and to store in him that he have never had and when he do bow before the throw of grace god will restore all things back to him amen.
Tiger who?
Is he that golf guy?
I don't want an apology. He owes me and the rest of the world nothing. There is no doubt he was wrong, but that is between him and his family. When we talk about this, listen to it on the radio and/or watch it on the television, it adds up to nothing more than gossip. I'm guilty, too. I didn't turn the radio dial when the topic came up. I'm replying about it now. It's just that we aren't owed anything from a man we don't know.

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