Oh – Make That Oy – Tiger! Part 3

So how seriously should we be taking Tiger’s “sins and transgressions”? I hear some people being not so bothered, saying what man hasn’t or isn’t or wouldn’t want to be out there playing around like Tiger? While Tiger is allowed to be hu-man, what kind of terrible commentary is this on the state of affairs (pun intended) in our world today?

Other people are thoroughly appalled and outraged at Tiger for betraying his wife and family, not to mention his sponsors and fans and the virtues of golf itself. I for one sincerely hope and pray that he does whatever it takes to get himself back on course. I think we were all better off having his greatness to emulate than his foibles to gossip about. I doubt he can ever fully un-tarnish himself. As terrific as it has been to watch him, now its so hard to see him fall from grace and go from the best to the worst kind of legend.

Tiger’s got more work to do than ever. For starters it's time for some very big cleansing breaths. As the founder of Aikido would say, “True victory is self-victory” and Tiger broke the harmony of the universe. This is where people either become truly great beings, or lose power and cannot ultimately be winners in life. Ai-Ki / Ki-Ai will always be the Way. Centered and clear, physically and spiritually aligned and true.

Oh – Make That Oy – Tiger! Part 2

Tiger’s in Big T, no doubt about it. In the roughest rough imaginable. Losing strokes left and right and paying enormous prices for swinging so out of control.

Questions questions questions. How could he …? Why in the world would he …? Didn’t he think …? When did he … ? Wasn’t he still a newlywed, with his beautiful bride but bad knee, then doing surgery and rehab and busy with new babies and getting back to top tour form???

Amidst all of that, that Tiger somehow managed to see multiple mistresses, keep it all covered up, and keep on winning golf tournaments seems yet another stupendous feat. Of sorts anyways. Looking back over this past year, Tiger more than once failed to pull off his famous finales or seal the deal on a Sunday or when it mattered most in the majors. He was more “only human” out there than ever before. Commentators and spectators alike all noticed, without ever suspecting the real reasons why.

Pro golfers don’t need to be monks or saints. But they are role models in a game of singular character and integrity. Perhaps Tiger’s godlike status was bound to stumble and crumble. Now that the nature and extent of his distractions are becoming known, perhaps the real wonder is how he managed to play as well as he did. He sure has compiled records…

Inner turmoil and outer turmoil just don’t add up to peak performance. Like golf, life is a constant challenge and practice to keep ourselves in the fair way, shooting straight down the center and in position to make scores we truly can be proud of.

Oh – Make That Oy – Tiger! Part 1

I’ve always been a huge Tiger Woods fan, even called him “the ultimate KiAi Golfer,” because his level of excellence and self-mastery as a player is just so staggeringly right-on and huge. He has been, to me, one of the greatest examples of realizing one’s potential on the planet that we’ve perhaps ever seen. So I, like so many people right now, am feeling badly shocked and shook up by his car crash and “transgressions.” Who ever expected we’d be so staggered by just how hugely human this almost godlike golf icon has been revealed to be?

I can’t help but be struck by his offense: of all things - cheating. He’s the world’s best golfer, perhaps ever – doesn’t he know the rules?? Cheating is instant DQ. The blackest smudge. The worst of offenses with the worst of penalties. Insta-plunge from fame to infamy. Now we have this ultimate shocker, “squeaky-clean” Tiger messing around and messing up beyond comprehension.

I’m having brain freeze every time I think or hear more about what Tiger’s been up to off the golf course. I know how I’m feeling as one of his deepest admirers. I can hardly bear to think how his wife feels, or what this will mean for his two tiny kids. It’s just so sickening and sad and maddening.

I also hate to imagine what Tiger must be feeling as he beholds his family and the mess he’s made (especially during these holiday and birthday times); when he’s made himself tabloid fodder; when he thinks of his father and his mother; when he looks at Phil, Ernie, Annika and other fellow players; and how he’ll feel when the days come to go out to golf again with all the world looking at him, in front of millions who he’s turned into former fans.

From the highest heights to the very bottom … can the once invincible Tiger restore balance to his world ... much less to the golf world, and to ours??