Kultida Woods: Media Treat Tiger Like A Criminal

From PGA Pool Report:

Around 40 people including PGA tour executives, Wood's agent, his mother Kultida, sat gathered in three tiers of wooden chairs set in an arc, waiting for him to arrive. The blinds covering the three windows in the room were shut.  There was total hush as all eyes turned to a break in the heavy blue drapes. Just the buzz of a helicopter overhead. Then followed his solemn apology, the text of which is already available.
 
After the event, Woods' mother Kultida spoke to reporters.
 
“You know what? I’m so proud to be his mother. Period. This thing, it teaches him, just like golf.  When he changes a swing… he wants to get better… He will start getting better… it’s just like that. Golf is just like life, when you make a mistake, you learn from your mistake and move on stronger. That’s the way he is.”
 
“As a human being everyone has faults, makes mistakes and sins. We all do. But, we move on when we make a mistake and learn from it. I am upset the way media treated him like he’s a criminal…he didn’t kill anybody, he didn’t do anything illegal… They’ve being carrying on from thanksgiving until now, that’s not right!” she said.
 
“People don’t understand that Tiger has a very good heart and soul,” she said, citing the role of his foundation in helping kids and also in Thailand. “Sometimes I think there is a complete double standard… He tried to improve himself.”
 
“The tabloids and newspapers just killed him, held him back.. To me it looked like a double standard…"
 
Is it the hardest thing he’ll ever go through? “Yes… When you make a mistake you learn from it and move on, that’s the way life is, that’s a human being. We're not good, and he never claimed he was God. If anyone tells me to condemn him, I say look at yourself first.. .. I would … look in their eyes and tell them you’re not God!”
 
What are your emotions? “Upset… This thing is a family matter… It’s not easy to be him. … (People) go to work 8 to 5 and go home to have a life with the family. Tiger can’t do that.” “You have to look at human side, human make mistake, he not God.”
 
How will Buddhism help? “Buddhism teaches you to go deep inside your soul and look through from himself, and correct the bad thing to be a good thing… When he realized, he said okay, and went back to practice Buddhism and that will make him a much better person."

 

Tiger Woods: "I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again"

TIGER WOODS:  Good morning, and thank you for joining me.  Many of you in this room are my friends.  Many of you in this room know me.  Many of you have cheered for me or you've worked with me or you've supported me.

    Now every one of you has good reason to be critical of me.  I want to say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.

    I know people want to find out how I could be so selfish and so foolish.  People want to know how I could have done these things to my wife Elin and to my children.  And while I have always tried to be a private person, there are some things I want to say.

    Elin and I have started the process of discussing the damage caused by my behavior.  As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words; it will come from my behavior over time.  We have a lot to discuss; however, what we say to each other will remain between the two of us.

    I am also aware of the pain my behavior has caused to those of you in this room.  I have let you down, and I have let down my fans.  For many of you, especially my friends, my behavior has been a personal disappointment.  To those of you who work for me, I have let you down personally and professionally.  My behavior has caused considerable worry to my business partners.

    To everyone involved in my foundation, including my staff, board of directors, sponsors, and most importantly, the young students we reach, our work is more important than ever.  Thirteen years ago, my dad and I envisioned helping young people achieve their dreams through education.  This work remains unchanged and will continue to grow.  From the Learning Center students in Southern California to the Earl Woods scholars in Washington, D.C., millions of kids have changed their lives, and I am dedicated to making sure that continues.

But still, I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you.  I have made you question who I am and how I could have done the things I did.  I am embarrassed that I have put you in this position.

    For all that I have done, I am so sorry.

    I have a lot to atone for, but there is one issue I really want to discuss.  Some people have speculated that Elin somehow hurt or attacked me on Thanksgiving night.  It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that.  Elin never hit me that night or any other night.  There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage, ever.  Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout this ordeal.  Elin deserves praise, not blame.

    The issue involved here was my repeated irresponsible behavior.  I was unfaithful.  I had affairs.  I cheated.  What I did is not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame.

    I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in.  I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply.  I never thought about who I was hurting.  Instead, I thought only about myself.  I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by.  I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to.  I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me.  I felt I was entitled.  Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them.

    I was wrong.  I was foolish.  I don't get to play by different rules.  The same boundaries that apply to everyone apply to me.  I brought this shame on myself.  I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife's family, my friends, my foundation, and kids all around the world who admired me.

    I've had a lot of time to think about what I've done.  My failures have made me look at myself in a way I never wanted to before.  It's now up to me to make amends, and that starts by never repeating the mistakes I've made.  It's up to me to start living a life of integrity.

    I once heard, and I believe it's true, it's not what you achieve in life that matters; it's what you overcome.  Achievements on the golf course are only part of setting an example.  Character and decency are what really count.

     Parents used to point to me as a role model for their kids.  I owe all those families a special apology.  I want to say to them that I am truly sorry.

    It's hard to admit that I need help, but I do.  For 45 days from the end of December to early February, I was in inpatient therapy receiving guidance for the issues I'm facing.  I have a long way to go.  But I've taken my first steps in the right direction.

    As I proceed, I understand people have questions.  I understand the press wants to ask me for the details and the times I was unfaithful.  I understand people want to know whether Elin and I will remain together.  Please know that as far as I'm concerned, every one of these questions and answers is a matter between Elin and me.  These are issues between a husband and a wife.

    Some people have made up things that never happened.  They said I used performance enhancing drugs.  This is completely and utterly false.  Some have written things about my family.  Despite the damage I have done, I still believe it is right to shield my family from the public spotlight.  They did not do these things; I did.

    I have always tried to maintain a private space for my wife and children.  They have been kept separate from my sponsors, my commercial endorsements.  When my children were born, we only released photographs so that the paparazzi could not chase them.  However, my behavior doesn't make it right for the media to follow my two and a half year old daughter to school and report the school's location.  They staked out my wife and they pursued my mom.  Whatever my wrongdoings, for the sake of my family, please leave my wife and kids alone.

    I recognize I have brought this on myself, and I know above all I am the one who needs to change.  I owe it to my family to become a better person.  I owe it to those closest to me to become a better man.  That's where my focus will be.

    I have a lot of work to do, and I intend to dedicate myself to doing it.  Part of following this path for me is Buddhism, which my mother taught me at a young age.  People probably don't realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years.  Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security.  It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint.  Obviously I lost track of what I was taught.

    As I move forward, I will continue to receive help because I've learned that's how people really do change.  Starting tomorrow, I will leave for more treatment and more therapy.  I would like to thank my friends at Accenture and the players in the field this week for understanding why I'm making these remarks today.

    In therapy I've learned the importance of looking at my spiritual life and keeping in balance with my professional life.  I need to regain my balance and be centered so I can save the things that are most important to me, my marriage and my children.

    That also means relying on others for help.  I've learned to seek support from my peers in therapy, and I hope someday to return that support to others who are seeking help.  I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don't know when that day will be.

    I don't rule out that it will be this year.  When I do return, I need to make my behavior more respectful of the game.  In recent weeks I have received many thousands of emails, letters and phone calls from people expressing good wishes.  To everyone who has reached out to me and my family, thank you.  Your encouragement means the world to Elin and me.

    I want to thank the PGA TOUR, Commissioner Finchem, and the players for their patience and understanding while I work on my private life.  I look forward to seeing my fellow players on the course.

    Finally, there are many people in this room, and there are many people at home who believed in me.

Today I want to ask for your help.  I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again.

    Thank you.
   
FastScripts by ASAP Sports

Tiger Got Yanged

I realize we have become so accustomed to Tiger Woods winning golf tournaments--especially ones in which he is leading on Sunday--that when he actually fails to close it out, it's so easy to assume that Tiger lost as opposed to him getting beat. Sunday, he got beat. Plain and simple.

It seems as though sports fans, as well as sports media, love to throw out the word "choke" anytime a player or team of high profile loses--particularly in upset fashion. Do some people really get more satisfaction out of someone losing versus someone excelling?

I'm sorry, but I just don't roll like that. I love a good story, and Y.E. Yang may be the best story of this golf season. Tiger didn't give him the PGA Championship. Yang took it!

On a day when only 10 players broke par, Yang shot the best score of the day. Down the stretch of a major championship, Yang went eagle, par, par, bogey, birdie. Under the most immense pressure of the tournament, Yang brushed that pressure off his shoulders like a pimp in a vice squad raid. The playa made plays.

As far as Tiger choking goes, child please! He shot 75 in the final round, not 82. It wasn't like he was spraying the ball all over the course, he just didn't make any putts.
　
"I hit the ball great off the tee, hit my irons well," said Tiger. "I did everything I needed to do except for getting the ball in the hole."

So ease up on the choke talk when discussing this year's PGA Championship. Greg Norman choked in the 1996 Masters. Jean van de Velde choked at the 1999 Open Championship. Phil Mickelson choked at the 2006 U.S. Open.

Tiger didn't choke at the 2009 PGA Championship. He simply got Yanged!

Normally Reserved Tiger Talks Obama

If you know anything about Tiger Woods, you likely know how tight-lipped he can be regarding just about any topic, including golf at times. And when it comes to social issues or politics, you usually have a better chance of outdriving him than hearing Tiger give his thoughts or opinions.

However, as he is progressing through his early 30's, maybe Tiger is ready to be more open about his feelings towards politics. Check out the story below from The Golf Channel, where golf's number one player talks about America's new number one citizen and its number one issue.

Tiger Woods, who is normally reserved when it comes to any topic not related to golf, weighed in on Barack Obama's election as the first African American president in United States history.

"I think it's absolutely incredible," Woods told CNBC. "He represents America. He's multiracial. I was hoping it would happen in my lifetime. My father was hoping it would happen in his lifetime, but he didn't get to see it. I'm lucky enough to have seen a person of color in the White House."

Obama was elected last Tuesday as the 44th President of the United States. When asked by the cable news outlet how his father Earl would have reacted, Woods said: "He would have cried. Absolutely. No doubt about it."

Woods, who has been sidelined since winning the U.S. Open in June due to season-ending knee surgery to repair a torn ACL, also spoke out on the state of the country's economy and how it might affect the PGA Tour.

"I don't know if some of the tournaments, if they're going to go away or have new sponsors come in," Woods told CNBC.Woods is still uncertain as to when he will return to competition. He hopes to begin hitting full shots at the beginning of 2009 and be back no later than the Masters Tournament in April.

TIGER WOODS TOPS BUSINESSWEEK’S SECOND ANNUAL "THE POWER 100" RANKING OF THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN SPORTS

No real shock with this news, but I thought it might make for an interesting read. Click on the link below to see the complete listings. There are several people in the Top 100 with Southern California ties.


New York, NY, October 2, 2008—Golfer Tiger Woods, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and NBA Commissioner David Stern top BusinessWeek’s second annual “The Power 100” ranking of the 100 most powerful people in sports. LeBron James ranks as the top NBA athlete at No. 17, 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps debuts on the list at No. 42, and Danica Patrick, Indy Racing League driver, is the highest-ranked female on the list at No. 50.

Measuring individual power in a global industry as diverse as sports isn’t easy. But for the second year in a row, a panel of experts has done just that for BusinessWeek, ranking the 100 most powerful Americans in sports. This year, BusinessWeek also asked them to do something else: choose the industry’s 25 most influential people in sports outside the U.S., which includes Joseph Blatter, President of FIFA (No. 1), David Beckham (No. 5), and Roger Federer (No. 9).

The 35 panelists include athletes, executives, marketers, writers, and academics. To get the ball rolling, BusinessWeek supplied the judges with 300 names and asked them for their top 20. They were also given some guidance, suggesting they make their picks based on how each individual rates vs. his or her peers; how much money each controls, generates, or influences; and the breadth and staying power of their impact. Fans were invited to cast votes on BusinessWeek.com and their cumulative vote counted as the final panelist.

“The Power 100” is featured in BusinessWeek’s October 13th issue, available on newsstands Friday, October 3. Expanded content, including profiles, exclusive videos and slideshows, and the full methodology of the ranking, will be available online at http://www.businessweek.com/power100.

TIGER’S TEST RUN

Just spotted this article in an e-mail from http://thegolfchannel.com. Even though his season is officially finished for 2008, it looks as though Tiger Woods is still active in at least one capacity on the PGA Tour.

Tiger Woods is still a candidate for drug testing, even though he will not be competing the rest of the year. But he already knows what to expect, having gone through private testing.

“I’ve done it twice, actually,” Woods said.

Why did he require two tests? Woods didn’t say when the tests were conducted, but both came back negative.

After the first test was clean, he said he changed the brand of amino acid as part of his nutrition program, and wanted to make sure the change didn’t alter the results. He said the second test came back negative, too.